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"Abaelardus and Heloïse surprised by Master Fulbert", by Romanticist painter Jean Vignaud (1819)

Pierre Abélard (in English, Peter Abelard) or Abailard (1079 – April 21, 1142) was a French scholastic philosopher, theologian, and logician. The story of his affair with his student, Héloïse, has become legendary. Image File history File links Socrates. ... Image File history File links File links The following pages link to this file: Pierre Abélard ... Image File history File links File links The following pages link to this file: Pierre Abélard ... Wanderer above the sea of fog by Caspar David Friedrich Romanticism is an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in 18th century Western Europe during the Industrial Revolution. ... Events Persian astronomer, Omar Khayyám, computed the length of the year as 365. ... is the 111th day of the year (112th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Events End of the reign of Emperor Sutoku, emperor of Japan Emperor Konoe ascends to the throne of Japan Henry the Lion becomes Duke of Saxony Births Farid od-Din Mohammad ebn Ebrahim Attar, Persian mystical poet (died 1220) Hugh III, Duke of Burgundy (died 1192) Bornin1142, a GameFAQs user... Scholasticism comes from the Latin word scholasticus, which means that [which] belongs to the school, and is the school of philosophy taught by the academics (or schoolmen) of medieval universities circa 1100–1500. ... A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... A logician is a philosopher, mathematician, or other whose topic of scholarly study is logic. ... Abaelardus and Heloïse in a manuscript of Roman de la Rose (14. ...

Life

Youth

Abélard was born in the little village of Pallet, about 10 miles east of Nantes, in Brittany, the eldest son of a noble Breton family. The name Abaelardus (also written Abailardus, Abaielardus &c) is said to be a corruption of Habélardus, substituted by Abélard himself for a nickname ('Bajolardus') given him when a student.^{[citation needed]} As a boy, he learned quickly, and, choosing an academic life instead of the military career usual for one of his birth, acquired the art of dialectic (a branch of philosophy) that at that time consisted chiefly of the logic of Aristotle transmitted through Latin channels and that was the great subject of liberal study in episcopal schools. The nominalist Roscellinus, the famous canon of Compiegne, claimed to have been his teacher; but whether this was in early youth, when he wandered from school to school for instruction and exercise, or some years later, after he had already begun to teach, remains uncertain. Traditional city flag City coat of arms Motto: (Latin: Shall Neptune favour the traveller) Location Coordinates Time Zone CET (GMT +1) Administration Country Region Pays de la Loire Department Loire-Atlantique (44) Mayor Jean-Marc Ayrault  (PS) (since 1989) City Statistics Land area¹ 65. ... Historical province of Brittany, showing the main areas with their name in Breton language The traditional flag of Brittany (the Gwenn-ha-du), formerly a Breton nationalist symbol but today used as a general civic flag in the region. ... Historical province of Brittany, showing the main areas with their name in Breton language The traditional flag of Brittany (the Gwenn-ha-du), formerly a Breton nationalist symbol but today used as a general civic flag in the region. ... In classical philosophy, dialectic (Greek: διαλεκτική) is an exchange of propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses) resulting in a synthesis of the opposing assertions, or at least a qualitative transformation in the direction of the dialogue. ... The philosopher Socrates about to take poison hemlock as ordered by the court. ... Aristotle (Greek: AristotélÄ“s) (384 BC – 322 BC) was a Greek philosopher, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in Latium, the region immediately surrounding Rome. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Wycliffe Tyndale · Luther · Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Pope · Archbishop of Canterbury Patriarch of Constantinople Christianity Portal This box:      This article is about... Roscellinus (~1050 - ~1122), often called the founder of Nominalism (see Scholasticism), was born at Compigne (Compendium). ... Canons, Bruges A Canon of the Seminary, Sint Niklaas, Flanders. ... Compi gne is a commune in the Oise d partement of France, of which it is a sous-pr fecture. ...

