The Story of Abelard's Adversities

by Pierre Abélard, Joseph Thomas Muckle

Latin literature The 12th to the 14th century ...correspondence between Abelard and Héloïse reflects themes found in both verse collections. Abelard’s autobiographical work, the Historia calamitatum (written c. 1136; The Story of Abelard’s Adversities), recounts the story of his tragic love affair and its theological consequences.

Genres: History, Philosophy, Nonfiction, Medieval, Biography, Classics, Religion

80 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1135

About the author

Nominalist application of French theologian, philosopher, and composer Peter Abelard or Pierre Abélard of the principles of ancient Greek logic to the doctrines of the medieval Catholic Church led to charges of heresy; after his pupil Héloise, his pupil and the object of his lust affair, bore him a child, he secretly married her, whose angered family castrated him, after which he served as a monk.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_A...

Reviews

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 5 out of 5]

You know, some guys interpret the warning of taking “Heaven by storm” as an incentive to their aspirations. Such a one was Peter Abelard.

And so, alas, was I - to the point of imperilling my health.

Abelard, though, crossed A Bridge Too Far, by crossing the family of the noble young lady whom he was in the process of ‘educating.’ How did he do that?

I’ll let you guess.

Bottom line: what, do you think, did noblemen do in the Middle Ages to young swains who crossed the fine line of propriety with their daughters? Well, I gotta advise you to read this short classic to find that out.

Hint: it wasn’t nice. How to put a permanent crimp in your social life... yikes.

So here was Abelard, one of the pre-eminent theologians (and certainly the most unsettling of ‘em) of the Middle Ages... forced for THE FIRST TIME IN HIS LIFE to humbly fall back on his faith. A comeuppance for sure.

But if you’re a believer like me, you’ll see Higher Powers at work here!

Whatever you may think, Sic Transit Gloria.

That glory?

Being the most famous and most popular religious teacher and author in late Medieval France - and now suddenly becoming an abandoned tattered Tibetan Prayer Flag waving furiously in the unforgivingly frigid Himalayan wind.

Similar things happened to me in my life...

Impelled by popularity and success to seek higher and higher honours, I crashed when Reality bit hard.

The Daemon Knows, says Harold Bloom, that he’s impelling you to a region remote from the Rose Gardens of glory.

So a word to the wise:

Follow your Heart and your Soul, not your Gut Feeling!

Follow the RIGHT way...

To the end of your Quest.

[Mir · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never understood why the story of Abelard and Heloise is considered romantic. Abelard was a self-centered whiner who seems to have had no reservations about violating his monastic vows and the trust of his employer. He finagled a teaching position with the plan of beating his student so that she would give into his sexual demands:

he had entrusted a tender lamb to the care of a ravenous wolf. When he had thus given her into my charge, not alone to be taught but even to be disciplined, what had he done save given free scope to my desires... to bend her to my will with threats and blows if I failed to do so with caresses?

Is this an interesting and revelatory passage concerning how ideas of "love" change over time and cultures? Yes. Is it romantic? Not to me, at least. I'd totally be there with Heloise's brothers, castrating the teacher who knocked up my little sister. This story also peeves me because it serves as an exemplar against education for women.

Of course Abelard never blames himself for any of his problems; it is all due to the jealousy of others. For a text that is supposed to be romantic, Abelard spends a lot more time bragging about how brilliant he is and whining about how everyone is mean to him than thinking about Heloise. I suspect that most of his persecutions occurred because he was an intolerable prick.

And who the fuck names their baby Astrolabe?

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Había más besos que palabras. Mis manos se dirigían más fácilmente a sus pechos que a los libros."

