Berengarius, Pietro di Poitiers (Berengarius Pictaviensis)

BERENGARIUS, Pietro di Poitiers (Berengarius Pictaviensis). - Disciple and admirer of Abelard (v.), known almost solely for the part he took in defending his master, even after the condemnation issued by the Council of Sens (1140), and for the insults he hurled against St. Bernard, who had been chiefly responsible for it. Almost nothing is known about his life. The year and place of his birth are unknown, some considering him a native of the Gévaudan (Lozère) and others saying he was born at Poitiers (ms. 2923 of the National Library of Paris).

Works: Apologeticus contra bestum Bernardum Claravallensem Abbatem et alios qui condemnaverunt Petrum Abaelardum, a venomous little book not without literary interest, but of no historical value; an invective Contra Carthusienses, in which he sharply criticizes their abuses, which, by B.'s own account, amount to violation of the rule of silence, a certain curiosity, and worldly gossip; a letter, now lost, in which he harshly attacked certain abuses of the religious life; a letter of mild retraction written to William, bishop of Mende, in which he apologizes for what he had previously written, especially with regard to St. Bernard, acknowledging that he had erred. To those who pointed out that he had not published, as he had promised, a justification of Abelard, B. replies that time had matured his judgment concerning that doctrine, which, even if it may be good in itself, nevertheless sounds ill to the ears of the Christian people. Finally he asks forgiveness of all: «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 whether it belongs to him.

Giuseppe Gennaro