The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise

The New Middle Ages

by Pierre Abélard

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

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

54 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1133

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

[Jan-Maat]

A revelation. Amazed that I haven't read these years ago. But perhaps you haven't heard the story of Abelard the brilliant young scholar, his student the clever Heloise, and how their proximity and appreciation of each other led to the conception and birth of their son Astrolabe seriously that was what they named their son? This story has a savage turn as a group of monks assuming that Abelard had taken holy orders, were enraged that he had violated the vow of celibacy which he hadn't actually taken and castrated him - this was the time when the Church had recently seriously pushed the concept of priestly chastity as a basic job requirement, then again perhaps Heloise's uncle had something to do with it, anyway newly castrated Abelard did what you did in such circumstances in twelfth-century France, and persuaded Heloise to become a nun while he became a monk. A brief exchange of letters survives between the two written some time after they separated to go into the monastic life, by which time Heloise had become an abbess.

There is something shocking about Heloise's passion so many years after their affair and equally something sad about the way in which Abelard evades it in his responses.

But perhaps this is a literary correspondence? For a long time one popular view was that Alebard was the author of all the letters, the reasoning for this was along the lines of: nuns are not sexual beings, Heloise was a nun, indeed a mother superior - therefore it would have been impossible to make any reference to sexuality, therefore Abelard must have written all the letters. Times have changed and it possible to allow Heloise her vivid expression of rather being a whore than a wife - her expression in Latin is more rhythmic, and plainly written with a view to sentence structure and elegance of expression - without casting disrespect on the entire monastic institution.

Still that idea played on my mind and it struck me that perhaps as per that argument that half the correspondence was forged, but by Heloise rather than Abelard, simply because she had the settled calm life and the time for such a literary exercise, also her letters are the better written - easier to imagine her writing deliberately poorly to imitate him than Abelard somehow managing to excel himself and write better structured and logical letters in her name than he could in his own. But the fifth letter inclined me against my own pet theory, it was so awful an unstructured rambling mess that it would be cruel to imagine that Heloise hated Abelard quite that much to pass it off as his work.

However this is still a literary correspondence written I feel not as a private correspondence for Abelard to read personally but letters and a correspondence designed to be heard by an audience and designed to have a particular impact on their audience?

Listen, says Heloise to the nuns in her abbey, I am also spiritually weak and distracted by thoughts of secular life and secular love, therefore I devote myself all the more to the discipline of a spiritual life? Perhaps she rather hoped that her girls might be shocked by their Mother Superior's struggle to achieve freedom from secular ideals? It is hard work becoming holy, we are only human after all.

[Heidi Nemo · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hate Abelard, all his self-congratualtory narcissistic bemoaning of his persecution, his admission that he beat and raped Heloise, his vastly younger pupil, until she slept with him willingly, his intellectual arrogance, his cruelty and refusal to take responsibility for his own words or actions.

Also the fact that he himself published Heloise's letters makes the version we have highly suspect. But...still, what those letters reveal is a style of writing in Latin superior to Abelard's own, and a mind of such intensity and acumen and passion that it overshadowed his. For that glimpse of Heloise, ya gotta thank this asshole.

[7jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Now here's a story... it was difficult for me to see how I should categorise it, but then I decided that despite the last three letters, this was more about these two people than just religious advice, anyway. Anyway, these two... a teacher and his student, both smart (but Heloise with less troubles in life). A story from 12th Century. There is the letters, first Abelard's tale of victories and woe - some of them his own fault - then starts the exchange of letters between him and his former pupil and wife (who is either about 11 or 31 years younger). After letters come some of Abelard's hymns, letters between Heloise and Peter the venerable who protected very-humiliated Aberlard in his last few years (seems that Abelard was a better man now, finally) and gave his body for Heloise's monastery to keep, plus helped with the future of Astralabe, Abelard and Heloise's son. This all gives a view on the life of two people, love and crisis and faith.

But before I talk about the letters, the background: Abelard, of minor Breton nobility, becomes a teacher that is both respected and persecuted from the start (as I've said, some of it his own fault). He lodges one time at a man named Fulbert's house, and meets this man's niece, Heloise. He teaches her, it gets more heated and there's much secret sex. They secretly marry, she has their son, Astralabe - and then things start to go wrong. Abelard gets a bit paranoid (teachers at that time aren't supposed to be married) and hides her in a monastery. Fulbert meanwhile thinks Abelard is considering breaking up the marriage and overreacts. Abelard is castrated, and he and Heloise end up becoming a monk and a nun, permanently.
Abelard gets in trouble for his opinions on the Trinity, from many directions, including St Norbert and St Bernard of Clairvaux (one reason why the latter saint is so not my favorite, though he can write good stuff). This is part of his tale of woe in the first letter.
Ten years on, Abelard gives Heloise and a few other nuns a new monastery. A while later Heloise gets to read Abelard's first letter, triggering her memories of their past love, and can't help but write him:

She expressed her shock at how badly Abelard's life has been going, and later is distressed at his thoughts of his coming death. Her intelligence shows very well in all her letters, pretty much equal to Abelard's (and later, Peter The Venerable's). At first Abelard shows a little avoidance on past memories, but Heloise's increased distress at not being able to forget makes him talk more, and explain that the punishment received was good for them, and gave them both a better life in the end - she should concentrate more on her current life and shake off bitterness.
This seems to calm her, and in the next letters there's a move on towards desire for instruction, for the rule of St Benedict isn't quite fitting for her and her nuns. And Abelard does give her good advice on how her monastery should conduct their life.

Abelard, later on, falls into another accusation trial coming from his rival St Bernard, which doesn't go well for him, though he avoids being jailed. Peter The Venerable gives him shelter for final years in his monastery, and admires Abelard's devoutness and conduct very much. In Peter's letters to Heloise he also tells her he has known about Heloise's learning, and then piety, from almost the time of her marriage to Abelard.

Yes, it's a story of a passionate love, strong opinions on faith, and being able to move on to a good life in faith and though we don't know all (we don't know much about their son's fate after Peter The Venerable's attempt to help him get work), and we see what flawed people these two - and a few other people involved - can be... the story remains interesting and good. Plus if you have any interest in the religious side of story, it's pretty decent too. Much more than romantic a story, and quite satisfying. Well worth reading. :)

[MihaElla · Rating 5 out of 5]

5! Only 5 Letters I have managed to read. Not even 6 as it ought to be according to other sources, or maybe they are even more :(

Letter I: Abelard to Philintus (*not found)
Letter II: Heloise to Abelard
Letter III: Abelard to Heloise
Letter IV: Heloise to Abelard
Letter V: Heloise to Abelard
Letter VI: Abelard to Heloise , and deep silence reigns afterwards…

Yet, as a reader, I certainly welcome a Life of Heloise and Abelard from many different perspectives. I should not dare to say that twice I have read the letters, and each time with a new eye, though not necessarily with new wonder and delight. Mind you, do not misinterpret. Maybe my only fault in this case is that I have read those just too early, and in fact, far too shortly, after I have finished Corinne (or Italy) . I tend to incline that the moment was not the most auspicious for forming the best impressions, still this ought not to affect the quality of the letters as a vivid, even detailed and hopefully sincere portrait of human beings from Middle Ages caught into a very interesting and intriguing tandem. The Life of Heloise and Abelard is proof enough that reality can be much more sophisticated than fiction. I know not why I say reality, in fact this is maybe just another story, though I like to think it is a true one.

