Hugh of Saint Victor

Hugh of Saint Victor (1096-1141), French philosopher and theologian, who founded a school of mysticism that made the monastery of Saint Victor in Paris one of the great medieval centers of learning.

Descended from the royal family of Blankenburg in Saxony (Sachsen), he joined at an early age the canons of St. Augustine at the monastery of Hamersleven. About 1115, he went to Paris and entered the Augustinian monastery of St. Victor. In 1133 he became head of the monastery school, where he remained until his death on February 11, 1141.

Influenced by St. Augustine's teachings, Hugh arrived at a three-stage division of the contemplative life: (1) cogitatio, or thought, by which we recognize God in nature; (2) meditatio, or meditation, by which we see God in ourselves; and (3) contemplatio, or contemplation, by which we see God as if face to face. He also proposed a classification of knowledge, consisting of theoretical science (including theology, mathematics, physics, and music), practical science (ethics), mechanical science (the mechanical arts), and the science of discourse (rhetoric and dialectic). His writings cover a very wide field. Among Hugh's important works are the Didascalion, a compendium of knowledge, and the Summa Sententiarum, a manual of philosophy and theology.