School of Chartres

The Gothic Cathedral of Chartres in its present form.

The School of Chartres was one of the most important intellectual centres north of the Alps for around 200 years from about the year 1000.

Rudolf Steiner characterised the School of Chartres thus:

„There was in the eleventh, but especially in the twelfth century, reaching over into the thirteenth century, an actually wonderful school, in which there were teachers who knew perfectly well how in the preceding centuries the pupils had been led to experience the spiritual. It was the school of Chartres, where above all a ray of the still living wisdom of Peter of Compostella, who worked in Spain, who cultivated a living mysterious Christianity in Spain, which still spoke of Christ's helper, nature, which still spoke of the fact that only when this nature has introduced man to the elements, to the world of the planets, to the world of the stars, only then will man become mature enough to get to know the seven helpers, as living goddesses: Grammar, Dialectic, Rhetoric, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, Music. The pupils got to know them as divine-spiritual figures, alive. In this school of Chartres, for example, Bernhardus Sylvestris taught, who, as if in powerful descriptions, brought into being before his pupils that which was ancient wisdom. John of Chartres, who was also called John of Salisbury, developed views in which he came to terms with Aristotelianism. And with an inspiring force, what was taught in the school of Chartres was transplanted to the Cluniacensian Order. And there was one in particular, in the twelfth century, who actually surpassed all others: Alain of Lille or Alanus ab Insulis.“ (Lit.:GA 237, p. 94ff)

Literature

• Frank Teichmann: Der Mensch und sein Tempel, Bd. 4: Chartres - Schule und Kathedrale, Urachhaus Verlag, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 978-3878386889
• Rudolf Steiner: Esoterische Betrachtungen karmischer Zusammenhänge III, GA 237 (1991) English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org
• Rudolf Steiner: Esoterische Betrachtungen karmischer Zusammenhänge VI, GA 240 (1986), English: rsarchive.org German: pdf pdf(2) html mobi epub archive.org

References to the work of Rudolf Steiner follow Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works (CW or GA), Rudolf Steiner Verlag, Dornach/Switzerland, unless otherwise stated. Email: verlag@steinerverlag.com URL: www.steinerverlag.com. Index to the Complete Works of Rudolf Steiner - Aelzina Books A complete list by Volume Number and a full list of known English translations you may also find at Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works Rudolf Steiner Archive - The largest online collection of Rudolf Steiner's books, lectures and articles in English. Rudolf Steiner Audio - Recorded and Read by Dale Brunsvold steinerbooks.org - Anthroposophic Press Inc. (USA) Rudolf Steiner Handbook - Christian Karl's proven standard work for orientation in Rudolf Steiner's Collected Works for free download as PDF.