Biography:John Blund

Short description: 13th-century Archbishop of Canterbury-elect and philosopher

John Blund
Archbishop of Canterbury-elect
Elected	26 August 1232
Quashed	1 June 1233
Predecessor	John of Sittingbourne
Successor	Edmund of Abingdon
Other posts	Chancellor of York
Orders
Consecration	never consecrated
Personal details
Born	c. 1175
Died	1248

John Blund (c. 1175–1248) was an English scholastic philosopher, known for his work on the nature of the soul, the Tractatus de anima, one of the first works of western philosophy to make use of the recently translated De Anima by Aristotle and especially the Persian philosopher Avicenna's work on the soul, also called De Anima. He taught at Oxford University along with Edmund of Abingdon. David Knowles said that he was "noteworthy for his knowledge of Avicenna and his rejection of the hylomorphism of Avicebron and the plurality of forms.", although the problem of the plurality of forms as understood by later scholastics was not formulated explicitly in Blund's time. Maurice Powicke calls him the "first English Aristotelian."

Blund was a royal clerk by 1227 and studied at Oxford and Paris, and was at the University of Paris when it was dispersed in 1229. He was a canon of Chichester before 1232. He was archbishop of Canterbury during a brief reign, having been elected on 26 August 1232. He was supported by Peter des Roches, but did not receive papal approval and the election was quashed because of alleged pluralism on 1 June 1233. Probably it was the support of des Roches that doomed his election to Canterbury, and the pluralism charge was cover for the real reason. He was appointed chancellor of the see of York before 3 November 1234, and died in 1248.

References

• Blund, Iohannes (1970). Daniel Callus and R. W. Hunt. ed. Tractatus de Anima. OUP/British Academy. ISBN 978-0-19-725635-0. https://archive.org/details/tractatusdeanima0000blun. 
• Dales, R. C. (1995). The Problem of the Rational Soul in the Thirteenth Century. Leiden. 
• Fryde, E. B.; Greenway, D. E.; Porter, S.; Roy, I. (1996). Handbook of British Chronology (Third revised ed.). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-56350-X. 
• Greenway, Diana E. (1971). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300. 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces). Institute of Historical Research. 
• Greenway, Diana E. (1996). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300. 5: Chichester. Institute of Historical Research. 
• Greenway, Diana E. (1999). Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300. 6: York. Institute of Historical Research. 
• Knowles, David (1962). The Evolution of Medieval Thought. London: Longman. 
• Lawrence, C. H. (2004). "Blund, John (c.1175–1248)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (May 2006 revised ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/2711. http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/2711. Retrieved 8 November 2007.  (subscription or UK public library membership required)
• Powicke, F. Maurice (1962). The Thirteenth Century 1216–1307. 

Further reading

• Russell, Josiah Cox (January 1928). "Master Henry of Avranches as an International Poet". Speculum 3 (1): 34–63. doi:10.2307/2848119. 
• Venables, Edmund (1886). "Blund, John le". in Stephen, Leslie. Dictionary of National Biography. 5. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 

Preceded by John of Sittingbourne

Archbishop of Canterbury Election quashed 1232

Succeeded by Edmund of Abingdon