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Peter Abelard (English pronunciation: /ˈæb.ə.lɑːrd/, French pronunciation: [a.beˈlaːʁ], Latin: Petrus Abaelardus or Abailard; French: Pierre Abélard) (1079–21 April 1142) was a medieval French scholastic philosopher, theologian and preeminent logician.[1] The story of his affair with and love for Héloïse has become legendary. The Chambers Biographical Dictionary describes him as "the keenest thinker and boldest theologian of the 12th Century".[2]
Abelard, originally called "Pierre le Pallet", was born in Le Pallet, about 10 miles (16 km) east of Nantes, in Brittany, the eldest son of a minor noble Breton family. As a boy, he learned quickly. His father, a wealthy lord called Berengar, encouraged Pierre to study the liberal arts, wherein he excelled at the art of dialectic (a branch of philosophy), which, at that time, consisted chiefly of the logic of Aristotle transmitted through Latin channels. Instead of entering a military career, as his father had done, Abelard became an academic. During his early academic pursuits, Abelard wandered throughout France, debating and learning, so as (in his own words) "he became such an one as the Peripatetics."[3] The nominalist Roscellinus of Compiègne was his teacher during this period.[2]
Abelard's travels finally brought him to Paris while he was still in his teens. In the great cathedral school of Notre-Dame de Paris, 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 of Realism.[2] During this time he changed his surname to "Abélard", sometimes written "Abailard" or "Abaelardus". 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 Abelard's Conceptualism, or by Nominalism, the principal rival of Realism prior to Abelard). First, against opposition from the metropolitan teacher, while yet only twenty-two, Abelard set up his own school at Melun, then, for more direct competition, he moved to Corbeil, nearer Paris.[3]
His teaching was notably successful, 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 at Saint-Victor, just outside the Ile-de-la-cite, and there they once again became rivals. Abelard 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.[3]
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.[3]
Living within the precincts of Notre-Dame, under the care of her uncle, the canon Fulbert, was Héloïse. She was remarkable for her knowledge of classical letters, which extended beyond Latin to Greek and Hebrew. Abélard sought a place in Fulbert's house, and then seduced Héloïse. The affair interfered with his career, and Abélard himself boasted of his conquest. Once Fulbert found out, he separated them, but they continued to meet in secret. Héloïse became pregnant and was sent by Abélard to Brittany, where she gave birth to a son whom she named Astrolabe after the scientific instrument.[3]
To appease Fulbert, Abélard proposed a secret marriage in order not to mar his career prospects. Héloïse initially opposed it, but the couple were married. When Fulbert publicly disclosed the marriage, and Héloïse denied it, she went to the convent of Argenteuil at Abélard's urging. Fulbert, believing that Abélard wanted to be rid of Héloïse, had him castrated,[4] effectively ending Abélard's romantic career. Héloïse was forced to become a nun. Héloïse sent letters to Abélard, questioning why she must submit to a religious life for which she had no calling.[3]
According to historian Constant Mews in his The Lost Love Letters of Héloïse and Abélard, a set of 113 anonymous love letters found in a 15th-century manuscript, represent the correspondence exchanged by Héloïse and Abélard during the earlier phase of their affair.[5] These are not to be confused with the accepted letters of Abélard and Héloïse which were written nearly fifteen years after their romance ended.[6]
In the Abbey of Saint-Denis, the 40-year-old Abélard sought to bury himself as a monk with his woes out of sight.[7] Finding no respite in the cloister, and having gradually turned again to study, he gave in to urgent entreaties, and reopened his school at an unknown priory. His lectures, now framed in a devotional spirit, were once again heard by crowds of students, and 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.
Life in his own monastery proved no more congenial than before. 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 Ecclesiastica 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 grew intolerable for Abélard, and he was finally allowed to leave. In a deserted place near Nogent-sur-Seine, he built a cabin of stubble and reeds, and became a 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.
Fearing new persecution, Abélard 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 against 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.
During this time Héloïse had lived respectably and grown in stature within the religious community, where she would eventually become abbess.
