Synopses & Reviews
The story of Abelard and Heloise remains one of the world’s most dramatic and well-known love affairs. It is told through the letters of French philosopher Peter Abelard and his gifted pupil Heloise. Through their impassioned writings unfolds the story of a romance, from its reckless, ecstatic beginnings to the public scandal, enforced secret marriage, and devastating consequences that followed. These eloquent and intimate letters express a vast range of emotions from adoration and devotion to reproach, indignation, and grief, and offer a fascinating insight into religious life in the Middle Ages.
- The landmark translation and introduction have bee thoughtfully revised and updated
- Includes a recent essay on recent scholarship and bibliographical discoveries, suggestions for further reading, explanatory notes, maps, and index
Synopsis
Through the letters between Abelard and Heloise, we follow the path of their 12th-century romance, from its reckless and ecstatic beginnings when Heloise became Abelard's pupil, through the suffering of public scandal and enforced secret marriage, to their eventual separation.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Synopsis
The story of Abelard and Heloise remains one of the world's most celebrated and tragic love affairs. Through their letters, we follow the path of their romance from its reckless and ecstatic beginnings when Heloise became Abelard's pupil, through the suffering of public scandal and enforced secret marriage, to their eventual separation.
About the Author
Peter Abelard (1079–1142) was the greatest logician of the twelfth century. He taught in Paris, where Heloise (1101–1164) was his pupil when they met.
For generations, Heloise has been the name in household advice. Continuing in the tradition of her mother, the original Heloise, today's Heloise has become a media phenomenon. Along with her numerous television appearances and worldwide syndicated newspaper column, she has a monthly feature in Good Housekeeping, and her own website. Heloise is the author of several bestselling books.
M. T. Clanchy researches at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.
M. T. Clanchy researches at the Institute of Historical Research at the University of London.
Betty Radice read classics at Oxford, then married and, in the intervals of bringing up a family, tutored in classics, philosophy and English. She became joint editor of the Penguin Classics in 1964. As well as editing the translation of Livy’s The War with Hannibal she translated Livy’s Rome and Italy, Pliny’s Letters, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise and Erasmus’s Praise of Folly, and also wrote the introduction to Horace’s Complete Odes and Epodes, all for the Penguin Classics. She also edited Edward Gibbon’s Memoirs of My Life for the Penguin English Library, and edited and annotated her translation of the younger Pliny’s works for the Loeb Library of Classics and translated from Renaissance Latin, Greek and Italian for the Officina Bodoni of Verona. She collaborated as a translator in the Collected Works of Erasmus, and was the author of the Penguin Reference Book Who’s Who in the Ancient World. Betty Radice was an honorary fellow of St Hilda’s College, Oxford, and a vice-president of the Classical Association. Betty Radice died in 1985.
Table of Contents
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise Acknowledgments
Preface to the Revised Edition
Chronology
Introduction
The Letters of Abelard and Heloise in Today's Scholarship
Further Reading
Letter 1. Historia calamitatum: Abelard to a Friend: The Story of His Misfortunes
The Personal Letters
Letter 2. Heloise to Abelard
Letter 3. Abelard to Heloise
Letter 4. Heloise to Abelard
Letter 5. Abelard to Heloise
The Letters of Direction
Letter 6. Heloise to Abelard
Letter 7. Abelard to Heloise (summarized)
Letter 8. Abelard to Heloise
Abelard's Confession of Faith
Letters of Peter the Venerable and Heloise
Peter the Venerable: Letter (98) to Pope Innocent II
Peter the Venerable: Letter (115) to Heloise
Heloise: Letter (167) to Peter the Venerable
Peter the Venerable: Letter (168) to Heloise
Two Hymns by Abelard
Sabbato ad Vesperas
In Parasceve Domini: III. Nocturno
Appendix: An Excerpt from the 'Lost Love Letter' of Heloise and Abelard
Maps
The Kingdom of France in the time of Abelard
Paris in the time of Abelard
Notes
Index