,,historia ,,calamitatum    ,,the       
,,story ,,of ,,my ,,misfortunes    ,an  
,autobiography by ,peter ,ablard        
,translated by ,henry ,adams ,bellows   
,introduction by ,ralph ,adams ,cram    
,,introduction    ,the ,historia        
,calamitatum of ,peter ,ablard is one of
 those human  documents1 out of the very
 heart of the ,middle ,ages1 that       
illuminates by the glow of its ardour a 
shadowy period that has  been made even 
more dusky and incomprehensible by      
unsympathetic  commentators and the     
ill-digested matter of source-books4    
,like  the ,confessions of ,st4         
,augustine it is an authentic revelation
 of  personality and1 like the latter1  
it seems to show how unchangeable  is   
man1 how consistent unto himself whether
 he is of the sixth  century or the     
twelfth--or indeed of the twentieth     
century4  ,evolution may change the     
flora and fauna of the world1 or modify 
its physical forms1 but man is always   
the same and the unrolling of  the      

centuries affects him not at all4 ,if we
 can assume the vivid  personality1 the 
enormous intellectual power and the     
clear1 keen  mentality of ,ablard and   
his contemporaries and immediate        
successors1 there is no reason why ,the 
,story of ,my ,misfortunes  should not  
have been written within the last       
decade4    ,they are large assumptions1 
for this is not a period in world       
history when the informing energy of    
life expresses itself through  such     
qualities1 whereas the twelfth century  
was of precisely this  nature4 ,the     
antecedent hundred years had seen the   
recovery from the  barbarism that       
engulfed ,western ,europe after the fall
 of ,rome1 and  the generation of those 
vital forces that for two centuries were
 to  infuse society with a vigour almost
 unexampled in its potency and  in the  
things it brought to pass4 ,the         
parabolic curve that  describes the     
trajectory of ,mediaevalism was then    
emergent out of  chaos and old night and

 ,ablard and his opponent1 ,st4         
,bernard1  rode high on the mounting    
force in its swift and almost violent   
ascent4    ,pierre du ,pallet1 yclept   
,ablard1 was born in #ajgi and died in  
#aadb1 and his life precisely covers the
 period of the birth1  development and  
perfecting of that ,gothic style of     
architecture  which is one of the great 
exemplars of the period4 ,actually1 the 
,norman development occupied the years  
from #ajej to #aabe while the           
initiating and determining of ,gothic   
consumed only fifteen years1  from      
,bury1 begun in #aabe1 to ,saint-,denis1
 the work of ,abbot ,suger1  the friend 
and partisan of ,ablard1 in #aadj4 ,it  
was the time of the  ,crusades1 of the  
founding and development of schools and 
universities1 of the invention or       
recovery of great arts1 of the  growth  
of music1 poetry and romance4 ,it was   
the age of great kings  and knights and 
leaders of all kinds1 but above all it  
was the  epoch of a new philosophy1     

refounded on the newly revealed corner  
stones of ,plato and ,aristotle1 but    
with a new content1 a new  impulse and a
 new method inspired by ,christianity4  
,all these things1 philosophy1 art1     
personality1 character1 were the        
product of the time1 which1 in its      
definiteness and consistency1  stands   
apart from all other epochs in history4 
,the social system  was that of         
feudalism1 a scheme of reciprocal       
duties1 privileges  and obligations as  
between man and man that has never been 
excelled  by any other system that      
society has developed as its own method 
of  operation4 ,as ,dr4 ,de ,wulf has   
said in his illuminating book           
,philosophy and ,civilization in the    
,middle ,ages 7a volume that  should be 
read by any one who wishes rightly to   
understand the  spirit and quality of   
,mediaevalism71 the feudal sentiment par
  excellence 444 is the sentiment of the
 value and dignity of the  individual   
man4 ,the feudal man lived as a free    

man2 he was master  in his own house2 he
 sought his end in himself2 he was--and 
this is  a scholastic                   
expression1--propter seipsum existens3  
all feudal  obligations were founded    
upon respect for personality and the    
given  word4    ,of course this         
admirable scheme of society with its    
guild system of  industry1 its absence  
of usury in any form and its just sense 
of  comparative values1 was shot through
 and through with religion both  in     
faith and practice4 ,catholicism was    
universally and implicitly  accepted4   
,monasticism had redeemed ,europe from  
barbarism and ,cluny  had freed the     
,church from the yoke of ,german        
imperialism4 ,this  unity and immanence 
of religion gave a consistency to       
society  otherwise unobtainable1 and    
poured its vitality into every form of  
human thought and action4    ,it was    
,catholicism and the spirit of feudalism
 that preserved men  from the dangers   
inherent in the immense individualism of

 the time4  ,with this powerful and     
penetrating cordinating force men were  
safe  to go about as far as they liked  
in the line of individuality1  whereas  
today1 for example1 the unifying force  
of a common and  vital religion being   
absent and nothing having been offered  
to take  its place1 the result of a     
similar tendency is egotism and anarchy4
  ,these things happened in the end in  
the case of ,mediaevalism when  the     
power and the influence of religion once
 began to weaken1 and  the ,renaissance 
and ,reformation dissolved the fabric of
 a unified  society4 ,thereafter it     
became necessary to bring some order out
 of  the spiritual1 intellectual and    
physical chaos through the  application 
of arbitrary force1 and so came         
absolutism in  government1 the tyranny  
of the new intellectualism1 the         
,catholic  ,inquisition and the ,puritan
 ,theocracy4    ,in the twelfth and     
thirteenth centuries1 however1 the      
balance is  justly preserved1 though it 

was but an unstable equilibrium1 and    
therefore during the time of ,ablard we 
find the widest diversity  of           
speculation and freedom of thought which
 continue unhampered for  more than a   
hundred years4 ,the mystical school of  
the ,abbey of ,st4  ,victor in ,paris   
follows one line 7perhaps the most      
nearly right of  all though it was      
submerged by the intellectual force and 
vivacity  of the ,scholastics7 with     
,hugh of ,st4 ,victor as its greatest   
exponent4 ,the ,franciscans and         
,dominicans each possessed great        
schools of philosophy and dogmatic      
theology1 and in addition there  were a 
dozen individual line of speculation1   
each vitalized by some  one personality1
 daring1 original1 enthusiastic4 ,this  
prodigious  mental and spiritual        
activity was largely fostered by the    
schools1  colleges and universities that
 had suddenly appeared all over         
,europe4 ,never was such activity along 
educational lines4 ,almost  every       

cathedral had its school1 and many of   
the abbeys as well1 as  for example1 in 
,france alone1 ,cluny1 ,citeaux and     
,bec1 ,st4 ,martin of  ,tours1 ,laon1   
,chartres1 ,rheims and ,paris4 ,to these
 schools students  poured in from all   
over the world in numbers mounting to   
many  thousands for such as ,paris for  
example1 and the mutual rivalries  were 
intense and sometimes disorderly4       
,groups of students would  choose their 
own masters and follow them from place  
to place1 even  subjecting them to      
discipline if in their opinion they did 
not live  up to the intellectual mark   
they had set as their standard4 ,as     
there was not only one religion and one 
social system1 but one  universal       
language as well1 this gathering from   
all the four  quarters of ,europe was   
perfectly possible1 and had much to do  
with  the maintenance of that unity     
which marked society for three          
centuries4    ,at the time of ,ablard   
the schools of ,chartres and ,paris were

