Jocelin of Soissons was a French theologian, a philosophical opponent of Abelard. He became bishop of Soissons, and is known also as a composer (commonly as Goslenus Suessionensis, or Magister Goslenus, episcopus Suessionensis), with two pieces in the Codex Calixtinus

Codex Calixtinus

The Codex Calixtinus is a 12th-century illuminated manuscript formerly attributed to Pope Callixtus II, though now believed to have been arranged by the French scholar Aymeric Picaud. The principal author is actually given as 'Scriptor I'....

. He was teaching at the Paris cathedral school in the early 1110s.

Bishop

He began work on the present Soissons Cathedral

Soissons Cathedral

Soissons Cathedral is a Gothic cathedral in Soissons, France. The construction of the south transept was begun about 1177, and the lowest courses of the choir in 1182. The choir with its original three-storey elevation and extremely tall clerestory was completed in 1211...

; it only took shape in the 1190s.

Abbot Suger

Abbot Suger

Suger was one of the last Frankish abbot-statesmen, an historian, and the influential first patron of Gothic architecture....

 addressed his history of Louis the Fat to him. In the papal politics of the late 1220s and 1230s, Suger counted Jocelin, at Soissons from 1126, as a supporter of Pope Innocent II

Pope Innocent II

Pope Innocent II , born Gregorio Papareschi, was pope from 1130 to 1143, and was probably one of the clergy in personal attendance on the antipope Clement III .-Early years:...

 against antipope Anacletus II

Antipope Anacletus II

Anacletus II , born Pietro Pierleoni, was an Antipope who ruled from 1130 to his death, in a schism against the contested, hasty election of Pope Innocent II....

, along with other bishops of northern France.

As bishop he founded Longpont Abbey

Longpont Abbey

Longpont Abbey was a Cistercian monastery, in present-day Longpont, Aisne, France.It existed from 1131 to 1793, being founded by monks from the abbey of Clairvaux, at the behest of Jocelin of Soissons. There is now a hotel on the site...

 in 1131, a Cistercian monastery supported by Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux

Bernard of Clairvaux, O.Cist was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian order.After the death of his mother, Bernard sought admission into the Cistercian order. Three years later, he was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val...

; Bernard was a correspondent. He favoured the Knights Templars, having participated in the Council of Troyes

Council of Troyes

There have been a number of councils held at Troyes:* 867 - proclaimed that no bishop could be disposed without reference to the Holy See* 1129 - convened by Pope Honorius II:...

 that gave them full standing. He was present at the 1146 Council of Arras, a probable occasion for the planning of the Second Crusade

Second Crusade

The Second Crusade was the second major crusade launched from Europe. The Second Crusade was started in response to the fall of the County of Edessa the previous year to the forces of Zengi. The county had been founded during the First Crusade by Baldwin of Boulogne in 1098...

.

Works

The De generibus et speciebus has been attributed to him. Now scholars call its author Pseudo-Joscelin. It may be by a student of his. The Metalogicus of John of Salisbury

John of Salisbury

John of Salisbury , who described himself as Johannes Parvus , was an English author, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres, and was born at Salisbury.-Early life and education:...

 attributed to him the view that universals exist only in the collection, not the individuals.