Both Abelard and Heloise were prominent intellectuals same were Oswald and Corinne of 12th century France Oswald (England) and Corinne (50% England, 50% Italy) were of 18th century, but 500-600 years is just a dust in the history of mankind, so no crucial differences. Abelard, of noble birth and 18 – 20 years the senior of Heloise Oswald at age 25 was 18 months the junior of Corinne, was a prominent lecturer in philosophy, an eccentric free thinker, sometimes at odds with the Church, for which reason he might be forced to burn his writings Oswald was a noble, Lord Neville, with a military career. Heloise was a strong willed and very gifted woman 100% resemblance with Corinne, also in terms of spirited determination, early feminist, genius, fluent in Latin, Greek, and apparently originated from a lowered social standing than Abelard Corinne was in a way the equal of Oswald, as regards origin and riches. At age 17 – 19 or even younger, some say, living under her uncle roof, she fell deeply and madly in love with Abelard, who she was studying under. The history says they had an uncontrollable affair of spiritual and intimate nature, also they had a child, Astrolabe, and eventually got in wedlock. Still her uncle, a Church official, completely disapproved of their connection and arranged for having Abelard assaulted in the mid of the night and ‘cut off the parts of body whereby had committed the wrong’ by the by, becoming eunuch is a solid reason to break away from any (not to mention, forbidden) relationship, no matter how much love was there at the beginning. The rest is straightforward for those old ancient times: feeling intense shame, Abelard banished himself and lived as monk, though first he convinced Heloise to enter a convent as a nun, against her wishes, where in time she became abbess…

Coming back to Letters, seemingly the exchange of their famous letters started 10 years after that moment of final exile from their relation. The letters, originally written in Latin with my one year of Latin in high-school, I wouldn’t be able to understand it, are very passionate in the recollection of their lost love, but it serves also an attempt to reconcile the new present of monastic chaste with their previous sentiments, though I can’t say the success is so obvious. In fact, the tremendous stress between these two poles created a numberless occasions of emotional electricity and it doesn’t cost a thing, considering the modern times situation… and subsequently, personally I mean, captured the romantic imagination most probably my being a Sagittarius, because in a way no love letters that have been ‘printed’ have equalled these in the old passionate tale of the struggle to forget or to refine and sink or to raise the love of the human in the love of the divine.

And the history or story further says I mean from other sources, but 600 years later that Josephine Bonaparte was so moved by this celebrated and tragic love story that ordered that the remains of Abelard and Heloise be put together at Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris, and to this day modern days, I should say, on summer Sundays, flowers are still laid on their tomb…
Although customs and morals evolved over the centuries still not so much, or maybe so much that we can hardly notice the difference apparently duty, love, character is not enough to keep or bridge people together in a sympathetic, harmonious union. Which reminds me that Carlyle Thomas was right in saying, “The misfortune of man has its source in his greatness. For there is something infinite in him and he cannot succeed in burying himself completely in the finite.”



“Fare thee well! and if forever,
Still forever fare thee well!
(Lord Byron)

[Justin Evans · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite my interest in the middle ages, I avoided H&A for a long time. I was under the impression that it was all moaning about love and so on; but no! These letters are actually fascinating. Two incredibly intelligent people, neither of whom I'd want to spend too much time with, write to each other about their amazing lives (famous philosopher gets castrated, hounded by church, hated by monks; famous poet/composer/humanist falls dementedly in love, has a child with her lover, becomes powerful abbess), but mixed in are very, very smart philosophical, theological, and social debates and discussions.

It would be the 'right' thing to do here for me to complain about how Abelard was a misogynist and Heloise was a victim and how her fabulous emancipatory light has been hidden under his having a penis. But if you read these letters with any care, you'll recognize Heloise for what she is: someone who is simply too brilliant, and too strong willed, to live a life filled with anything but soap opera level drama. Abelard is less recognizable as a type, in part because although he seems to have been just like Heloise when younger, he resist her attempts to engage in that kind of behavior in his later years. Heloise might have been more oppressed, but Abelard certainly suffered more, and that seems to have mellowed his brilliance and will.

Rather than Heloise-as-hero or Abelard-as-villain, these letters are definitive proof that 'the renaissance' didn't spring fully loaded from the head of some ancient Greek statue. H&A both know and quote at length from the classics; they both assume that secular learning is important; they both conduct their lives as such. These letters put paid to the silly belief of many historians of the early modern period that their period was the first time that anyone was an individual, or had a conflicted relationship with religion etc... And they're just damn entertaining.

They're also enlightening. Abelard's 'biography', the first letter, is a fine piece of life writing; Heloise's request that Abelard compose a rule for the community she headed is deeply learned and hilariously precise (essentially, her letter is an exercise in close reading of the Rule of St Benedict, showing just how unsuitable it is for women, in gloriously fine detail); Abelard's rule is a perfect response (excepting the residual "weaker vessel" nonsense).

There's a problem with this edition, though: for some baffling reason, Abelard's letter to Heloise on the history of nuns is greatly abridged. Why? And if you don't find it odd enough to begin with, consider that it can't have been to save paper; the book ends with a few anonymous letters from the period that some enterprising historian decided, for no particularly good reason, had also been written by H&A.

Here's something from one of the original set of letters:

"Who is there who was once my enemy, whether man or woman, who is not moved now by the compassion which is my due? Wholly guilty though I am, I am also, as you know, wholly innocent. It is not the deed but the intention of the doer which makes the crime, and justice should weight not what was done bu the spirit in which it is done. What my intention towards you has always been, you alone who have known it can judge. I submit all to your scrutiny, yield to your testimony in all things." Thus, Heloise to Abelard: introspective, philosophically sophisticated, conflicted.

Here's something from the unnecessarily appended "Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard":

"Since my mind is turning with many concerns, it fails me, pierced by the sharp hook of love... Just as fire cannot be extinguished or suppressed by any material, unless water, by nature its powerful remedy, is applied, so my love cannot be cured by any means - only by you can it be healed." Thus, we're asked to believe, 'Heloise' to Abelard: ignorant (lots of things extinguish fire), foolish (if your love can't be cured by any means, then it can't be cured by Abelard), dull. I guess at least we have evidence that even twelfth-century people (though not necessarily H&A) could write drivel under the 'inspiration' of love.

If I could do it all over again, maybe I'd read the Hackett volume, which includes some of the love letter drivel, but at least gives us all of Abelard's letter to compensate.

[Dylan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Residents of the 21st century might best know Abelard & Heloise from sultry references in The Sopranos. Don't let the power of Edie Falco's acting fool you - there is little pleasure or wisdom in this book, which should mainly be considered for its historical significance. Today, the letters of Abelard and Heloise would better be fodder for an episode of To Catch a Predator.

Peter Abelard was a terrible narcissist and an abusive boyfriend, one whose actions and writings are best understood in that context. The epistolarian's most important contribution was in the tradition of Augustine, Boethius, and the many other sexually frustrated men who inexplicably turn against their own bodies and attempt to renounce their human nature.

Remember, it was only after being castrated for his transgressions against the teen-aged and decades younger Heloise that the unfortunately named Peter piously renounced sex. In a final act before becoming a monk, he used his tremendous power among the clergy to force his victim into a prison of her own. Much of the two's correspondence involves Heloise's poignant cries for freedom and her desperate search for beauty and meaning in a world that was snatched from her by a disgraced man's spite. Abelard, in response, gives the reader a chilling view into the bizarre mind games played by a manipulative, ego-maniacal man intent on controlling his victim. This is really the template for the culture of molestation that infected the church.

[zed · Rating 5 out of 5]

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cx2...

[Vanessa · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was incredibly frustrating.

As part of the Penguin Great Loves series, I find this incredibly misplaced. The love affair of Abelard and his pupil Heloise is meant to be both legendary and tragic, but from this short collection of some of their letters to each other, I just didn't see it.

Abelard came across as a pompous, self-inflated whiny git who cared more about how crap his life was than the woman who he had sent to a convent. Heloise's letters are brimming with emotion and guilt and sadness for him, and at times made the feminist in me grimace at her self-criticism and adoration of him. However she showed passion, and Abelard's self-cantered letters in return were both dull and frustrating.

What a disappointment.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was desire not affection which bound you to me, the flame of lust rather than love. So when the end came to what you desired, any show of feeling you used to make went with it. This is not merely my own opinion, beloved, it is everyone's.

(Heloise to Abelard, Letter 1)

I'm not sure what criteria we should be using to 'rate' documents like these letters - readability? historical interest? I've gone for a neutral 3-stars because I'm not sure that a general reader looking for the (in)famous tale of tragic lovers will necessarily find this of particular interest. I was concerned with the ways in which Abelard uses Ovidian texts to support his narrative and its certainly striking that Ovid's Ars Amatoria and other secular classical texts like Lucan's Pharsalia are used alongside quotations from the bible and other religious and theological works as if there is no moral difference between them, a suggestive position in itself.

