Robert of Melun

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A portrait of Robert of Melun from a frontispiece to his works.
A portrait of Robert of Melun from a frontispiece to his works.

Robert of Melun (died 1167) was a scholastic Christian theologian born in England but who worked in France.

Robert studied at the university in Paris and then began teaching there, as the successor of Abelard in the school on Mont Ste-Geneviève. While he taught at Paris, John of Salisbury and William of Tyre were among his pupils. He went to Melun in 1142 to direct a school. He took part in the condemnation of Gilbert de la Porrée at the Synod of Reims in 1148. In 1160, Henry II recalled him to England, where he was created Bishop of Hereford in 1163.

Robert's theology is expressed in his Quaestiones de divina pagina, Quaestiones de epistolis Pauli, and Sententiae, which he did not finish. He was a strict trinitarian and in opposition to Saint Bernard. He argued that each person of the trinity has a special aspect, but no quality present in the one is denied in the others. Thus, the Father has power, the Son wisdom, and the Holy Spirit goodness as special qualities, but each has all in common essence.