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Peter Abelard ca.
1079 - ca. 1142
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 The
Letters of Abelard and Heloise
by Pierre Abailard,
Betty Radice.
Abelard and Heloise are nearly as famous a
pair of tragic lovers as the fictional Romeo and Juliet; their
shared passion for knowledge, religious faith, and one another
sealed their destiny. Abelard was a well-respected, 12th-century
Parisian scholar and teacher, and Heloise was his talented young
student. The two relate their story through a set of letters to
one another and intimate acquaintances. Their ardor is
unmistakable; as Abelard writes to his love, "So intense
were the fires of lust which bound me to you that I set those
wretched, obscene pleasures, which we blush even to name, above
God as above myself..." This forbidden lust resulted in a
pregnancy and secret marriage, and when their union could no
longer withstand the challenges in its path, each lover sought
refuge in the church--Abelard became a monk and Heloise an
abbess. Their correspondence continued as both achieved success
in their new careers but continued to struggle with their
feelings for one another; the set of letters powerfully
articulates the wide range of emotions they experienced. So
timeless is their love story that--after eight centuries--their
passion, their devotion, and their struggle still resonate with
readers.
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Peter Abelard (1079-1142) was one of the
great intellectuals of the 12th century, with especial importance in the
field of logic. His tendency to disputation is perhaps best demonstrated
by his book Sic et Non, a list of 158 philosophical and theological
questions about which there were divided opinions. This dialectical
method of intellectual reflection -- also seen in Gratian's approach to
canon law -- was to become an important feature of western education and
distinguishes it sharply from other world cultures such as Islam and the
Confucian world. Abelard's mistake was to leave the questions open for
discussion and so he was repeatedly charged with heresy. For a long
period all his works were included in the later Index of Forbidden
Books. The text here gives a good account of Abelard's pugnaciousness.
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Heloise was a highly educated young woman
when her legendary correspondence with the philosopher Peter Abelard
began. Peter the Venerable stated, upon the occasion of Abelard's death,
that Heloise was a woman "wholly devoted to philosophy in the true
sense," who "left logic for the Gospel, Plato for Christ and
the academy for the cloister."
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