William of Champeaux

William of Champeaux, born Guillaume de Champeaux around 1070 in Champeaux, Seine-et-Marne, was a French philosopher and theologian. He died on January 18, 1121, in Châlons-en-Champagne. After studying under Anselm of Laon and Roscellinus, he taught at the school of Notre-Dame in Paris, becoming a canon in 1103. Among his notable students was Peter Abelard. William was a proponent of Scholasticism and is considered a founder of an early version of moderate realism, a philosophy concerning the existence of universals. In 1108, he resigned his positions and retreated to the shrine of St Victor, where the abbey of St Victor was formed. He later became bishop of Châlons-en-Champagne in 1113 and supported Pope Callixtus II. His surviving works include fragments on the Eucharist and treatises on the soul and the nature of God. He also influenced Bernard of Clairvaux.