On the Trinity

Written in the twelfth century by Richard of Saint-Victor, this treatise is a principal witness to a central current of Western intellectual history. In that tradition, love was considered the noblest thing in human life, and for that reason it was also the place where the highest being, God, could be perceived. Richard was a canon of the Abbey of Saint-Victor in Paris.

Richard treats love as something that exists between persons, so it requires at least two people. Yet the highest love has no room for private, self-regarding affection, so the two lovers must also extend their love to a third person.