Bernardus Silvestris


Bernardus Silvestris, also known as Bernard Silvestris and Bernard Silvester, was a medieval Platonist philosopher and poet of the 12th century.

Biography

Little is known about Bernardus's life. In the nineteenth century, it was assumed that Bernardus was the same person as Bernard of Chartres, but scholarly consensus now agrees that the two were different people. There is little evidence connecting Bernardus to Chartres, yet his work is consistent with the scholarship associated with Chartres in the twelfth century and is in that sense "Chartrian". Bernardus dedicated his Cosmographia to Thierry of Chartres, who became chancellor of Chartres in 1141; he most likely wrote the letter in order to win the favour of a powerful figure, known for his interest in science.
André Vernet, who edited Bernardus' Cosmographia, believed that he lived from 1085 to 1178. The most secure date in his life is 1147–48, when the Cosmographia was supposedly read to Pope Eugene III, though it could have been finished before then, perhaps between 1143 and 1148. There is some evidence that Bernardus was connected to Spanish schools of philosophy, but it seems likely that he was born and taught in Tours, because of the intimate descriptions of the city and the surrounding area found in the Cosmographia. Later medieval authors also associated him with that city.

Works

Bernardus' greatest work is the aforementioned Cosmographia, a prosimetrum on the creation of the world, told from a 12th-century Platonist perspective. The poem influenced Chaucer and others with its pioneering use of allegory to discuss metaphysical and scientific questions. Bernardus also wrote the poem Mathematicus and probably the poem Experimentarius as well as some minor poems.
Among the works attributed to Bernardus later in the Middle Ages were a commentary on Virgil's Aeneid and a commentary on Martianus Capella's De Nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii. The commentary on the Aeneid is the longest medieval commentary on that work, although it is incomplete, ending about two-thirds of the way through book six.

So-Called Silvestris Commentary

Julian Ward Jones, Jr., in his article "The So-Called Silvestris Commentary on the Aeneid and Two Other Interpretations", attempts to clear up the issue of the authorship of the Aeneid commentary by distinguishing two distinct positions: the first by E. R. Smits, and the second by Christopher Baswell. Smits's account is rejected by Jones, who says that Baswell's account is mostly correct but requires some modification.
E. R. Smits, like André Vernet, hypothesizes that Carnotensis is Bernard of Chartres – the individual who Silvestris is most confused for. Vernet says that Silvestris, for whom this confusion was normally detrimental, probably gained from this particular confusion, as he is most often credited for the commentary on Vergil's Aeneid. Smits and Vernet attribute Bernard of Chartres's authorship of the Aeneid commentary to a number of similarities and differences between this work and other texts. What needs to be asked here though is why is Vernet still turned to for answers on Silvestris, when he wrote on the subject in 1938? It seems as though we do not have a choice, because even more modern writers, such as Jones, continue to cite him because there is no one else to look to. Vernet still has authority on the subject matter.
On the other hand, Christopher Baswell attempts to interpret the Aeneid commentary through comparison to a commentary in Cambridge manuscript Peterhouse 158, seeing this as an important link between manuscripts of the commentary and the Silvestris commentary. By placing the passages in two columns it is clear to the reader as it is to Baswell that the interpretations are congruent, although the notes in the Peterhouse MS appear to be shortened and simpler versions of notes in the Silvestris commentary. Baswell wants here to conclude that the Peterhouse MS represents the earlier work of Silvestris. Jones sets this conclusion aside to continue to exhibit differences that occur – which in his opinion are more important than the striking similarities. By pointing to differences in organization among other things, Jones casts doubt on Baswell's earlier hypothesis. What becomes clear is that there is agreement between Baswell and Jones in that they both see Silvestris as the Aeneid commentator, but Jones cannot agree with the connection to the Peterhouse MS. The commentary on the Aeneid is the longest medieval commentary on that work, although it is incomplete, ending about two-thirds of the way through book six. It is also viewed as the most elaborate commentary from the Middle Ages.

Impact and contributions

The Cosmographia influenced Chaucer and others with its pioneering use of allegory to discuss metaphysical and scientific questions. Theodore Silverstein praises Silvestris’ poems for their imaginative prose, as well as for positioning himself well in literature based on the time and place—particularly in the writing of the Cosmographia during the 12th-century controversies of evolution. In the Catholic Encyclopedia, William Turner wrote that there was a "pantheistic drift" to his philosophy.
There is evidence of influence in the works of medieval and renaissance authors, including Hildegard of Bingen, Vincent of Beauvais, Dante, Chaucer, Nicolas of Cusa, and Boccaccio. In the modern era, Bernardus Silvestris has been referred to in the nonfiction and science fiction work of C. S. Lewis.

Editions and translations