Classical erudition in the letters of Peter of Blois

Abstract

Peter of Blois (c. 1135-1212) is best known for the collection of letters dedicated by him to King Henry II of England. Regarded as a model of the art of medieval letter-writing, his collection influenced subsequent practitioners of the ars dictaminis, and has been studied by modem scholars from various perspectives. Peter is also commonly regarded as having plagiarized the works of his contemporaries and as having been indebted primarily to the most famous classicist of the twelfth century, John of Salisbury, for his knowledge of classical Latin texts. This dissertation reassesses Peter’s reputation for plagiarism and aims to provide the first complete account of the classical erudition evinced in his epistolary work. Following a discussion in Chapter 1 of the most significant aspects of Peter’s life and of the current state of his letters, the question is considered as to whether or not the term ‘plagiarism’ is an appropriate one with which to label his intellectual relationship with his sources and above all with the writings of John of Salisbury. Particular regard is had to Ep. 92 of Peter’s collection, in which he defends himself vigorously against what several historians have described as the medieval equivalent of plagiarism, compilatio. It is submitted in Chapter 2 that the modem concept of plagiarism is at best an approximation to the charge of compilatio at the core of Ep. 92 and that the description of Peter of Blois as a plagiarist has unjustly tainted the many classical quotations and allusions one finds in his letters.