La "Historia Calamitatum" o traducido como "Historia de mis calamidades" es un documento que escribió Pierre Abélard supuestamente a un amigo, se puede entender como una epístola abierta también donde el autor escribe sobre su vida y sus desventuras.
Él fue el famoso amante de Eloísa, la pareja sin duda más famosa de la Edad Media. Abélard siguió estudios de teología y dotado de una buena presencia física y una gran inteligencia fue durante mucho tiempo una celebridad en París. Existe hasta ahora divergencia sobre la importancia de sus escritos y razonamientos en la historia de la teología o filosofía francesa. Mientras algunas aseguran que fue una luminaria poniéndolo al nivel de Descartes otros niegan cualquier influencia original sobre los estudios de aquella época. Yo me decanto por un punto intermedio pues definitivamente por su influencia y por la gran oposición que tuvo de parte de sus detractores es imposible desmerecer sus estudios.
Cuando Abélard estaba en el culmen de su gloria, ya que tenía muchos alumnos e incluso había desplazado a los grandes teólogos de su tiempo, se enamoró de Eloísa, sobrina del canónigo Fulberto. Abélard, como él mismo confiesa, era una persona en ese entonces que había tenido algunas relaciones con mujeres y pocas eran las que se le resistían debido a su gran fama. Aunque afirma nunca tuvo tratos con prostitutas o con nobles, pues consideraba que podrían arruinar su vocación hacia el estudio y el pensamiento. Tanto así se consideraba a sí mismo como un sabio e incluso el mejor.
A pesar de este gran ego, él cayó ante los encantos de Eloísa. Ella fue una mujer muy preparada para su época pues conocía el latín, estudios teológicos, la Biblia y por supuesto algunos autores grecorromanos. Sumado ello a su gran belleza, eran para Abélard la manifestación suprema de la perfección en una mujer. O por lo menos así lo dice al inicio.
Definitivamente, el conocimiento unió a ambos, pues Eloísa era muy estudiosa y conocía mucho de lo que Abélard leía. Esto llevó a Abélard a concebir un plan totalmente intencionado para enamorarla y tener intimidad con ella. Se introdujo a su casa con la excusa de enseñarle como maestro. El tío de Eloísa aceptó y luego se llevó a cabo su relación. Él confiesa cómo le importaba poco en un momento el estudio y se dedicó a enamorarla y a tener relaciones prematrimoniales (en ese tiempo era por supuesto muy mal visto). La lujuria poseyó realmente al sabio y todo eso es contado de forma muy rigurosa. Esto para mí hace que el relato del autor suene bastante sincero en casi su totalidad y también confiesa abiertamente sus pecados, pues él al ser religioso sabe todo lo que ha hecho.
Luego, Eloísa sale embarazada y Abélard la rapta literalmente y la lleva a casa de su hermana donde nace un hijo Astrolabium. Abélard quiere casarse pero Eloísa con un sacrificio enorme se niega repetidamente pues consideraba una deshonra para él que deje sus estudios y además el peligro que podría traer por su familia.
Sin embargo, Abélard al final prometió al tío de Eloísa casarse y así lo hicieron pero totalmente en estricta privacidad. Luego de lo cual cada uno tomó caminos diferentes. Es decir, lo hicieron para contentar al tío, pero ya Eloísa había convencido a su amado que no debía dedicarse a ella ni a su hijo sino a hacer su propia carrera. Ella, por su parte, presionada por Abélard tomó órdenes como monja.
Esto ocasionó la rabia del tío y de sus amigos que cruelmente comerion el acto bárbaro de castrar a Abélard una noche. Este suceso tan importante y conocido de la vida de Abélard marcó sin duda su destino. Muchos son los que sostienen que a partir de esto sufrió de manía de persecución y pensó siempre que lo querían matar. También desde luego le dio bastante resignación pues muchas veces lo escuchamos asegurando que fue un castigo totalmente justo a su traición contra el tío de Eloísa. Ambos visitieron el hábito sagrado al mismo tiempo, él en la abadía de San Dionisio y ella en el convento de Argenteuil. Abélar confiesa que fueron la confusión y la vergüenza más que la sinceridad de la conversión las que lo empujaron a buscar un refugio en los claustros de un monasterio.
Sin embargo, ahí no acabaron sus problemas y a pesar de que quizás psicológicamente estaba afectado, no se puede negar una gran animadversión y persecución de sus enemigos, incluso dirigente eclesiásticos muy importantes. Llegaron hasta el extremo de obligarle a renegar de sus teorías y quemar sus libros.
Totalmente desproveído inició nuevamente su enseñanza y la legión de alumnos que siempre tenía lo siguió. Con ellos fundó el famoso Paráclito (consuelo) donde se dedicó a la enseñanza. Tiempo después se lo legó a Eloísa y a sus monjas. Cabe resaltar que Abélard vivió todo el tiempo perseguido (él asegura que quisieron envenenarlo muchas veces, pero esto no siempre es creíble) mientras que Eloísa fue totalmente venerada por la gente, incluso por los enemigos de Abélard.
Éste, a pesar de su gran orgullo se nota que sufrió mucho pues le arrebataron muchas cosas. Quizás lo que más le dolió fue su fama y el lugar que se había ganado entre los más sabios de su tiempo. Este libro que cuenta su vida me pareció muy bien expuesto, redactado, aunque es cierto es muy personalista y parcial. Puede aburrir un poco porque tiene muchas citas bíblicas, que ayudan al autor a justificar su comportamiento o sus doctrinas. Los aspectos teológicos también pueden parecer pesados pero desde luego es el quid de la vida de Abélard y la razón por la que fue denostado también. Se expresa a veces mal de Eloísa aunque cuenta bastante bien su humildad. También se señala como pecador y sus malos pasos. Considero que es un documento realista como pocos y sobre todo producido en una época que confesar ciertas cosas era impensable. Creo que ambos sabían el lugar que ocupaban en la historia, por algo son tan conocidos hasta nuestra época.
Abélard murió el 20 de abril de 1142. Tenía sesenta y tres años. Sus restos mortales fueron enterrados en el Paráclito. Y allí fueron puestos también a su lado los restos mortales de Eloísa veintiún años después (1164).

"Soportemos todas estas cosas con tanta mayor seguridad cuanto más injustas nos parezcan. No nos queda duda de que si no añaden nada así nuestros méritos, al menos contribuyen a expiar nuestros pecados"

[Jovana Autumn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abelard's story reminds me stylistically of those diaries I used to write in high school when I found myself "exceptionally smart" and everyone else, by default, less intelligent.

Nowadays I wish I had that confidence in life; review to come.
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Abelard had a huge impact on philosophy and theology, he was a rationalist, a debater, a logician, a scholastic philosopher. He had revolutionary ideas for the time, sometimes called a forerunner of modern empiricism, a harbinger of modern self-reflective autobiography, a precursor of Spinoza, Rousseau, now referred to as a twelfth-century Descartes. He further developed the concept of limbo, he introduced the moral influence theory of atonement, in short: he was an influential persona of the time. Yet the world chooses to remember him as one of the two lovers in the “incredible love story of Abelard and Heloise.”

Although their letters are of quality, this man had a lot more to offer, a lot of reasons to be known for in history rather than to be put in a box labeled “medieval philosopher lover”.

As for this work, in particular, it’s a confessional bit of writing, a first-person narration of the author writing out his life tale from his highly subjective point of view. Some parts are hyperbolized and some skipped over – the overall tone is one of lamentation, the whole world is against the brilliance of Abelard. At times even melodramatic, but a fast and dare I say, even a humorous read? Or at least that was my impression while reading.
Stylistically not of tremendous value for literature, its worth lies in the self-reflection of the subject writing the story, not everyone’s cup of tea for sure.

[Renée · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funniest twelfth-century book ever. I'm an obvious Abelard-devotee (despite being an atheist, who cares) and love him and his work to bits, but this book really is extremely underrated. It's bitter and angry, but that just makes it rather hilarious. Anyone with knowledge of all the great twelfth-century intrigues within the church and intellectual world would love this, but perhaps everyone else would as well. Give it a shot, it's very short and you've got nothing to loose. One of my all-time favourites.

(For those who are unfamiliar with Abelard, he was a twelfth century theologian/philosopher with a rather tragic life. He fell in love with Heloise, whose uncle had him castrated (long story, but basically the uncle thought Abelard wouldn't marry Heloise, which he actually had, and thought that Abelard would leave Heloise alone with their child, and so the uncle got pissed off and had two men castrate Abelard. After the incident he became a monk, and Heloise a nun. They wrote many letters to each other, and those letters are perhaps the reason for their fame), he almost got lynched while being abbot in Brittany for disagreeing with his monks and he got excommunicated by the church twice, despite being a rather devoted Christian. Needless to say, he wasn't a happy bunny after all of this, and thus he wrote this "Historia Calamitatum".)

[Viji (Bookish endeavors) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Persuasive,emotional and beautiful..

Reading this book was like getting a family pack ice-cream(my flavor is vanilla,by the way) after eating plain bread for a month. It had everything that a book needs-a good story,interesting characters and beautiful writing style. Abelard sounded arrogant at times with his elephant-size pride and supreme conviction of his superiority. Like in this sentence,
“So distinguished was my name, and I possessed such advantages of youth and comeliness, that no matter what woman I might favour with my love, I dreaded rejection of none.”
Vanity and pride isn't considered good in a Christian,is it.? It is that part which made me give only four stars to this book..