Rise to fame

Abelard and his pupil, Héloïse, by Edmund Blair Leighton

Abélard's travels finally brought him to Paris while still in his teens. There, in the great cathedral school of Notre-Dame de Paris,^[1] he was taught for a while by William of Champeaux, the disciple of Anselm of Laon (not to be confused with Saint Anselm) a leading proponent Realism. He was soon able to defeat the master in argument, resulting in a long duel that ended in the downfall of the philosophic theory of Realism, till then dominant in the early Middle Ages (to be replaced by Abélard's Conceptualism, or by Nominalism, the principal rival of Realism prior to Abélard). First, against opposition from the metropolitan teacher, while yet only twenty-two, Abélard set up a school of his own at Melun, then, for more direct competition, he moved to Corbeil, nearer Paris. Image File history File links Edmund_Blair_Leighton_-_Abaelard_Und_Seine_Schülerin_Heloisa. ... Image File history File links Edmund_Blair_Leighton_-_Abaelard_Und_Seine_Schülerin_Heloisa. ... The Accolade Edmund Blair Leighton (September 21, 1853—September 1, 1922) was a British painter of medieval scenes of chivalry. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) The Eiffel Tower in Paris, as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ... Guillaume de Champeaux (c. ... Anselm of Laon (died 1117) was a French theologian. ... Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033 or 1034 – April 21, 1109) was an Italian medieval philosopher and theologian, who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. ... Contemporary philosophical realism is the belief in and allegiance to a reality that exists independently of observers. ... Contemporary philosophical realism is the belief in and allegiance to a reality that exists independently of observers. ... The Middle Ages formed the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three ages: the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages, and modern times, beginning with the Renaissance. ... Conceptualism is a doctrine in philosophy intermediate between nominalism and realism, that universals exist only within the mind and have no external or substantial reality. ... In philosophy, nominalism is the theory that abstract terms, general terms, or universals do not represent objective real existents, but are merely names, words, or vocal utterances (flatus vocis). ... Melun is a French city and commune on the river Seine, about 50 km south-southeast of Paris. ... Corbeil is a village in Ontario, Canada. ...

The success of his teaching was notable, though for a time he had to give it up, the strain proving too great for his constitution. On his return, after 1108, he found William lecturing in a monastic retreat outside the city, and there they once again became rivals. Abélard was once more victorious, and now stood supreme. William was only temporarily able to prevent him from lecturing in Paris. From Melun, where he had resumed teaching, Abélard went on to the capital, and set up his school on the heights of Montagne Sainte-Geneviève, overlooking Notre-Dame. From his success in dialectic, he next turned to theology and attended the lectures of Anselm at Laon. His triumph was complete; the pupil was able to give lectures, without previous training or special study, which were acknowledged superior to those of the master. Abélard was now at the height of his fame. He stepped into the chair at Notre-Dame, being also nominated canon, about the year 1115. The Montagne Sainte-Geneviève is a hill on the left Bank of the Seine in Paris. ... At Wikiversity you can learn more and teach others about Theology at: The School of Theology Theology finds its scholars pursuing the understanding of and providing reasoned discourse of religion, spirituality and God or the gods. ... Laon is a city and commune of France, préfecture (capital) of the Aisne département. ...

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.

1. ^  Though it was located on the same spot in the Île de la Cité, the cathedral of Abélard's time was not the same as the cathedral we see today. Construction on the current Notre-Dame de Paris would not be begun until 1163.

The Île de la Cité, one of two islands in the Seine River (the other being Île Saint-Louis), is the centre of Paris, France, and the location where the city was founded. ... This article is about the Notre-Dame cathedral in Paris. ...