Living on for some time apart (unknown exactly where), after his flight from the Abbey of St Gildas, Abélard wrote, among other things, his famous Historia Calamitatum. This moved Héloïse to write her first Letter, which remains an unsurpassed utterance of human passion and womanly devotion;[8] 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.
Astrolabe, the son of Abélard and Héloïse, is mentioned by Peter the Venerable of Cluny, where Abélard spent his last years, when Peter the Venerable wrote to Héloise: "I will gladly do my best to obtain a prebend in one of the great churches for your Astrolabe, who is also ours for your sake".[9] A 'Petrus Astralabius' is recorded at the Cathedral of Nantes in 1150, and the same name appears at the Cistercian abbey at Hauterive in what is now Switzerland, but it is uncertain whether this is the same man. However, Astrolabe is recorded as dying at Paraclete on 29 or 30 October, year unknown, appearing in the necrology as "Petrus Astralabius magistri nostri Petri filius".[10]"[9]
By 1136, when he was heard by John of Salisbury, Abélard returned to the site of his early triumphs, lecturing on Mount St. Genevieve, but only for a brief time: a last 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 moved to crush the growing evil in the person of the boldest offender.
In 1141, after preliminary negotiations in which Bernard was roused by Abélard's steadfastness to put forth all his strength, a council met at Sens, before which Abélard, formally arraigned upon a number of heretical charges, prepared to plead his cause. When, however, Bernard had opened the case, Abélard appealed to Rome. Bernard, who had power to get a condemnation passed at the council, did not rest until a second condemnation was procured at Rome in the following year.
Meanwhile, on his way to Rome to urge his plea in person, Abélard stopped 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-Saône, Abélard died. He is said to have uttered the last words "I don't know", before expiring.[11] He died from a combination of fever and a skin disorder, most likely scurvy.[12]
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 in 1163. Their tomb is found in the Cimetière du Père Lachaise in Paris.
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.[13] 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.
Their actual resting place remains in dispute. The Oratory of the Paraclete claims Abélard and Héloïse are buried there 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 19th century and reburied in the famous crypt on their grounds.[14] Others believe that while Abelard is buried in the tomb at Père-Lachaise, Heloïse's remains are elsewhere.
The general importance of Abélard lies in his having fixed more decisively than anyone before him the scholastic manner of philosophizing, with the object of giving a formally rational expression to received ecclesiastical doctrine. Though his 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.
He helped to establish the ascendancy of the philosophical authority of Aristotle which became firmly established in the half-century after his death. It was at this time that the completed Organon, and gradually all the other works of the Greek thinker, first came to be available in the schools. Before his time, Plato's authority was the basis for the prevailing Realism. 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. He stressed the subjective intention as determining, if not the moral character, at least the moral value, of human action. His thought in this direction, anticipating something of modern speculation, is 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 they were made fully aware of Aristotle's great ethical inquiries.
Pope Innocent III accepted Abélard's doctrine of Limbo, which amended Augustine of Hippo's doctrine of Original Sin. The Vatican accepted the view 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 and remain in a state of natural bliss. Supernatural bliss, however, is not available to unbaptized children because they cannot experience beatific vision.[15]
He is also closely associated with the moral influence theory of atonement.
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'Abelard, that his philosophical performance could be judged at first hand. Only one of his strictly philosophical works, the ethical treatise Scito te ipsum, had been published earlier, in 1721.
Cousin's collection gave extracts from the theological work Sic et Non ("Yes and No") which is 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. Cousin's collection also 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 separately 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 has given extracts in his classical monograph Abélard (1845), was published in 1930.
