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The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise Kindle Edition

by Heloise (Author), Pierre (Author), Abelard (Author), Format: Kindle Edition
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 267 ratings
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The Love Letters of Abelard and Heloise
Trans. by Anonymous, edited by Israel Gollancz and Honnor Morten

"Some have it that romantic love was an invention of the Middle Ages. If so, then the true story of Pierre Abelard and Heloise is one of the templates of this narrative. Both Abelard and Heloise were prominent intellectuals of twelfth century France. Abelard, of noble birth and eighteen years the senior of Heloise, was a prominent lecturer in philosophy. Abelard was an adventurous thinker, and was constantly at odds with the Church. On several occasions he was forced to recant and burn his writings."

About the Author:

"Sir Israel Gollancz (1864 - 1930) was a scholar of early English literature and of Shakespeare. He was the younger brother of Sir Hermann Gollancz and the uncle of Victor Gollancz

He was a founder member and the first Secretary of the British Academy and of the committee for a Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, which eventually became the Royal National Theatre in London. He edited the "Temple" Shakespeare, a uniform edition of the complete works in pocket size volumes which was the most popular Shakespeare edition of its day. He also produced a translation in modern English of the important medieval Christian allegorical poem, "Pearl.""
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  1. Print length
    94 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Sticky notes
    On Kindle Scribe
  4. Publication date
    October 27, 2010
  5. File size
    287 KB
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
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  8. Enhanced typesetting
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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Abelard and Heloise are nearly as famous a pair of tragic lovers as the fictional Romeo and Juliet; their shared passion for knowledge, religious faith, and one another sealed their destiny. Abelard was a well-respected, 12th-century Parisian scholar and teacher, and Heloise was his talented young student. The two relate their story through a set of letters to one another and intimate acquaintances. Their ardor is unmistakable; as Abelard writes to his love, "So intense were the fires of lust which bound me to you that I set those wretched, obscene pleasures, which we blush even to name, above God as above myself..." This forbidden lust resulted in a pregnancy and secret marriage, and when their union could no longer withstand the challenges in its path, each lover sought refuge in the church--Abelard became a monk and Heloise an abbess. Their correspondence continued as both achieved success in their new careers but continued to struggle with their feelings for one another; the set of letters powerfully articulates the wide range of emotions they experienced. So timeless is their love story that--after eight centuries--their passion, their devotion, and their struggle still resonate with readers.

About the Author

Peter Abelard was a French philosopher and the greatest logician of the 12th century. He taught in Paris, where Heloise was his pupil. After the tragic end of their marriage, she became a nun and he a monk.

Betty Radice was the editor of the Penguin Classics during the 1960s and 70s and an acclaimed translator from Latin, Greek & Italian.

Michael Clanchy researches at the Institute of Historical Research UCL and the Warburg Institute.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004AM5PDG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ (October 27, 2010)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 27, 2010
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 287 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 94 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 267 ratings

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  1. Pierre Abailard

    Pierre Abailard

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  2. Petrus Abaelardus

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
267 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Tina Nguyen
5.0 out of 5 stars Timeless love story
Reviewed in the United States on July 3, 2014
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Need summer reading but want something with substance? I'm not a fan of romances, but after the tale of Abelard and Heloise was mentioned on a TV show did I performed a Google search and became fascinated with their hapless love story. The story of Romeo and Juliet pales in comparison to the saga in which a teacher falls in love with his much younger pupil, his pupil becomes pregnant out of wedlock, the lovers marry in secret, her uncle finds out and castrates the teacher, and finally both lovers take an oath of chastity with the Church. The letters were written some years later when Abelard and Heloise caught sight of each other again.

It is tragic that the social and religious circumstances at the time separated these two lovers. The letters spill with their unbridled passion for one another, yet one can tell they are trying to restrain their affections at the same time. Heloise was a feminist of her time, speaking her mind and heart. Some may criticize Abelard for being more cold and distant with his subsequent correspondence, but one has to remember he was acting within the constraints of being a renown philosopher while being supported by the Church.

