The time from about A.D. 500 to 1400, which is known as the Middle Age, was influenced by some important men. Boethius, an Italian statesman, philosopher, and theologian, was one of those. Although the name of Boethius is not very popular today, he was very well known in the Middle Age. The Consolation of Philosophy and the Theological Tractates as well as his commentaries and translations of logical writings by Aristotle, are Boethius’ most significant contributions to the initiation and development of thought in the Middle Age.

Boethius was born in the year 480 in Rome, Italy. Actually, his real name is Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius. The last name indicates that he belonged to the great Anicii family. His father, a consul in Italy, died when Boethius was still very young. That, however, brought him into an even better family, as Symmachus adopted him. This family was considered as one of the richest and most illustrious families in the Roman Empire. Symmachus was the head of the Senate and a pillar of the Catholic Church at that time. He became the personal guard of Boethius. Later Boethius even became his son in law, when he married the daughter of Symmachus. Growing up in the household of Symmachus he gained an excellent education. He was taught in Greek, in Latin, philosophy, and theology. The Greek studies had a big impact on Boethius. Later in his life he had one of the biggest private libraries of that time. He had a passion for learning. As his father was the Roman consul in 487, he also became consul in 510 at the age of 30. His sons became consuls as well, when they were still children, seen as a reward for Boethius.

Even though Boethius’ main writing deals with philosophy, his writings can be divided into four major groups: the mathematic writings, whereas music, astronomy, arithmetic, and also geometry were included in this group (Quadrivium), translations from Greek into Latin and commentaries on logic, theological works, and the earlier mentioned Consolation of Philosophy. Through his early studies Boethius became a magister oficiorum, which was one of the highest state offices in the ancient west. The politics brought Boethius big success in a very short time. However, they made him fall as well in a very short time, as he was involved in the Roman Senate.

The Roman senator Albinus was accused of treason against the ruling east Gothic king Theodoric. As a consequence, the entire senate was charged of treason. Apparently, Boethius tried to protect the senate and put himself in charge of this accuse. During the trial he lost the support from the senate and got in charge of the Gothic King Theodoric.

Finally, Boethius was put to death charged of treason in a trial, which was not worthy to be called one, for he did not have the chance to defend himself. Before he received his penalty he was imprisoned for a long time. Obviously, he had the time and the material to write, because it was in his imprisonment time that he penned his greatest work; the Consolatio Philosophiae (Consolation of Philosophy). This work had a huge influence in the following years and decades and became one of the most read writings in the Middle Ages. Eventually, Boethius had to die. There are not a lot of details known about his death. Symmachus was executed with Boethius at the same time. Their deaths were seen as martyrdom for Christendom and consequently Boethius was recognized as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church later. After his death he became more and more famous.

Rightly, Boethius was acknowledged as the first scholar, since he also wrote on doctrines of the Catholic Church. He was also considered to be the founder of the Middle Age, for his influence was growing incredible during this time. Boethius authored a number of works, which explains why he had such a huge influence. Together with Aristotle and Augustine, Boethius was probably most influencing in Europe. The majority of the people did not know Greek in that time. Thus, even his translations of Greek works written by Aristotle and Porphyry were very significant for scholasticism. However, the most influencing writing is the Consolation of Philosophy. A lot of scholars referred to this work and used it for their own works.

Even though other writings of Boethius became less and less important in the beginning of the second millennium, they were still studied and regarded very well in the earlier Middle Age. They helped establishing twelfth-century thinking. The Consolation, however, enjoyed a longer acceptance in universities and schools even after 1200. This work was to read and study carefully for every scholar. The influence of it was evident throughout the Renaissance and early modernity.

Especially in England and Great Britain Boethius Consolation of Philosophy seemed to have a good reputation among the nation. King Alfred, Queen Elizabeth, and Geoffrey Chaucer translated the Consolation into English, because they were convinced of the significance of this work for everyone. They wanted the English nation to profit from this great work.

Helen M. Barrett tried to explain why his works had such a huge influence especially in the Middle Ages and clarified it best with this statement: “In those troubled centuries, the Dark and Middle Ages, during which the Consolation was most widely read, there were often periods when over great areas chaos and brute force prevailed rather than the ordered ways of civilized life. There must have been, many then to whom the questions which Boethius raised and tried to answer were of no mere academic interest, but came home with the poignancy of direct personal application.” (Barrett, Boethius – Some Aspects of his Times and Work)

The name and person of Boethius underwent great popularity and admiration throughout the Middle Age. However, he lost a lot of his popularity. There is just a minority of people today, who would know about him and his contribution to the process of humanity.