On 13 Jul 1999, Christopher Crockett wrote:
> Thank you, John.
> The only reason why I can shoot from the hip here on stuff I know nothing
> about is that I know that you or some other kind soul who actually *does*
> know something about whatever will jump in and gently set me straight.
> It's a conspiracy, aimed at getting myself an education on the cheap,
> see?
It certainly would save on tuition, that's for sure.
>>The work contains 40 questions, which does agree with something John of
> Salisbury says about one of Bernard's works, but to the best of my
> recollection that's as far as the argument really goes.
> Sounds like Dutton had an up-hill battle to start with, there being so little
> known about the guy (Bernard) up front.
>>...Paul's arguments for identifying it as Bernard's work did not meet with
> unreserved acceptance by the examining board. Some, however, saw in it an
> authoritative salvo against Southern's attack on the School of Chartres (which
> was, of course, not ragingly popular with the Pontifical Institute to begin
> with).
I was surprised that in the end, the book was actually published with the
attribution to Bernard as part of the title. Rather daring, I thought.
To be honest, I've not kept abreast of subsequent scholarship, so I don't
know just how enthusiastically the book has been received. I should check
on that.
> The fact that some of your collegues would allow their notion of the "School
> of Chartres" (yea or nea) to color or prejudice their acceptance of someone's
> attribution of a work to a known luminary of that School is more than a
> little illustrative of Southern's point, I'm thinking.
I don't think anything different could have been expected out of the Pont.
Inst., perhaps more out of filial piety for Nikolaus Haering than anything
else. Nothing agin' him--he was one of my profs at PIMS--but obviously after
investing his academic life in pursuing the history of said "school," he
wasn't particularly happy with Southern's article, which I understand was never
to be mentioned in Haering's presence (at least not by students).
Regards,
John P.
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