His love, Héloïse

Abélard and Héloïse depicted in a 14^th century manuscript

Living within the precincts of Notre-Dame, under the care of her uncle, the canon Fulbert, was a girl named Héloïse (1101–1162). She is said to have been beautiful, but still more remarkable for her knowledge, which extended beyond Latin 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. Once her uncle found out, the lovers were separated, only to meet in secret. Héloïse found herself pregnant, and was sent by Abélard to Brittany, where she gave birth to a son. She named her child Astrolabe after the scientific instrument recently imported from the Islamic world. To appease her furious uncle, Abélard proposed a secret marriage, in order not to mar his prospects of advancement in the church; but Héloïse 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 Héloïse boldly denied it, life was made so difficult for her that she sought refuge in the convent of Argenteuil at Abélard's bidding. Immediately Fulbert, believing that Héloïse's 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, thereby, canonically closed to him. Héloïse, still only in her twenties, agreed to become a nun at the bidding of Abelard, who would never be able to function as a husband again. Image File history File links Abelard_and_Heloise. ... Image File history File links Abelard_and_Heloise. ... Abaelardus and Heloïse in a manuscript of Roman de la Rose (14. ... “Hebrew” redirects here. ... A 16th century astrolabe. ... Argenteuil is a commune in the northwestern suburbs of Paris, France. ... Castration (also referred as: gelding, neutering, orchiectomy, orchidectomy, and oophorectomy) is any action, surgical, chemical, or otherwise, by which a male loses the functions of the testes or a female loses the functions of the ovaries. ... For other uses, see Nun (disambiguation). ...

According to historian Constant Mews in his work The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard, a set of 113 anonymous love letters found in a fifteenth century manuscript represent the correspondence exchanged by Héloïse and Abélard during the earlier phase of their affair.

Later life

It was in the Abbey of Saint-Denis that Abélard, now aged forty, sought to bury himself as a monk with his woes out of sight. Finding no respite in the cloister, and having gradually turned again to study, he gave in to urgent entreaties, and reopened his school at the priory of Maisonceile (1120). His lectures, now framed in a devotional spirit, were once again heard by crowds of students, and all his old influence seemed to have returned; but he still had many enemies, against whom he could make less vigorous opposition. No sooner had he published his theological lectures (the Theologia 'Summi Boni') than his adversaries picked up on his rationalistic interpretation of the Trinitarian dogma. Charging him with the heresy of Sabellius in a provincial synod held at Soissons in 1121, they obtained through irregular procedures an official condemnation of his teaching, and he was made to burn his book before being shut up in the convent of St. Medard at Soissons. It was the bitterest possible experience that could befall him. The life in his own monastery proved no more congenial than formerly. For this Abélard himself was partly responsible. He took a sort of malicious pleasure in irritating the monks. As if for the sake of a joke, he cited Bede to prove that Dionysius the Areopagite had been Bishop of Corinth, while they relied upon the statement of the Abbot Hilduin that he had been Bishop of Athens. When this historical heresy led to the inevitable persecution, Abélard wrote a letter to the Abbot Adam in which he preferred to the authority of Bede that of Eusebius of Caesarea's Historia Ecelesiastica and St. Jerome, according to whom Dionysius, Bishop of Corinth, was distinct from Dionysius the Areopagite, bishop of Athens and founder of the abbey, though, in deference to Bede, he suggested that the Areopagite might also have been bishop of Corinth. Life in the monastery was intolerable for Abélard, and he was finally allowed to leave. In a deserted place near Nogent-sur-Seine, he built himself a cabin of stubble and reeds, and turned hermit. When his retreat became known, students flocked from Paris, and covered the wilderness around him with their tents and huts. When he began to teach again he found consolation, and in gratitude he consecrated the new Oratory of the Paraclete. The Basilica of Saint Denis (in French, la Basilique de Saint-Denis), a famous burial site for French monarchs, is located in Saint Denis (near Paris). ... Cloister of Saint Trophimus, in Arles, France A cloister (from latin claustrum) is a part of cathedral, monastic and abbey architecture. ... Trinitarianism is the Christian doctrine that God, although one being, exists in three distinct persons (hypostases) known collectively as the Holy Trinity. ... In Christianity, Sabellianism (also known as modalism) is the belief that the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are different modes or aspects of one God, rather than three distinct persons. ... A synod (also known as a council) is a council of a church, usually a Christian church, convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. ... Soissons is a town and commune in the Aisne département, Picardie, France, located on the Aisne River, about 60 miles northeast of Paris. ... Bede (IPA: ) (also Saint Bede, the Venerable Bede, or (from Latin) Beda (IPA: )), (ca. ... Dionysius the Areopagite was the judge of the Areopagus who, as related in Acts, xvii, 34, was converted to Christianity by the preaching of Saint Paul. ... Hilduin (775-840) was Bishop of Paris, chaplain to Louis I, reforming Abbot of the Abbey of St. ... Eusebius of Caesarea Eusebius of Caesarea (c. ... “Saint Jerome” redirects here. ... Nogent-sur-Seine is a commune of the Aube département, in France. ... Onuphrius lived as a hermit in the desert of Upper Egypt in the late 4th century A hermit (from the Greek erÄ“mos, signifying desert, uninhabited, hence desert-dweller) is a person who lives to some greater or lesser degree in seclusion and/or isolation from society. ... Pierre Abélard founded the Benedictine Oratory of the Paraclete near Troyes, France, after he left the Abbey of St. ...

