From Abe to Abelard: a 7 century leap.

Today I began reading Heloise & Abelard: A New Biography by James Burge. At first I wasn't too thrilled to be reading a second biography in a row, but these two books are about as different as can be.

We open in 12th Century France. Middle Ages. Crusades. The Knights Templar. Monasteries and Abbeys. War, passion, and mysticism: these are the backdrops of the lives of Heloise and Abelard. For those of you unfamiliar with the story (as am I), this is probably the most well-documented, and as a result, most well-known story from the Middle Ages.

It is comprised of a group of love letters between the two. The first letter from Abelard to Heloise takes place 15 years after their secret marriage and Abelard's brutal castration. Thus we find chapter 1.

Abelard has sent Heloise a copy of a letter written to someone else, explaining in intimate detail, their meeting, sexual exploits, and all else leading up to their current situation: separation. I must admit, I was having high school flashbacks as I read this. Even if I knew that what I'd written would make my boyfriend QUITE uncomfortable, I always made him read my diaries. Talk about TMI moments! So here is Heloise, forced to remember these events even as she is attempting to live a pious lifestyle as a leading Abbess. Classic example of a past lover "yanking your chain." Here she is in a holy moment, caught up in the erotic memories of Abelard. We discover that her piety is truly for Abelard because he told her to take her vows. She serves him, not God.

Admittedly, a far cry from Abraham Lincoln. I can understand why this scandalous story is so popular among scholars. An interesting quote from the author:

But now religion was starting to be seen as a personal experience: when Abelard writes about good and evil, for example, they are not defined in terms of damnation for wrongdoing but as the correct and incorrect responses to the love that God spontaneously gives to humanity.

I find it interesting that the concept of friendship in the God/man relationship is being introduced during this time. I guess the French were getting it right.