 at  the height of their fame and power4
 ,fulbert1 ,bernard and ,thierry1  all  
of ,chartres1 had fixed its fame for a  
long period1 and at ,paris  ,hugh and   
,richard of ,st4 ,victor and ,william of
 ,champeaux were names  to conjure with1
 while ,anselm of ,laon1 ,adelard of    
,bath1 ,alan of  ,lille1 ,john of       
,salisbury1 ,peter ,lombard1 were all   
from time to time  students or teachers 
in one of the schools of the ,cathedral1
 the  ,abbey of ,st4 ,victor or ,ste4   
,genevive4    ,earlier in the ,middle   
,ages the identity of theology and      
philosophy  had been proclaimed1        
following the ,neo-,platonic and        
,augustinian  theory1 and the latter    
7cf4 ,peter ,damien and ,duns ,scotus   
,eriugena7  was even reduced to a       
position that made it no more than the  
obedient handmaid of theology4 ,in the  
eleventh century however1 ,st4  ,anselm 
had drawn a clear distinction between   
faith and reason1 and  thereafter       
theology and philosophy were generally  

accepted as  individual but allied      
sciences1 both serving as lines of      
approach  to truth but differing in     
their method4 ,truth was one and        
therefore  there could be no conflict   
between the conclusions reached after   
different fashions4 ,in the twelfth     
century ,peter of ,blois led a  certain 
group called rigourists who still looked
 askance at  philosophy1 or rather at   
the intellectual methods by which it    
proceeded1 and they were inclined to    
condemn it as the devil's  art1 but they
 were on the losing side and ,john of   
,salisbury1 ,alan  of ,lille1 ,gilbert  
de la ,porre and ,hugh of ,st4 ,victor  
prevailed in  their contention that     
philosophers were humanae videlicet     
sapientiae amatores1 while theologians  
were divinae scripturae  doctores4      
,cardinal ,mercier1 himself the greatest
 contemporary exponent of  ,scholastic  
philosophy1 defines philosophy as the   
science of the  totality of things4 ,the
 twelfth century was a time when men    

were  striving to see phenomena in this 
sense and established a great  rational 
synthesis that should yet be in full    
conformity with the  dogmatic theology  
of revealed religion4 ,ablard was one of
 the most  enthusiastic and daring of   
these ,mediaeval thinkers1 and it is not
  surprising that he should have found  
himself at issue not only with  the     
duller type of theologians but with his 
philosophical peers  themselves4 ,he was
 an intellectual force of the first     
magnitude and  a master of dialectic2 he
 was also an egotist through and        
through1  and a man of strong passions4 
,he would and did use his logical       
faculty and his mastery of dialectic to 
justify his own desires1  whether these 
were for carnal satisfaction or the     
maintenance of an  original intellectual
 concept4 ,it was precisely this danger 
that  aroused the fears of the          
rigourists and in the light of          
succeeding events in the domain of      
intellectualism it is impossible  to    

deny that there was some justification  
for their gloomy  apprehensions4 ,in    
,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas this              
intellectualizing process  marked its   
highest point and beyond there was no   
margin of safety4  ,he himself did not  
overstep the verge of danger1 but after 
him this  limit was overpassed4 ,the    
perfect balance between mind and spirit 
was achieved by ,hugh of ,st4 ,victor1  
but afterwards the severance  began and 
on the one side was the unwholesome     
hyper-spiritualization  of the ,rhenish 
mystics1 on the other the false         
intellectualism of  ,descartes1 ,kant   
and the entire modern school of         
materialistic  philosophy4 ,it was the  
clear prevision of this inevitable issue
  that made of ,st4 ,bernard not only an
 implacable opponent of ,ablard  but of 
the whole system of ,scholasticism as   
well4 ,for a time he was  victorious4   
,ablard was silenced and the mysticism  
of the  ,victorines triumphed1 only to  
be superseded fifty years later when    

the two great orders1 ,dominican and    
,franciscan1 produced their  triumphant 
protagonists of intellectualism1        
,alelander ,halesand  ,albertus ,magnus1
 and finally the greatest pure intellect
 of all  time1 ,st4 ,thomas ,aquinas4   
,st4 ,bernard1 ,st4 ,francis of ,assisi1
 the  ,victorines1 maintained that after
 all1 as ,henri ,bergson was to say1    
seven hundred years later1 the mind of  
man by its very nature is  incapable of 
apprehending reality1 and that therefore
 faith is  better than reason4 ,lord    
,bacon came to the same conclusion when 
he  wrote ,let men please themselves as 
they will in admiring and  almost       
adoring the human kind1 this is certain2
 that1 as an uneven  mirrour distorts   
the rays of objects according to its own
 figure  and section1 so the mind 444   
cannot be trusted4 ,and ,hugh of ,st4   
,victor himself1 had written1 even in   
the days of ,ablard3 ,there  was a      
certain wisdom that seemed such to them 
that knew not the  true wisdom4 ,the    

world found it and began to be puffed   
up1 thinking  itself great in this4     
,confiding in its wisdom it became      
presumptuous and boasted it would attain
 the highest wisdom4 ,and it  made      
itself a ladder of the face of creation4
 444 ,then those things  which were seen
 were known and there were other things 
which were  not known2 and through those
 which were manifest they expected to   
reach those that were hidden4 ,and they 
stumbled and fell into the  falsehoods  
of their own imagining 444 ,so ,god made
 foolish the  wisdom of this world1 and 
,he pointed out another wisdom1 which   
seemed foolishness and was not4 ,for it 
preached ,christ crucified1  in order   
that truth might be sought in humility4 
,but the world  despised it1 wishing to 
contemplate the works of ,god1 which ,he
 had  made a source of wonder1 and it   
did not wish to venerate what ,he  had  
set for imitation1 neither did it look  
to its own disease1  seeking medicine in
 piety2 but presuming on a false health1

 it gave  itself over with vain         
curiosity to the study of alien things4 
,these considerations troubled ,ablard  
not at all4 ,he was conscious  of a mind
 of singular acuteness and a tongue of  
parts1 both of  which would do whatever 
he willed4 ,beneath all the tumultuous  
talk  of ,paris1 when he first arrived  
there1 lay the great and unsolved       
problem of ,universals and this he      
promptly made his own1 rushing in  where
 others feared to tread4 ,william of    
,champeaux had rested on a  ,platonic   
basis1 ,ablard assumed that of          
,aristotle1 and the clash  began4 ,it is
 not a lucid subject1 but the best      
abstract may be  found in ,chapter ,,xiv
 of ,henry ,adams' ,mont-,saint-,michel 
and  ,chartres while this and the two   
succeeding chapters give the most       
luminous and vivacious account of the   
principles at issue in  this most vital 
of intellectual feuds4    ,according to 
the latest authorities1 the doctrine of 
universals  which convulsed the schools 

of the twelfth century has never        
received an adequate answer4 ,what is a 
species3 what is a genus or  a family or
 an order8 ,more or less convenient     
terms of classification1  about which   
the twelfth century cared very little1  
while it cared  deeply about the essence
 of classes6 ,science has become too    
complex  to affirm the existence of     
universal truths1 but it strives for    
nothing else1 and disputes the problem1 
within its own limits1  almost as       
earnestly as in the twelfth century1    
when the whole field  of human and      
superhuman activity was shut between    
these barriers  of substance1           
universals1 and particulars4 ,little has
 changed except  the vocabulary and the 
method4 ,the schools knew that their    
society  hung for life on the           
demonstration that ,god1 the ultimate   
universal1  was a reality1 out of which 
all other universal truths or realities 
sprang4 ,truth was a real thing1 outside
 of human experience4 ,the  schools of  