Composite image of the tomb of Abélard et Héloïse and various details

Abélard, fearing new persecution, left the Oratory to find another refuge, accepting an invitation to preside over the Abbey of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys, on the far-off shore of Lower Brittany. The region was inhospitable, the domain a prey to outlaws, the house itself savage and disorderly. Yet for nearly ten years he continued to struggle with fate before he left. The misery of those years was lightened because he had been able, on the breaking up of Héloïse's convent at Argenteuil, to establish her as head of a new religious house at the deserted Paraclete, and in the capacity of spiritual director he often was called to revisit the spot thus made doubly dear to him. All this time Héloïse had lived respectably. Living on for some time apart (we do not know exactly where), after his flight from the Abbey of St Gildas, Abélard wrote, among other things, his famous Historia Calamitatum, and thus moved her to write her first Letter, which remains an unsurpassed utterance of human passion and womanly devotion; the first being followed by the two other Letters, in which she finally accepted the part of resignation, which, now as a brother to a sister, Abélard commended to her. He soon returned to the site of his early triumphs lecturing on Mount St. Genevieve in 1136 (when he was heard by John of Salisbury), but it was only for a brief time: a last great trial awaited him. As far back as the Paraclete days, his chief enemy had been Bernard of Clairvaux, in whom was incarnated the principle of fervent and unhesitating faith, to which rational inquiry like Abélard's was sheer revolt, and now the uncompromising Bernard was moving to crush the growing evil in the person of the boldest offender. After preliminary negotiations, in which Bernard was roused by Abélard's steadfastness to put forth all his strength, a council met at Sens (1141), before which Abélard, formally arraigned upon a number of heretical charges, was prepared to plead his cause. When, however, Bernard had opened the case, suddenly Abélard appealed to Rome. Bernard, who had power, notwithstanding, to get a condemnation passed at the council, did not rest a moment till a second condemnation was procured at Rome in the following year. Meanwhile, on his way there to urge his plea in person, Abélard collapsed at the abbey of Cluny, and there he lingered only a few months before the approach of death. Removed by friends, for the relief of his sufferings, to the priory of St. Marcel, near Chalon-sur-Saone, he died. First buried at St. Marcel, his remains were soon carried off secretly to the Paraclete, and given over to the loving care of Héloïse, who in time came herself to rest beside them (1163). Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1215x867, 1256 KB) Summary Composite image of various aspects of the tomb of Abélard et Héloïse Photographer: Patrick T. Power, photographed on 19 November 2005 Images for reproduction can be obtained by contacting me at patricktpower@juno. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1215x867, 1256 KB) Summary Composite image of various aspects of the tomb of Abélard et Héloïse Photographer: Patrick T. Power, photographed on 19 November 2005 Images for reproduction can be obtained by contacting me at patricktpower@juno. ... Historia Calamitatum, also known as Abaelardi ad Amicum Suum Consolatoria, is an autobiographical work in Latin by Pierre Abelard, one of medieval Frances most important intellectuals and a pioneer of scholastic philosophy. ... Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (Fontaines, near Dijon, 1090 – August 21, 1153 in Clairvaux) was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian monastic order. ... Inside the cathedral of Sens, Jean-Baptiste Camille Corot, c. ... Cluny nowadays The town of Cluny or Clugny lies in the modern-day département of Saône-et-Loire in the région of France, near Mâcon. ... Not to be confused with Ch lons-en-Champagne, formerly known as Ch lons-sur-Marne. ...

