FULBERT, fül"bār', OF CHARTRES: An early French prelate and scholar; b. between 952 and 962; d. at Chartres Apr. 10, 1028. His birthplace is variously given as Aquitaine, the diocese of Laudun, and the town of Chartres. After studying under Gerbert (later, Pope Sylvester II.) at Reims, he opened a school at Chartres where, in addition to the ordinary studies of the Trivium and Quadrivium, he lectured on medicine and theology. In 1006 he was made bishop of Chartres, in which character he became of importance in the political and theological controversies of the time. He was notable especially for his vindication of the rights of the Church against the encroachments of the turbulent nobility. His writings include letters of the highest interest for the ecclesiastical and political history of France, sermons, poems, and devotional forms. Some of his letters touch on dogmatic questions, and declare with considerable distinctness for the doctrine of transubstantiation. His significance lies in the services he rendered to the cause of the new thought which in his time was struggling into being. He continued the tradition of Gerbert, and, without evincing any marked creative ability, was eminently successful in handing down that tradition to distinguished pupils, among whom were Hugo of Langres, Adelmann and Berengar of Tours, His school at Chartres was, after Reims, “a second fertile nursery of learning, and not for France alone." He laid greater emphasis on the positive element in Gerbert's doctrine than on his dialectic and critical system, enjoining close adherence to the authority of the Fathers of the Church.

(F. NITZSCH†.)