French Guillaume d'Auvergne
born after 1180, Aurillac, France
died 1249, Paris
French philosopher and theologian.
Named bishop of Paris in 1228, William was a reformer who defended the rising mendicant orders against attacks by the secular clergy. After the church condemned the works of Aristotle , he became one of the first Western scholars to attempt to incorporate into Christianity whatever in Aristotle's thought was compatible with it. He was influenced by Avicenna and by the Neoplatonism of St. Augustine . His principal work, written in 1223–40, is Magisterium divinale ("The Divine Teaching").