Disputed resting place/lovers' pilgrimage

The bones of the pair were moved more than once afterwards, but they were preserved even through the vicissitudes of the French Revolution, and now are presumed to lie in the well-known tomb in the cemetery of Père Lachaise in eastern Paris. The transfer of their remains there in 1817 is considered to have considerably contributed to the popularity of that cemetery, at the time still far outside the built-up area of Paris. By tradition, lovers or lovelorn singles leave letters at the crypt, in tribute to the couple or in hope of finding true love. The French Revolution (1789–1815) was a period of political and social upheaval in the political history of France and Europe as a whole, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudal privileges for the aristocracy and Catholic clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on... Looking down the hill at the Père-Lachaise cemetery The cimetière du Père-Lachaise (pronounced pierre la-sh-ez) is the largest cemetery in the city of Paris (there are larger cemeteries in Paris suburbs). ...

There seems, however, to be some dissent as to their actual resting place. The Oratory of the Paraclete claims he and Héloïse are buried on their site and that what exists in Père-Lachaise is merely a monument, or cenotaph. According to Père-Lachaise, the remains of both lovers were transferred from the Oratory in the early 1800s and reburied in the famous crypt on their grounds. There are still others who believe that while Abélard is buried in the tomb at Père-Lachaise, Heloïse's remains are elsewhere. The Cenotaph, London A ceremony at the Cenotaph, London, on Sunday 12th June 2005, remembering Irish war dead Memorial Cenotaph, Hiroshima, Japan A cenotaph is a tomb or a monument erected in honor of a person or group of persons whose remains are elsewhere. ...

Reception

Abélard was an enormous influence on his contemporaries and the course of medieval thought, but he has been known in modern times mainly for his connection with Héloïse. It was not till the 19th century, when Cousin in 1836 issued the collection entitled Ouvrages inedits d'Abélard, that his philosophical performance could be judged at first hand; of his strictly philosophical works only one, the ethical treatise Scito te ipsum, having been published earlier, namely, in 1721. Cousin's collection, besides giving extracts from the theological work Sic et Non ("Yes and No") (an assemblage of opposite opinions on doctrinal points, culled from the Fathers as a basis for discussion, the main interest in which lies in the fact that there is no attempt to reconcile the different opinions), includes the Dialectica, commentaries on logical works of Aristotle, Porphyry and Boethius, and a fragment, De Generibus et Speciebus. The last-named work, and also the psychological treatise De Intellectibus, published apart by Cousin (in Fragmens Philosophiques, vol. ii.), are now considered upon internal evidence not to be by Abélard himself, but only to have sprung out of his school. A genuine work, the Glossulae super Porphyrium, from which Charles de Rémusat, in his classical monograph Abélard (1845), has given extracts, was published in 1930. Sic et non was written by Pierre Abélard around 1120. ... Boethius teaching his students (initial in a 1385 Italian manuscript of the Consolation of Philosophy). ... Charles François Marie, Comte de Rémusat (March 13, 1797 - January 6, 1875), was a French politician and writer. ...

Philosophical work

Please help improve this article by expanding this section. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. Please remove this message once the section has been expanded. This article has been tagged since January 2007.

The general importance of Abélard lies in his having fixed more decisively than anyone before him the scholastic manner of philosophizing, with its object of giving a formally rational expression to the received ecclesiastical doctrine. However his own particular interpretations may have been condemned, they were conceived in essentially the same spirit as the general scheme of thought afterwards elaborated in the 13th century with approval from the heads of the Church. Through him was prepared in the Middle Age the ascendancy of the philosophical authority of Aristotle, which became firmly established in the half-century after his death, when first the completed Organon, and gradually all the other works of the Greek thinker, came to be known in the schools: before his time it was rather upon the authority of Plato that the prevailing Realism sought to lean. As regards his so-called Conceptualism and his attitude to the question of Universals, see Scholasticism. Outside of his dialectic, it was in ethics that Abélard showed greatest activity of philosophical thought; laying very particular stress upon the subjective intention as determining, if not the moral character, at least the moral value, of human action. His thought in this direction, wherein he anticipated something of modern speculation, is the more remarkable because his scholastic successors accomplished least in the field of morals, hardly venturing to bring the principles and rules of conduct under pure philosophical discussion, even after the great ethical inquiries of Aristotle became fully known to them. Pope Innocent III accepted Abelard's Doctrine of Limbo, which amended Augustine of Hippo's Doctrine of Original Sin. The Vatican decreed that unbaptized babies did not, as at first believed, go straight to Hell but to a special area of limbo, "limbus infantium". They would therefore feel no pain but no happiness either because, it was held, they would not be able to see the deity that created them. Image File history File links This is a lossless scalable vector image. ... This article is about Aristotles logical works. ... Scholasticism comes from the Latin word scholasticus, which means that [which] belongs to the school, and is the school of philosophy taught by the academics (or schoolmen) of medieval universities circa 1100–1500. ...