Philosophy isn't discussed much considering the fact that this is the autobiography of a philosopher. But certain theological arguments had been cited when the situation demanded it. For example,he couldn't have elaborated on the persecutions if he didn't explain the problem he faced on his explanation of Trinity. And considering the number of pages employed,this book is an excellent account of one's life. He had tried to add all the significant incidents and the only problem was his exaggeration of his own positives and his enemies' faults. But we are all humans and we often tend to do so.

As a book,this was an interesting read.

[Cooper Ackerly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Having exercised more self-control than Abelard apparently did in his entire life by not making lewd comments about the whole Abelard-and-Heloise thing, I can only observe that Abelard was insufferable, smarter than everyone in the room and knew it, gifted with an invective that would have made him a wonderful literary critic, and redeemed from his gross sexism only by the fact that he fell in love with Heloise, who was obviously more awesome than he was.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found Abelard to be egotistical and obnoxious. He has a real victim complex and really pats himself on the back for totally taking advantage of Heloise, who has a totally different version of things.

[Ai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Con pretexto de la ciencia nos entregamos totalmente al amor, y el estudio de la lección nos ofrecía los encuentros secretos que el amor deseaba. Abríamos los libros, pero pasaban ante nosotros más palabras de amor que de la lección. Había más besos que palabras. Mis manos se dirigían más fácilmente a sus pechos que a los libros. Con mucha más frecuencia el amor dirigía nuestras miradas hacia nosotros mismos que la lectura las fijaba en las páginas. Para infundir menos sospechas, el amor daba de vez en cuando azotes, pero no de ira. Era la gracia —no la ira— la que superaba toda la fragancia de los ungüentos.

Cuanto más dominado estaba por la pasión, menos podía entregarme a la filosofía y dedicarme a las clases. Me era un tormento ir a clase y permanecer en ella. Igualmente doloroso me era pasar en vela la noche esperando el amor, dejando el estudio para el día.

[A.J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great little autobiographical book of a mediaeval philosopher who, though with an extremely healthy ego, suffered some horrendous misfortunes, thus his 'calamitous history'.

Abélard is most famous for two things- his long-lasting love affair and letters with Héloïse, and the tragedy laid upon him by her vengeful uncle who sent men to violently castrate him. It all began when he was a young and famous philosopher in the Paris area. He had studied at the prestigious cathedral school of Notre-Dame. Philosophy then was something of a social sport, where great minds might debate each other in front of an audience of students and philosophers vied for having the largest and most loyal class of students to teach and expound to, still reminiscent of how the Greek philosophers did things. According to himself, Abélard was extremely successful at all this very early on, especially as a debater where he would witheringly destroy his opponents arguments with ease (it wouldn't have been out of place if he'd said 'and then everybody clapped'). He didn't even show mercy to his former mentor to whom when he saw an opportunity 'destroyed' his arguments as well. Of course, Abélard could have been exaggeratedly boasting here, but regardless he did quickly become a successful philosopher and debater. He basically had the world at his feet, and he greatly enjoyed it, but he also blithely created enemies by his arrogance and willingness to turn on anyone including a former mentor.

At some point, Abélard had a nervous breakdown where he retreated to his small rural hometown for some years to recover. In this book he only says he had a sickness he needed to recover from. We don't really know what caused it or much about it.

When he had sufficiently recovered he resumed his career but often moved around between schools in Paris and other cities and towns in France, including founding some himself. I'm not sure how common these constant movements would have been among philosophers of the day, but it sounds like he did so much more than average, and certainly his moves often had something to do with his enemies and rivals somehow or another forcing it, as he himself states. Despite these constant setbacks he was still successful and even became the master at the cathedral school of Notre-Dame at one point, which was among the most prestigious appointments possible. According to himself, he was so successful that he had thousands of students following him around and he considered himself the only undefeated philosopher in the world.

In the precincts of Notre-Dame lived a girl or woman (her age at the time is disputed) named Héloïse who lived with her canon uncle and was very well-educated, which was very rare for a female of the time, and as a result she was somewhat famous herself as the most intelligent female in the city. One of the drawbacks of being a philosopher at that time is that they were supposed to live a somewhat ascetic life, where at the least they were supposed to stay unmarried and not give into any temptations of the flesh. This was incumbent to any successful philosopher. Abélard had heretofore adhered to these rules, but for whatever reason was very attracted to either Héloïse or the idea of Héloïse; he may have been attracted by her appearance, her intelligent mind, her status as the most intelligent female around, or some combination thereof. Regardless, he decided to pursue her by applying to become her private live-in tutor, to which her uncle gladly agreed considering Abélard’s esteemed fame, and as Abélard had up to now lived a life very much within the rigid expectations of a philosopher, the uncle had no worries about anything amiss happening.

Their love affair began very quickly and though they tried to keep it hidden, the uncle found out. Abélard told Héloïse he would marry her, but she refused on the grounds that it would ruin his philosophical career. The uncle tried to keep them apart but it didn’t really work and they still found ways to rendezvous. Unsurprisingly, Héloïse became pregnant and was sent to Abélard’s relatives to give birth, where the baby was left with his sister to be raised and Héloïse returned to her uncle’s. Finally, as a compromise they agreed to marry to appease her uncle as long as the marriage would stay secret so as not to ruin Abélard’s career.

This may have worked, except that the uncle, Fulbert, could not contain himself and started to let it be known that Héloïse and Abélard were married. It’s not really known why, but perhaps rumours of their affair had become known thus sullying Héloïse’s (and thus the family) reputation, so maybe Fulbert decided to break the agreements of the compromise and tell others of the marriage to help restore their good standing. Héloïse vehemently denied this marriage to anyone who inquired and with her uncle being prone to easy anger, she incurred his wrath and abuse because of this. With the situation thus becoming untenable, Abélard arranged for her to be secreted away to a convent to protect her from her uncle.

However, when Fulbert found out, he saw the situation very differently- he thought Abélard was getting rid of Héloïse to forget her and continue his career unencumbered by her or their secret marriage. This enraged Fulbert, and it’s under these conditions that he sent thugs to separate Abélard’s manhood from his person. With the help of one of Abélard’s own employees, they snuck into his room one night and attacked him, leaving him thus mutilated.

