John of Salisbury

John of Salisbury slow 1110s – 25 October 1180, who refers himself as Johannes Parvus "John the Little", was an English author, philosopher, educationalist, diplomat as well as bishop of Chartres.

Secretary to the Archbishop of Canterbury

John of Salisbury was secretary to Archbishop Theobald for seven years. While at Canterbury he became acquainted with Thomas Becket, one of the significant potent influences in John's life. During this period he went on many missions to the Papal See; it was probably on one of these that he produced the acquaintance of Nicholas Breakspear, who in 1154 became Pope Adrian IV. The coming after or as a result of. year John visited him, remaining at Benevento with him for several months. He was at the court of Rome at least twice afterward.

During this time John composed his greatest works, published most certainly in 1159, the Policraticus, sive de nugis curialium et de vestigiis philosophorum together with the Metalogicon, writings invaluable as storehouses of information regarding the matter and work of scholastic education, and remarkable for their cultivated race and humanist tendency. The Policraticus also sheds light on the decadence of the 12th-century court manners and the lax ethics of royalty. The theory of contemporaries "standing on the shoulders of giants" of Antiquity, attributed by him to Bernard of Chartres, first appears in written form in the Metalogicon. After the death of Theobald in 1161, John continued as secretary to his successor, Thomas Becket, and took an active component in the long disputes between that primate and his sovereign, Henry II, who looked upon John as a papal agent.

John's letters throw light on the constitutional struggle then agitating England. In 1163, John fell into disfavor with the king for reasons that advance obscure, and withdrew to France. The next six years he spent with his friend Peter of La Celle, now Abbot of St. Remigius at Reims. Here he wrote "Historia Pontificalis". In 1170, he led the delegation charged with preparing for Becket's return to England, and was in Canterbury at the time of Becket's assassination. In 1174, John became treasurer of Exeter cathedral.