Andrew of Saint Victor

Andrew of Saint Victor (died 19 October 1175) was an Augustinian canon of the abbey of Saint Victor in Paris, a Christian Hebraist and biblical exegete. His learning "reflects a great humanist culture ... put at the service of theology," ^[1] while he emphasised the literal meaning of the Old Testament "to an extent not found elsewhere in the Middle Ages." ^[2]

Originally from England, Andrew went to Paris and studied under Abbot Hugh of Saint Victor. ^[1] Around 1147 he was elected the first abbot of the Victorine daughter house of Saint James at Wigmore in England. ^[2] He was at Wigmore between 1148/1149 and 1153, when he left after disagreements with the canons. ^[1] He returned to Saint Victor for a time before finally returning to Wigmore between 1161 and 1163. ^[2] He died at Wigmore in October 1175. ^[1]

Andrew wrote commentaries exclusively on the Old Testament, covering the Octateuch, the major and minor Prophets, the Book of Proverbs and Ecclesiastes . To an even greater extent than his teacher, Hugh, he employed a literal exegesis. ^[2] His hermeneutical scheme was based on the littera–sensus–sententia division of classical rhetoric. Besides classical authors, he made use of the Church Fathers and of Jewish Peshat exegesis. ^[1]

Notes

1. Berndt 2002.
2. Cross & Livingstone 2005.

Sources

• Berndt, Rainer (1991). André de Saint-Victor (†1175), exégète et théologien. Bibliotheca Victorina, 2. Paris: Brepols.
• Berndt, Rainer (2002). "Andrew of Saint-Victor". In André Vauchez (ed.). Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages. James Clarke & Co..
• Cross, F. L.; Livingstone, E. A., eds. (2005). "Andrew of St-Victor". The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (3rd rev. ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Gibson, Margaret (2004). "St Victor, Andrew of (c.1110–1175), rev." . Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/37116 . Retrieved 1 October 2015.
• McKane, William (1989). "Andrew of St Victor". Selected Christian Hebraists. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 42–75, 215–25, 248f.
• Signer, M. A. (1993). "Peshat, Sensus Litteralis and Sequential Narrative: Jewish Exegesis and the School of St. Victor in the 12th Century". In B. Walfish (ed.). The Frank Talmage Memorial Volume. Vol. 1. Haifa: Haifa University Press. pp. 203–16.
• Smalley, Beryl (1938). "Andrew of St. Victor, Abbot of Wigmore: A Twelfth Century Hebraist". Recherches de théologie ancienne et médiévale. 10: 358–373. JSTOR   26184008.
• Van Liere, Frans (1995). Andrew of St Victor: Commentary on Samuel and Kings (PhD). University of Groningen.