Abélard physically recovered quite easily and well for someone thus attacked in these dark times, but of course this left severe and profound damage to not only his body but his psyche. For Fulbert’s part, he ran away but was later apprehended and disciplined (I can’t remember what his punishment was but it was fairly light for what he’d done; I don’t think there was any prison or physical punishments). Some of the thugs were captured and their punishment was much harsher; I also don’t remember theirs exactly but I think it might have been to also be separated from their manhood as well as blinded, or something like that.

After the attack, in shame Abélard decided to hide himself away as a monk in an out of the way monastery. Oddly, at the time having one’s manhood was a requirement of having certain positions and offices, and so any prospects of achieving a higher position in the church were now cut off from him so he had to settle for this. At the same time, he wanted Héloïse to become a nun; she resisted at first but gave in, although despite his mutilation or maybe even because of it, she remained intensely devoted to him for the rest of her life. They rarely saw each other in person again but often corresponded by letters full of passion and intellectual fervour.

These weren’t the end of Abélard’s misfortunes. He slowly regained his supremely healthy ego and began writing on philosophy and teaching at the monastery, in the little out of the way cottage they housed him in. With his reputation back on the upswing so his enemies’ opposition to him returned with full force. He was charged with heresy, had his book burned, and was briefly exiled from his monastery. Once he returned to his monastery, he growingly irritated the monks there by debating theological beliefs and eventually left the monastery.

He the formed his own place in a deserted area to live as a poor hermit, but students flocked there and it grew as a religious oratory. His enemies deeply criticised this because he was a monk teaching philosophical theological debate at a new religious institution. Thus he eventually left there as well as he could have been charged with something and maybe even imprisoned if he didn’t. However, this place grew and in fact Héloïse ended up there in the new convent built on the spot where she remained the rest of her days.

Having to find another place to stay, Abélard thought of fleeing Christendom completely, but instead accepted a post to preside over a far-flung rural abbey in Brittany. The area was wild with outlaws all around and the abbey itself housed amoral monks that Abélard intensely disagreed with. He tried to restore some order there but found it impossible and so he left there as well to travel around teaching, though nominally remaining as head of the abbey and returning every so often. It was during this time that he wrote this autobiography.

The book is full of exaggerated boasting, but since we don’t really have many contemporaneous accounts of certain aspects we don’t know exactly how much of any aside boast is true or not. It is also full of self-pitying which, considering the tragedies that did happen to him, is understandable. As well, it’s marked by pretty intense paranoia of people always out to get him, but honestly considering his fame and looking at the ways others -did- manage to get him throughout his life, the paranoia doesn’t seem so off either. There are some people who have a special un-self aware ability to aggravate others to the point of others wishing harm on them, and Abélard seemed to have this ability in spades. Despite everything that happened to him, this ability seemed to stay with him his entire life and for all his intelligence, wit and fame he was woefully unadept at dealing with people and protecting himself and his position from them. I was reminded a little bit of Sisyphus in that he could use his many talents to build himself up only to be torn down each time, but he always had the drive to do it again.

In contemporary times there’s been attention paid to what age Héloïse was when they first began their affair, and whether or not or how much he might have preyed on her. She could have been anywhere from 13 or 15 all the way up to early 20s or even later 20s when they first met. According to him here, he initiated everything and indeed seeked the tutorship position for the exact reason of having a means to seduce her. However, in her writings that aren’t included here she maintains that she was attracted to him first and she instigated the affair.

While we’ll probably never know the truth and while many consider him a troubling figure because of this issue and especially with more current efforts to combat sexual abuse such as the Me Too movement, I have to think it’s more likely that her version of events is the closer to the Occam’s Razor ring of being correct. At the time, she didn’t really have any reason to lie about the events, especially in a letter to Abélard when they both lived through the said events. But even considering others might read the letters, the idea of a man wooing a possibly mid-teens or even young-teens girl was mostly accepted so she’d have no real reason to defend him on that regard. That wasn’t what he was criticised for at the time; contemporary critics were against him (and her) having sex outside of marriage, and a philosopher having sex at all. There is the possibility she’d still prefer to cast herself as the instigator to minimise any criticism of him for those things, and if she were so young at the time she could have a Stockholm Syndrome-like compassion for her agressor.

However, I feel the motivations for him to be the one lying are the greater. He was writing a public autobiography for all to read (well, the few who were literate anyway). Women were more severely criticised for sexual misconduct (then as today), and by this time Héloïse was a respected nun. By taking all the blame for the affair on himself, he could be seen as trying to keep her reputation in good standing. As well, it seems he wasn’t otherwise a womaniser or predator except for possibly this encounter with Héloïse. Of course there could very well be trysts and encounters between him and others that we’ll never know about, but on the face of it she may have been the only person he ever even had sex with, and he stayed emotionally close to and attached to her (even if it was impossible to be physically close) for the rest of his life. It could be argued that Fulbert was right in that Abélard was trying to get rid of Héloïse by sending her to a convent and if not for his tragic castration might have forgot about her or even moved onto other women, but again looking at the facts available this seems less likely. For whatever reason and with whatever age Héloïse was at the time, the two quickly developed a very intense bond that lasted their entire lives.

Overall I think these lives are fascinating, and while the book itself can be dry and sometimes have tiresome theological diversions, it’s a short and compelling read, and gives insight into these famous mediaeval lovers.

[Enrico Schiavo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaiah was sawed to death in his equator. Jonah was swallowed by a fish. Habakkuk travelled through the air suspended by his hair. Amos got his teeth pulled out one by one for "talking too much". St. Ignatius of Antioch was eaten by lions. St. Lawrence got toasted. St. Hyppolitus was torn apart by horses. And if I'm not mistaken, Jesus Christ was himself nailed to a cross through his hands and feet.

And they became saints, prophets and one of them is definitely the son of God Himself. And you, Abelard, oh my, you've got nothing, poor you. Origen castrated himself and didn't get promoted. Do you see him moaning and making such a fuss out of this? Well, do you? No! He just sits there quietly and... Oh who am I kidding? Last week I convoluted in bed and screamed in pain due to bowel movements. Who am I to judge you, poor Abelard?

No one cares.

"The funniest book you've ever read in your life is from the 12th century.", I thought to myself. "Well, this is kind of shocking." And it tells a story of misfortunes.

As La Rochefoucauld would put it, 500 years after such turmoil:
"Nous avons tous assez de force pour supporter les maux d'autrui."
Wait. But he also said: "L’orgueil ne veut pas devoir, et l’amour-propre ne veut pas payer."

