Hugh of Amiens and the Twelfth-Century Renaissance (review)

Hugh of Amiens does not figure prominently among the intellectuals associated with the “Twelfth-Century Renaissance.” Born c. 1085, monk of Cluny from 1112 and prior of Cluniac houses at Limoges and Lewes before his appointment as abbot of Reading in 1123, he served as archbishop of Rouen from 1129/30 until his death in 1164 and was somewhat on the sidelines of the intellectual ferment of his times. He participated in some of the church councils where theological disputes were played out and challenging ideas put under scrutiny. He also wrote, leaving a range of texts that reflect the contemporary debates and academic developments, even if at something of a distance from the energy of the schools.

Hugh has not attracted much previous academic attention, yet Ryan P. Freeburn considers him worthy of a monograph—“he played a much more central role in the twelfth century than many people realize, especially in the early development of systematic theology” (p. 2). It is a striking claim; whether it is substantiated is a matter of opinion.

The writings provide the core for Freeburn’s treatment. There is a first, short chapter outlining Hugh’s life and career; thereafter, the remaining chapters deal with his works. The book is not a full biography. Most noticeably, it offers no real examination of Hugh’s career within the church and activities as archbishop. Others have dealt with these, and Freeburn is largely content simply to mention their theses and publications and then focus on his own priorities. This does mean, however, that the works seem to float a bit, detached from their author as a career ecclesiastic deeply involved in the real world.

Essentially, chapters 2 to 10 work through the corpus, in something like chronological order. As the surviving works covers a range of topics, this allows one chapter for each, each in turn on a different theme, although the poems are all treated together (chapter 3). Accordingly, for instance, chapter 4 (the longest in the book, but only by a couple of pages) deals with “The Dialogues and the Early Stages of Systematic Theology,” chapter 6 with “A Saintly Crusader and Hermit: The Vita Sancti Adjutoris,” and chapter 8 (the second longest) with “Hugh of Amiens and the Heretics: The Polemics of Contra haereticos.” The texts are duly contextualized and discussed, although both commentary and analysis sometimes feel insubstantial, suggesting that there is more waiting to be said. Perhaps here the fact that Hugh cannot be portrayed as someone closely and actively embroiled in the debates is a factor; although Freeburn locates Hugh’s ideas in relation to the debates, there is little indication of proactive participation in them. This, perhaps, is the major weakness for the analysis and for the assertion of Hugh’s centrality. Notably, although the twelfth-century renaissance is evoked in the book’s title, it scarcely appears in the text. True, episodes are there, but there is no real sense of an ongoing “movement” or “phenomenon”—whatever this “renaissance” was—in which Hugh is actively involved. The Renaissance may be assumed, but that assumption is not clearly expressed. Likewise, the varied themes of the individual chapters are never consolidated—the brief conclusion (pp. 223–25) is essentially an epitaph. The opportunity is missed to give reality to the title’s “and” by integrating all the strands as facets of this renaissance.

Nevertheless, this is a useful volume. Its approach shows signs of its origin in a doctoral dissertation, but it offers a good introduction to the surviving works of Hugh of Amiens.