Boethius
c. 477 – c. 524 · Rome
Also known as Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
Feast: 23 October (Catholic)
Roman Christian senator, philosopher, and theologian. Wrote the Consolation of Philosophy in prison and the theological Opuscula Sacra (Tractates) defending Chalcedonian Christology and Trinitarian doctrine. Executed under Theodoric. Bridges classical philosophy and medieval scholasticism.
Imprisoned for treason and waiting for execution, Boethius wrote the Consolation of Philosophy — a dialogue between himself and Lady Philosophy about whether life means anything when fortune destroys you. It's one of the most-read books of the Middle Ages outside the Bible. Dante put him in Paradise. Chaucer translated him. Every later Christian who tried to think clearly about suffering, providence, and free will read Boethius first. The fact that he wrote it under sentence of death is part of the point.
Notable works
- ·The Consolation of Philosophy · 524
Primary sources
- ·Boethius, De Consolatione Philosophiae
- ·Boethius, Opuscula Sacra (Contra Eutychen et Nestorium, De Trinitate)
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