No need to conjure that cranky french maxim-writer. After all, who cares about a whiny, self-centered monk who's been dead for almost nine centuries?

[Betty · Rating 2 out of 5]

This autobiography has a little about Abelard's childhood, a lot on his college years and early years as a teacher, his relationship with Heloise, and his years as a monk. He wrote it when he was about 53 years old. I found it irritating how he was constantly paranoid that others were out to do him harm- he's just obsessed with this. I think he would have been happiest if he had filled a wagon full of books and then gone to live in a nice quiet cave. I liked how when he wanted to marry Heloise she did her best to dissuade him, saying that he was too intelligent to be "chained to a wife" and he shouldn't waste his time chasing around after a bunch of kids. If only more people thought like that today.

[Bonnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Peter Abelard was not well loved by his contemporaries - they were afraid of his new scholastic approach to analyzing fine points of scripture; they resented the brilliance and creativity of his mind; they were furious at his popularity with the young students at the University in Paris. Of course, his dalliance with Heloise gave them ammunition to discredit him - not only did he lose his cojones - he lost his position as lecturer and served out the rest of his days as abbot of a monastery. That's not all there is to the story - but it's a start.

[Paulio Himmelmench · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly readable for being, what, like 1,000 years old?

[Jeremiah Lorrig · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is so much humanity packed into so few pages. This medieval teacher tells of the roller coasters of life and seeks to explain how even with the misfortunes of a misfortunate life—life has meaning when you have faith.

Now, I tend to think that most of his misfortunes were self inflicted because he was an arrogant brat. But I guess it is easy to be an arrogant brat when you are crazy smart and even your enemies have to admit that you’ve never lost a debate (he was a debate coach of sorts).

He is also popular among people who love to put faith against reason and then mock faith, but he does not seem to embrace that model, despite that reputation. So, that analysis seems off base—but I’m not a scholar of medieval philosophy, so maybe I’m missing something. But then again, “experts” sometimes make more of things than they should.

But if you want a soul filled autobiography my a man who was the leading scholar of the era, had an infamous scandal, but devoted himself to education and a life as a monk—but also picked fights with the biggest mega church pastors and religious influencers of the era—I recommend this short book!

[N Perrin]

This is an autobiography of a tortured genius. And while that is nothing new, it was a pioneering work when it was written in the 1130s.

And while a man writing about his own intelligence may often beg scrutiny or skepticism, Abelard was in fact as brilliant a mind as they come. He was arguably the father of the secular university. He was a poet and wrote music. He single-handedly reinvented logic, philosophy, and theology after they had remained essentially static for six hundred years. It is even more impressive that he did this in the early twelfth century when to subvert an entire consolidated apparatus of institutional learning was historically without precedent and inconceivable. Imagine if the university system today were stable and healthy and one man published a book that brought the whole enterprise into question.

So Abelard was an intelligent man, but that never comes without its costs. While he frankly admits the gift that God had granted him, he bemoans the suspicion, envy, and malice of those who surround him, including his old teacher and other superiors. And frankly historical record does back it up.

Abelard did face a series of decapitations, even if he never did lose his head.

There was Heloise. A young beautiful girl of letters. Rare in that many women can read but few are actually literate. He does the tutor/school-girl cucked uncle scenario. She gets pregnant, births a son they cruelly name Astrolabe. Uncle not too happy. After some drama, uncle send men to cut off Abelard's balls while he is asleep. The men are caught but only after the deed is done. The next morning the entire village gathers outside Abelard's lodgings and mourns with him over his injury. They weep together. Comical? Perhaps. I personally think the most humiliating part is that the uncle's name was Fulbert. To be castrated by a man named Fulbert is quite a burden to bear.

Heloise begs Abelard to return to philosophy because she would only hinder him from his destiny. He says they can make it work, but she is insistent:

"Remember that Socrates was chained to a
wife, and by what a filthy accident he himself paid for this blot on
philosophy, in order that others thereafter might be made more cautious by his example."

This convinced him, and so they rendered themselves chaste for the sake of his destiny.

Some time after that Abelard's hot best-seller Sic et Non was ordered to be burned alongside his other writings, arguably because it was written too clearly and solved problems that lay people should not know how to discuss.

He was sent off to a monastery. Before long, he became odious to the leaders there and they contrived to have him kicked out for speaking disparagingly of a long-dead abbot.

He wandered the wilderness where flocks of people came to learn logic from him. This frustrated the church authorities who were losing congregants to this rogue scholar, and so they punished him further.

The book ends here but not Abelard's troubles. He became entangled in a dispute with one of the most famous theologians of that century, Bernard of Clairvaux. For those who are not aware, Bernard of Clairvaux was the prototype soy boy. God is a lovey-dovey teddy bear and can't we all get along. He also manipulated the pope into launching the Crusades for sentimental reasons.

Bernard did not like Abelard. He in fact pleaded with the pope, arguing that Abelard used too much logic and this was dangerous. Bernard preferred feels. Eventually, the pope agreed and excommunicated Abelard and placed an order of silence on him.

So Abelard died castrated, excommunicated, books burned, forbidden from teaching. His last words were "I don't know."

-

Sometimes, it feels like Abelard is just snorting a fat dose of cope.

It is hard not to imagine that Abelard was a pompous ass in his dealings with other intellectuals. He may have been the kind of guy who thought he could destroy anyone with facts and logic. Perhaps the horny monks (Bernard) were mad that he got laid and actually knew what earthly love meant when they were stuck in endless circles talking about the superiority of abstract, heavenly love. Perhaps no great thing can be accomplished without an immoderate degree of paranoia or persecution complex.

Nietzsche, who himself is a funny candidate on this count, argued that greatness can never be permitted to exist in the world. For the forces of weakness will combine together so that their aggregate resentment can destroy anything superior to them. Again sounds like a coping mechanism. But read Abelard's clarity and insight, compare it to the obtuse and abstruse prose of his contemporaries. And there may be some truth to that after all.

The institutionalized intelligentsia will regulate the world of ideas to propagate their own mediocrity while actively styming intellectual innovation or those who rise above. This is merely the nature of things. It has been so ever since publicly recognized groups prided themselves on their fancy words.

Whether intellectual greatness can endure such resistance in one form or another rests merely on historical accident.

