Peter Abelard

Author Code: FPAX

Abelard left home at an early age to study amongst the many roving scholars of the day. He attended the Cathedral School, the School of St. Genevieve and that of St. Germain des Pre in Paris. He studied dialectics under William of Champaux. He left Paris to set up his own school at Melun and later at Corbeil around 1101. He returned to Paris in 1103-4 and studied rhetoric. In 1108, he established a school at Mt. Ste. Genevieve. In 1113, he obtained a chair of the Cathedral School where he taught until 1118. He met and fell in love with Heloise, the niece of Canon Fulbert, who he was tutoring and who was many years younger than himself. They were secretly married and had a child. When Fulbert heard of the marriage, he sent some hirelings to take his revenge and they proceeded to castrate Abelard. He then retired to a monastery at St. Denis and became a monk. In the meantime, Heloise entered a convent and became a nun. In 1125, Abelard became the abbot of the monastery at Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuis. He then became involved in a dispute with St. Bernard of Clairvaux which eventually led to his trial for heresy in 1140. His last years were spent under the protection of Peter the Venerable at Cluny. Abelard produced his first theological work in 1121 and 1123 published Sic et Non (For and Against), a philosophical/theological work that was eventually included in the Church's Index of Forbidden Books, because of its controversial nature. His other works include Christian Theology, Soliloquy, Introductory Logic, Ethics, The Dialogue of a Philosopher With a Jew and a Christian and Historia Calamitatum (or The Story of My Misfortunes), an autobiographical work written near the end of his life.