WILLIAM OF SAINT-THIERRY. - Cistercian theologian, born in Liège ca. 1085, died at Signy on 11 September 1148. Of distinguished family, he probably studied at the school of Anselm of Laon. Having entered the Benedictine abbey of St-Nicaise (Reims), he became a monk there and in 1119 was elected abbot of St-Thierry, near Reims, where he governed wisely. Won over by the affectionate friendship of St Bernard, though dissuaded by him, he resigned from his abbacy and in 1135 entered the Cistercian monastery of Signy (diocese of Reims), where he spent his last years in fervent contemplation, ever watchful, however, over the little ones, whose faith might be endangered in that period of intellectual ferment. It was in 1138 that, with a moving letter (PL 182, 531-39), he prompted St Bernard’s timely intervention against the errors of Abelard (v.), which were later condemned at the Council of Sens (1140) and by Rome. With equal zeal he opposed the doctrinal deviations of William of Conches in *De erroribus Guillelmi de Conchis* (ibid. 1180, 333-40) POLITEISMO (v.). Within the Cistercian Order he bears the title of Blessed.
Before retiring to Signy he had written several works: *De contemplando Deo* (ibid. 185, 365-80), attributed to St Bernard; *De natura et dignitate amoris* (ibid. 185, 379-408); *De Sacramento altaris* (ibid. 180, 345-66), which treats of transubstantiation, the multipresence of Christ’s body, of accidents, and of the *duplex manducatio*, in an attempt to reconcile the apparent antinomies in the patristic texts on the Eucharistic mystery. To this work, in the Migne edition (ibid. 341-44), is prefixed the Eucharistic letter of G. to Rupert of Deutz; *Excerpta ex libris s. Gregorii papae super cantica canonicorum* (ibid. 411-74) and the *Commentarius in Cantica Canonicorum ex scriptis s. Ambrosii* (ibid. 15, 1947 ff.): two skilfully compiled florilegia; *De natura corporis et animae libri duo* (ibid. 180, 695-726): in the first he offers an almost anatomical analysis of the human body along the lines of Constantine the African and the Arab physicians, in the second an anthropology largely drawn from St Gregory of Nyssa’s *De hominis officio*, in the Latin translation by Scotus Eriugena; *Meditativae orationes* (ibid. 205-47): a personal work, expressive of his fervent soul. These last writings were certainly completed at Signy, where circumstances imposed a new rhythm upon his pen: *Expositio altera super Cantica Canonicorum* (ibid. 473-546): it reaches as far as ch. 3, V. 3; the idea of the influence of love upon the knowledge of God governs the entire work, which is inspired by the East, of which G. had before him Rufinus’s partial translation, and by the celebrated commentary of St Bernard; *Expositio in epist. ad Romanos* (ibid. 547-604): a vast commentary largely derived from St Augustine; *Disputatio adversus Abaelardum* (ibid. 249-82): a refutation of Abelard’s errors on the principal Christian dogmas; important is his doctrine on the Redemption. After the condemnation of the bold philosopher, his former fellow-student, G. attempted an elaboration of theology in order to better guide the minds led astray by error; thus arose the *Sententiae de fide* (lost), a kind of treatise *De Deo Uno et Trino* inspired by the doctrine of St Augustine and Boethius; *Speculum fidei* (ibid. 365-98): an original psychology of faith, in which the motif *amor ipse intellectus est* is dominant; *Aenigma fidei* (ibid. 397-440): a concise and pious synthesis on the transcendence of the Trinitarian mystery, in antithesis to the attempts of Abelard and William of Conches to rationalize its content. Shortly before his death he composed the *Epistola ad fratres de Monte Dei*, called the *Epistola aurea* (ibid. 184, 307-54), at the request of the Carthusians of Mont-Dieu, with whom he had spent delightful days for his spirit: it is a true treatise *De vita solitaria*, based on the original trichotomy of the psychic (beginners), gnostic (the proficient), and pneumatic (the perfect). Soon attributed to St Bernard, it enjoyed the popularity of the works of the holy Doctor; used by St Anthony of Padua, David of Augsburg, Ruysbroeck, and Tauler, it was not until 1662 that it was restored to its true author by Tissier, soon followed by Mabillon. The *Vita Bernardi* (ibid. 185, 225-66), written with a vigilant critical sense, reaches as far as 1130; death prevented G. from completing this sincere homage to his great friend. Other writings have been attributed to him, particularly the *Disputatio catholicorum patrum adversus dogmata Petri Abaelardi*, but this is a work “cuiusdam abbatis nigrorum monachorum” (Geoffrey of Auxerre, ibid. 185, 596).
A man of tradition, G. lived in constant communion of ideals with the Fathers, creating around himself a “paradisus claustralis”, a warm and luminous atmosphere in which the origin and development of his spiritual doctrine are enveloped. Though subdued by the strong personality of St Bernard, he preserved his doctrinal independence, which is reflected in unmistakable attitudes and traits. This Cistercian, who lacked neither genius nor artistry, whose religious lyricism was sustained by singular purity of life, after eight centuries of immortality, has seen restored around his person and his work that atmosphere of admiration which his contemporaries and his candid figure merited, standing close to that of his great friend, the Mellifluous Doctor.