Bibliography

French Wikisource has original text related to this article:

Pierre Abélard

Wikisource has an original article from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica about:

Abelard, Peter

Abélard's own works remain the best sources for his life, especially his Historia Calamitatum, an autobiography, and the correspondence with Héloïse. The literature on Abélard is extensive, but consists principally of monographs on different aspects of his philosophy. Charles de Remusat's Abelard (2 vols., 1845) remains an authority; it must be distinguished from his drama Abelard (1877), which is an attempt to give a picture of medieval life. McCabe's Life of Abelard is written closely from the sources. See also the valuable analysis by Nitsch in the article Abalard. There is a comprehensive bibliography in U. Chevalier, Repertoire des sources hist. du moyen age, s. "Abailard." Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Image File history File links Wikisource-logo. ... The original Wikisource logo. ... Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... Historia Calamitatum, also known as Abaelardi ad Amicum Suum Consolatoria, is an autobiographical work in Latin by Pierre Abelard, one of medieval Frances most important intellectuals and a pioneer of scholastic philosophy. ... Charles François Marie, Comte de Rémusat (March 13, 1797 - January 6, 1875), was a French politician and writer. ...

The four following volumes offer a much more up to date approach of Abélard.

• Michael T. Clanchy Abelard: A Medieval Life, Blackwell Pub., 1997 ISBN 0-631-20502-0
• John Marenbon, The Philosophy of Peter Abelard, Cambridge University Press, 1997.
• Constant J. Mews, The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard. Perceptions of Dialogue in Twelfth-Century France, St. Martin Press, 1999 (paperback, Palgrave, 2001).
• Constant J. Mews, Abelard and Heloise, Oxford University Press (Great Medieval Thinkers), 2005.

Music

Today Abélard is known largely as a philosopher who had a tragic love affair with Héloïse. However, Abélard was also long known as an important poet and composer. Abélard composed some celebrated love songs for Héloïse that are now lost, and which have not been identified in the anonymous repertoire. Héloïse praised these songs in a letter: "The great charm and sweetness in language and music, and a soft attractiveness of the melody obliged even the unlettered".^[1] The poor poet A poet is a person who writes poetry. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ...

Abélard later composed a hymn book for the religious community that Héloïse joined. This hymn book, written after 1130, differed from contemporary hymnals, such as that of Bernard of Clairvaux, in that Abélard used completely new and homogeneous material. The were grouped by metre, which meant that comparatively few melodies could be used. Only one melody from this hymnal survives, O quanta qualia.^[2] Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (Fontaines, near Dijon, 1090 – August 21, 1153 in Clairvaux) was a French abbot and the primary builder of the reforming Cistercian monastic order. ...

Abélard also left six biblical planctus (laments), which were very original and influenced the subsequent development of the lai, a song form that flourished in northern Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries. A Planctus is a lament, or song or poem which expresses grief or mourning. ... A lament or lamentation is a song or poem expressing grief, regret or mourning. ... A Lai was a song form composed in northern Europe, mainly France and Germany, from the 13th to the late 14th century. ...