To step back, though, this collection comprises Abelard's self-pitying and self-justifying Historia calamitatum, his 'autobiography' detailing the envy Abelard's own brilliance inculcated in others, alongside his self-lacerating tale of his seduction and affair with his young pupil, Heloise, which led to his castration by her uncle.

Following this are a series of letters written between Abelard and Heloise, now an abbess but still deeply in self-abnegating love for Abelard. The authenticity of the correspondance has been disputed but the collection still tells us interesting things about gender, writing and desire, and the extent to which Ovid's Heroides operated as a model for women's writing in the twelfth century. Of interest, too, is Heloise's bias against marriage, preferring the status of mistress, for various reasons which the letters propound.

Definitely worth reading if you're interested in medieval French culture.

[Jesús De la Jara · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Has de saber que te encuentras obligado a mí por un lazo tanto más fuerte cuanto más estrecha es la unión del sacramento nupcial que nos une. Lo que te hace tan cercano a mí, como es patente a todos por el amor sin límites con que siempre te amé"

En este increíble libro editado por Alianza Editorial se reúnen varios escritos. Uno de ellos es la Historia Calamitatum que ya reseñé anteriormente. Es una autobiografía de Abelardo a manera de carta a un amigo donde cuenta gran parte de su vida. Es un testimonio para defenderse en parte de las acusaciones que siempre tuvo a lo largo de su vida. Habla de sus estudios, su relación con Eloísa y sus hazañas como profesor.
Luego, vienen las ocho cartas que se han conservado de los dos amantes. Ésta vendría a ser la parte más importante de todo pues es la obra en sí misma.
Las cartas son de Abelardo a Eloísa y viceversa. Todas ellas son del periodo posterior a sus amoríos. Eloísa es priora en su convento, mientras que Abelardo es destinado a vagar por Francia huyendo de sus acusadores y de sus propios miedos. Definitivamente, esto tiene una gran importancia en el tono y el contenido de las cartas de Abelardo. Luego de haber sido acusado e incluso castrado por sus enemigos debió tener muchos traumas y la gran necesidad de verse libre de sus pecados. Es por ello que sus cartas, todas ellas, son bastante frías. Deben tener algo de superioridad o vanidad, pero fundamentalmente respeto y una necesidad de verse en sus cartas bastante alejado del placer o del amor en sí mismo. Suele ser aleccionador.
Las carta número 7 ha sido bastante suprimida, según los editores, debido a que no aportaba casi nada y era bastante larga hablando de temas teológicos. Efectivamente, ambos demuestran el gran grado de conocimiento que tenían de las escrituras y libros teológicos (incluyendo cartas de santos o sermones papales). Realmente ambos son un prodigio de su época. Eloísa razona excelentemente y cita muchos autores religiosos con gran maestría. Estas citaciones y extractos los encuentro muy bien puestos, resultan interesantes pues dan muchos consejos que ellos mismos aplican a su vida o circunstancias. Sin embargo, pueden cansar un poco cuando se desvían de la relación entre ambos.

"El nombre de esposa parece ser más santo y más vinculante, pero para mí la palabra más dulce es la de amiga y, si no te molesta, la de concubina o meretriz. Tan convencida estaba de que cuanto más me humillara por ti, más grata sería a tus ojos y también causaría menos daño al brillo de tu gloria"

Y es que mi interés, por supuesto, como creo debe ser el de la mayoría de los que leen esta obra es encontrar las partes donde se hablar de amor. Y, de lejos, la que se anima (por lo menos al inicio, luego de las reconvenciones de Abelardo ya no tanto) es Eloísa. Estoy seguro que ella también generará más simpatías que su amante. Por su inocencia, su sacrificio, su comprensión y su consciencia de su lugar en la historia. Son continuos sus reclamos a Abelardo sobre el hecho que él no la visita o no le ayuda a llevar la carga de la culpa sino más bien se aleja de ella. El, por su parte, le incita a la resignación y a que es lo mejor para ambos.
La carta final es todo un tratado sobre cómo considera él debe conducirse ella, como abadesa del convento, y en general las monjas. Resulta importante porque es un documento especial en cuanto a pensamiento medieval sobre las funciones y organizaciones de las monjas. Da pautas allí religiosas, de alimentación, de organización, Etc. Pero para mí desde luego le baja la potencia al conjunto total de cartas. Luego, esta edición incluye también algunos textos complementarios: Confesión de fe de Abelardo y las cartas entre Eloísa y Pedro el Venerable. Muy interesantes porque allí ambos hablan sobre la muerte de Abelardo. Eloísa hasta el final siempre lo veneró y por ello pide a Pedro El Venerable la absolución de su amado que también está incluida en las cartas. Así mismo, la mención de Astrolabio el hijo de Eloísa que fue encargado a Pedro El Venerable.
Por todo ello le pongo un 4 estrellas creo bastante justo. Definitivamente, Abelardo y Eloísa en mi opinión si califica para ser una de esas parejas legendarias en la historia.

"Debería gemir por los pecados cometidos y, sin embargo, suspiro por lo que he perdido"

[Viji (Bookish endeavors) · Rating 3 out of 5]

What is it about human love that makes it despicable in the sights of religion.?! I started reading this book thinking I'll see love in its pure form in these letters. But all I saw was hypocrisy and selfishness.
Heloise expressed her feelings truly in the first letter. But in the next one,she seems much irked by Abelard's letter and her decision to wholeheartedly give herself to God doesn't seem a honest one. I felt it as a lover's attempt to get some sort of communication from her beloved. She says,if it is words of heaven you can give me,give me that. She is shattered by her lover's insensible behavior.
“you ought to have stopped my tears and you make them flow. You ought to have quelled the turmoil of my heart and you throw me into greater disorder.”
Her love for Abelard doesn't seem to be something that can be destroyed by human or divine intervention. She can't even think of the mere possibility of forgetting her beloved. In her despair she says,
“Death only then can make me leave the cloister where you have placed me; and then my ashes shall rest here and wait for yours in order to show to the very last my obedience and devotion to you.”
How it is that such a great devotion can be broken by an illness of body,especially when physical aspect of romance is the last thing on her mind.?! I can't seem to accept that she had lost her feelings for Abelard when she wrote that.

As for Abelard,he seems as selfish as he can be. His conflict of mind is visible in few parts of the letters,but other than that he is bothered only about his persecutions and his vocations. He seems so much engrossed in himself that he can rarely think of what's going through the mind of Heloise. Yet,at some point he says,
“I hope you will be willing, when you have finished this mortal life, to be buried near me. Your cold ashes need then fear nothing, and my tomb shall be the more rich and renowned.”
If he considered things of his past as misfortunes and actions against God,why think of such a thing.? Why want to be buried together when the love that held them together seems a wretched thing to him.?
I started hating Abelard for his insensitivity to Heloise's feelings,for him talking only of himself,of resorting to matters of God when relief can be bought by consolations of human.
It's like him saying,
"Let's be buried together,for that'd be real cool." But if someone asks him what causes him to say this other than love,he'd say,"oh no.. Not love.. Love is something we should find in our relation to God.. We should give all our love to God.."
Why this hypocrisy.? I can't understand this as a genuine conflict that occurs when one has to choose between human love and divine love. The way he expresses it doesn't seem to give that impression.

Pleased or irritated,it was nice walking through the minds of these lovers. Who am I to judge them,when I am another one with a conflict at heart.? Wasn't it Fitzgerald who said,
"There are all kinds of love in this world,but never the same love twice."
May be it was a love beyond my comprehension that they shared.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine a philosopher with the magnetism of Elvis and the draw of Beatles combined.

It is impossible to describe in modern terms how popular and feted Abelard was in his day. He was bigger than a rock star. Heloise and Abelard is an ill-fated love story. This translation is a couple hundred years old, and those who were reading at that time were well aware of the circumstances of their relationship.