,paris talked and thought of nothing    
else4 ,john of ,salisbury1  who attended
 ,ablard's lectures about #aacf1 and    
became ,bishop of  ,chartres in #aagf1  
seems to have been more surprised than  
we need be at  the intensity of the     
emotion4 ',one never gets away from this
 question1'  he said4 ',from whatever   
point a discussion starts1 it is always 
led  back and attached to that4 ,it is  
the madness of ,rufus about ,naevia2    
,he thinks of nothing else2 talks of    
nothing else1 and if ,naevia did  not   
exist1 ,rufus would be dumb4'    444 ,in
 these scholastic tournaments the two   
champions started from  opposite        
points3--one from the ultimate          
substance1 ,god1--the  universal1 the   
ideal1 the type2--the other from the    
individual1  ,socrates1 the concrete1   
the observed fact of experience1 the    
object  of sensual perception4 ,the     
first champion--,william in this        
instance--  assumed that the universal  
was a real thing2 and for that reason he

  was called a realist4 ,his            
opponent--,ablard--held that the        
universal was only nominally real2 and  
on that account he was  called a        
nominalist4 ,truth1 virtue1 humanity1   
exist as units and  realities1 said     
,william4 ,truth1 replied ,ablard1 is   
only the sum of  all possible facts that
 are true1 as humanity is the sum of all
  actual human beings4 ,the ideal bed is
 a form1 made by ,god1 said  ,plato4    
,the ideal bed is a name1 imagined by   
ourselves1 said  ,aristotle4 ',i start  
from the universe1' said ,william4 ',i  
start from  the atom1' said ,ablard2    
and1 once having started1 they          
necessarily  came into collision at some
 point between the two4    ,in this     
,story of ,my ,misfortunes ,ablard gives
 his own account of  the triumphant     
manner in which he confounded his       
master1 ,william1  but as ,henry ,adams 
says1 ,we should be more credulous than 
twelfth-century monks1 if we believed1  
on ,ablard's word in #aace1  that in    

#aaaj he had driven out of the schools  
the most accomplished  dialectician of  
the age by an objection so familiar that
 no other  dialectician was ever        
silenced by it--whatever may have been  
the  case with theologians-and so       
obvious that it could not have troubled 
a scholar of fifteen4 ,william stated a 
selected doctrine as old as  ,plato2    
,ablard interposed an objection as old  
as ,aristotle4 ,probably  ,plato and    
,aristotle had received the question and
 answer from  philosophers ten thousand 
years older than themselves4 ,certainly 
the whole of philosophy has always been 
involved in this dispute4    ,so began  
the battle of the schools with all its  
more than military  strategy and        
tactics1 and in the end it was a drawn  
battle1 in  spite of its marvels of     
intellectual heroism and dialectical    
sublety4 ,says ,henry ,adams again3--   
,in every age man has been apt to dream 
uneasily1 rolling from side  to side1   
beating against imaginary bars1 unless1 

tired out1 he has  sunk into            
indifference or scepticism4 ,religious  
minds prefer  scepticism4 ,the true     
saint is a profound sceptic2 a total    
disbeliever in human reason1 who has    
more than once joined hands on  this    
ground with some who were at best       
sinners4 ,bernard was a total           
disbeliever in ,scholasticism2 so was   
,voltaire4 ,bernard brought the  society
 of his time to share his scepticism1   
but could give the  society no other    
intellectual amusement to relieve its   
restlessness4  ,his crusade failed2 his 
ascetic enthusiasm faded2 ,god came no  
nearer4  ,if there was in all ,france1  
between #aadj and #abjj1 a more typical 
,englishman of the future ,church of    
,england type than ,john of  ,salisbury1
 he has left no trace2 and ,john wrote a
 description of  his time which makes a 
picturesque contrast with the picture   
painted by ,ablard1 his old master1 of  
the century at its beginning4  ,john    
weighed ,ablard and the schools against 

,bernard and the  cloister1 and coolly  
concluded that the way to truth led     
rather  through ,citeaux1 which brought 
him to ,chartres as ,bishop in #aagf1   
and to a mild scepticism in faith4 ',i  
prefer to doubt' he said1  'rather than 
rashly define what is hidden4' ,the     
battle with the  schools had then       
resulted only in creating three kinds of
 sceptics3--  the disbelievers in human 
reason2 the passive agnostics2 and the  
sceptics proper1 who would have been    
atheists had they dared4 ,the  first    
class was represented by the ,school of 
,st4 ,victor2 the second  by ,john of   
,salisbury himself2 the third1 by a     
class of schoolmen  whom he called      
,cornificii1 as though they made a      
practice of  inventing horns of dilemma 
on which to fix their opponents2 as1 for
  example1 they asked whether a pig     
which was led to market was led  by the 
man or the cord4 ,one asks instantly3   
,what cord8--,whether  ,grace1 for      
instance1 or ,free ,will8    ,bishop    

,john used the science he had learned in
 the school only to  reach the          
conclusion that1 if philosophy were a   
science at all1 its  best practical use 
was to teach charity--love4 ,even the   
early1  superficial debates of the      
schools1 in #aajj-ej1 had so exhausted  
the subject that the most intelligent   
men saw how little was to be  gained by 
pursuing further those lines of thought4
 ,the twelfth  century had already      
reached the point where the seventeenth 
century  stood when ,descartes renewed  
the attempt to give a solid1            
philosophical basis for deism by his    
celebrated ',cogito1 ergo sum4'         
,although that ultimate fact seemed new 
to ,europe when ,descartes  revived it  
as the starting-point of his            
demonstration1 it was as  old and       
familiar as ,st4 ,augustine to the      
twelfth century1 and as  little         
conclusive as any other assumption of   
the ,ego or the ,non-,ego4  ,the schools
 argued1 according to their tastes1 from

 unity to  multiplicity1 or from        
multiplicity to unity2 but what they    
wanted  was to connect the two4 ,they   
tried realism and found that it led to  
pantheism4 ,they tried nominalism and   
found that it ended in  materialism4    
,they attempted a compromise in         
conceptualism which  begged the whole   
question4 ,then they lay down1          
exhausted4 ,in the  seventeenth         
century--the same violent struggle broke
 out again1 and  wrung from ,pascal the 
famous outcry of despair in which the   
,french  language rose1 perhaps for the 
last time1 to the grand style of the    
twelfth century4 ,to the twelfth century
 it belongs2 to the century  of faith   
and simplicity2 not to the mathematical 
certainties of  ,descartes and ,leibnitz
 and ,newton1 or to the mathematical    
abstractions of ,spinoza4 ,descartes had
 proclaimed his famous  conceptual proof
 of ,god3 ',i am conscious of myself1   
and must exist2  ,i am conscious of ,god
 and ,he must exist4' ,pascal wearily   

replied  that it was not ,god he        
doubted1 but logic4 ,he was tortured by 
the  impossibility of rejecting man's   
reason by reason2 unconsciously         
sceptical1 he forced himself to         
disbelieve in himself rather than  admit
 a doubt of ,god4 ,man had tried to     
prove ,god1 and had failed3  ',the      
metaphysical proofs of ,god are so      
remote 7loignes7 from the  reasoning of 
men1 and so contradictory 7impliques1   
far fetched7  that they made little     
impression2 and even if they served to  
convince some people1 it would only be  
during the instant that they  see the   
demonstration2 an hour afterwards they  
fear to have  deceived themselves4'     
,ablard was always1 as he has been      
called1 a scholastic adventurer1  a     
philosophical and theological freelance1
 and it was after the  ,calamity that he
 followed those courses that resulted   
finally in  his silencing and his       
obscure death4 ,it is almost impossible 
for us  of modern times to understand   

