Hildebert of Tours (Hildebertus Turonensis)

in 1097 bishop of Mans, and in 1125 archbishop of Tours, was born about 1055 at Lavardin. Though accused of licentiousness before his admission to the Church, he became one of its brightest ornaments for piety and learning. During the time of his being bishop of Mans, he and his church suffered much from the contests of William Rufus and Helie, count of Mans; nor was he much more fortunate in his archbishopric, for he fell under the displeasure of Louis the Fat because he refused to dispose of his Church patronage as the king desired: the disagreement was at last settled, and Hildebert restored to favor; He wrote with great severity against the vices of the court of Rome. Hildebert had great "independence of mind, practical sense, and a degree of taste which preserved him from falling into the vain and puerile discussions of his contemporaries." His Tractatus Philosophicus and his Moralis Philosophia, which are considered his best productions, are the first essays towards a popular system of theology. He died A.D. 1134. His epistles and sermons were quite numerous; they are collected in the best edition of his works, Opera tam edita quam inedita, studio Beaugendre (Benedictine, Paris, 1708, fol.). See Mosheim, Ch. Hist. cent. 11:pt. 2, ch. 2, n. 74; Vita Hildeberti, prefixed to his works (complete list of his works to be found in Darling, Cyclop. Bibl. 1 vol.); Gallia Christiana, t. xiv; Brockhaus, Conversations-Lexikon, 7:919; Bayle, Hist. Dict. p. 454; Neander, Ch. Hist.; Neander, Hist. Christ. Dogmas, p. 533; Fuhrmann, Handwörterb. d. Christl. Religions und Kirchengesch. 2, 300 sq.; Tennemann, Man. of Philos. p. 218.