The two had returned, confident of Fulbert's [Heloise's uncle] reaffirmed regard, and he, now deeply troubled and revengeful, determined to inflict that punishment and indignity on Abelard, which, in its accomplishment, shocked even that ruder civilization to horror and to reprisal.

That is probably the most delicate way to refer to Abelard's castration on Heloise's uncle command that I've ever heard. What follows are compiled letters back and forth between Heloise and Abelard, though married both took holy orders after "the incident" to escape society and any possible future demands.

Why should I alone not reap the advantage of your learning? When you write to me you will write to your wife; marriage has made such a correspondence lawful, and since you can without the least scandal satisfy me, why will you not? ~Heloise

Repetitive, it hashes through Heloise's obsession with Abelard, Abelard's love for Heloise and his alternating scolding, advising her soul and beseeching her to stop so he may forget her. 

You cannot but be entirely persuaded of this by the extreme unwillingness I showed to marry you, though I knew that the name of wife was honourable in the world and holy in religion; yet the name of your mistress had greater charms because it was more free. The bonds of matrimony, however honourable, still bear with them a necessary engagement, and I was very unwilling to be necessitated to love always a man who would perhaps not always love me. ~Heloise

I love how timeless this observation is, its viewpoint crushes absurd ideas about Medieval women. 

To make it more easy consider why I pressed you to your vow before I took mine; and pardon my sincerity and the design I have of meriting your neglect and hatred if I conceal nothing from you. When I saw myself oppressed by my misfortune I was furiously jealous, and regarded all men as my rivals. Love has more of distrust than assurance. I was apprehensive of many things because of my many defects, and being tormented with fear because of my own example I imagined your heart so accustomed to love that it could not be long without entering on a new engagement. ~Abelard

And the timelessness of male jealousy. 
I enjoyed it; doubt many others will and certainly not without context. Glad to have delved into it further. Now, if I can just find Abelard's Sic et Non. 

[ruzmarì · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard for me to say "loved it" about these letters, because it's hard to peel the love story away from knowledge of Abélard's "misfortunes" (told with great pious self-pity in his "Historia calamitatum") and his subsequent spiritual domination, and then abandonment, of Héloïse. Also, I happen to like Héloïse a whole lot better, and so the preference makes for a lopsided reading. Still, the progression of affection between the two writers/lovers - from eros to caritas, to borrow papal terminology - makes its own interesting kind of narration.

For love letters that begin at caritas and just get better from there, and without the sensational quality of H&A (sex in the nave, castration, disappearing baby), I recommend The Story of a Love : Maurice and Thérèse, the letters between Ste Thérèse de Lisieux and the seminarian she never met except through letters, Maurice Barrès.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

These letters, both dour and deeply sexual, austerely theological and yet deeply spiritual, are like nothing I've ever read and I doubt I'll ever encounter anything quite like them again. These letters are in a sense the "morning after" correspondence, the morning after an intense romantic partnership was separated by the medieval Catholic Church. I never thought I would read anything quite this sensual from a nun! The relationship between the Abelard, who after all was a great philosopher and Biblical scholar, and the inquisitive and at times even manipulative Heloise. Actually, they both seem manipulative to me, but that's the beauty of these artifacts. Readers of the letters come away with wildly varying opinions on the nature of the former lovers, and no scholar will ever solve the puzzle of this most tragic of romances. Regardless, it's deeply fascinating to see evidence of the true feelings and flawed natures of two people living behind the facade of the pious Middle Ages.

[Ant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Η συγκεκριμένη έκδοση περιέχει τέσσερες επιστολές μεταξύ του Αβελάρδου και της Ελοΐζας, αυτές που συνήθως αποκαλούνται ερωτικές ή, τέλος πάντων, που έχουν έναν πιο πρόδηλο ερωτολογικό χαρακτήρα.
Το βιβλίο ξεκινά με έναν σχετικά μακρύ πρόλογο που περιγράφει κάποια βιογραφικά στοιχεία του ζευγαριού. Μοιάζει εκτενής, ωστόσο κατά τη γνώμη μου μένει κυρίως στην επιφάνεια των τεκταινόμενων και των θεολογικών ερίδων στις οποίες λαμβάνει μέρος ο Αβελάρδος και επηρέασαν καταλυτικά την πορεία της εκκοσμικευμένης εκκλησίας στους ύστερους χρόνους του μεσαίωνα.
Ο αδρομερής τρόπος παρουσίασης των γεγονότων δεν καταλήγει ωστόσο να κοστίζει στην έκδοση, αφού αυτή αφορά κατά βάση την προσωπική ιστορία του ζευγαριού.

Η Ελοΐζα και ο Αβελάρδος έζησαν και ερωτεύτηκαν σε μια περίοδο ζωσμένη από χριστιανικές έριδες που επηρέασαν και την προσωπική τους ζωή, αφού ο Αβελάρδος υπέστει αρκετές διώξεις λόγω των φημολογούμενων αιρετικών του απόψεων, όπως αυτές θεωρήθηκαν από την Καθολική εκκλησία.
Τα σχολαστικά του συγγράματα είναι αρκετά, με σημαντικότερα, κατά την άποψή μου, το Ναι και το Όχι, μια συλλογή από 158 θεολογικά και φιλοσοφικά ερωτήματα που επιδέχονται αντιφατικές, κατά τον Αβελάρδο, απαντήσεις και το οποίο χρησιμοποίησε στις διαλέξεις για τους μαθητές του και στους αγώνες ρητορικής μεταξύ τους, καθώς και το Logica Ingredientibus, με το οποίο λαμβάνει θέση σε ένα καίριο ζήτημα της σχολαστικής φιλοσοφίας, δηλαδή το debate μεταξύ του νομιναλισμού και του ρεαλισμού (ο Αβελάρδος υιοθετεί την ενδιάμεση θέση της εννοιοκρατίας [conceptualism]).
Κατά τη γνώμη μου, εκτός των θεολογικών του προκείμενων, ο Αβελάρδος αναπτύσσει και μια πρώιμη, πολύ ενδιαφέρουσα, φιλοσοφία της γλώσσας.

Η εντυπωσιακότερη προσωπικότητα όμως μεταξύ των δύο, παραμένει αναμφίβολα η Ελοΐζα, η οποία επιδεικνύει ακραιφνή έφεση στη μάθηση, ευρεία γνώση ως σχολαστική μελετήτρια και προοδευτικές για την εποχή της απόψεις που μπορούν να χαρακτηριστούν ως μια κατηγορία πρωτοφεμινισμού, σε πολύ άγουρη βεβαίως μορφή.
Αυτό το χαρακτηριστικό, ενός άγουρου προοδευτισμού, θα έλεγα πως είναι διακριτό και στον Αβελάρδο, ωστόσο σε πιο επιφανειακή υφή.
Κάποια πρώιμα φεμινιστικά στοιχεία στον χριστιανισμό, έτσι τουλάχιστον όπως έχουν αναλυθεί υστερότερα, αποκαλύπτουν μια επιδερμική ανύψωση και αναγνώριση των γυναικών μέσα από την υποτιθέμενη ισοτιμία που τους εξασφάλιζε η καινοδιαθηκική χριστιανική εγκαινίαση, που παραμένει βεβαίως εντελώς σαθρή αφού, εκτός των μισογυνιστικών γραφών που ακόμα εξακολουθούν να πιστεύονται στην νέα χριστιανική θρησκεία των πρώτων αιώνων, οι γυναίκες παραμένουν έτσι κι αλλιώς κανονιστικά δέσμιες στην αντρική καταπίεση, παρά το γεγονός πως στη μετά θάνατον ζωή, κατά το ευαγγέλιο του Ματθαίου το φύλο δεν θα αναγνωρίζεται ούτε θα παίζει ρόλο: δεν θα υπάρχει φύλο στον χριστιανικό παράδεισο μαρτυρά το ευαγγέλιο.
Όπως και να ‘χει, οι δύο εραστές, σε αντιδιαστολή με τις θρησκευτικές πεποιθήσεις που τούς αγκύλωναν σε έναν στυγνό συντηρητισμό, εξέφρασαν πρωτοποριακές για την εποχή απόψεις, οι οποίες παρότι έμειναν εν πολλοίς άπραγες λέξεις, δεν παύει αυτή η προσεκτικά συγκρατημένη ελευθεριότητα να δίνει έναν αέρα διαχρονικού ερωτισμού και επιθυμίας στα γραφόμενά τους.
Παρά ταύτα, δεν γίνεται να παραβλέψει κανείς την ερωτική υστεροβουλία του Αβελάρδου. Ήταν σαράντα ετών και εκείνη μόλις δεκαεπτά. Ήταν καθηγητής κι εκείνη μαθήτρια. Σύμφωνα με κάποιες επιστολές, μάλιστα, ο Αβελάρδος έψαχνε εξαρχής ερωμένη και η σχεση του με την Ελοΐζα ήταν κάτι που επεδίωξε τεχνηέντως. Kαι, τουλάχιστον από τη μεριά του, όπως φαίνεται και από τις περιγραφές που αποτολμά στην ύστερη αλληλογραφία τους, ήταν κατά βάση σαρκικός.

