The Literary Encyclopedia
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Alexander of Hales
(1185 (?)-1245)

Active: 1205-1245 in England, Britain, Europe; France, Continental Europe

By Albrecht Classen (University of Arizona)

Indexing Data:

  • Active In: England, Britain, Europe; France, Continental Europe
  • Born In: England, Britain, Europe
  • Activity: Philosopher, Religious Writer, Theologian

Life, Works and Times

Reader Actions

Similar to John of Salisbury (ca. 1120-1180) [see entry], Alexander of Hales was one of the leading English scholars of his time, but he belonged to the next generation. Born at Hales Owen, Shropshire, into a wealthy family, he first attended his local monastic school, then went to Oxford, and continued with advanced studies in Paris where he earned the Master of Arts degree sometime before 1210. Subsequently he turned to theology and earned his doctorate sometime before 1220. From a comment by Roger Bacon (ca. 1210-1292) about Alexander, we know that he was Magister regens in the faculty of arts in 1210; ten years later he became Professor of Theology at the Un

This article in full comprises 1082 words but only the first 150 or so words are available to non-members.

All our articles have been written recently by experts in their field, more than 95% of them university professors. To read about membership,
please click here.

First published 28 May 2004

Citation: Classen, Albrecht. "Alexander of Hales". The Literary Encyclopedia. 28 May 2004.
[http://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=70, accessed 9 February 2010.]