the violence of partisanship aroused  by
 his actions and published words that   
centre apparently around  the placing of
 the hermitage he had made for himself  
under the  patronage of the third       
,person of the ,trinity1 the ,paraclete1
 the  ,spirit of love and compassion and
 consolation1 and the consequent        
arguments by which he justified himself4
 ,to us it seems that he was  only      
trying to exalt the power of the ,holy  
,spirit1 a pious action  at the least   
but to the episcopal and monastic       
conservators of the  faith he seems to  
have been guilty of trying to           
rationalize an  unsolvable mystery1 to  
find an intellectual solution forbidden 
to  man4 ,in some obscure way the       
question seems to be involved in that   
other of the function of the ,blessed   
,virgin as the fount of mercy  and      
compassion1 and at this time when the   
cult of the ,mother of ,god  had reached
 its highest point of potency and       
poignancy anything of  the sort seemed  

intolerable4    ,for a time the affairs 
of ,ablard prospered3 ,abbot ,suger of  
,saint-,denis  was his defender1 and he 
enjoyed the favor of the ,pope and the  
,king4 ,he was made an abbot and his    
influence spread in every  direction4   
,in #aacg the ,king died and conditions 
at ,rome changed so  that ,st4 ,bernard 
became almost ,pope and ,king in his own
 person4  ,within a year he proceeded   
against ,ablard2 his ,theology was      
condemned at a council of ,sens1 this   
judgment was confirmed by the  ,pope1   
and the penalty of silence was imposed  
on the author--  probably the most      
severe punishment he could be called    
upon to  endure4 ,as a matter of fact it
 was fatal to him4 ,he started          
forthwith for ,rome but stopped at the  
,abbey of ,cluny in the company  of its 
,abbot1 ,peter the ,venerable1 the most 
amiable figure of the  twelfth century1 
and no very devoted admirer of ,st4     
,bernard1 to  whom1 as a matter of fact1
 he had once written1 ,you perform all  

the difficult religious duties2 you     
fast1 you watch1 you suffer2  but you   
will not endure the easy ones-you do not
 love4 ,here he  found two years of     
peace after his troubled life1 dying in 
the full  communion of the ,church on   
#ba ,april1 #aadb4    ,the problems of  
philosophy and theology that were so    
vital in the  ,middle ,ages interest us 
no more1 even when they are less obscure
  than those so rife in the twelfth     
century1 but the problem of human  love 
is always near and so it is not perhaps 
surprising that the  abiding interest   
concerns itself with ,ablard's          
relationship with  ,hlose4 ,so far as he
 is concerned it is not a very savoury  
matter4  ,he deliberately seduced a     
pupil1 a beautiful girl entrusted to him
  by her uncle1 a simpleminded old canon
 of the ,cathedral of ,paris1  under    
whose roof he ensconced himself by false
 pretences and with  the full intention 
of gaining the niece for himself4       
,ablard seems  to have exercised an     

irresistible fascination for men and    
women  alike1 and his plot succeeded to 
admiration4 ,stricken by a belated      
remorse1 he finally married ,hlose      
against her unselfish protests  and     
partly to legitimatize his unborn child1
 and shortly after he  was surprised and
 overpowered by emissaries of ,canon    
,fulbert and  subjected to irreparable  
mutilation4 ,he tells the story with    
perfect frankness and with hardly more  
than formal expressions of  compunction1
 and thereafter follows the narrative of
 their  separation1 he to a monastery1  
she to a convent1 and of his care  for  
her during her conventual life1 or at   
least for that part of it  that had     
passed before the ,history was written4 
,through the whole  story it is ,hloise 
who shines brightly as a curiously      
beautiful  personality1 unselfish1 self 
sacrificing1 and almost virginal in  her
 purity in spite of her fault4 ,one has 
for her only sympathy and  affection    
whereas it is difficult to feel either  

for ,ablard in  spite of his belated    
efforts at rectifying his own sin and   
his  life-long devotion to his solitary 
wife in her hidden cloister4    ,the    
whole story was instantly known1        
,ablard's assailants were  punished in  
kind1 4and he himself shortly resumed   
his work of  lecturing on philosophy    
and1 a little later1 on theology4       
,apparently his reputation did not      
suffer in the least1 nor did  hers2 in  
fact her piety became almost a by-word  
and his name as a  great teacher        
increased by leaps and bounds3 neither  
his offence  nor its punishment seemed  
to bring lasting discredit4 ,this fact1 
which seems strange to us1 does not     
imply a lack of moral sense in  the     
community but rather the prevalence of  
standards alien to our  own4 ,it is only
 since the advent of ,puritanism that   
sexual sins  have been placed at the    
head of the whole category4 ,during the 
,middle ,ages1 as always under          
,christianity1 the most deadly sins     

were pride1 covetousness1 slander and   
anger4 ,these implied inherent  moral   
depravity1 but illicit love was love    
outside the law of  man1 and did not of 
necessity and always involve moral      
guilt4  ,christ was ,himself very gentle
 and compassionate with the sins of  the
 flesh but relentless in the case of the
 greater sins of the  spirit4           
,puritanism overturned the balance of   
things1 and by  concentrating its       
condemnation on sexual derelictions     
became blind  to the greater sins of    
pride1 avarice and anger4 ,we have      
inherited  the prejudice without        
acquiring the abstention1 but the       
,middle ,ages  had a clearer sense of   
comparative values and they could       
forgive1  or even ignore1 the sin of    
,ablard and ,hlose when they could less 
easily excuse the sin of spiritual pride
 or deliberate cruelty4  ,moreover1     
these same ,middle ,ages believed very  
earnestly in the  ,divine forgiveness of
 sins for which there had been real     

repentance  and honest effort at        
amendment4 ,ablard and ,hloise had been 
grievously punished1 he himself had made
 every reparation that was  possible1   
his penitence was charitably assumed1   
and therefore it  was not for society to
 condemn what ,god would mercifully     
forgive4    ,the twelfth and thirteenth 
centuries were not an age of moral      
laxity2 ideals and standards and conduct
 were immeasurably higher  than they had
 been for five hundred years1 higher    
than they were to  be in the centuries  
that followed the crest of              
,mediaevalism4 ,it was  however a time  
of enormous vitality1 of throbbing      
energy that was  constantly bursting its
 bounds1 and as well a time of personal 
liberty and freedom of action that would
 seem strange indeed to us  in these    
days of endless legal restraint and     
inhibitions mitigated  by revolt4 ,there
 were few formal laws but there was     
,custom which  was a sovereign law in   
itself1 and above all there was the     

moral  law of the ,church1 establishing 
its great fundamental principles  but   
leaving details to the working out of   
life itself4 ,behind the  sin of ,ablard
 lay his intolerable spiritual pride1   
his selfishness  and his egotism1       
qualities that society at large did not 
recognize  because of their devotion to 
his engaging personality and their      
admiration for his dazzling intellectual
 gifts4 ,their idol had  sinned1 he had 
been savagely punished1 he had repented2
 that was  all there was about it and   
the question was at an end4    ,in      
reading the ,historia ,calamitatum there
 is one consideration that  suggests    
itself that is subject for serious      
thought4 ,written as it  was some years 
after the great tragedy of his life1 it 
was a  portrait that somehow seems out  
of focus4 ,we know that during his      
early years in ,paris ,ablard was a bold
 and daring champion in the  lists of   
dialectic2 brilliant1 persuasive1       
masculine to a degree2  yet this        