Η ιστορία του Αβελάρδου και της Ελοΐζας είναι, λοιπόν, κυρίως, μια ιστορία σαρκικής λαγνείας, εκτός από μια εμπειρία πνευματικής και διαλλεκτικής ανύψωσης μεταξύ των δυο τους. Η σεξουαλική τους ζωή φέρεται να ήταν αρκετά έντονη, τόσο που η Ελοΐζα δεν μπορεί να ξεχάσει τις εμπειρίες τους ακόμα και χρόνια μετά, όταν είναι κλεισμένη σε μοναστήρι. Σύμφωνα με την άποψη του ερασιτέχνη μεσαιωνολόγου, James Burge, την οποία διατυπώνει στο σχετικό βιβλίο του, ο Αβελάρδος, παρά το κύρος του ως καθηγητικής θεολογικής αυθεντίας, εξανάγκαζε την Ελοΐζα σε πράξεις που αντιτίθονταν στην χριστιανική ευπρέπεια. Εκτός λοιπόν από την ίδια την πράξη του προγαμιαίου σεξ, ο Αβελάρδος φαίνεται πως την εξανάγκασε, με εμμονική λεκτική πειθώ, να κάνουν σεξ πάνω στην Αγία Τράπεζα της Εκκλησίας. Ο Burge μάλιστα, παρά τους παραδοσιακά ανισότιμους έμφυλους ρόλους της εποχής, πιστεύει πως υπήρχε μεταξύ τους μια μάλλον πρώιμη σαδομαζοχιστική σχέση, αφού σεξουαλικού τύπου τιμωρίες ο Αβελάρδος επιχειρούσε και κατά τη διάρκεια της μαθητείας της Ελοΐζας, ενώ η ίδια, παρά την ανεξαρτησία της και την πολύ προοδευτική για την εποχή άποψή της για το γάμο και τις προγαμιαίες σχέσεις, αναφέρεται εξακολουθητικά ως δούλη του Αβελάρδου, με έναν μάλλον όχι ιδιαίτερα χριστιανικό, (αλλά με κίνκυ) τρόπο.
Το πάθος του Αβελάρδου άλλωστε, μετά τον βίαιο ευνουχισμό του, φαίνεται να ατονεί. Ως θεολόγος ήξερε καλά πως ο ευνουχισμός του έδινε κύρος, αφού κι άλλοι σπουδαίοι φιλόσοφοι της χριστιανικής παράδοσης είχαν ευνουχιστει, και μαλιστα αυτοβούλως -χαρακτηριατικότερο παράδειγμα αποτελεί ο, επίσης θεωρούμενος αιρετικός, Ωριγενης.
Στις απελπισμένα ρομαντικές και παθιασμένες επιστολές της Ελοΐζας εκείνος απαντά πάντα με συστολή, σύνεση και πληκτικές χριστιανικές κατηχήσεις, ενώ αυτό που εμφανώς έψαχνε η Ελοΐζα, ακόμα και δέκα χρόνια μετά τον χωρισμό τους, ήταν το αρχικό σαρκικό πάθος που είχαν μοιραστεί.
Θα μπορούσαν να είναι ήρωες του Βοκκάκιου, ενσαρκώνοντας την πολύπτυχη και περίπλοκη σχέση που είχαν οι άνθρωποι των μεσαιωνικών χρόνων με την σεξουαλικότητα, πάντα υπό το βαρύ υποκριτικό βλέμμα της Καθολικής εκκλησίας.

[Terry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can read these letters over and over and always find something new. To really appreciate them, it's best if you spend some time learning the history of the period as well as the relationship between Heloise and Peter Abelard. The letters can and do stand alone as provocative and emotional epistolary exchanges, but understanding the sexual restrictions of 12th century upper-class women lend more to the understanding and appreciation of the thwarted passions expressed in each letter.

It's also important to remember that E&A were briefly married and so when Heloise speaks of her yearning for Abelard, she know of what she speaks. This is a woman who has her teacher, husband, and lover ripped from her in a very brutal way by a member of her family. Abelard, as we know, was castrated by Heloise's uncle for his 'sin' with Heloise, and she is placed in a convent, separated from him, with their only communication the much awaited letters.

I find the letters from Abelard the most interesting. His love for Heloise is evident and lifelong, yet at the same time, while he pulling her to him he is also pushing her away. His tone vacillates from adoring to misogynous. His initial role as her professor is subtly evident (and frequently where his misogyny appears.) Yet she takes him on, and is not shy to do so.

Heloise appears to me to be more honest. She is not happy being locked away in a convent. She loves him, she misses him, and she wants him. She is angry and she is hurt. Heloise is clearly a strong woman and chastises him often for his annoying habit of rationalizing their sacrifice.

The final letter, the 6th letter, is the real heart-breaker. Abelard tells her "Write no more to me, Heloise, write no more to me; ’tis time to end communications which make our penances of naught avail..." -- this one is the final goodbye. The pain is there throughout, though he seems ready to make the final repentant sacrifice, she is not. I can't read this one without feeling my heart skip a few beats.

Finally, don't avoid the letters because you think they are dry, dusty relics of the late Middle Ages. They are quite the opposite. Their emotions are as current and as real as if they had been written last year. And visit them often. They will always reveal something you missed in the previous read.

[Oblomov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romance explodes between tutor and student, leading to a whirlwind of love, lust and a clandestine marriage, only to be ended with an excruciatingly brutal act by the woman's enraged family, that I will here by refer to as 'The Incident':

With their love scandalised and missing not insignificant pieces, the pair each retire to monasteries. They remain love lorn and devastated, until by chance a misplaced letter begins their correspondence once more, and thus we have the Letters of Abelard and Heloise.

This was some hard reading. Bittersweet, melancholy, bloody miserable, take your pick. It's a throughly depressing and tragic exposé of a love that is no longer what it once was, with a thick glaze of Christian guilt poured over it. Imagine Tolstoy's Family Happiness but with Catholics and amputation.

The text is a series of letters between the two, and they both tend to repeat themselves:

Abelard: His letters start off by responding to a friend seeking advice and sympathy for his misfortunes, with him saying: "You think you've got it bad, mate?" followed by the story of the doomed romance, 'The Incident' and how his enemies hate his intellectual greatness. The rest of his letters, directly to Heloise, are always begging her not to write to him anymore, to forget him and to seek God. He describes any thought of her as terrible pain and regret and he's essentially the thought police, threatening her with the wrath of hell if she doesn't put him out of her mind.

Heloise: Her letters are desperate for affection and some sign that the man she gave up the world for still loves her, even if he cannot lust after her. All she asks for is some reassurance and, though she didn't suffer the pains of 'The Incident', she now has to deal with a throughly intact desire that can't go anywhere. She wants to see her beloved again, hear his words, and at one point claims she's wholely given her passion for him up to God, but then honestly admits she just can't.