[Eileen · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars

[Hedvig Wilhelmina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abelard’s writing is as beautiful as he is disgusting and despicable. I can give it four stars because I found his complete lack of self awareness to be hilarious and his comeuppance was fantastic ❤️

[Rebeca · Rating 3 out of 5]

this man's life was wild omg

[George Trudeau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spicy! 🌶️ story of a promiscuous, self-conceited, hyper-rationalistic monk who was castrated and charged with heresy.

[Luisa Anna · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐
uno dei meno peggio che questa scuola mi abbia fatto leggere

[Jamie Barringer (Ravenmount) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually read this book online through Project Gutenberg. It is a memoir telling the story of Abelard's life and adventures, with particular focus on his epic romance. But, of course, this is a story which took place during the 12th century AD, adding an interesting layer of historical interest to what otherwise reads as a rather modern tale.

[Alejandro Garcia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pobre Abelardo, todo lo que paso este tipo. Es una autobiografía corta, sencilla de entender de este lógico, maestro, eclesiástico del siglo XII que combatía con quien se le pusiera enfrente. Se enamoró, le fue mal, muy mal, lo perseguía la envidia, el rencor de sus enemigos y una época hostil para nuevas ideas. 3 puntitos porque ya conocía toda la historia y no me sorprendió para nada.

[Greg Coates · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much whining and griping; not enough theological reflection on suffering from a supposedly brilliant mind. He's just an arrogant prick, a case study in what theologians hope not to become.

[Helmuts · Rating 4 out of 5]

A millenia old text, you don't get to read a thriller like this very often!

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE AMAZING (AND EVEN SHOCKING) STORY OF THE MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHER’S LIFE

Peter Abelard (1079-1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher and theologian. The eminent French neo-Thomist philosopher Étienne Gilson wrote in his Preface to this edition, “In the Latin literature of the Middle Ages, the story of Abelard’s adversities occupies a place which can truly be called unique… As though trouble were his natural element and with his own career and his adventures as a knight-errant in the schools of philosophy, he was always willing to challenge any adversary. Add to this the extraordinary romance of his sentimental adventures, which he did not hesitate to relate with somewhat blunt honesty, and it will become quite apparent that… this tale of Abelard constitutes a most welcome … port of call that no one would care to miss. Even apart from the unforgettable Heloise, many picturesque characters animate the scene about Abelard. The world of the twelfth-century schools, of whose daily life and routine we know so little, discloses some of its secrets…”

Abelard notes of his student days, “giving up in favor of my brothers the pomp of military glory… Since I preferred the armor of logic to all the teaching of philosophy, exchanged all other arms for it and chose the contests of disputation above the trophies of warfare. And so, practicing logic I wandered about the various provinces wherever I heard the pursuit of this art was vigorous… I finally reached Paris where this branch of learning was especially cultivated and enrolled under William of Champeaux… at first I was welcome but after a while he found me burdensome as I began to question some of his statements and quite often to argue against his position; sometimes I was apparently the winner in the discussions…” (Pg. 12)

He continues, “I returned to him to hear him lecturing on rhetoric… I forced him by clear proofs from reasoning to change, yes, to abandon his own stand on universals… Once William … under compulsion had abandoned his position, his lectures bogged down into such carelessness that they could scarcely be called lectures on logic at all, as though the whole art were confined to the problems of universals. From then on my teaching gained such strength and prestige that those who formerly had somewhat vigorously championed the position of our master and had most forcefully attacked mine now flocked to my school and even he who had taken over the chair of our master in the cathedral school of Paris offered his place to me that along with the other students he might follow my lectures right where our common master had held sway.” (Pg. 16-18)

He says of Anselm (who was advanced in age by this time), “And so I enrolled under this old man whose great name rested on long practice rather than on ability or learning. If one in doubt about some point consulted him, he left him in greater doubt. He was a wonder in the minds of his listeners, but a nobody in the estimate of his questioners. He had a remarkable command of language, but it was despicable with respect to meaning and devoid of sense… Realizing this, I did not delay long in the idleness of his shadow…” (Pg. 21)

He founded his own school in Paris, and “My lectures proved so popular with my hearers that they considered I had acquired no less charm in lecturing in divinity than they had witnessed in philosophy… and the financial gain and glory which accrued to me you know well from report. But success always puffs up fools and worldly repose weakens the strength of one’s mind and readily loosens its fiber through carnal allurement… I, who up to that time had lived most chastely, began to relax the reins on my passions. And the more success I had in philosophy and sacred science, the more I withdrew from philosophers and divines through an unclean life…” (Pg. 25)

Famously, he recounts, “There lived in Paris a maiden named Heloise, the niece of a canon named Fulbert, who from his deep love for her was eager to have her advance in all literary pursuits possible… And as gift of letters is rare among women, so it… made her the most renowned woman in the whole kingdom. I considered all the qualities which usually inspire lovers and decided she was just the one for me to join in love… And so, all on fire with love for her, I sought opportunities to enable me to make her familiar with me by private and daily association, the more easily to win her over… I arranged with her uncle to receive me at his own price into his home … on the pretext that the care of my household greatly interfered with my studies and proved too heavy a financial burden… I easily gained his assent… He put his niece entirely under my control that whenever I was free upon returning from school I might devote myself night and day to teaching her… Two factors especially kept him from suspecting any wrongdoing, namely his fondness for his niece and my own reputation in the past for chastity.” (Pg. 26-28)

He continues, “What was the result?... We opened our books but more words of love than of the lesson asserted themselves. There was more kissing than teaching; my hands found themselves at her breasts more often than on the book… And the more these pleasures engaged me, the less time I had for philosophy and the less attention I gave to my school… I became negligent and indifferent in my lectures… Such a course could have escaped the notice of … no one at all, except the … uncle of the maiden… For it is hard for us to suspect those we love and the taint of suspicion of evil cannot exist along with strong affection.” (Pg. 28-29)

He goes on, “not long afterwards the girl noticed that she was pregnant and she wrote me about it with great exultation and asked what I thought should be done. One night, when her uncle was away, I secretly took her from his house… and had her taken directly to my native place. There she stayed with my sister until she gave birth to a boy whom she named Astralabe. Upon his return, her uncle almost went mad and no one could appreciate … the shame he felt… He was very much afraid that, if he maimed or killed me, his dear niece would pay for it in my native place… After a while I began to sympathize with him… I went to see him and begging forgiveness, promised to make whatever amends he decided on… I made an offer beyond his fondest hopes to make satisfaction by marrying her whom I had defiled, provided this be done secretly so that my reputation would not be damaged. He agreed… He thereby became on good terms with me … but he did it only the more easily to betray me…” (Pg. 30-31)

