John Blund () was an English scholastic philosopher, known for his work on the nature of the soul, the Tractatus de anima, one of the first works of western philosophy to make use of the recently translated De Anima by Aristotle and especially the Persian philosopher Avicenna's work on the soul, also called De Anima.Blund Tractatus de Anima He taught at Oxford UniversityKnowles Evolution of Medieval Thought p. 280 along with Edmund of Abingdon. David Knowles said that he was "noteworthy for his knowledge of Avicenna and his rejection of the hylomorphism of Avicebron and the plurality of forms.",Knowles Evolution of Medieval Thought p. 287 although the problem of the plurality of forms as understood by later scholastics was not formulated explicitly in Blund's time.Dales Problem of the Rational Soul p. 45 Maurice Powicke calls him the "first English Aristotelian."Powicke Thirteenth Century p. 56
Blund was a royal clerk by 1227 and studied at Oxford and Paris, and was at the University of Paris when it was dispersed in 1229.Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 5: Chichester: Unidentified Prebends He was a canon of Chichester before 1232. He was archbishop of Canterbury during a brief reign, having been elected on 26 August 1232.Fryde, et al. Handbook of British Chronology p. 233 He was supported by Peter des Roches, but did not receive papal approval and the election was quashed because of alleged pluralism on 1 June 1233.Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 2: Monastic Cathedrals (Northern and Southern Provinces): Canterbury: Archbishops Probably it was the support of des Roches that doomed his election to Canterbury, and the pluralism charge was cover for the real reason.Lawrence "Blund, John" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography He was appointed chancellor of the see of York before 3 November 1234, and died in 1248.Greenway Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 6: York: Chancellors
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