self-portrait is of a man timid1        
suspicious1 frightened of  realities1   
shadows1 possibilities4 ,he is in abject
 terror of  councils1 hidden enemies1   
even of his life4 ,the tone is          
querulous1  even peevish at times1 and  
always the egotism and the pride        
persist1 while he seems driven by the   
whip of desire for  intellectual        
adventure into places where he shrinks  
from defending  himself1 or is unable to
 do so4 ,the antithesis is complete and 
one  is driven to believe that the      
terrible mutilation to which he had     
been subjected had broken down his      
personality and left him in all  things 
less than man4 ,his narrative is full of
 accusations against  all manner of     
people1 but it is not necessary to take 
all these  literally1 for it is evident 
that his natural egotism1 overlaid by   
the circumstances of his calamity1      
produced an almost pathological         
condition wherein suspicions became to  
him realities and terrors  established  

facts4    ,it is doubtful if ,ablard    
should be ranked very high in the list  
of  ,mediaeval philosophers4 ,he was    
more a dialectician than a creative     
force1 and until the development of the 
episode with ,hlose he  seems to have   
cared primarily for the excitement of   
debate1 with  small regard for the value
 or the subjects under discussion4 ,as  
an  intellectualist he had much to do   
with the subsequent abandonment  of     
,plato in favour of ,aristotle that was 
a mark of pure  scholasticism1 while the
 brilliancy of his dialectical method   
became a model for future generations4  
,afer the ,calamity he turned  from     
philosophy to theology and ethics and   
here he reveals  qualities of nobility  
not evident before4 ,particularly does  
he  insist upon the fact that it is the 
subjective intention that  determines   
the moral value of human actions even if
 it does not  change their essential    
character4    ,the story of this        
philosophical soldier of fortune is a   

romance  from beginning to end1 a       
poignant human drama shot through with  
passion1 adventure1 pathos and tragedy4 
,in a sense it is an epitome  of the    
earlier ,middle ,ages and through it    
shines the bright light  of an era of   
fervid living1 of exciting adventure1 of
 phenomenal  intellectual force and of  
large and comprehensive liberty4 ,as a  
single episode of passion it is not     
particularly distinguished  except for  
the appealing personality of ,hlose2 as 
a phase in the  development of          
,christian philosophy it is of only     
secondary value4  ,united in one1 the   
two factors achieve a brilliant dramatic
 unity  that has made the story of      
,ablard and ,hlose immortal4            
,,historia ,,calamitatum                
,,foreword    ,often the hearts of men  
and women are stirred1 as likewise they 
are  soothed in their sorrows1 more by  
example than by words4 ,and  therefore1 
because ,i too have known some          
consolation from speech  had with one   

who was a witness thereof1 am ,i now    
minded to write of  the sufferings which
 have sprung out of my misfortunes1 for 
the  eyes of one who1 though absent1 is 
of himself ever a consoler4 ,this  ,i do
 so that1 in comparing your sorrows with
 mine1 you may discover  that yours are 
in truth nought1 or at the most but of  
small  account1 and so shall you come to
 bear them more easily4        ,,chapter
 ,i    ,,of ,,the ,,birthplace ,,of     
,,pierre ,,ab,,lard ,,and ,,of ,,his    
,,parents    ,know1 then1 that ,i am    
come from a certain town which was built
 on  the way into lesser ,brittany1     
distant some eight miles1 as ,i think1  
eastward from the city of ,nantes1 and  
in its own tongue called  ,palets4 ,such
 is the nature of that country1 or1 it  
may be1 of them  who dwell there--for in
 truth they are quick in fancy--that my 
mind  bent itself easily to the study of
 letters4 ,yet more1 ,i had a  father   
who had won some smattering of letters  
before he had girded  on the soldier's  

belt4 ,and so it came about that long   
afterwards  his love thereof was so     
strong that he saw to it that each son  
of  his should be taught in letters even
 earlier than in the management  of     
arms4 ,thus indeed did it come to pass4 
,and because ,i was his  first born1 and
 for that reason the more dear to him1  
he sought  with double diligence to have
 me wisely taught4 ,for my part1 the    
more ,i went forward in the study of    
letters1 and ever more easily1  the     
greater became the ardour of my devotion
 to them1 until in  truth ,i was so     
enthralled by my passion for learning   
that1 gladly  leaving to my brothers the
 pomp of glory in arms1 the right of    
heritage and all the honours that should
 have been mine as the  eldest born1 ,i 
fled utterly from the court of ,mars    
that ,i might win  learning in the bosom
 of ,minerva4 ,and since ,i found the   
armory of  logical reasoning more to my 
liking than the other forms of          
philosophy1 ,i exchanged all other      

weapons for these1 and to the  prizes of
 victory in war ,i preferred the battle 
of minds in  disputation4 ,thenceforth1 
journeying through many provinces1 and  
debating as ,i went1 going whithersoever
 ,i heard that the study of  my chosen  
art most flourished1 ,i became such an  
one as the  ,peripatetics4              
,,chapter ,,ii    ,,of ,,the            
,,persecution ,,he ,,had ,,from ,,his   
,,master ,,william ,,of                 
,,champeaux--,,of  ,,his ,,adventures   
,,at ,,melun1 ,,at ,,corbeil ,,and ,,at 
,,paris--,,of ,,his ,,withdrawal  ,,from
 ,,the ,,city ,,of ,,the ,,parisians    
,,to ,,melun1 ,,and ,,his ,,return ,,to 
,,mont  ,,ste4 ,,genevi,,ve--,,of ,,his 
,,journey ,,to ,,his ,,old ,,home    ,i 
came at length to ,paris1 where above   
all in those days the art of  dialectics
 was most flourishing1 and there did ,i 
meet ,william of  ,champeaux1 my        
teacher1 a man most distinguished in his
 science both  by his renown and by his 
true merit4 ,with him ,i remained for   

some  time1 at first indeed well liked  
of him2 but later ,i brought him  great 
grief1 because ,i undertook to refute   
certain of his opinions1  not           
infrequently attacking him in           
disputation1 and now and then in  these 
debates ,i was adjudged victor4 ,now    
this1 to those among my  fellow students
 who were ranked foremost1 seemed all   
the more  insufferable because of my    
youth and the brief duration of my      
studies4    ,out of this sprang the     
beginning of my misfortunes1 which have 
followed me even to the present day2 the
 more widely my fame was  spread abroad1
 the more bitter was the envy that was  
kindled  against me4 ,it was given out  
that ,i1 presuming on my gifts far      
beyond the warranty of my youth1 was    
aspiring despite my tender1  years to   
the leadership of a school2 nay1 more1  
that ,i was making  read the very place 
in which ,i would undertake this task1  
the place  being none other than the    
castle of ,melun1 at that time a royal  

seat4 ,my teacher himself had some      
foreknowledge of this1 and tried  to    
remove my school as far as possible from
 his own4 ,working in  secret1 he sought
 in every way he could before ,i left   
his following  to bring to nought the   
school ,i had planned and the place ,i  
had  chosen for it4 ,since1 however1 in 
that very place he had many  rivals1 and
 some of them men of influence among the
 great ones of  the land1 relying on    
their aid ,i won to the fulfillment of  
my wish2  the support of many was       
secured for me by reason of his own     
unconcealed envy4 ,from this small      
inception of my school1 my fame  in the 
art of dialectics began to spread       
abroad1 so that little by  little the   
renown1 not alone of those who had been 
my fellow  students1 but of our very    
teacher himself1 grew dim and was like  
to  die out altogether4 ,thus it came   
about that1 still more confident  in    
myself1 ,i moved my school as soon as ,i
 well might to the castle  of ,corbeil1 