Abélard receives the monastery of the
Paraclete Héloïse (1129)
- Logica ingredientibus (Logic for Beginners) completed before 1121 (the most important logical work)
- Petri Abaelardi Glossae in Porphyrium (The Glosses of Peter Abailard on Porphyry) ca. 1120
- Dialectica, before 1125 (1115-1116 according to John Marenbon, The Philosophy of Peter Abélard, Cambridge University Press 1997)
- Logica nostrorum petitioni sociorum (Logic in response to the request of our comrades) ca. 1124-1125
- Tractatus de intellectibus (A treatise on understanding) before 1128
- Sic et Non (A list of quotations from Christian authorities on philosophical and theological questions); an English translation: Throop, Priscilla, trans., YES AND NO: Peter Abélard's SIC ET NON, Charlotte, VT: MedievalMS, 2007
- Theologia 'Summi Boni', Theologia christiana, and Theologia 'scholarium'. His main work on systematic theology written between 1120 and 1140, and appeared in a number of versions under a number of titles (shown in chronological order)
- Dialogue of a Philosopher with a Jew and a Christian, 1136–1139
- Ethics or Know Yourself (Ethica or Scito Te Ipsum), before 1140
- Historia calamitatum (The history of my calamities), Autobiography in epistolary form. Available at Fordham Medieval Sourcebook [1]
- Abélard & Héloïse: The Letters and other Writings, translated with introduction and notes, by William Levitan, 2007, ISBN 978-0-87220-875-9
Abélard was also long known as an important poet and composer. He 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".[16]
Abélard composed a hymnbook for the religious community that Héloïse joined. This hymnbook, written after 1130, differed from contemporary hymnals, such as that of Bernard of Clairvaux, in that Abélard used completely new and homogeneous material. The songs were grouped by metre, which meant that comparatively few melodies could be used. Only one melody from this hymnal survives, O quanta qualia.[16]
Abélard also left six biblical planctus (laments), which were original, and which influenced the subsequent development of the lai, a song form that flourished in northern Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries.
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."[17]
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau's 1761 epistolary novel Julie bears the subtitle The New Héloïse (La Nouvelle Héloïse), and is often referred to as Julie, or The New Héloïse.
- Helen Waddell's novel "Peter Abélard" (1933) is loosely based on Abélard and Héloïse. The novel was the basis of the play "Abélard and Héloïse" (1970) by Ronald Millar.
- Alexander Pope's poem "Eloisa to Abelard" (1717) is written from the point of view of Héloïse in her convent. Line 209 of the poem is also the source of the movie title "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
- Abélard and Héloïse are referenced throughout Robertson Davies's novel The Rebel Angels.
- Abélard is referenced in Charles Williams' novel The Place of the Lion.
- Howard Brenton's play In Extremis: The Story Of Abélard And Héloïse was premiered at Shakespeare's Globe in 2006.[18]
- Anne Carson's 2005 collection Decreation includes a screenplay about Abélard and Héloïse.
- Enrico Garzilli's musical "Rage of the Heart"[19] is about Abélard and his love for Héloïse.
- In Dodie Smith's novel I Capture the Castle, the heroine has a dog named Héloïse and a cat named Abélard.
- Henry Miller uses Abélard's "Foreword to Historia Calamitatum" as the motto of Tropic of Capricorn (1938).
- J. D. Salinger refers to Abélard in De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period (1952).
- Spanish singer and songwriter Joaquín Sabina refers to the couple in the song "Pájaros de Portugal".
- Stealing Heaven (1988) starring Derek de Lint and Kim Thomson is a based on Marion Meade's 1979 novel about the couple.
- The letters of Abélard and Héloïse are discussed in The Sopranos episode "A Sentimental Education" (2004).
- Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad tells a satirical version of the lovers' story.
- Richard Shindell mentions Abélard in his song "Nora".
- John Cusack's character stages a street-puppet show featuring Abélard and Héloïse show in the movie Being John Malkovich.
- Josh Ritter mentions Abélard in his song "Bright Smiles" (2003).
- Cole Porter mentions Abélard and Héloïse in his song "Just One of Those Things"
- Leonard Cohen writes a few paragraphs about Héloïse in his first novel 'The Favourite Game' (1963)
- The Scritti Politti song "The World You Know" (from the album Anomie & Bonhomie (1999)) contains the couplet "I'll tell you who we are // Héloïse and Abélard".
