SOURCE: Sheldon-Williams, I. P. “Introduction to Books I-III.” In Periphyseon (De Diuisione Naturae), by Iohannis Scotti Erivgenae, edited by I. P. Sheldon-Williams, pp. 1-34. Dublin: The Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies, 1968.

In the following excerpt, Sheldon-Williams offers an overview of Eriugena's life and describes four stages of development regarding the work that became De Diuisione Naturae.

1. the Author

Little is known of the life of the author of the Periphyseon, and no fresh biographical information has come to light since the publication of Dom Maïeul Cappuyns's exhaustive study in 1933.¹ Only a few words are necessary here to establish a background. That his name was John we know from contemporary manuscripts;² and to this was usually added the cognomen³ which indicated his origin, Scottus,⁴ or occasionally Scottigena.⁵ But the name which distinguishes him from all the other Johns and all the other Scots, Eriugena, was devised by himself...