which is hard by the city of ,paris1 for
 there ,i knew  there would be given    
more frequent chance for my assaults in 
our  battle of disputation4    ,no long 
time thereafter ,i was smitten with a   
grievous illness1  brought upon me by my
 immoderate zeal for study4 ,this       
illness  forced me to turn homeward to  
my native province1 and thus for some   
years ,i was as if cut off from ,france4
 ,and yet1 for that very  reason1 ,i was
 sought out all the more eagerly by     
those whose hearts  were troubled by the
 lore of dialectics4 ,but after a few   
years had  passed1 and ,i was whole     
again from my sickness1 ,i learned that 
my  teacher1 that same ,william         
,archdeacon of ,paris1 had changed his  
former garb and joined an order of the  
regular clergy4 ,this he had  done1 or  
so men said1 in order that he might be  
deemed more deeply  religious1 and so   
might be elevated to a loftier rank in  
the  prelacy1 a thing which1 in truth1  
very soon came to pass1 for he  was made

 bishop of ,chlons4 ,nevertheless1 the  
garb he had donned by  reason of his    
conversion did nought to keep him away  
either from  the city of ,paris or from 
his wonted study of philosophy2 and in  
the very monastery wherein he had shut  
himself up for the sake of  religion he 
straightway set to teaching again after 
the same  fashion as before4    ,to him 
did ,i return1 for ,i was eager to learn
 more of rhetoric from  his lips2 and in
 the course of our many arguments on    
various  matters1 ,i compelled him by   
most potent reasoning first to alter    
his former opinion on the subject of the
 universals1 and finally to  abandon it 
altogether4 ,now1 the basis of this old 
concept of his  regarding the reality of
 universal ideas was that the same      
quality  formed the essence alike of the
 abstract whole and of the  individuals 
which were its parts3 in other words1   
that there could  be no essential       
differences among these individuals1 all
 being  alike save for such variety as  

might grow out of the many accidents  of
 existence4 ,thereafter1 however1 he    
corrected this opinion1 no  longer      
maintaining that the same quality was   
the essence of all  things1 but that1   
rather1 it manifested itself in them    
through  diverse ways4 ,this problem of 
universals is ever the most vexed one   
among logicians1 to such a degree1      
indeed1 that even ,porphyry1  writing in
 his ,isagoge regarding universals1     
dared not attempt a  final pronouncement
 thereon1 saying rather3 ,this is the   
deepest of  all problems of its kind4   
,wherefore it followed that when        
,william  had first revised and then    
finally abandoned altogether his views  
on this one subject1 his lecturing sank 
into such a state of  negligent         
reasoning that it could scarce be called
 lecturing on the  science of dialectics
 at all2 it was as if all his science   
had been  bound up in this one question 
of the nature of universals4    ,thus it
 came about that my teaching won such   

strength and authority  that even those 
who before had clung most vehemently to 
my former  master1 and most bitterly    
attacked my doctrines1 now flocked to my
  school4 ,the very man who had         
succeeded to my master's chair in the   
,paris school offered me his post1 in   
order that he might put  himself under  
my tutelage along with all the rest1 and
 this in the  very place where of old   
his master and mine had reigned4 ,and   
when1  in so short a time1 my master saw
 me directing the study of  dialectics  
there1 it is not easy to find words to  
tell with what  envy he was consumed or 
with what pain he was tormented4 ,he    
could  not long1 in truth1 bear the     
anguish of what he felt to be his       
wrongs1 and shrewdly he attacked me that
 he might drive me forth4  ,and because 
there was nought in my conduct whereby  
he could come at  me openly1 he tried to
 steal away the school by launching the 
vilest calumnies against him who had    
yielded his post to me1 and by  putting 

in his place a certain rival of mine4   
,so then ,i returned to  ,melun1 and set
 up my school there as before2 and the  
more openly  his envy pursued me1 the   
greater was the authority it conferred  
upon me4 ,even so held the poet3        
,jealousy aims at the peaks2 the  winds 
storm the loftiest summits4 7,ovid3     
,remedy for ,love1 ,i1 #cfi47    ,not   
long thereafter1 when ,william became   
aware of the fact that  almost all his  
students were holding grave doubts as to
 his  religion1 and were whispering     
earnestly among themselves about his    
conversion1 deeming that he had by no   
means abandoned this world1  he withdrew
 himself and his brotherhood1 together  
with his  students1 to a certain estate 
far distant from the city4 ,forthwith   
,i returned from ,melun to ,paris1      
hoping for peace from him in the        
future4 ,but since1 as ,i have said1 he 
had caused my place to be  occupied by a
 rival of mine1 ,i pitched the camp1 as 
it were1 of my  school outside the city 

on ,mont ,ste4 ,genevive4 ,thus ,i was  
as one  laying siege to him who had     
taken possession of my post4 ,no sooner 
had my master heard of this than he     
brazenly returned post haste to  the    
city1 bringing back with him such       
students as he could1 and  reinstating  
his brotherhood in their for mer        
monastery1 much as if  he would free his
 soldiery1 whom he had deserted1 from my
 blockade4  ,in truth1 though1 if it was
 his purpose to bring them succour1 he  
did nought but hurt them4 ,before that  
time my rival had indeed had  a certain 
number of students1 of one sort and     
another1 chiefly by  reason of his      
lectures on ,priscian1 in which he was  
considered of  great authority4 ,after  
our master had returned1 however1 he    
lost  nearly all of these followers1 and
 thus was compelled to give up  the     
direction of the school4 ,not long      
thereafter1 apparently  despairing      
further of worldly fame1 he was         
converted to the  monastic life4        

,following the return of our master to  
the city1 the combats in  disputation   
which my scholars waged both with him   
himself and with  his pupils1 and the   
successes which fortune gave to us1 and 
above  all to me1 in these wars1 you    
have long since learned of through  your
 own experience4 ,the boast of ,ajax1   
though ,i speak it more  temperately1 ,i
 still am bold enough to make3          
444 if fain you would learn now         
,how victory crowned the battle1 by him 
was           ,i never vanquished4      
7,ovid1 ,metamorphoses1 ,,xiii1 #hi47   
,but even were ,i to be silent1 the fact
 proclaims itself1 and its  outcome     
reveals the truth regarding it4         
,while these things were happening1 it  
became needful for me again  to repair  
to my old home1 by reason of my dear    
mother1 ,lucia1 for  after the          
conversion of my father1 ,berengarius1  
to the monastic  life1 she so ordered   
her affairs as to do likewise4 ,when all
 this  had been completed1 ,i returned  

to ,france1 above all in order that ,i  
might study theology1 since now my      
oft-mentioned teacher1 ,william1  was   
active in the episcopate of ,chlons4 ,in
 this held of learning  ,anselm of      
,laon1 who was his teacher therein1 had 
for long years  enjoyed the greatest    
renown4        ,,chapter ,,iii    ,,of  
,,how ,,he ,,came ,,to ,,laon ,,to      
,,seek ,,anselm ,,as ,,teacher          
,sought out1 therefore1 this same       
venerable man1 whose fame1 in  truth1   
was more the result of long-established 
custom than of the  potency of his own  
talent or intellect4 ,if any one came to
 him  impelled by doubt on any subject1 
he went away more doubtful still4  ,he  
was wonderful1 indeed1 in the eyes of   
these who only listened to  him1 but    
those who asked him questions perforce  
held him as nought4  ,he had a          
miraculous flock of words1 but they were
 contemptible in  meaning and quite void
 of reason4 ,when he kindled a fire1 he 
filled  his house with smoke and        

