Re-reading 'From the Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise,' - one of histories great love stories - and like many great love stories it doesn't end well for either of them - particularly him. Abelard was one of the most outstanding minds of the 12c. - a brilliant philosopher, theologian and logician - he was of the Scholastic school - as opposed to the Monastic. He made a good fist of reconciling Aristotle with Christianity - no mean feat, it requires considerable intellectual gymnastics - it's fairly easy to match Platonic thought with the then religious orthodoxy - as the Monastics did - Plato's idea of Universals and faith in a single god sit easily next to each other. It was though a 'blind' faith - the Scholastic philosopher sought to use reason and dialectic in theological dispute. A pretty controversial idea at the time. What Abelard started - to my mind - Thomas Aquinas perfected a century later - his teleological proof of god - well he never actually mentions god, only an unmoved mover, generally understood to be god - is still breathtaking to read. So - Heloise - she was remarkably well educated for a woman of her time - was Abelard's pupil and they began an affair - she eventually became pregnant and had a son - who bizarrely she named Astrolabe. Much scandal ensued - she was sent thence to a nunnery and Abelard received a fairly gruesome punishment courtesy of Heloise's uncle and guardian Fulbert. I shan't spoil the surprise. In tandem Abelard had picked a fight with the leader of the Cistercian order - Bernard of Clairvaux - highly influential at the time and one of the most loathsome people in medieval history - actually in all history - in my opinion - who arranged with the pope to have him excommunicated. Nobody really knows how the letters between the star crossed lovers came to be preserved - there are 3 from him to her and 4 from her to him. They are wonderful to read - even in translation from Latin. Two highly intelligent people who understand fully they shouldn't be doing what they are doing but can't help themselves. You do get the impression that Abelard was at the back of the modesty queue - he is a bit up himself and probably richly deserved a slap. He probably didn't deserve what they did to his.... I recommend the book to you - yours - I.
@Barry Giddens