10 Abelard’s acute and competitive interest in combining philosophical and theological questions got him into trouble: “his first theological work, on the Trinity”, was “condemned as heretical”. 7 Bernard (the heresy-hunter 8 whose preaching against Henry the Monk 9 was part of the long ideological buildup to the Albigensian Crusade) “considered that Abelard did not so much invent a new heresy, as reassert old heresies, whether that of Arius, Pelagius, or Nestorius, all of which had been condemned by the Fathers of the Church”. Medieval Philosophy : An Historical and Philosophical Introduction (London: Routledge (.)Ĥ In his later years, Abelard was accused of heresy by the French abbot Bernard of Clairvaux. “Accusations of Heresy and Error in the Twelfth Century Schools: The Witness of G (.)
9 “Henry led a popular anti-clerical uprising, proclaiming a reform of marriage and elimination of de (.).8 “Otto of Freising described Bernard of Clairvaux as rather too ready to pounce upon hints of heresy (.).
Western Europe in the Middle Ages : A Short History (New York: Appleton-Century-C (.) 5 The Church disapproved of Abelard’s marriage (during this period, clerical celibacy was slowly being imposed on the Western Church 6 ), and his once-promising career ground to a halt (something we will see again centuries later in the story of John and Anne Donne). After “being found in bed together”, 4 Abelard and Heloise secretly married, in a failed attempt to satisfy Fulbert, even though neither had a high opinion of the institution. In the Letters, Heloise remembers the secret and passionate love-making in the convents and in her uncle’s house, clandestine meetings which resulted in Heloise getting pregnant. Who exactly this piece was meant for is unknown, but it has long served to give readers an intimate and painful portrait of the significant details of Abelard’s love for Heloise and the price both he and she paid for that love. 3 Abelard tells the story of how they met in Historia calamitatum or A Story of His Misfortunes, which he addresses to a “Friend”. According to Abelard, this new pupil Heloise, “in her outward appearance, was not the lowest but for her wealth in letters, she was supreme”.
3 “Quae cum per faciem non esset infirma, per abundantium litterarum erat suprema” (Peter Abelard and (.).It is a painful account of what Shakespeare would one day call the “marriage of true minds”, as the lovers are separated by difficult circumstances including a jealous uncle, castration, character assassination, shame, inner conflict, and religion.Ģ Abelard was an esteemed teacher and philosopher in Paris whose lectures drew students from all over Europe: Written around 1128, this Latin correspondence tells a story of love that is both of the body and the mind. The letters between Abelard and Heloise are among the world’s most vibrant embodiments of fin’amor, 1 as well as its most tragic testaments to the violence and determination of those who would prevent men and women from living and loving as they choose. 1 Jean Hagstrum observes that the story of Abelard and Heloise is “an invaluable guide to what lies b (.)ġ The brief flowering of the troubadours helps us to understand the love story, in twelfth-century Paris, of Peter Abelard and Heloise d’Argenteuil, who lived the passions and the dangers often spoken of in the poetry of the age.
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