illumined it not at all4 ,he was a tree 
which seemed noble to those who gazed   
upon its leaves from afar1  but to those
 who came nearer and examined it more   
closely was  revealed its barrenness4   
,when1 therefore1 ,i had come to this   
tree  that ,i might pluck the fruit     
thereof1 ,i discovered that it was      
indeed the fig tree which ,our ,lord    
cursed 7,matthew xxi1 #ai2 ,mark  xi1   
#ac71 or that ancient oak to which      
,lucan likened ,pompey1 saying3         
444 he stands1 the shade of a name once 
mighty1       ,like to the towering oak 
in the midst of the fruitful field4     
7,lucan1 ,pharsalia1 ,,iv1 #ace47    ,it
 was not long before ,i made this       
discovery1 and stretched myself  lazily 
in the shade of that same tree4 ,i went 
to his lectures less  and less often1 a 
thing which some among his eminent      
followers took  sorely to heart1 because
 they interpreted it as a mark of       
contempt  for so illustrious a teacher4 
,thenceforth they secretly sought to    

influence him against me1 and by their  
vile insinuations made me  hated of him4
 ,it chanced1 moreover1 that one day1   
after the  exposition of certain texts1 
we scholars were jesting among          
ourselves1 and one of them1 seeking to  
draw me out1 asked me what ,i  thought  
of the lectures on the ,books of        
,scripture4 ,i1 who had as  yet studied 
only the sciences1 replied that         
following such lectures  seemed to me   
most useful in so far as the salvation  
of the soul was  concerned1 but that it 
appeared quite extraordinary to me that 
educated persons should not be able to  
understand the sacred books  simply by  
studying them themselves1 together with 
the glosses  thereon1 and without the   
aid of any teacher4 ,most of those who  
were  present mocked at me1 and asked   
whether ,i myself could do as ,i had    
said1 or whether ,i would dare to       
undertake it4 ,i answered that if  they 
wished1 ,i was ready to try it4         
,forthwith they cried out and  jeered   

all the more4 ,well and good1 said they2
 we agree to the  test4 ,pick out and   
give us an exposition of some doubtful  
passage  in the ,scriptures1 so that we 
can put this boast of yours to the      
proof4 ,and they all chose that most    
obscure prophecy of ,ezekiel4    ,i     
accepted the challenge1 and invited them
 to attend a lecture on  the very next  
day4 ,whereupon they undertook to give  
me good advice1  saying that ,i should  
by no means make undue haste in so      
important a  matter1 but that ,i ought  
to devote a much loner space to working 
out my exposition and offsetting my     
inexperience by diligent toil4  ,to this
 ,i replied indignantly that it was my  
wont to win success1  not by routine1   
but by ability4 ,i added that ,i would  
abandon the  test altogether unless they
 would agree not to put off their       
attendance at my lecture4 ,in truth at  
this first lecture of mine  only a few  
were present1 for it seemed quite absurd
 to all of them  that ,i1 hitherto so   

inexperienced in discussing the         
,scriptures1  should attempt the thing  
so hastily4 ,however1 this lecture gave 
such satisfaction to all those who heard
 it that they spread its  praises abroad
 with notable enthusiasm1 and thus      
compelled me to  continue my            
interpretation of the sacred text4 ,when
 word of this  was bruited about1 those 
who had stayed away from the first      
lecture  came eagerly1 some to the      
second and more to the third1 and all of
  them were eager to write down the     
glosses which ,i had begun on the  first
 day1 so as to have them from the very  
beginning4        ,,chapter ,,iv    ,,of
 ,,the ,,persecution ,,he ,,had ,,from  
,,his ,,teacher ,,anselm    ,now this   
venerable man of whom ,i have spoken was
 acutely smitten  with envy1 and        
straightway incited1 as ,i have already 
mentioned1 by  the insinuations of      
sundry persons1 began to persecute me   
for my  lecturing on the ,scriptures no 
less bitterly than my former master1    

,william1 had done for my work in       
philosophy4 ,at that time there  were in
 this old man's school two who were     
considered far to excel  all the others3
 ,alberic of ,rheims and ,lotulphe the  
,lombard4 ,the  better opinion these two
 held of themselves1 the more they were 
incensed against me4 ,chiefly at their  
suggestion1 as it afterwards            
transpired1 yonder venerable coward had 
the impudence to forbid me  to carry on 
any further in his school the work of   
preparing glosses  which ,i had thus    
begun4 ,the pretext he alleged was that 
if by  chance in the course of this work
 ,i should write anything  containing   
blunders--as was likely enough in view  
of my lack of  training--the thing might
 be imputed to him4 ,when this came to  
the  ears of his scholars1 they were    
filled with indignation at so           
undisguised a manifestation of spite1   
the like of which had never  been       
directed against any one before4 ,the   
more obvious this rancour  became1 the  

more it redounded to my honour1 and his 
persecution did  nought save to make me 
more famous4        ,,chapter ,v    ,,of
 ,,how ,,he ,,returned ,,to ,,paris     
,,and ,,finished ,,the ,,glosses ,,which
 ,,he ,,had  ,,begun ,,at ,,laon    ,and
 so1 after a few days1 ,i returned to   
,paris1 and there for  several years ,i 
peacefully directed the school which    
formerly had  been destined for me1 nay1
 even offered to me1 but from which ,i  
had  been driven out4 ,at the very      
outset of my work there1 ,i set about   
completing the glosses on ,ezekiel which
 ,i had begun at ,laon4 ,these  proved  
so satisfactory to all who read them    
that they came to  believe me no less   
adept in lecturing on theology than ,i  
had proved  myself to be in the held of 
philosophy4 ,thus my school was notably 
increased in size by reason of my       
lectures on subjects of both  these     
kinds1 and the amount of financial      
profit as well as glory  which it       
brought me cannot be concealed from you1

 for the matter  was widely talked of4  
,but prosperity always puffs up the     
foolish1  and worldly comfort enervates 
the soul1 rendering it an easy prey  to 
carnal temptations4 ,thus ,i1 who by    
this time had come to regard  myself as 
the only philosopher remaining in the   
whole world1 and  had ceased to fear any
 further disturbance of my peace1 began 
to  loosen the rein on my desires1      
although hitherto ,i had always lived   
in the utmost continence4 ,and the      
greater progress ,i made in my          
lecturing on philosophy or theology1 the
 more ,i departed alike from  the       
practice of the philosophers and the    
spirit of the divines in  the           
uncleanness of my life4 ,for it is well 
known1 methinks1 that  philosophers1 and
 still more those who have devoted their
 lives to  arousing the love of sacred  
study1 have been strong above all else  
in the beauty of chastity4    ,thus did 
it come to pass that while ,i was       
utterly absorbed in pride  and          

sensuality1 divine grace1 the cure for  
both diseases1 was  forced upon me1 even
 though ,i1 forsooth1 would fain have   
shunned  it4 ,first was ,i punished for 
my sensuality1 and then for my pride4   
,for my sensuality ,i lost those things 
whereby ,i practiced it2 for  my pride1 
engendered in me by my knowledge of     
letters--and it is  even as the ,apostle
 said3 ,knowledge puffeth itself up 7,i 
,cor4  viii1 #a7--;,i knew the          
humiliation of seeing burned the very   
book in  which ,i most gloried4 ,and now
 it is my desire that you should know   
the stories of these two happenings1    
understanding them more truly  from     
learning the very facts than from       
hearing what is spoken of  them1 and in 
the order in which they came about4     
,because ,i had ever  held in abhorrence
 the foulness of prostitutes1 because ,i
 had  diligently kept myself from all   
excesses and from association with  the 
women of noble birth who attended the   
school1 because ,i knew so  little of   

