At the great cathedral school of Notre
Dame de Paris, Pierre
Abelard becomes one of the most famous teachers of philosophy in
Europe.
"Distinguished in figure and manners, Abélard was seen
surrounded by crowds - it is said thousands of students, drawn from all
countries by the fame of his teaching. Enriched by the offerings of his
pupils, and entertained with universal admiration, he came, as he says,
to think himself the only undefeated philosopher in the world. But a
change in his fortunes was at hand. In his devotion to science, he had
always lived a very regular life, enlivened only by philosophical debate:
now, at the height of his fame, he encountered romance.
"Living within the precincts of Notre-Dame, under the care of her uncle,
the canon Fulbert, was a
girl named Heloise,
of noble birth, and born about 1101. She is said to have been beautiful,
but still more remarkable for her knowledge, which extended beyond Latin,
it is said, to Greek and Hebrew. Abélard fell in love with her;
and he sought and gained a place in Fulbert's house. Becoming tutor to
the girl, he used his power for the purpose of seduction, and she returned
his devotion. Their relations interfered with his public work, and were
not kept a secret by Abélard himself. Soon everyone knew except
the trusting Fulbert. When he found out, they were separated, only to
meet in secret. Heloise became pregnant, and was carried off by her lover
to Brittany, where
she gave birth to a son. To appease her furious uncle, Abélard
proposed a secret marriage, in order not to mar his prospects of advancement
in the church; but Heloise opposed the idea. She appealed to him not
to sacrifice for her the independence of his life, but reluctantly gave
in to pressure. The secret of the marriage was not kept by Fulbert; and
when Heloise boldly denied it, life was made so difficult for her that
she sought refuge in the convent ofArgenteuill at
Abélard's bidding. Immediately Fulbert, believing that her husband,
who had helped her run away, wanted to be rid of her, plotted revenge.
He and some others broke into Abélard's chamber by night, and
castrated him. The priesthood and ecclesiastical office were canonically
closed to him. Heloise, not yet twenty, consummated her work of self-sacrifice
at Abélard's
jealous bidding that she never again share romantic love with a man,
and became a nun."
For the remainder of his life Abelard endured persecution for the scandal.
Apart from fiction, such as" Romeo and Juliet, " the
letters of Abelard and Eloise are among the best known records of early
forbidden romantic love. "Only 12 MSS of this text are known. 7 MSS are
in Paris: Bibliothèque
Nationale, ms. lat.2923 (13th c.), 2544, 2545, 13057, 13826, (17th c.)
and ms.n.a.lat. 1873 and 20001 (a fragment); 1 in Reims: Bibliothèque
Municipale, ms.872; 1 in Troyes: Bibliothèque Municipale, ms.802;
Douai: Bibliothèque Municipale, ms.797; and Oxford: Bodleian MS.Add.C.271
(a fragment)." (Schoyen
Collection MS 2085). |
