BERENGARIO, PIETRO di POITIERS (Berengarius Pictaviensis). — Abelardo (v.), known almost exclusively for the part he played in defending his master, even after the condemnation pronounced by the Council of Sens (1140), and for the insults he hurled against St. Bernardo, who had been chiefly responsible for II. Almost nothing is known about his life. The year and place of his birth are unknown: some regard him as a native of Gévaudan (Lozère), while others say that he was born in Poitiers (ms. 2923 of the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris).
Works: Apologeticus contra bestum Bernardum Claravallensem Abbatem et alios qui condemnaverunt Petrum Abaelardum, a venomous pamphlet not without literary interest, but of no historical value; an invective Contra Carthusienses, in which he bitterly criticizes their abuses, which, according to B. himself, amounted to violations of the rule of silence, a certain amount of curiosity, and worldly gossip; a letter, now lost, in which he harshly attacked certain abuses of religious life; and a letter of mild retraction written to Guglielmo, bishop of Mende, in which he apologizes for what he had previously written,
especially concerning St. Bernardo, acknowledging that he had been in error. To those who pointed out to him that he had not published, as he had promised, a defense of Abelardo, B. replied that time had matured his judgment concerning that doctrine, which, though it may be good in itself, nevertheless sounds ill to the ears of the Christian people. Finally, he asks forgiveness of everyone: «Veniam rogo innocens et, si magis placet, veniam postulo reus.» A Treatise on the Incarnation is sometimes also attributed to him, but it is doubtful that it is his.