I think other people who read this fell into Team Abelard or Team Heloise in terms of who's more sympathetic, but who's 'in the right' so to speak, is difficult to decide, since we can only see their words to each other, each with their own motivation and techniques for getting what they want from the other, and we'll never know how honest those words were.
Does Abelard no longer love his wife and simply wants to forget the young woman/girl he seduced, so refuses to give her comfort out of spite and embarrassment for the past? Or does he love her and genuinely feels guilt and fear for her soul? Would he think it crueller to risk prolonging her (and perhaps his) passion through his well meaning comfort? Does he think it better to be bitter, so Heloise can be free of the man who ruined her life?
Does Heloise think their love can help him be a better man and scholar, or is she just desperate to know she hasn't made a mistake in giving up all for Abelard. Is Heloise truthful about any of her love for God, or is she hoping to 'seduce' Abelard through piety? Does she really care about his religious instruction when she asks him to come to her convent to teach, or does she want him there so they can be husband and wife again, even if it's impossible for them to have a sex life (or impossible if you have absolutely no imagination, anyway).

Ultimately, I'm team Heloise, for the simple fact she was either barely twenty or just seventeen when they started their relationship (sources disagree), but Abelard was definitely in his mid-thirties and she was his bloody student. She agreed to give up her life for him at a convent and did everything he asked of her. He admits that he only wanted her to take the veil to subdue his jealousy, because he feared she'd screw someone else now that he couldn't. When you cock up someone else's entire life that badly, yes, yes you have to deal with the fall out, mate. Perhaps I'm being uncharitable, Abelard does essentially buy a convent for her to stay in and he was punished for his horniness by the most horrific means. However, maybe because Heloise's letters are more passionate, tragic and human, I still feel more for the young woman with her life ruined than the older man with his life ruined, even if his comeuppance makes my toes curl.

Overall, my feelings about these letters are sombre and somewhat drained. The whole experience was compelling yet miserable; a sobering and ultimately hopeless glimpse into the fragility of love.



I listened to the Librivox version of this, which includes a breathtakingly lovely Alexander Pope poem from Heloise's perspective, called Eloisa to Abelard.

[Laura]

Free download available at Project Gutenberg.

[Cynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised at the amount of historical information in this Penguin edition. There were biographies of both Eloise and Abelard--something of Heliose and more depth about Abelard. The letters between He loose and Abelard chosen here are about their love, yes, yet more so about the historical period of the development of academics/rhetoric, the development of convents having their own rules (more geared toward women as the Benedictine Rules were geared for men) and the power of the Inquisition. Love of Heloise for her Abelard wins out as there is also a discussion of how the lovers were buried together and are protected by those who remember them centuries later, moving the old bones as the water tables change.

Overall the letters chosen and the background information provided show a pair of former lovers reframing their relationship as purely professional in a time when cities started to become the things we recognize: the place of merchants, of new schools with new methods, and the new social rules that developed. Being a time of change, the old power holders The Church sought to retain power of the city dwellers such as Abelard. Here in the letters between Heloise and Abelard and others included here, we see that the power shift caused problems of Abelard--and Heloise.

[Beauregard Bottomley · Rating 5 out of 5]

1) These letters read so excitingly modern that at times they felt as if they had to be modern counterfeits which they certainly aren’t.

2) Heloise is the more interesting of the two characters. She is a feminist of sorts and an independent thinker and never whines about herself and does not suffer fools lightly even if that fool is the dickish Abelard. She would rather be ‘Abelard’s whore than consort to the richest man’ and finds marriage really quite superfluous. She has a wisdom that transcends her time period and is relevant to today. Her faith is exemplary.

3) Abelard is a real dick; I know I shouldn’t say that but he is a dick even given his special circumstances as a eunuch.

4) Even in his own words he is creepy when he describes his relationship as a mid-thirty-year-old man with a fifteen-year-old girl.

5) According to Abelard, he’s always right and everyone else is wrong when they disagreed with him.

6) He’ll whine about what happened to him and how it’s all for the better, and Heloise will always slyly put him back in his place.

7) Women are the weaker sex, at least that is a given all through out these letters, but in that case why is Heloise so much wiser than all the others in these letters?

8) Abelard’s reality based non-nominalism with a nod towards reason preceeding faith and necessary for understanding is ahead of it’s time.

9) Dante can’t put Abelard or Heloise into his Comedy in as much as St. Bernard of Clairvaux is Dante’s last guide in his book since Bernard is a mystic and opposed to Abelard’s reason in justification of faith as shown in these letters.

10) Deborah means ‘bee’ in Hebrew and she is one of the early women prophets given special mention in the Old Testament and Abelard will seamlessly weave bible passages into his arguments. There are many bible citations both the Old and New Testament, Proverbs and Psalms, and there is also a presumption of understanding Aristotelean metaphysics.

Overall, a very good book providing insight into 12th century thought and shows how even a very smart man can be tone deaf to his own actions and ideology, and illustrates how a woman can be about 800 years ahead of her time period while subtlety out thinking a man in a man’s world while seeming to be subservient by using the paradigms that define the time period and being content with her own life in her own terms as if she knew that women really aren’t the weaker sex after all. Heloise is the real star of the two as illustrated by these letters.

[Imane Zerguit · Rating 5 out of 5]

فضلت كتابة مراجعة مُلخصة عن هذا العمل الرائع باللغة العربية رغم قراءتي لها بالفرنسية، وذلك حرصا مني لإيصالها للمتلقي العربي من الأصدقاء الذين أحظى وأتشرفُ بصداقتهم هنا على الـ Goodreads.

رسائل تحمل الكثير من الأحاسيس المختلطة ( شغف، حب، عقاب، ...)
هي قصة من القرن الثاني عشر، قصة حب جامحة مأساوية كالعادة، جمعت بين پيير أبيلارد Pierre Abélard المفكر والفيلسوف المختص بعلم اللاهوت، والذي كان أستاذا في كاتدرائية نوتردام بباريس.. فيما بعد أسس مدرسة مع اثنين من شركائه و تطورت مع الأزمنة لتصبح حاليا جامعة باريس.
و بين إيلواز Héloïse تلميذته البالغة سبع عشرة سنة والتي كانت تصغره بحوالي ثلاثين عاما...
حبهما السري توج بمولود (سرعان ما تخلو عنه) وبزواج سري أدى لغضب الكنيسة على رجل دينها بالتالي قرر خال الفتاة الإنتقام لشرفه وللكنيسة، ودفع أبيلارد الثمن باهضا إذ تم إخصاؤه وكان للصدمة وقع قوي عليه قرر بعدها هجر زوجته وطفلهما والإلتحاق بالكنيسة مجددا. عقب هذا القرار تخلت هي أيضا عن الطفل والتحقت بدير للراهبات.
دام الإنقطاع و الصمت بينهما لمدة عشر سنوات ثم رجعوا للمراسلات الكتابية التي كانت مؤججة بنار العاطفة والتوبيخ والبهجة من طرف إيلواز، بينما مراسلات أبيلارد كانت باردة وجافة، أبان فيها أن تلك الشهوة قد أُزيلت من الحب و قد حُوِّلت فعليا لمحبة يسوع. ويزيد بتذكيرها بمكانة المرأة في الإنجيل والحياة الرهبانية والعفة...
توفي أبيلارد سنة 1142 ولحقته إيلواز بعد إثنتي وعشرين سنة، الجميل في نهاية القصة أن رفاتهما مدفون جنبا إلى جنب منذ سنة 1817 في باريس بفرنسا.

[Debbie Zapata · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected more from this little book. I had heard of the grand romance between Abelard and Heloise, but other than bare bones I did not know the details. This book gives the details, but I do not see any grand passion in the story, except perhaps on the part of Heloise for Abelard. He was not worthy of her.

These are letters between the two, written after Fate altered their lives. But the first and longest letter was written by Abelard to a friend who apparently had been complaining of some sort of bad luck in his life so Abelard told him in essence "you ain't seen nothing yet....listen to my story and you will feel better about your life". He comes across as whiny, arrogant, and more than a little creepy.

