 |
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| 5/17/1163 |
|
Heloise and Abelard
On this day in 1164 Heloise was buried alongside Abelard in the cemetery at the nunnery which he had founded for her, and at which she was abbess for over thirty years. The story of their legendary love has been distorted in every possible genre, and appropriated to every end; still, the original source material, of which there now seems to be significantly more, remains compelling reading. |
|
|
| »
top of page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Catholic Encyclopedia: Peter Abelard
A biography that chronicles Abelard's education, short-lived career as a teacher, and philosophical accomplishments.
"There can be no doubt that Abelard's career as a teacher at Paris, from 1108 to 1118, was an exceptionally brilliant one. In his Story of My Calamities (Historia Calamitatum) he tells us how pupils flocked to him from every country in Europe, a statement which is more than corroborated by the authority of his contemporaries. He was, In fact, the idol of Paris; eloquent, vivacious, handsome, possessed of an unusually rich voice, full of confidence in his own power to please, he had, as he tells us, the whole world at his feet. That Abelard was unduly conscious of these advantages is admitted by his most ardent admirers; indeed, in the Story of My Calamities, he confesses that at that period of his life he was filled with vanity and pride. To these faults he attributes his downfall, which was as swift and tragic as was everything, seemingly, in his meteoric career." |  | Peter Abelard's Historia Calamitatum (Story of My Misfortunes)
Features an important electronic text. From the introduction:
"The Historia Calamitatum, although in the literary form of a letter, is a sort of autobiography, with distinct echoes of Augustine's Confessions. It is one of the most readable documents to survive from the period, and as well as presenting a remarkably frank self-portrait, is a valuable account of intellectual life in Paris before the formalization of the University, of the intellectual excitement of the period, of monastic life and of a love story that in some respects deserves its long reputation." | | The Letters of Peter Abelard and Heloise
Features letters and a brief commentary which provides historical, religious and cultural context and literary analysis:
"The authenticity of these four 'personal letters,' as they are called, has been questioned, inconclusively and perhaps unnecessarily, by modern scholars. It is accepted, at least, that they are not merely personal communications, but rather finished, literary compositions destined for a wide readership. Their Latin style is ornate and studied, set off by complex parallel constructions and elegant inversions of word order. Abelard, especially, tends to buttress his exposition with accumulated Biblical citations. Heloise writes seemingly more spontaneously of very intimate feelings -- but even here we sense an element of literariness, associated on her side with the vernacular love poetry of the Troubadours and with the romances of Tristan. Taken together, the letters constitute a philosophical dialogue on love, marriage and spirituality; they offer a searching analysis of a personal, universal experience which has challenged and movedreaders in every age." | |
|
| »
top of page |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The TinL masthead features photography by
Natasha D'Schommer
, and the book art featured is by Jim Rosenau.
|
|
|
|
|