Melodies that have survived have been praised as "flexible, expressive melodies (that) show an elegance and technical adroitness that are very similar to the qualities that have been long admired in Abélard's poetry."^[3]

Written works

• The Glosses of Peter Abailard on Porphyry (Petri Abaelardi Glossae in Porphyrium)
• Sic et Non
• Dialectica, before 1125
• His main work on systematic theology was written between 1120 and 1140, and appeared in a number of versions under a number of titles, these being, in chronological order, Theologia 'Summi Boni', Theologia christiana, and Theologia 'scholarium'.
• Dialogue of a Philosopher with a Jew and a Christian, 1136–1139
• Abelard's Ethics (Scito Teipsum, seu Ethica), before 1140
• Historia calamitatum (The story of my misfortunes), autobiographical
• The Letters of Abelard and Heloise, translated by Betty Radice, 1972, ISBN 0-14-044297-9. A more modern translation of Historia Calamitatum.
• Abelard & Heloise: The Letters and other Writings, translated with introduction and notes, by William Levitan, 2007, ISBN-13: 978-0-87220-875-9.

Sic et non was written by Pierre Abélard around 1120. ... Historia Calamitatum, also known as Abaelardi ad Amicum Suum Consolatoria, is an autobiographical work in Latin by Pierre Abelard, one of medieval Frances most important intellectuals and a pioneer of scholastic philosophy. ...

Cultural references

• Helen Waddell's novel "Peter Abelard" (1933) is loosely based on the story of their relationship. The novel was used as the basis of the play "Abelard and Heloise" (1970) by Ronald Millar.

• Alexander Pope's poem "Eloisa to Abelard" (1717) is written as though from Héloïse in her convent:

How happy is the blameless Vestal's lot! / The world forgetting, by the world forgot. /
Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind! / Each pray'r accepted and each wish resign'd.^[1] Helen Waddell (1889 - 1965) was an Irish poet, translator and playwright. ... Alexander Pope, an English poet best known for his Essay on Criticism and Rape of the Lock Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 – 30 May 1744) is generally regarded as the greatest English poet of the early eighteenth century, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. ...

• Howard Brenton's play In Extremis: The Story Of Abelard And Heloise was premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in 2006.^[2]

• Poet Anne Carson's 2005 collection Decreation includes a screenplay, titled "H&A Screenplay", concerning the timeless relationship of Abélard and Héloise.

Howard Brenton (born December 13, 1942) is an English playwright, who was educated at St Catharines College, Cambridge. ... now. ... This article is about the Globe Theatre of Shakespeare, both the original and its modern reconstruction. ... 2006 is a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Anne Carson (born Toronto, Ontario June 21, 1950) is a Canadian poet, essayist, and translator, as well as a professor of classics and comparative literature at McGill University and at the University of Michigan. ...

References

• 1 "Eloisa to Abelard". Retrieved 6 April 2006
• 2 Shakespeare's Globe Theatre 2006Retrieved 6 April 2006
• Pierre Abélard from the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
• Pierre (Peter) Abelard of Le Pallet, introduction Short biography of Pierre (Peter) Abélard, with summary of heresies used to accuse and try him at Sens in 1140; links to explanations; relevant bibliography; from abelard.org
• Enrico Garzilli wrote a musical play called "Rage of the Heart" (http://rageoftheheart.com/index.php), about Abélard and his love for Héloïse.
• Clanchy, M.. Abelard. Oxford: Blackwell, 1997. - The current definitive biography of Abelard.
• Marenbon, John. The Philosophy of Peter Abelard. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999.

The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (hereafter SEP) is a free online encyclopedia of philosophy run and maintained by Stanford University. ...

Notes

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001 The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians, considered by most scholars to be the best general reference source on the subject in the English language. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2001 The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians, considered by most scholars to be the best general reference source on the subject in the English language. ... is the 100th day of the year (101st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... Edison cylinder phonograph from about 1899 The phonograph, or gramophone, was the most common device for playing recorded sound from the 1870s through the 1980s. ...

External links

• Works by Pierre Abélard at Project Gutenberg
• Semantics and ontology in the thought of Peter Abelard
• Abelard and Heloise from In Our Time (BBC Radio 4)
• Le Pallet, birthplace of Pierre Abélard, in pictures
• Eric W. Weisstein, Abelard, Peter (1079–1142) at ScienceWorld.
• Peter King, Abelard biography
• Peter King, Abelard biography in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy.
• The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise. Trans. by Anonymous (1901).

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ... In Our Time is a discussion programme hosted by Melvyn Bragg on BBC Radio 4 in the United Kingdom. ... ScienceWorld, also known as Eric Weissteins World of Science, is a web site that opened to the general public in January 2002. ...

