John Blund

John Blund
Archbishop of Canterbury-elect
Elected	26 August 1232
Quashed	1 June 1233
Predecessor	John of Sittingbourne
Successor	Edmund of Abingdon
Other posts	Chancellor of York
Orders
Consecration	never consecrated
Personal details
Born	c. 1175
Died	1248

John Blund (or Johannes Blund, Iohannes Blondus, Iohannes Blundus; circa 1175–1248) was an English scholastic philosopher, known for his work on the nature of the soul, the Tractatus de anima, one of the first works of western philosophy to make use of the recently translated De Anima by Aristotle and especially the Persian philosopher Avicenna's work on the soul, also called De Anima.^[1] He taught at Oxford University^[2] along with Edmund of Abingdon. David Knowles said that he was "noteworthy for his knowledge of Avicenna and his rejection of the hylomorphism of Avicebron and the plurality of forms.",^[3] although the problem of the plurality of forms as understood by later scholastics was not formulated explicitly in Blund's time.^[4] Maurice Powicke calls him the "first English Aristotelian."^[5]

Blund was a royal clerk by 1227 and studied at Oxford and Paris, and was at the University of Paris when it was dispersed in 1229.^[6] He was a canon of Chichester before 1232. He was archbishop of Canterbury during a brief reign, having been elected on 26 August 1232.^[7] He was supported by Peter des Roches, but did not receive papal approval and the election was quashed because of alleged pluralism on 1 June 1233.^[8] Probably it was the support of des Roches that doomed his election to Canterbury, and the pluralism charge was cover for the real reason.^[9] He was appointed chancellor of the see of York before 3 November 1234, and died in 1248.^[10]

Citations

1. Blund Tractatus de Anima
2. Knowles Evolution of Medieval Thought p. 280
3. Knowles Evolution of Medieval Thought p. 287
4. Dales Problem of the Rational Soul p. 45
5. Powicke Thirteenth Century p. 56
6. Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 5: Chichester: Unidentified Prebends
7. Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 233
8. Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Canterbury: Archbishops
9. Lawrence "Blund, John" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
10. Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 6: York: Chancellors

References

• Blund, Iohannes (1970). Daniel Callus and R. W. Hunt, ed. Tractatus de Anima.
• Dales, R. C. (1995). The Problem of the Rational Soul in the Thirteenth Century. Leiden.
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X.
• Greenway, Diana E. (1971). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Canterbury: Archbishops. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
• Greenway, Diana E. (1996). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 5: Chichester: Unidentified Prebends. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
• Greenway, Diana E. (1999). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 6: York: Chancellors. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
• Knowles, David (1962). The Evolution of Medieval Thought. London: Longman.
• Lawrence, C. H. (2004). "Blund, John (c.1175–1248)" ((subscription or UK public library membership required)). Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (May 2006 revised ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2711. Retrieved 8 November 2007.
• Powicke, F. Maurice (1962). The Thirteenth Century 1216–1307.

Further reading

• Russell, Josiah Cox (January 1928). "Master Henry of Avranches as an International Poet". Speculum. 3 (1): 34–63. doi:10.2307/2848119. JSTOR 2848119.
•  Venables, Edmund (1886). "Blund, John le". In Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography. 5. London: Smith, Elder & Co.