Learning for Salvation's Sake: Durham Cathedral Priory and the Scholastic Revolution, c.1083-c.1200

Durham Cathedral Priory was an innovator in the pedagogic revolution of the twelfth century. This revolution was defined by the emergence of scholasticism, a system of learning that has almost exclusively been associated with the thought of university scholars such as Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas. Taking Durham as the primary test-case, this thesis will challenge perceptions of intellectual passivity among monastic communities in the period. In particular, it will demonstrate a dynamic engagement with the pedagogy of the Parisian School of St. Victor, which amalgamated monastic and scholastic learning, thus providing a path to salvation for Durham's scholar monks.