But Heloise “went on to point out what a risk it would be for me to take her back and that it would be dearer to her and more honorable to me to be called my lover than my wife so that her charm alone would keep me for her, not the force of a nuptial bond; she also stated that the joys of our meeting after separation would be the more delightful as they were rare. When she could not divert me from my mad scheme … she sighed deeply and in tears ended her final appeal as follows: ‘If we do this, one fate finally awaits us: we shall both be ruined and sorrow will thereby pierce our hearts equal in intensity with the love with which they are now aflame.’” (Pg. 37)

Then, “her uncle and the members of his household seeking solace for his disgrace began to make our marriage public… Heloise on her part cursed and swore that it was a lie. Her uncle … kept heaping abuse upon her. When I found this out, I sent her to the convent of nuns … where as a young girl she had been brought up and received instruction. I had a religious habit… made for her and had her vested in it. When her uncle and his kinsmen heard of this they considered that now I have fooled them and that by making her a nun I wanted easily to get rid of her. They… formed a conspiracy. One night when I was sound asleep… by bribing my attendant they wrought vengeance upon me in a cruel and shameful manner and one which the world with great astonishment abhorred, namely, they cut off the organs by which I had committed the deed which they deplored. They immediately fled but two of them were caught and had their eyes put out and were castrated; one of these was my servant … who… was brought by greed to betray me.” (Pg. 38)

He recalls, “I felt the embarrassment more than the wound and the shame was harder to bear than the pain. I fell to thinking how great had been my renown and in how easy and base a way this had been brought low and utterly destroyed; how by a just judgment of God I had been afflicted in that part of my body by which I had sinned; how just was the betrayal by which he whom I had first betrayed paid me back… with what speed the news of this extraordinary mark of disgrace would spread throughout the world… how could I face the public to be pointed at by all with a finger of scorn… and to become a monstrosity and a spectacle to all the world… Filled as I was with such remorse, it was, I confess, confusion springing from shame rather than devotion … which drove me to the refuge of monastic cloister.” (Pg. 39-40)

Yet “Scarcely had I recovered from my mutilation, when clerics flocked to me… [and] kept insisting that what I had hitherto done through desire of money and praise I should now do through love of God, devote myself to study… they argued that … being freed from the allurements of the flesh… I might devote myself to the study of letters and become a true philosopher not of the world but of God. The life in the abbey which I entered was very worldly and disorderly and the abbot surpassed his monks by his base life and bad reputation… I frequently and constantly kept speaking out … against their intolerable irregularities… They … sought an opportunity of getting me out of the way…. I withdrew to a certain priory to give my time to conducting a school as I had done before. But such a crowd of pupils flocked there that the place became too small to house them… But since the Lord had apparently granted me as much favor in sacred scripture as in profane, my school began to increase in both fields and all the other schools to decline.” (Pg. 41-42)

He continues, “My students of their own accord provided everything necessary… And since our oratory [church] could accommodate only part of them, they had to enlarge it by building an addition of stone and timbers… I was dwelling in this place in bodily retirement through my fame was spreading throughout the whole world… Some of my former adversaries …stirred up against me certain individuals… These men went up and down the countryside and in their preaching shamelessly kept backbiting me as best they could… I fell into such despair that I was ready to depart from the Christian world and to go to the Saracens [Muslims]… to live a Christian life against the enemies of Christ…”(Pg. 60, 63-64)

When the convent in which Heloise [“now my sister in Christ rather than wife”] was taken over and the nuns expelled, “I went back there and invited Heloise and those of the nuns of the same community who were loyal to her to come to the Oratory… God granted such favor in the eyes of all to my sister who was over the other nuns that bishops loved her as a daughter… the laity as a mother and all alike admired her spirit of religion… And the more rarely she presented herself to the public… the more eagerly the world outside demanded her presence and the advice of her spiritual conversation.” (Pg. 68-69)

This amazing story (which would make a great MOVIE!) will be of huge interest to students of philosophy, medieval history, and even “romantic” stories (the latter should enjoy the apocryphal letters of Abelard and Heloise).

[Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Abelard’s The Story of My Misfortunes, like Boethius' The Consolation of Philosophy, revolves around the rhetor or teacher’s role in the public life, concerning especially unjust treatment by others who are threatened by the teacher’s success. This autobiographical work, akin to Augustine’s Confessions, displays Abelard's eloquence, as he retells his story for the sake of the comfort of his friend, but the work also has other purposes in mind, principally among them, the telling of his side of the story which was not permitted as he was frequently silenced. One theme jumps out at me in my first reading, related to the development of ethos, that of the speaker's reputation. For this first reading of The Story of My Misfortunes I will give consideration to the following question: how does Abelard understand the relationship between the establishment of ethos and his teaching? I will do so by considering both the interpretation of his story, as well as the overall shape that he gives the work.

So, to the story. Abelard gives an account of his early prowess for learning, which he developed through debate. Competition is a thread throughout. His fame spreads, and with it the envy of others, as he quickly surpasses his teachers. His arguments silenced his teachers and their students moved to him, who then began his own schools. Later he studied under Anselm for a bit, whose fame did nothing to convince Abelard of his arguments. In his own words, “When [Anselm] kindled a fire, he filled his house with smoke and illumined it not at all” (III, 10). Bored, Abelard spent less time listening to the lectures, to the chagrin of Anselm’s students. For him Anselm’s reputation was one wrought by long-term custom; while his words were beautiful on their face, there was no depth and lacked reason. Eventually Abelard would be attacked by Anselm, redounding Abelard’s fame through the persecution, which magnified his pride. Then comes Heloise. Lost in a love affair that started as a not-so-innocent tutorship, Abelard’s reputation becomes of heightened concern, and his philosophical learning takes a back seat. As philosophy is no longer his first love, he resorts, note the irony, to regurgitating his previous teaching (relying on custom/fame) and people notice. Eventually the forbidden relationship threatens to put asunder the lives of both Abelard and Heloise. Let's just say it gets a little bloody and everything is unveiled, and to the eyes of Abelard, justice has found him out. Out of disgrace, he becomes a monastic and eventually is given opportunities to teach again, but the calamities go on and on. Abelard describes his age as one of unreasonableness: when given the chance to defend himself, nobody disagrees, but people still don’t like him and work behind the scenes to move the goal posts to destroy his reputation. The establishment of ethos seems to be one element from his story that Abelard in large part failed to acquire—The Story of My Misfortunes, perhaps following the figure of Socrates, paints other teachers and authorities as part of a loony mob, and his students, a worthy crowd. I’m generally more on the cautious side when it comes to critiquing figures like Abelard, brilliant as he was, but on my first reading, I couldn’t help but ask, knowing he was a peripatetic, had even he read Aristotle’s Rhetoric where it talks about discerning the nature of his crowd? It seems to me, at least a tinge, that his competitive spirit in dialectic thinking did little to warm the hearts of his colleagues, eliciting their ire.

