Johannes Scotus Eriugena - Life

Life

Regarded as Europe’s greatest philosopher of the early Middle Ages,Johannes Scottus Eriugena, was an Irishman. Eriugena was highly proficient in Greek, which, though rare at that time in West Europe, was used in the learning tradition of Early and Medieval Ireland, as evidenced by the use of Greek script in medieval Irish manuscripts. Thus, with an Irish education, he was well equipped for Western society, and his linguistic competences allowed for intellectual exchanges. He moved to France (about 845) and took over the Palatine Academy at the invitation of Carolingian King Charles the Bald. He succeeded Alcuin of York (735–804) as head of the Palace School. The reputation of this school, part of the Carolingian Renaissance, seems to have increased greatly under Eriugena's leadership, and the philosopher himself was treated with indulgence by the king. Whereas Alcuin was a schoolmaster rather than a philosopher, Eriugena was a noted Greek scholar. He was one of the most original thinkers of the entire Middle Ages.

William of Malmesbury's amusing story illustrates both the character of Eriugena and the position he occupied at the French court. The king having asked, Quid distat inter sottum et Scottum? (what separates a sot (drunkard) from an Irishman?) Eriugena replied, Mensa tantum (Only a table).

He remained in France for at least thirty years. At the request of the Byzantine emperor Michael III (ca. 858), Eriugena undertook some translation into Latin of the works of Pseudo-Dionysius and added his own commentary. He was thus the first since Saint Augustine to introduce the ideas of Neoplatonism from the Greek into the Western European intellectual tradition, where they were to have a strong influence on Christian theology.

The latter part of his life is unclear. There is a story that in 882 he was invited to Oxford by Alfred the Great, labored there for many years, became abbot at Malmesbury, and was stabbed to death by his pupils with their styli. Whether this is to be taken literally or figuratively is not clear. Some scholars think it may refer to some other Johannes. Figuratively, present day professors might recognize the irony in dying from the results of their students' pens. Literally, Eriugena's introduction of Greek thought into his teachings and writings might have been dangerous given the prevailing Latin based theological views of the times. He probably never left France, and the nineteenth century French historian, Hauréau has advanced some reasons for fixing the date of his death about 877. From the evidence available, it is impossible to determine whether he was a cleric or a layman; the general conditions of the time make it likely that he was a cleric and perhaps a monk.