- Antoine Audouard's novel "Adieu, mon unique" (2000) (English transl.: "Farewell, my only one") tells the story of Abélard and Héloïse from the perspective of a third fictive character.
- A Fine Frenzy's song "The World Without" (2007) makes a reference to Abélard and Héloïse.
- John Flanagan's series "Ranger's Apprentice" contains a horse named Abélard.
- Abaelards Liebe, a German language novel by Luise Rinser, depicts the love story of Hloise and Abelard from the perspective of their son, Astrolabe.
- Stephen DeCesare's musical "Forever, Heloise" based on the real love story of Abelard and Heloise. "Forever Heloise Home Page". http://sdecesare.com/heloise.html. Retrieved 2005-01-07.
- David Morrell's book Brotherhood of the Rose mentions Abelárd and Héloïse and their relation as the base for the 'Abelárd Convention', the premise for the safehouses run jointly by several different national security agencies as neutral grounds.
- ^ "Peter Abelard". http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/abelard/.
- ^ a b c Chambers Biographical Dictionary, ISBN 0-550-18022-2, p. 3
- ^ a b c d e f Abelard, Peter. Historia Calamitatum. http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/basis/abelard-histcal.html. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
- ^ Abelard, Peter (2007). The letters and other writings. Hackett Pub Co. ISBN 0-87220-875-3. http://books.google.com/books?id=REPM2edtbfsC&pg=PR16&dq=abelard+castration&hl=en&sa=X&ei=GElxT9yaHqjz0gGiodm5AQ&ved=0CFMQ6AEwBQ#v=onepage&q=abelard%20castration&f=false.
- ^ Mews, Constant (2001). The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard: Perceptions of Dialogue in Twelfth-Century France. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 0-312-23941-6.
- ^ John Marenbon (2010). Robert E. Bjork. ed. The Oxford Dictionary of the Middle Ages. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-19-866262-4.
- ^ Kevin Guilfoy, Jeffrey E. Brower (2004). The Cambridge Companion To Abelard. Abelard and monastic reform: Cambridge University Press. pp. 25. ISBN 0-521-77596-5. http://books.google.com/books?id=jaj-JMThB4MC&pg=PA25&dq=abelard+became+a+monk&hl=en&sa=X&ei=R0pxT9PiCY6q0AHDm5DEAQ&ved=0CDAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=abelard%20became%20a%20monk&f=false.
- ^ Wheeler, Bonnie (2000). Listening to Heloise: the voice of a twelfth-century woman. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 150-151. ISBN 978-0-312-21354-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=f4ETQPKFVwoC&pg=PA150&dq=heloise+first+letter+passion&hl=en&sa=X&ei=vb5xT6OxK4SFtgeg27DHDw&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=heloise%20first%20letter%20passion&f=false.
- ^ a b Betty Radice (trans.), The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974), p. 287
- ^ Enid McLeod, Héloise (London: Chatto & Windus, 2nd edn., 1971, pp. 253, 283-84
- ^ Davies, Norman (1996). Europe: A history. Oxford University Press. p. 687. ISBN 978-0-19-820171-7. http://books.google.com/books?id=jrVW9W9eiYMC. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
- ^ Donaldson, Norman and Betty (1980). How Did They Die?. Greenwich House. ISBN 0-517-40302-1.
- ^ Burge, James (2006). Heloise & Abelard: A New Biography. HarperOne. pp. 276. ISBN 978-0-06-081613-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=-mshQ2HLIksC&pg=PA276&dq=heloise+and+abelard+tomb+cemetery+of+P%C3%A8re+Lachaise&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6MVxT6G3DbSy0QHkx7GrAQ&ved=0CEgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=heloise%20and%20abelard%20tomb%20cemetery%20of%20P%C3%A8re%20Lachaise&f=false.
