Abelard and Heloise, the philosopher and his pupil in 12th-century Paris

Abelard and Heloise are perhaps the first couple in European history whose love we know from the voices of the protagonists themselves. He was one of the most brilliant philosophers of his time, she a young woman of extraordinary learning. Their story, set in Paris in the early decades of the 12th century, is known to us above all through an autobiography and a correspondence that are still debated today.

The master and the pupil

Peter Abelard was born in 1079 at Le Pallet in Brittany and became famous as a master of dialectic and theology in the Paris schools. Around 1115 he entered the house of Fulbert, a canon of Notre-Dame, as a tutor, and Fulbert entrusted him with the education of his niece Heloise. Her date of birth is uncertain, but she was already known for her knowledge of Latin and, according to some, of Greek and Hebrew as well.

Amid lessons and books an intense love was born, which Abelard himself describes without reticence. When Heloise became pregnant, he took her to Brittany to his sister's house, where a son was born and given the unusual name Astrolabe. To appease Fulbert, Abelard proposed marriage, on condition that it remain secret so as not to harm his career.

The marriage and the revenge

Heloise opposed the wedding. She argued that marriage would distract the philosopher from study and that she preferred to be called friend rather than wife. In the end she gave way, and the marriage was celebrated in secret. Fulbert, however, made it public, and Abelard, to protect her, took her to the convent of Argenteuil. Her uncle believed he wanted to be rid of her.

In revenge Fulbert had Abelard attacked at night by hired men, who castrated him. This was around 1117. Humiliated, the philosopher became a monk at the abbey of Saint-Denis, while Heloise took the veil at Argenteuil. From then on their lives went on separately, yet always bound by a relationship of esteem and affection.

The Paraclete and the letters

Abelard continued to teach and write, attracting condemnation: his works were censured at the Council of Soissons in 1121 and, at the instigation of Bernard of Clairvaux, at the Council of Sens in 1141. In the meantime he had founded near Nogent-sur-Seine an oratory dedicated to the Paraclete, which he later gave to Heloise and her sisters. She became its abbess and led it with great authority.

Around 1132 Abelard wrote the Historia calamitatum, the story of his misfortunes. There followed an exchange of letters with Heloise, in which she confesses that she cannot forget their past love. The authenticity of the correspondence was long debated by scholars, but today most consider it substantially genuine. Abelard died in 1142, Heloise in 1164.

A tomb in Paris

According to tradition, Heloise was buried beside Abelard at the Paraclete. After several moves, in 1817 the remains attributed to the two were placed in a neo-Gothic tomb in the Père-Lachaise cemetery, where lovers still leave letters and flowers today. In 1761 Jean-Jacques Rousseau named his novel Julie, or the New Heloise after their legend.

The strength of this story lies in the fact that it is not distant poets who speak, but the two lovers themselves. Heloise in particular emerges as one of the freest and clearest female voices of the Middle Ages, able to discuss love, marriage and faith with an honesty that still surprises.