Heloise was shown this letter and wrote to Abelard wondering why he did not write to her directly...they were married, after all, even though they were forced to live apart. She bares her soul and shares her heart and it is a painful letter to read. It makes me wonder why we women never seem to really see the men we love. She put up with some rough treatment from him...he admits in another letter that if he 'felt the urge' but she resisted, he would beat her into submission. And yet she still loved him.

I would like to read more about Heloise herself. Abelard is not worthy of more of my attention, though.

[Ioana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Undying...love?!?


Who’d knew that Micromegas would ever mistake the Academy of Sciences with the Academy of Lagado.


Who’d knew that a 12th century abbot who suffered trials and courted death could be so great a Man? What could explain the emergence of a mind set afire by its thirst for knowledge, out of the seemingly bottomless pit of an age so Dark? A bona fide primus inter pares.


Words fail to do justice to the best book I’ve ever read.



——————————————————————

”You are buried inside my breast for eternity, from which tomb you will never emerge as long as I live. There you lie, there you rest. You keep me company right until I fall asleep; while I sleep you never leave me, and after I wake I see you, as soon as I open my eyes, even before the light of day itself. To others I address my words, to you my intention. I often stumble over words, because my thought is far from them. Who then will be able to deny that you are truly buried in me?”

[Bethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great edition. Michael Clanchy's introduction is excellent, with good background of Heloise and Abelard's extraordinary story and their letters, in addition to scrupulous angles on various theories about authorship, exposition of some interesting feminism, notes on translations, and so forth.

As for the letters themselves, they were significantly more religious than I thought they would be, and there remained much to offend my feminism, but it is an interesting slice of a different time and world. Clanchy is right when he says that Heloise and Abelard are complex people, so it's worth it for that and their story.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Meine Ausgabe der Wissenschaftlichen (?) Buchgesellschaft, die ohnehin durch Theologie- Lastigkeit und Glaubenseifer auffällt, verdient das Prädikat "wissenschaftlich" nicht. Dabei kann ich die Übersetzung nicht bewerten, das überaus naive Nachwort des Herausgebers schon. Womit ich beim "Problem" der (Be)Wertung des Textes selber bin: In dem Streit um die Echtheit des Briefwechsels tendiere ich mindestens zu der Auffassung, es handele sich um eine (Nach?)Bearbeitung und spätere Zusammenstellung/ Herausgabe. Was an sich unwichtig ist, denn so oder so bleibt es ein erstaunlicher Text. Fragt sich nur, ob er auch für "seine Zeit" erstaunlich war, oder ob sich die zeitgenössischen Leser (zumindest was den Aufbau und die Wirkungsabsicht anbelangt) nicht darin wiederfanden? Fakt ist, dass Heloise als "romantische Liebende" missverstanden wird, schon wegen der Drastik der erotischen Leidenschaft, die nicht verwundert, wenn man weiß, wie hoch im Kurs die "ars amandi" des Ovid im Mittelalter stand. Das körperliche Begehren war weder unbekannt noch sonst irgendetwas Besonderes (wie im 19. Jahrhundert!). Freilich war seine Legitimität an die Ehe gebunden, wobei das mit Blick auf die Männer eher unproblematisch gehandhabt wurde, weshalb Heloise dem Abaelard auch an keiner Stelle die Schuld gibt, sondern als verführerische "Eva" alle Schuld auf sich nimmt. Damit entsprechen ihre Selbstanklagen, so stolz sie auch vorgetragen werden, ganz dem gängigen Frauenbild, das sie auch in ihrer submissiven Unterordnung unter den Mann bestätigt, der seinerseits zugibt, sie öfter geschlagen und zum Sex gezwungen zu haben, selbst dann, wenn sie ihn bat, sie heute zu verschonen.(S. 132) Womit schon deutlich wird, dass diese Art von "Leidenschaft" kaum einem romantischen Liebesideal entspricht. Ihr entspricht allerdings das offen ausgesprochene Begehren der Frau. Beider abgrundtiefe "Sünde" liegt aber woanders: Im selben Zusammenhang betont Heloise, dass sie diese "Bilder" auch während der Gottesdienste vor Augen hatte und Abaelard gesteht, sie sogar in der Karwoche zur Fleischeslust gezwungen zu haben. Wie ist es möglich, damals so etwas zu bekennen und zu veröffentlichen? Für einen Moment haben mich die, um es mittelalterlich auszudrücken, "hoffärtigen" Gedanken des Abaelard über seine eigenen Lehrleistungen und das Ungenügen an seinen Lehrer auch verunsichert und an "modernen Individualismus" denken lassen. Weit gefehlt! Es ist dies der von der Kirche verurteilte Stolz, es sind Selbstüberhebung und fehlende Demut vor Gottes Wort. In zweierlei Hinsicht, was das Körperliche und das Geistliche anbelangt, erscheint Abaelard als ein unchristliches Monster; in zweierlei Hinsicht, was die erotische Verführbarkeit und deren Erinnerung während der geistlichen Handlung anbelangt, erscheint Heloise als verführtes und verführendes schwaches Frauenzimmer. Beide müssen so aufgebaut werden (oder sich selbst so aufbauen- sei's drum), um ihrer Konversion zum Guten, zum Christus wohlgefälligen Leben im Kloster und der endlichen Ruhe die nötige "Höhe" zu geben. Eine solche "Umkehr" im Glauben aus einer möglichst großen "Fallhöhe" zu einem möglichst extrem sündenfreien Leben gehört zum "erbaulichen" Schrifttum und zum Standardrepertoire der Predigten der Zeit. Das Ganze ist nur besonders kunstvoll und in gewisser Weise auch besonders "schamlos" in Szene gesetzt, was mich - da es sich um seinerzeit angesehene Personen der Zeitgeschichte handelt - an der Authentizität als Briefwechsel zweifeln lässt. Aber das sollen Spezialisten entscheiden. Fakt ist, dass hier ein typisch mittelalterliches literarisches Genre in einer Weise bedient wird, die hochgradig unromantisch ist. Dazu gehören auch die Rechtfertigung des Geschehenen wie der Darstellung. Abaelard führt den von Heloise aufgenommenen Gedanken aus, dass nicht die Tat, sondern Vorsatz und Intention vor Gott entscheidend seien. Insofern Gott also eingegriffen und ihnen die Möglichkeit der körperlichen Sünde genommen hat, zeigten sich seine Fürsorge für ihr Seelenheil und seine Fähigkeit, durch die verwerflichen Taten hindurch den geistigen Adel der beiden zu erkennen. Auch das ist mitnichten etwas Besonderes, sondern bewegt sich ganz im Rahmen des Zeitgeistes. Deswegen auch kann die sexuelle Verworfenheit problemlos als solche geschildert werden; das wird manch ähnlich handelndem Kleriker und sonstigen "Haus- Vätern" als Entschuldigung ihrer "Schwäche" nur recht und billig gewesen sein. Kurz, Sätze wie "Heloisa hat, wenn irgend jemand, das Denkmal gebaut, das ihrer beider Namen Ewigkeit verleiht..." (S. 423, Nachwort) und die weitere hymnische Lobhudelei sind unhistorischer Blödsinn! - Eine andere Frage ist, ob jeder Leser, der die farbige Darstellung sowohl der körperlichen Liebe wie der damit kontrastierenden mittelalterlichen Frömmigkeit als Widerspiegelung bis heute wesentlich ungelöster Probleme genießen kann, "historisch korrekt" denken muss. Muss sie/er? Nein, dass der Text anders lesbar und mithin aktualisierbar ist, bestätigt seine über die Zeit hinaus großartige literarische Qualität. Und nichts sonst! Das bliebe auch dann bestehen, wenn der Text eine Fälschung aus dem 13. Jahrhundert (als "Abschrift" überliefertes Manuskript) sein sollte. Alles uninteressant. Was vorliegt ist von der "Leidensgeschichte" bis zum 6. Brief unbezweifelbar "große Literatur" und als solche sollte der Text auch gewürdigt werden. Ab dem 6. Brief lässt das Interesse nach und wenn es sich erhält, dann wegen der authentischen historisch- theologisch Einsichten in Überlegungen zur Ausgestaltung von Klosterregeln. Dieser Teil ist also schon eher ein Zeitdokument. Man muss sehen, wie Heloise im 6. Brief die "Sündengeschichte" abbricht und verspricht, künftig davon zu schweigen, um sich ganz dem gottgefälligen Werk der Klostergründung widmen zu können. DAS ist der Moment ihrer KONVERSION! Dem mittelalterlichen Leser wird so klar, dass die Umkehr geglückt ist und man auf diese Weise das Seelenheil erwerben kann. Während aber für Abaelard und Heloise die Vergangenheit im Angesicht ihrer (geistlichen) Zukunft uninteressant wird, bleibt für den modernen Leser eben diese Vergangenheit zukunftsfähig, wohingegen er dem Zukünftigen der vergangenen Zeit nichts mehr abgewinnen kann. So funktioniert Literatur! Im Text sind Dinge angelegt, die der Leser je nach seinem Zeithorizont erschließen kann, ganz gleich, ob er damit die Intention des Verfassers/ der Verfasser trifft, oder nicht. Das gilt es zu berücksichtigen, wenn man vom gelesenen Text auf den Autor/ die Autorin Rückschlüsse ziehen will. Heloise und Abealard haben unzweifelhaft gelebt, man kann andere Bücher von ihnen lesen, aber die im Text als Schreibende "handelnden" Personen sind nicht mit ihren realen Vorbildern zu verwechseln! Um ihnen als literarische Figuren gerecht zu werden, reicht die Empathie des Lesers; um ihnen im Kontext der Zeit gerecht zu werden, muss man sich mit der dem Text eingeschriebenen Wirkungsabsicht auseinandersetzen. Alles andere ist - wenn es um Wissenschaft geht - naiv. Insofern gelten die fünf Sterne dem Text und keinesfalls seinen Herausgebern! Man fragt sich: Wozu gibt es eigentlich Literaturwissenschaft?

