The Letters of Heloise and Abelard A Translation of Their Collected Correspondence and Related Writings

by McLaughlin, Mary Martin; Wheeler, Bonnie

• ISBN13: 9780312229351
• ISBN10: 0312229356
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-12-15
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan

Summary

The letters of Heloise and Abelard remain some of the great romantic and intellectual documents of human civilization while the writers themselves are probably second only to Romeo and Juliet in the fame accrued by tragic lovers. Living in the abbey of the Paraclete in twelfth-century France, the two poured their hearts and minds out to each other in a series of letters. The letters are notable for their intelligence, insight, and philosophy and make clear the reason Heloise and Abelard's story has resounded for centuries. Here, for the first time, is the collected correspondence with accessible commentary from two of our foremost medieval scholars. This book will be a necessity for anyone interested in the medieval period or in these two touchingly unforgettable figures from the distant past.

Author Biography

Mary Martin Mclaughlin is one of the world's pre-eminent scholars of the medieval period. Now retired, she taught at Wellesley and Vassar.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Chronology	p. xi
Maps	p. xv
Abbreviations	p. xix
Introduction	p. 1
The Correspondence of Heloise and Abelard
Abelard's Letter of Consolation to a Friend: A Story of Calamities	p. 17
Heloise to Abelard	p. 51
Abelard to Heloise	p. 57
Heloise to Abelard	p. 63
Abelard to Heloise	p. 71
Heloise to Abelard	p. 85
Abelard to Heloise: The Origin of the Religious Life of Nuns (Concerning the Authority and Dignity of the Order of Nuns)	p. 99
Abelard to Heloise: A Rule for Nuns	p. 133
Peter Abelard: To the Nuns of the Paraclete On Studies	p. 195
Abelard to Heloise: A Profession of Faith	p. 209
Heloise's Questions (Problemata Heloissae): Forty-Two Questions Posed by Heloise and Answered by Abelard, with an Introductory Letter by Heloise
Heloise to Abelard	p. 213
Related Letters and Other Writings
Abelard to Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux	p. 271
Abelard to His "Comrades"	p. 279
Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux to Cardinal Ivo	p. 281
Abbot Bernard of Clairvaux to Pope Innocent II	p. 285
Peter the Venerable: Letter to Pope Innocent II	p. 289
Peter the Venerable: A Letter to Heloise	p. 293
Heloise to Peter the Venerable	p. 299
Peter the Venerable to Heloise	p. 301
Peter the Venerable: A Letter of Absolution for Abelard	p. 303
Peter the Venerable: An Epitaph for Abelard	p. 305
The Nuns of the Paraclete: An Epitaph for Heloise	p. 307
A Last Epitaph at the Paraclete, 1780	p. 309
Appendices
Institutiones Nostrae [Our Statutes]	p. 313
MS T (Troyes, Bibliothèque municipal, MS 802): The Paraclete and the Early History of the Correspondence of Abelard and Heloise	p. 317
Explanatory Notes	p. 327
Bibliography	p. 349
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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Excerpted from The Letters of Heloise and Abelard: A Translation of Their Complete Correspondence by Mary Martin McLaughlin
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