On the other hand, when it comes to the overall shape of his work, Abelard’s honesty and erudition do promote his credibility. It seems that his suffering has taught him humility and as his work certainly is not just oriented towards providing an account to bless others, he does a good job of establishing sympathy, striking a strong contrast between his former life and the one he is limping through now, something you would need to contrast, if what your writing is principally oriented to describing an act of life-changing repentance. Abelard also establishes ethos by connecting himself tightly to the authorities of the Church, letting them speak on his behalf throughout the latter half of the work. Ultimately, it reads like a running journal on his own experience but with constant reference to the authorities; perhaps it is a conscious way of letting his more logos-centered thinking be clothed in the words of those who actually have an established ethos, which he has never seemed to establish for himself, except among his students.

[Banbury · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of this work suggests that Abelard was stricken with a series of terrible incidents; however, in actuality he brought many of his misfortunes on himself. Yes, it does seem a rather harsh penalty to be castrated, but by his own admission, Abelard had deliberately deceived Fulbert in order to seduce Heloise. He did deliberately have sex with Heloise, and it could not have been too surprising that she got pregnant. To his credit, Abelard admits a certain poetic justice in his comeuppance:

I saw, too, how justly God had punished me in that very part of my body whereby I sinned. I perceived that there was indeed justice in my betrayal by him whom I myself already betrayed...

p. 31. However, Abelard is apparently unable to perceive how his own condescending and mocking attitude toward those he though to be his intellectual inferiors might also justly cause him to be punished. Instead, he sees the enmity of those he insults as merely evidence of his being classed with the heroes of the Bible. FOr example, he explicitly compares himself to St. Jerome:

...St. Jerome, whose heir methinks I am in the endurance of foul slander, says,...If I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. He no longer seeks to please men, and so is made Christ's servant....

p. 77, internal quotes omitted.

It is a bit ironic that he sees his superior intelligence as reason enough not to suffer fools gladly, when his point of contention with his powerful enemies is that his enemies believe in the reality of abstractions, while he believes that abstractions are not realities; his intelligence should show him that his conviction that he is correct, and that his enemies are wrong, is just an abstraction that is of no moment when it comes up against the political and physical realities of this world.

Perhaps it is caused by translation from Latin to English, and cultural changes from the Twelfth Century to the Twenty-First Century, but Abelard seems paranoid (even though sometimes people were clearly out to get him) and without understanding of how other might react to his own words, actions, and attitudes.

[Ploni Almoni · Rating 2 out of 5]

Den her bog indeholder middelalderfilosoffen Pierre Abélards selvbiografiske tekst “mine trængslers historie” og det overlevende af hans brevkorrespondance med den elskede Héloïse, samt to tilhørende kommentarer fra udgiveren.

Det er nærmest per defintion vanskeligt at læse en tekst, der har 900 år på bagen. Det er ganske simpelt tæt på umuligt at forstå middelaldermennesket, dets bevæggrunde og dets trosverden.

Men for et moderne blik fremstår Abelard i teksterne ganske simpelt ulidelig. Han er selvhævdende når han fortæller om sine akademiske skærmydsler - ja faktisk uendeligt selvglad. Han fremstår manipulerende og ubehagelig i brevene til Heloise, som han vinder gennem ved i længere tid som hendes lærer at groome og siden voldtage hende. Ja selv efter den højdramatiske episode, hvor Heloises onkel hyrer en tjener, der skærer Pikken af Abelard, finder man ikke meget reel selvransagelse hos ham.

Som kommentatoren skriver om ham “Hans verden rummer kun eet menneske af betydning - Abelard - alle andre spiller kun underordnede roller”.

Teksten er næsten ulæseligt krukket. Dertil kommer at ordene står så tætpakkede på siderne, at læsningen ikke er en fornøjelse, og at det kræver megen koncentration fra læseren af æde sig gennem
De snørklede sætninger, hvad det sparsomme udbytte af teksten ikke står mål med.

Det påstås på forsiden, at der er tale om en kærlighedshistorie, det mærker man nu ikke meget til. Abelards uendelige lovprisninger af sig selv, krydret med lidt ævl om Guds fromhed skygger for enhver romantik, og for Heloises vedkommende er der nærmere tale om en slags Stockholm-syndrom.

Til den der vil vide mere om middelalderens verden og tænkning anbefaler jeg at læse noget andet? Måske Arthur-legenderne? Thomas af Aquinas? Eller Umberto Eco.

Ps: Min kæreste Peer foreslår, at man måske skal se Abelard som middelalderens Kanye West. Det er meget sjovt, og de har hvertfald lige store ego’er. Selvom jeg nu tror, at Kanye er en større kunstner.

[אלכס · Rating 3 out of 5]

однажды ночью, когда я спокойно спал в отдаленном покое моего жилища, они с помощью моего слуги, подкупленного ими, отомстили мне самым жестоким и позорным способом, вызвавшим всеобщее изумление: они изуродовали те части моего тела, которыми я свершил то, на что они жаловались - даже про это Абеляр пишет так, что Шелдон Купер рядом с ним пересоциализованный интроверт. Его незаурядная логика может свести ответы в научно подкованном ключе, так что вера и философия не смотрят на друг друга как враги (хотя его философия, конечно, религиозная), но история любви куда интереснее его пыльных воззрений.

Чтобы возбуждать меньше подозрений, я наносил Элоизе удары, но не в гневе, а с любовью, не в раздражении, а с нежностью, и эти удары были приятней любого бальзама. Что дальше?

Маркизу Де Саду, надо было учиться у него, чтобы не утомить и не рассмешить. Дневниковая реальность куда трогательнее, чем любые выдумки. Но легкое насилие не так интересно, как плод их отношений:

Я тайно увез ее из его дома и немедленно перевез к себе на родину, где она и проживала у моей сестры до тех пор, пока не родила сына, которого она назвала Астролябием.
В остальном, он что Летов всегда против, но словоохотлив и воздушен, а слова его полны всем, что было до грубого материализма, но анафеме его могли придать за каждое второе.