Nonfiction:
Logica ingredientibus, c. 1120
Tractatus de unitate et trinitate divina, c. 1120
Dialectica, c. 1120
Theologia “summi boni,” c. 1120
Sic et Non, c. 1123 (treatises)
Logica “nostrorum petitioni sociorum,” c. 1124
Theologia Christiana, c. 1125 (partial translation, Christian Theology, 1948)
Historia calamitatum, c. 1132 (autobiography; The Story of My Misfortune, 1922)
Theologia Scolarium, c. 1135
Ethica, c. 1138 (Abailard’s Ethics, 1935; also known as Peter Abelard’s Ethics, 1971, and Ethical Writings, 1994)
Apologia, c. 1141
Dialogus inter philosophum, Judaeum et Christianum, 1141-1142 (Dialogue of a Philosopher with a Jewand a Christian, 1979)
Letters of Abelard and Heloise, 1713
Pierre Abelard (ab-uh-lahrd) at a very young age relinquished his inheritance from his family to pursue a life in philosophy, seeking out the best-known philosophers of his day. As a result he studied under such influential philosophers as Roscelin, a popular eleventh century philosopher, William of Champeaux, and Anselm of Laon. Feeling that his intellect had outstripped each of these men, Abelard soon left their company to begin his own school of logic and philosophy near Paris. Between the years of 1101 and 1113 his reputation as a great thinker and teacher grew. He had the opportunity to teach many individuals, among them a brilliant young woman named Héloïse, whom Abelard secretly married. Her uncle, Canon Fulbert of Notre Dame, discovered the two lovers together and, believing that Abelard had seduced his young niece, hired men to castrate Abelard.
Peter Abelard
With his reputation destroyed and his body mutilated, Abelard retired to a monastery and became a monk. He never saw Héloïse again; she accepted a cloistered life and became the head of a small nunnery. During their separation Abelard and Héloïse wrote several letters to each other, however, and these letters became some of the clearest records of life in the Middle Ages. Abelard also wrote an informative, revealing autobiography titled The Story of My Misfortune.
Because of the relationship between Abelard and Héloïse, the medieval Church, led by Bernard of Clairvaux, sought to prevent Abelard’s ideas from continuing to influence society. The Church was concerned by such ideas as Abelard’s rejection of Original Sin and his declaration that individuals do not inherit the sins of Adam nor the consequences of those sins. These ideas led Abelard to believe that Christ’s sacrifice on the cross was intended not to free humanity from the chains of sin but to change the hearts of a sinful world by providing an example of true love. Although those who opposed these ideas were able greatly to hamper the widespread growth and acceptance of his philosophy, future philosophers such as John of Salisbury, Arnold of Brescia, and Thomas Aquinas were significantly influenced by Abelard.
In 1141 the Council of Sens condemned Abelard for what they considered to be heretical teachings, and he was excommunicated from the Catholic Church. Deeply troubled by the council’s condemnation, Abelard spent several months wandering from monastery to monastery. On April 21, 1142, he died on his way to defend himself before the pope. He was buried in Paraclete, and when Héloïse died in 1164 she was buried beside him. After his death, Bernard of Clairvaux worked vigorously to suppress Abelard’s ideas, making it more difficult to uncover Abelard’s ideas than those of philosophers who conformed to Church doctrine.