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The lovers became soulmates and were so passionately in love that Abelard even began to have difficulty concentrating on his work. Unfortunately, the lovers' bliss would be short-lived. One incident represents the beginning of a lifetime of misfortune. Heloise became pregnant. Although they were successful in fleeing to Abelard's sister's home where they secretly married and gave birth to their son, Astrolabe, people found out about the pregnancy. Fulbert and Abelard's peers were outraged and denounced them. You see, cathedral masters (teachers) were expected to remain celebate. Heloise had been totally against the marriage. She felt that it was a greater honor to be called lover than wife. She believed that marriage got in the way of learning, working and thinking. About the complexes of marriage, children and scholarship Heloise wrote, "You are immersed in your theological or philosophical ideas, and at that moment the infants begin to squall; the wet nurses try to quieten them with their monotonous sing-song...can then your attention remain uninterrupted?" (The Medieval Sourcebook, Heloise's First Letter). Her woman's intuition had also told her that their marriage would not appease her uncle, Fulbert. Her intuition was right for Fulbert was so upset about the marriage that he hired the services of several men to castrate Abelard one night while sleeping in his bed. "I felt the disgrace more than the hurt to my body, and was more afflicted with shame than with pain", (The Medieval Sourcebook, Historia Calamitatum, Chapter VIII). |
It was as teacher that
Abelard first met Heloise, (1101-1164). Fulbert, Heloise's uncle
who was one of the canons of Notre Dame hired Abelard to be Heloise's
private tutor. However, Abelard struck with Heloise's wisdom,
intellect, beauty and especially with her individuality, "...in
the extent of her learning she stood supreme. A gift for letters
is so rare in women that it added greatly to her charm and had
won her renown throughout the realm." (Historia Calamitatum,
as edited by James Katic, p.66 ll.15-17) as she was with his.
They grew overcome with lust and eventually gave into the pleasures
of the flesh. Abelard confessed that his "hands were more
often on her breasts than on the books," (The Medieval Sourcebook,
Historia Calamitatum, Chapter VI). As indicated in her letters
to Abelard, Heloise reciprocated these feelings. In various letters
to Abelard she writes of the passion she felt as well as describing
the exploration of her own sexuality. This certainly was not
typical or appropriate for the church-indoctrinated society of
12th century France. Women very rarely had the educational background
to write or communicate on any subject, let alone the courage
to speak openly about female sexuality. Heloise represented the
woman of a new age.
