PETER OF BLOIS (Petrus Blesensis). - Theologian and humanist, b. at Blois ca. 1135, d. after 1204. He studied letters at Chartres and Tours, philosophy at Paris, law at Bologna.
Having returned to Paris, he followed the theological courses. In 1167 he succeeded his friend Walter, appointed archbishop of Palermo, as tutor to William II of Sicily, but two years later, having refused the archbishoprics of Naples and Rossano, he left the Sicilian court to become secretary of Henry II, king of England, and then of his widow Eleanor of Guyenne (1191-95). Ordained priest ca. 1190, he was appointed archdeacon of Bath, then of London, chancellor of Richard, archbishop of Canterbury, by whom he was sent three times to Rome (1175, 1178, 1187) to settle important affairs. He finally obtained the deanery of Chester, but on account of the unedifying conduct of the canons he resigned it and ended his tormented existence in poverty.
His writings (PL 207) comprise: Epistolae (coll. 1-560); there are 183 of them, addressed to the great personages of the age and rich in historical information and moral counsel; Sermones (coll. 559-776); there are 65 on the proprium de tempore and on the feasts of the Madonna and the saints; Tractatus of various kinds, the principal ones of which are: De transfiguratione Domini (coll. 777-92); notable remarks on the qualities of glorified bodies; De conversione s. Pauli (coll. 791-96); Compendium in Job (coll. 795-826); exhortations to patience and invective against rich prelates; Contra perfidiam Judaeorum (coll. 825-70): the argument from prophecy is deployed in it with skill, and it is among the best apologetic essays of the 12th century; De amicitia christiana (coll. 875-95) forms together with the De caritate (coll. 895-958) a diptych on Christian love, inspired by the analogous work of Aelred of Rievaulx; De confessione sacramentale (coll. 1077-92), completed by the De paenitentia a sacerdote iniungenda (coll. 1091-98); Invectiva in depravationem operum Petri Blessensis (coll. 1113-26): replying to various attacks, he gives the list of his works and touches on the question of Grace and free will.
Inferior to his master John of Salisbury, P. of B. is nevertheless one of the most distinguished names in the Latin literature of the 12th century, and with the sparkle of his style he stands in strong contrast to the negligence of form common to almost all Scholasticism.