Page:Illustrations of the history of medieval thought and learning.djvu/44

26 and was so much trusted by the king, Louis the Pious, that when the latter succeeded to the empire of his father Charles, he raised Claudius, about the year 818, to the see of Turin. His reputation was that of an interpreter of the Bible. He wrote commentaries on most of the historical books of the Old Testament, on the Gospel according to saint Matthew, and apparently on all the Pauline Epistles. Of these however but one, on the Galatians, has been printed entire. The others are known only by prefaces and extracts; and some are not edited at all. It is not likely that we lose very much by our defective information about his works. He had not the faculty of lucid or graceful, or always even of grammatical, expression; and he repeatedly laments a defect which gave an irresistible opening to the ridicule of his literary enemies. Far less did he bring the light of speculation or of original genius to bear upon the books he expounded. He compiled from the fathers – Augustin was his chosen