[Carol · Rating 1 out of 5]

Both Abelard and Heloise are good at expressing themselves (and the translation I am reading seems to be a good one -- it has many interesting explanatory footnotes).

I know I should not be so surprised, but I am finding Abelard to be nothing more than a total self-centered jerk and I find myself getting cross at Heloise for taking it from him. Admittedly I have only read his narration of his "troubles", which tells of their meeting, their romance, their secret marriage, his sudden castration by her male relatives, and their entrance both into separate, but nonetheless related, lives within the Church; and the first three letters (there are 8 total).

Heloise, so far, spends half her letters worshiping him and the other half begging him to say a nice word to her, a private, caring word. In contrast, Abelard whitters on about how he needs her (and all the woman in the convent) to spend more quality time saying prayers for him so that he might be delivered from his current calamities (Abelard seems to have a talent for pissing people off, justified or not--I think he brings much of this on himself through sheer arrogance, but I may be being unfair), and how she must make sure that if he should be killed that his body is buried at the monastery where she is so as to be closer to them so that they won't forget to continue praying for him.

Yes, yes, he did suffer for his "love" for her, quite dramatically and I expect painfully, though he claims the castration was so quick it hardly hurt and that he was more worried over the state of his reputation than his physical well-being. Still it seems overwhelmingly that he just sees Heloise as an object to use, first to satisfy lust and personal vanity, and later as a conduit to win him favor with God against his enemies. He seems a very cynical man.

[Traci · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am almost finished with this one, and I have loved it. What a fascinating look into the middle ages and into one of the most interesting couples in history. I am biased toward Heloise and champion her ability to speak her mind to the man she loved, married, and became an abbess to please.

[Joel Larson]

Y'all. This one was FASCINATING. A 12th-Century collection of letters between an Abbess and a leading theologian sounds completely dull, but dayummmnnnn the DRAMA of their story. I'm talking Game of Thrones shit - illicit romance, complete narcissistic manipulation, secret marriages, CASTRATION, and an unwanted pregnancy - the whole nine yards! Heloise names her baby Astrolabe and then never mentions him again which is a bit wtf but hey, we won't blame her for it (I wanna know what happened to Computer baby tho 😩). They even *do it* 🤭 in a church at one point. Abelard is an ass-hat to rival the greatest fictional bullies out there, and Heloise (despite the sad amount of internalized misogyny) gets pretty spicy in standing up for herself. I will never again say the Middle Ages are boring.

These letters were one of the most interesting historical texts I've ever read! This is a look into the inner lives of people who took religious orders in the early medieval period, and their letters encompass ideas at the time around God, romance, the roles and abilities of women, and the ins and outs of how an Abbey was run at this time. Abelard, despite being *the worst* also advocates for women serving in the church, saying women were honored by Christ, St. Paul, and St. Jerome to teach and even acknowledging that women historically were DEACONESSES (take that, complementarianism).

Anyway hope y'all enjoyed this chaotic review ✨hit that button down below if you want more fab chaotic reviews besties, don't forget to like and subscribe✨ Influencer Joel signing off 💁‍♀️

(Computer baby where r u)

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find these letters so interesting. When I first read them as a teenager I was so indignant on Heloise's behalf, as Abelard does not respond or rebukes her feelings towards him but now I feel a little more sympathetic. He is still very arrogant though.

And I took particular joy in reading Heloise's lengthy letter describing why the Benedictine rule was not suitable for women; from the larger things down to the clothing requirements not being suitable for women purging bodily humours (read, periods).

I am slightly disappointed that the edition I have provides only a summary of one of Abelard's letters. I also need to look into the "Lost Letters" which I own separately as this edition does not have them.

[Brent · Rating 3 out of 5]

Abélard was a 12th century logician, philosopher turned theologian who is typically only remembered either for his moral-influence theory of the atonement, or his tragic love affair with Heloïse. This book recounts the latter including his autobiographical "History of my Misfortunes" along with letters of correspondence between the two after they had both joined monasteries.

It's all pretty tragic: erudite philosopher out philosophizing Christian realists with his conceptualism thereby incuring enemies on all sides one of whom was Bernard of Clairvaux. Eventually Abélard founds his own Abbott called the Paraclete, but not as exciting as his love affair with Heloïse. While teaching at the University, he becomes enamored with this precocious girl who had formal, classical training. She was probably an early teenager at the time. So Abélard convinces her uncle to let her live with him so he could "tutor" her. Her uncle consents on account of his great skill and reputation. Long story short Abélard ends up raping Heloïse and would often times beat her until the forced sex turned into consensual sex, albeit not all the time as his letters reveal he would often force her "even when she didn't feel like it."

So Heloïse becomes wholly obsessed and infatuated with Abélard in a pretty unhealthy kind of way. They get busted having sex together and it becomes a scandal and her uncle is pissed. Abélard decides the right thing to do is marry, but he wants a secret wedding on account of his theological reputation. Heloïse resists, desiring the passionate relationship of infidel love better. Eventually she acquiesces and the two are secretly married. Shortly thereafter her uncle, seeking revenge, got together some goons to sneak into Abélard's place at night, chop of his ball sack, and dip set into the night. Abélard is humiliated, and really sore, and quickly thinks it a good idea to forsake his entire career and become a monk. He charges Heloïse to do the same and she does, albeit still very young.

The two don't see each other for ten years until Heloïse becomes abbess of the Paraclete and starts running the show with her own little convent of nuns. Abélard and Heloïse exchange numerous letters back and forth basically stating that Abélard is stoked he became a eunuch because now he's not horny 24/7 and he is truly saved and teaching theology again whereas Heloïse is pissed and sexually frustrated and even admits to having sexual fantasies at night or daydreaming of Abélard during mass, etc. All the while Abélard was kinda being charged for heresies, some of which were Trinitarian (his book was burned and he was charged with perpetual silence) and other conflicts about his denial of platonic realism and Anselm atonement theory. etc. He died shortly thereafter. Very tragic.

This good of this book is that it was a nice little background to someone who I have a hunch is severely understudied. I have a great desire to delve into Abélard's "Sic et Non" his Ethics and other dialogues. Every historical dogmatician cites Abélard as the one who put forth the moral influence theory of the atonement but who has actually read his primary sources? Hopefully I will soon as I look to continue my studies of medieval theology/philosophy.