This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... “Augustinus” redirects here. ... There are several persons called Boëthius: Philosophers: Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius - to many scholars this is the Boëthius, a late-Roman writer best known for his works in philosophy and theology. ... J. Scotus Eriugena commemorated on a Irish banknote, issued 1976-1993 Johannes Scotus Eriugena (ca. ... Rhazes-Treating a Patient (artist unknown) Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi (born in Rayy, Iran, 864; died in Baghdad, Iraq, 930 AD) was a versatile Persian philosopher (hakim), who made fundamental and lasting contributions to the fields of medicine, chemistry (alchemy) and philosophy. ... Roscellinus, also called Roscelin or in latin Roscellinus Compendiensis and Rucelinus, (~1050 - ~1122) was a French philosopher and theologian, often regarded as the founder of Nominalism (see Scholasticism), born in Compiègne, France. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... Abu Hamid Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Ghazali (born 1058 in Tus, Khorasan province of Iran, died 1111, Tus) was a Persian Muslim theologian and philosopher, known as Algazel to the western medieval world. ... Saint Anselm of Canterbury (1033 or 1034 – April 21, 1109) was an Italian medieval philosopher and theologian, who held the office of Archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109. ... Bernard of Chartres (Bernardus Carnotensis) was a twelfth-century French philosopher, scholar, and administrator. ... Abaelardus and Heloïse surprised by Master Fulbert, by Romanticist painter Jean Vignaud (1819) Pierre Abélard (in English, Peter Abelard) or Abailard (1079–April 21, 1142) was a French scholastic philosopher. ... Gilbert de la Porrée, frequently known as Gilbertus Porretanus or Pictavieiisis (1070 - September 4, 1154), scholastic logician and theologian, was born at Poitiers. ... Hugh of St. ... Richard of St. ... Commonly used image indicating one artists conception of Maimonidess appearance Maimonides (March 30, 1135 or 1138–December 13, 1204) was a Jewish rabbi, physician, and philosopher in Spain, Morocco and Egypt during the Middle Ages. ... Alexander Hales (also Halensis, Alensis, Halesius, Alesius; called Doctor Irrefragabilis and Theologorum Monarcha) was a scholastic theologian. ... Averroes Averroes (Ibn Rushd) (1126 - December 10, 1198) was an Andalusian-Arab philosopher and physician, a master of philosophy and Islamic law, mathematics and medicine. ... Alain de Lille (Alanus de Insulis) (c. ... A 13th century portrait of Grosseteste. ... Albertus Magnus (b. ... For the Nova Scotia premier see Roger Bacon (politician). ... Saint Bonaventure of Bagnoregio (Italian: San Bonaventura) (1221 – 15 July 1274), born John of Fidanza (Italian: Giovanni di Fidanza), was the eighth Minister General of the Order of Friars Minor, commonly called the Franciscans. ... Saint Thomas Aquinas (also Thomas of Aquin, or Aquino; c. ... Ramon Llull. ... Godfrey of Fontaines was a scholastic philosopher and theologian; born near Liège, within the first half of the thirteenth century, he became a canon of his native diocese, and also of Paris and Cologne, and was elected, in 1300, to the See of Tournai, which he declined. ... Henry of Ghent (c. ... Giles of Rome (Latin Ægidius Romanus) (circa 1243-1316), was an archbishop of Bourges who was famed for his logician commentary on the Organon by Aristotle. ... Blessed John Duns Scotus (c. ... William of Ockham William of Ockham (also Occam or any of several other spellings) (c. ... Jean Buridan, in Latin Joannes Buridanus (1300 - 1358) was a French priest who sowed the seeds of religious scepticism in Europe. ... Nicolas Oresme (c. ... Georgius Gemistos ,or Plethon (or Pletho), (c. ... Johannes Bessarion, or Basilius (c. ... Francisco de Vitoria (1492-1546) was a Renaissance theologian, founder of the tradition in philosophy known as the School of Salamanca, noted especially for his contributions to the theory of Just War. ... Encyclopædia Britannica, the 11th edition The Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition (1910–1911) is perhaps the most famous edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...