Readers will go on a journey full of intense amour in the earlier letters and end with sorrow as the lovers acknowledge that their union could never be actualized for that time period. Furthermore, readers will learn what true love is all about.
4 people found this helpful
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DaisyMarie
5.0 out of 5 stars The love letters
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2012
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What can I say?? They shared a true love that is the stuff that legends are made of.. I feel privelliged to have read the letters and am so glad that they survived.. Abelard's rejection of Heloise for the sake of her soul is really touching as is her reaching out to him not willing to let the memories of their time together go.. I give it a five and it's all for them.. Heres hoping they found each other in Heaven and have the eternity together that was denied them in life..
13 people found this helpful
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R A Hill
4.0 out of 5 stars Not All Theologians Are Boring
Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2008
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The Letters of Abelard and Heloise is an intense read. It is no doubt true that the staying power of these writings is owing to the soap-opera-like lives of its authors as well as the poetic and romantic language. This collection brings together Abelard's biography written to a friend, "The History of My Own Misfortunes" in which he divulges from beginning to end, all the drama surrounding his rise from philosophy student to a sort of Scholastic celebrity in Paris. The other part of this book is taken up by the personal letters between Abelard and Heloise, from which the reader discovers much about the relationship of a monk and nun who had a romance outdoing anything Shakespeare could have dreamed up for Romeo and Juliet. Their relationship became more formal for Abelard following his radical nighttime castration by Heloise's father. Heloise displays the passion with which she continues to love Abelard even though she joins a convent at his behest. Abelard's tone changes in his personal letters from what it was in his "History," yet Heloise never changes hers. She remains in love with him and lets it show in each letter to him. He takes on the role of a spiritual leader and writes to her instructions and answers to her questions, but he does not keep up with the romantic language as Heloise does.

The value in this type of book, when the texts themselves are available for free download on the internet, is the translation, introduction and notes provided on the historical situation which allow the reader to enjoy it more fully. The translation and introduction done by the late Betty Radice in 1974, who succeeds in humanizing these two long dead authors so that their writings move the reader to an emotional reaction. The updated introduction added by M.T. Clanchy provides a clear look at what scholarship has done with Abelard and Heloise since Radice's book was first published. Her translation aids the reader's enjoyment because it contemporizes the language. The internet versions available are translated archaically due to the fact that those texts are in the public domain and therefore prior to about 1926, which makes it a slower read. This is not a book of theology, though Abelard was arguably the greatest theologian of the Middle Ages, but of real romance despite the star-crossed lovers' ill fated lives.
29 people found this helpful
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Pictomaniac
5.0 out of 5 stars Two lives
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2016
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It takes some time to understand the significance of the events in the lives of these two people. I read this as part of a course in Medieval History as a primary source. The castration of Peter is considered a major turning point in Medieval history.

This is such a classic. The contrast between the cultural norms of the day and their behavior informs us of just how different our society is from theirs.
5 people found this helpful
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LuLu
5.0 out of 5 stars I love the romantic story of 'A' and 'H'!
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2015
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Keep it in my minivan - our house is surrounded by many railroad tracks, and I get stopped for long periods of time when going to and fro. I now keep a 'library' in the minivan plus crossword puzzle and Sudoku books, for those times I have to wait for trains...This book is in that car library - I love the romantic story of 'A' and 'H'! Even bought the movie (on VHS tape) a million years ago...
5 people found this helpful
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Rebecca
3.0 out of 5 stars Even though it was easier to read because of the ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 21, 2018
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Even though it was easier to read because of the large print, it was not the same as the Penguin. Order the Pengiun version instead.
One person found this helpful
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Timothy M. Verity
5.0 out of 5 stars The Letters of Abelard and Heloise
Reviewed in the United States on February 10, 2010
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It's always best to get hold of what was actually written or said, if at all possible. This book is as close to original as can be had. It is a fascinating book because its many letters reveal, at least a little, why some people do potentially harmful things to themselves and perhaps others. At the same time it refreshingly demonstrates that, in the end, people have been doing the same things for just about as long as, well, people have been around!
2 people found this helpful
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Broadwater
4.0 out of 5 stars I really enjoyed reading the letters in this book
Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2015
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I really enjoyed reading the letters in this book. When they were writing their letters back and forth, it made me want to read on to see what the response was going to be. Before coming to the part of the letters, I thought that I wouldn't be able to finish the book because I really didn't care for it. The letters was what had kept my interest in the book.

