Boethius

Boethius (circa 480-524), Roman philosopher and statesman. He gained the esteem and confidence of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths, then the ruler of Rome, and in 510 was made a consul. Later Boethius was accused by his enemies of plotting treason, and, although innocent, was imprisoned in Pavia and executed. During his imprisonment he wrote De Consolatione Philosophiae (The Consolation of Philosophy, c. 523), a philosophic work that, although not explicitly a Christian text, contained so many elements of Christian ethics that it was highly regarded in Europe during medieval times. Many translations of the work were made, notably (in England) by King Alfred the Great and by the poet Geoffrey Chaucer. Boethius also wrote treatises on logic that profoundly influenced the terminology of medieval logic; translations and commentaries on the works of Aristotle, from which medieval scholars largely derived their knowledge of the Greek philosopher; and works on music, arithmetic, and theology.