Heloise And Abelard: A Twelfth Century Love Story

by JamesBurge (Author)

• Used

  Paperback
  2004

  $3.59

  Antony and Cleopatra, Romeo and Juliet- the names of Heloise and Abelard stand beside those in the register of 'great lovers'

• Used

  Hardcover
  2003

  $4.16

  Abelard was a brilliant philosopher in Paris. Heloise, his student 15 years his junior, was a poet already famous for her learning, a woman with a uniquely powerful insight into her own feelings. The letters they wrote to each other - some of which have only recently come to light - open a miraculous window onto the story of their affair. We know about their terms of endearment, about the passion of their lovemaking, of stolen moments in churches, of their erotic play. The letters tell the story of the birth of their child, of their secret marriage and the violence and tragedy which followed, culminating in a brutal attack in which Abelard was castrated. In panic and shame the couple separated to continue their lives - and very successful careers - in monasteries. But their love continued through their letters.