I would not have purchased this book if it wasn't required for a class that I had to take to graduate.
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5.0 out of 5 stars An instance of courtly love, Heloise and Abelard?
Reviewed in Canada on January 4, 2019
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I was introduced to the history of these two Medieval personages from my recent reading of Jacques Le Goff's "The Birth of Europe" (paperback, 2007), in which he has a special section on them as an example of "a rather different variant of courtly love". This Penguin edition of the letters contains maps of France and Paris of the time, plus an informative chronology. This 2003 edition revised by M. Clanchy includes 14 of the 113 "lost love letters" between the two, which are truly love letters.

Between Heloise and Abelard, I would say that the former was most devoted, body and mind, to her love of the latter. Naturally, for Abelard, the humiliation, physical pain (1,000 years ago) and psychological agony are most understandable, especially for him who said he "at that time . . . had youth and exceptional good looks . . . ." (p. 10). However, his "personal letters" 3 and 5 seem to be between brother and sister, as well as theological and didactic. They may not be love letters as such.

On the contrary, Heloise's letters 2 and 4 convey her frank and blunt love feelings towards Abelard, even after his mutilation and after 15 years (circa 1118-circa 1133) since their separation because of Abelard's tragedy. And it was she who took the initiative of writing to Abelard after that happening, if Abelard's "Historia Calamitatum" (letter 1) were not actually written with her in mind. Heloise wrote, "Even during the celebration of the Mass, . . . my thoughts are on their [those pleasures with Abelard] wantonness instead of on prayers." (letter 4, p. 68). Also, she asked Peter the Venerable, Abbot of Cluny, to try to obtain a prebend for Astralabe, her son with Abelard. This shows Heloise's concern for her offspring, even though she had vehemently argued against marriage.

Perhaps it is a blessing that, although he had numerous intellectual enemies throughout his life, Abelard eventually met a good man, Peter the Venerable, who gave him a haven at the great monastery of Cluny and effectively delivered him, spiritually, back to the bosom of Heloise his wife.

Abelard claimed he had exceptional good looks. How about Heloise in this aspect? Abelard acknowledged "in looks she did not rank lowest . . . ." (p. 10) That implies she might not be exceptionally beautiful, but possibly very much above average.

Incidentally, in about the same period – 11th century – over in Japan, Murasaki Shikibu, a court lady, wrote her masterpiece "The Tale of Genji" (Genji monogatari) that I think is also about courtly love, broadly defined. But that is fiction, not real life happenings; and the prince Hikaru Genji has many female lovers besides his wife Murasaki no Ue who is very understanding.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars very beauti
Reviewed in India on October 10, 2017
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very beauty
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Amazonカスタマー
1.0 out of 5 stars タイトルと中身が違うキンドル版
Reviewed in Japan on March 10, 2019
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キンドル版のレビューです。タイトルはアベラールとエロイーズの手紙になっていますが、タイトルベーじの次のページにはLetters of Plinyとなっており、小プリニウスの手紙でした。返金手続きしてもらいましたが、ひどいものです。

A review of Kindle edition; Although this book is wrongly entitled "LEtters of Abelard and Herois," the next page after the titile page writes "Letters of Pliny," which is the content of this book. Be careful when you buy this.
2 people found this helpful
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D
5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant and Powerful
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 14, 2014
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This book is very accessible, given the age of the letters, and provides a fascinating insight into the attitudes of the time. An excellent and extremely readable translation tracing love through catastrophic tragedy and separation.
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Sarah Bongartz
1.0 out of 5 stars Not the right letters...?
Reviewed in Germany on March 5, 2018
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I bought the kindle version of this book, but it consisted not of the letters of Abelard and Heloise but of a guy named Pliny.
Don't know what happened there. Would really like to read the love letters ;)
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