Biography

Born in Troyes

Troyes

Troyes is a commune and the capital of the Aube department in north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about southeast of Paris. Many half-timbered houses survive in the old town...

, he was first attached to the Church of Notre-Dame in that city and habitually signed himself as "Presbyter Trecensis". Before 1148 he became dean of the chapter and received a benefice

Benefice

A benefice is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The term is now almost obsolete.-Church of England:...

 in 1148. About 1160 he formed one of the Chapter of Notre-Dame at Paris

Notre Dame de Paris

Notre Dame de Paris , also known as Notre Dame Cathedral, is a Gothic, Roman Catholic cathedral on the eastern half of the Île de la Cité in the fourth arrondissement of Paris, France. It is the cathedral of the Catholic Archdiocese of Paris: that is, it is the church that contains the cathedra of...

, and about the same year he replaced Eudes (Odon) as chancellor

Chancellor (ecclesiastical)

Two quite distinct officials of some Christian churches have the title Chancellor.*In some churches, the Chancellor of a diocese is a lawyer who represents the church in legal matters....

. At the same time he had charge of the theological school

Chancellor of the University of Paris

The Chancellor of the University of Paris was originally the chancellor of the chapter of Notre Dame de Paris. The University of Paris ceased to exist in 1970, though the related position, Chancellor of the Universities of Paris is currently held by Maurice Quénet.-13th century:*Praepositinus...

.

It was at Paris that Peter Comestor composed and certainly finished his Historia Scholastica

Historia scholastica

The Historia Scholastica is a twelfth-century Biblical paraphrase written in Medieval Latin by Petrus Comestor. Sometimes called the "Medieval Popular Bible", it draws on the Bible and other sources, including the works of classical scholars and the Fathers of the Church, to present a universal...

; he dedicated it to the Bishop of Sens, Guillaume aux Blanches Mains

Guillaume aux Blanches Mains

Guillaume de Blois , called Guillaume aux Blanches Mains , or Guillaume de Champagne, was a French Cardinal.He was born in Brosse, Île-de-France, France...

 (1169–76). Pope Alexander III

Pope Alexander III

Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...

 ordered Cardinal Peter of St. Chrysogonus to allow the chancellor Peter to exact a small fee on conferring the licence to teach, but this authorization was altogether personal. A short time afterwards the same cardinal mentioned the name of Peter to Alexander III, as among the three most cultured men of France.

The surname of "Comestor" ("devourer"), given to Peter during his life, also demonstrates the esteem in which his learning was held: he was a great bookworm. He often refers to his surname in his sermons and in the epitaph said to be composed by him: "Petrus eram ... dictusque comestor, nunc comedor." ("Peter was I... and called the devourer: now I am eaten.") He afterwards withdrew to St. Victor's Abbey, Paris and made profession of canonical

Canon (priest)

A canon is a priest or minister who is a member of certain bodies of the Christian clergy subject to an ecclesiastical rule ....

 life.

Petrus Comestor died in Paris around 1178. He was buried at St. Victor's, and the necrology of the canons mentions him as one of themselves (21 October).

Works

His works include commentaries on the Gospels, allegories on Holy Scripture, and a moral commentary on St. Paul

Paul of Tarsus

Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...

, all of which are as yet unpublished.

His Historia Scholastica

Historia scholastica

The Historia Scholastica is a twelfth-century Biblical paraphrase written in Medieval Latin by Petrus Comestor. Sometimes called the "Medieval Popular Bible", it draws on the Bible and other sources, including the works of classical scholars and the Fathers of the Church, to present a universal...

is a kind of sacred history composed for students. The author begins the sacred narrative at the Creation, and continues it to the end of the incidents related in the Acts of the Apostles

Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...

; all the books of the Bible are contained therein, except those whose nature is purely didactic, the Book of Wisdom, the Psalms, the Prophets, the Epistles, etc. The discourses are abbreviated.
He borrows frequently from profane authors, especially from Flavius Josephus for the beginning of the Gospels, and very often the test is as though paraphrased in a commentary where all data, cosmological and physical, philosophical, theological, geographical, etc., are found. There are numerous inaccuracies and fables. The work consists of twenty books and often small "additions" supply geographical or etymological appendixes at the end of the chapters. This Biblical history met with great success, as witness the large number of manuscripts, the mention of his name in all the libraries of the Middle Ages, the lists of classical books for the universities and schools, the quotations and the eulogies with which the name of its author is everywhere accompanied (cf. the canonist Huguccio

Huguccio

Huguccio was an Italian canon lawyer . His major non-legal work is the Magnae Derivationes or Liber derivationum, dealing with etymologies, based on the earlier Derivationes of Osbernus of Gloucester.He studied at Bologna, probably under Gandolphus, and taught canon law in the same city, perhaps...

, about 1190) and its numerous translations, most of all the Bible Historiale in French. In the fifteenth century, the work was still in great demand, as can be seen by the editions made before 1500 of the Latin text, or of the French translation. Migne

Jacques Paul Migne

Jacques Paul Migne was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely-distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a universal library for the Catholic priesthood.He was born at Saint-Flour, Cantal and studied...

  reproduces the Madrid edition of 1699.

The sermons of Peter Comestor have been left to us in numerous manuscripts, often under other names, but the complete and continued series has not yet been published. A series of fifty-one sermons was placed wrongly under the name of Peter of Blois

Peter of Blois

Peter of Blois or Petrus Blesensis was a French poet and diplomat who wrote in Latin. Peter studied law in Bologna and theology in Paris...

 and printed among his works; some figure also in the works of Hildebert de Mans . The sermon in which the word "transubstantiation

Transubstantiation

In Roman Catholic theology, transubstantiation means the change, in the Eucharist, of the substance of wheat bread and grape wine into the substance of the Body and Blood, respectively, of Jesus, while all that is accessible to the senses remains as before.The Eastern Orthodox...

" occurs, the 93rd (not 73rd), is not Hildebert's but Peter Comestor's; the word however is already found in Roland Bandinelli

Pope Alexander III

Pope Alexander III , born Rolando of Siena, was Pope from 1159 to 1181. He is noted in history for laying the foundation stone for the Notre Dame de Paris.-Church career:...

(the later Pope Alexander III) before 1150.

Other collections, like that of the 114 sermons copied at St. Victor before 1186, are still unpublished, more than twelve manuscripts are in the libraries of Paris, and all has not yet been unravelled in this assortment. As a preacher, Peter was subtle and pedantic in his style, in keeping with the taste of his time and of his audience of scholars and professors assembled around the pulpit of the chancellor. The sermons attributed to him during his stay at St. Victor are simple in style, instructive, and natural in tone. Also some verses are attributed to Peter Comestor and a collection of maxims entitled Pancrisis, perhaps that which still exists in a manuscript of Troyes.

Editions

• Petris Comestoris Scolastica Historia: Liber Genesis. Edited by Agneta Sylwan. Turnhout: Brepols, 2004, Pp. xc + 227. (Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaevalis, 191).