Andrew of Saint Victor

ANDREA DI SAN VITTORE. - Regular canon, born in England toward the beginning of the 12th century. He entered the abbey of S. Vittore in Paris, where he was a disciple of Ugo (v.). He subsequently held there the office of prior and was then elected first abbot of Wigmore in Herefordshire, a monastery dependent on S. Vittore; but, owing to difficulties and disagreements arising in the newly founded community, he returned to Paris. Later he was restored to his abbatial see, where he probably died on 20 Oct. 1175. A. belongs to the theological current known as “biblical-moral,” which began in Paris around the middle of the 12th century. His unpublished commentary on a large part of the sacred books of the Old Testament has the merit of being scrupulously literal, the author also making use of contemporary rabbinic exegesis. His influence on Stefano Langton, Pietro Comestore, Pietro Cantore, and others, as well as on many medieval correctoria, is noteworthy.