- ^ Burge, James (2006). Heloise & Abelard: A New Biography. HarperOne. pp. 276-277. ISBN 978-0-06-081613-1. http://books.google.com/books?id=-mshQ2HLIksC&pg=PA276&dq=heloise+and+abelard+tomb+cemetery+of+P%C3%A8re+Lachaise&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6MVxT6G3DbSy0QHkx7GrAQ&ved=0CEgQ6AEwAg#v=onepage&q=heloise%20and%20abelard%20tomb%20cemetery%20of%20P%C3%A8re%20Lachaise&f=false.
- ^ International Theological Commission, the Vatican. "The Hope of Salvation for Infants Who Die Without Being Baptised". http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/cti_documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20070419_un-baptised-infants_en.html. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
- ^ a b Lorenz Weinrich. "Peter Abélard", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (accessed April 10 2007), grovemusic.com (subscription access).
- ^ Oliver, Michael (1995). "Review: a CD of Abélard's music" (registration required). Gramophone. http://www.gramophone.co.uk/gramofilereview.asp?reviewID=9503094&mediaID=38977&issue=Reviewed%3A+Gramophone+3%2F1995. Retrieved 7 December 2008. [dead link]
- ^ "Press Release Comedy July 2006" (PDF). http://www.shakespeares-globe.org/docs/press_release_comedy_07-06.pdf. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
- ^ "Rage of the Heart Home Page". http://rageoftheheart.com/. Retrieved 7 December 2008.
- Gilson, Etienne (1960). Héloïse and Abélard. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0-472-06038-4.
- Clanchy, M. (1997). Abélard: A Medieval Life. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-21444-5.
- Marenbon, John (1997). The Philosophy of Peter Abélard. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-66399-7.
- Brower, Jeffrey; Kevin Guilfoy (2004). The Cambridge Companion to Abelard. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-77247-8.
- Mews, Constant (2005). Abélard and Héloïse. Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-515689-7.
- de Rémusat, Charles (1845). Abélard. 2. Paris: Ladrange. OCLC 6403439. http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/12829. . Charles de Remusat's Abélard remains an authority; it must be distinguished from his drama Abélard (1877), which is an attempt to give a picture of medieval life.
- Chevalier, Ulysse. "Abailard" in Repertoire des sources historiques du moyen age. Paris: Societe bibliographique, 1877-1903. A comprehensive bibliography.
- Radice, Betty (1974). The Letters of Abélard and Héloïse. London: Penguin Books. ISBN 0-14-044297-9.
- Sapir Abulafia, Anna (1995). Christians and Jews in the Twelfth-Century Renaissance. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-00012-3.
- Thomas J. Bell, Peter Abélard after Marriage. The Spiritual Direction of Héloïse and Her Nuns through Liturgical Song (Kalamazoo, MI, Cistercian Publications. 2007) (Cistercian Studies Series, 21).
- Works by Pierre Abélard at Project Gutenberg
- Abelard: Logic, Semantics, Ontology and His Theories of the Copula
- Abelard's Logical Works: Editions, Translations, Selected Texts with a list of English translations of the logical works
- Selected bibliography on the Logic and Ontology of Abelard: A - J
- Selected bibliography on the Logic and Ontology of Abelard: K - Z
- Peter Abelard entry by Peter King in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- "Peter Abelard" article by Kevin Guilfoy in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Abelard and Heloise from In Our Time (BBC Radio 4)
- Le Pallet, birthplace of Pierre Abélard, in pictures
- Peter King, Abelard biography
- The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise. Trans. by Anonymous (1901).
- 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
- Abelard, Peter in the Christian Cyclopedia
- HAVPCD168 – Abelard: Hymns and Sequences for Heloise
- Audio recording of The Letters of Abelard and Heloise on Librivox
- Peter Abelard at Find a Grave
Texts on Wikisource:
| Persondata |
| Name |
Abelard, Peter |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
Scholastic philosopher and logician |
| Date of birth |
1079 |
| Place of birth |
Le Pallet, Brittany |
| Date of death |
21 April 1142 |
| Place of death |
Chalon-sur-Saône |