the common talk of ordinary people1     
perverse and subtly  flattering chance  
gave birth to an occasion for casting me
 lightly  down from the heights of my   
own exaltation4 ,nay1 in such case not  
even divine goodness could redeem one   
who1 having been so proud1  was brought 
to such shame1 were it not for the      
blessed gift of  grace4        ,,chapter
 ,,vi    ,,of ,,how1 ,,brought ,,low    
,,by ,,his ,,love ,,for ,h,,loise1 ,,he 
,,was ,,wounded ,,in ,,body  ,,and      
,,soul    ,now there dwelt in that same 
city of ,paris a certain young girl     
named ,hlose1 the niece of a canon who  
was called ,fulbert4 ,her  uncle's love 
for her was equalled only by his desire 
that she  should have the best education
 which he could possibly procure for    
her4 ,of no mean beauty1 she stood out  
above all by reason of her  abundant    
knowledge of letters4 ,now this virtue  
is rare among women1  and for that very 
reason it doubly graced the maiden1 and 
made her  the most worthy of renown in  

the entire kingdom4 ,it was this young  
girl whom ,i1 after carefully           
considering all those qualities which   
are wont to attract lovers1 determined  
to unite with myself in the  bonds of   
love1 and indeed the thing seemed to me 
very easy to be  done4 ,so distinguished
 was my name1 and ,i possessed such     
advantages  of youth and comeliness1    
that no matter what woman ,i might      
favour  with my love1 ,i dreaded        
rejection of none4 ,then1 too1 ,i       
believed  that ,i could win the maiden's
 consent all the more easily by reason  
of her knowledge of letters and her zeal
 therefor2 so1 even if we  were parted1 
we might yet be together in thought with
 the aid of  written messages4          
,perchance1 too1 we might be able to    
write more  boldly than we could speak1 
and thus at all times could we live in  
joyous intimacy4    ,thus1 utterly      
aflame with my passion for this maiden1 
,i sought to  discover means whereby ,i 
might have daily and familiar speech    

with  her1 thereby the more easily to   
win her consent4 ,for this purpose ,i   
persuaded the girl's uncle1 with the aid
 of some of his friends1 to  take me    
into his household--for he dwelt hard by
 my school--in  return for the payment  
of a small sum4 ,my pretext for this was
 that  the care of my own household was 
a serious handicap to my studies1  and  
likewise burdened me with an expense far
 greater than ,i could  afford4 ,now1 he
 was a man keen in avarice1 and likewise
 he was most  desirous for his niece    
that her study of letters should ever go
  forward1 so1 for these two reasons1 ,i
 easily won his consent to the          
fulfillment of my wish1 for he was      
fairly agape for my money1 and  at the  
same time believed that his niece would 
vastly benefit by my  teaching4 ,more   
even than this1 by his own earnest      
entreaties he  fell in with my desires  
beyond anything ,i had dared to hope1   
opening the way for my love2 for he     
entrusted her wholly to my  guidance1   

begging me to give her instruction      
whensoever ,i might be  free from the   
duties of my school1 no matter whether  
by day or by  night1 and to punish her  
sternly if ever ,i should find her      
negligent of her tasks4 ,in all this the
 man's simplicity was  nothing short of 
astounding to me2 ,i should not have    
been more  smitten with wonder if he had
 entrusted a tender lamb to the care  of
 a ravenous wolf4 ,when he had thus     
given her into my charge1 not  alone to 
be taught but even to be disciplined1   
what had he done  save to give free     
scope to my desires1 and to offer me    
every  opportunity1 even if ,i had not  
sought it1 to bend her to my will  with 
threats and blows if ,i failed to do so 
with caresses8 ,there  were1 however1   
two things which particularly served to 
allay any  foul suspicion3 his own love 
for his niece1 and my former  reputation
 for continence4    ,why should ,i say  
more3 ,we were united first in the      
dwelling that  sheltered our love1 and  

then in the hearts that burned with it4 
,under the pretext of study we spent our
 hours in the happiness of  love1 and   
learning held out to us the secret      
opportunities that our  passion craved4 
,our speech was more of love than of the
 book which  lay open before us2 our    
kisses far outnumbered our reasoned     
words4  ,our hands sought less the book 
than each other's bosoms2 love drew  our
 eyes together far more than the lesson 
drew them to the pages  of our text4 ,in
 order that there might be no suspicion1
 there were1  indeed1 sometimes blows1  
but love gave them1 not anger2 they were
  the marks1 not of wrath1 but of a     
tenderness surpassing the most  fragrant
 balm in sweetness4 ,what followed8 ,no 
degree in love's  progress was left     
untried by our passion1 and if love     
itself could  imagine any wonder as yet 
unknown1 we discovered it4 ,and our     
inexperience of such delights made us   
all the more ardent in our  pursuit of  
them1 so that our thirst for one another

 was still  unquenched4    ,in measure  
as this passionate rapture absorbed me  
more and more1 ,i  devoted ever less    
time to philosophy and to the work of   
the school4  ,indeed it became loathsome
 to me to go to the school or to linger 
there2 the labour1 moreover1 was very   
burdensome1 since my nights  were vigils
 of love and my days of study4 ,my      
lecturing became  utterly careless and  
lukewarm2 ,i did nothing because of     
inspiration1 but everything merely as a 
matter of habit4 ,i had  become nothing 
more than a reciter of my former        
discoveries1 and  though ,i still wrote 
poems1 they dealt with love1 not with   
the  secrets of philosophy4 ,of these   
songs you yourself well know how  some  
have become widely known and have been  
sung in many lands1  chiefly1 methinks1 
by those who delighted in the things of 
this  world4 ,as for the sorrow1 the    
groans1 the lamentations of my  students
 when they perceived the preoccupation1 
nay1 rather the  chaos1 of my mind1 it  

is hard even to imagine them4    ,a     
thing so manifest could deceive only a  
few1 no one1 methinks1  save him whose  
shame it chiefly bespoke1 the girl's    
uncle1 ,fulbert4  ,the truth was often  
enough hinted to him1 and by many       
persons1 but  he could not believe it1  
partly1 as ,i have said1 by reason of   
his  boundless love for his niece1 and  
partly because of the well-known        
continence of my previous life4 ,indeed 
we do not easily suspect  shame in those
 whom we most cherish1 nor can there be 
the blot of  foul suspicion on devoted  
love4 ,of this ,st4 ,jerome in his      
epistle  to ,sabinianus 7,epist4 #dh7   
says3 ,we are wont to be the last to    
know  the evils of our own households1  
and to be ignorant of the sins of  our  
children and our wives1 though our      
neighbours sing them aloud4  ,but no    
matter how slow a matter may be in      
disclosing itself1 it is  sure to come  
forth at last1 nor is it easy to hide   
from one what is  known to all4 ,so1    

after the lapse of several months1 did  
it happen  with us4 ,oh1 how great was  
the uncle's grief when he learned the   
truth1 and how bitter was the sorrow of 
the lovers when we were  forced to part6
 ,with what shame was ,i overwhelmed1   
with what  contrition smitten because of
 the blow which had fallen on her ,i    
loved1 and what a tempest of misery     
burst over her by reason of my          
disgrace6 ,each grieved most1 not for   
himself1 but for the other4  ,each      
sought to allay1 not his own sufferings1
 but those of the one  he loved4 ,the   
very sundering of our bodies served but 
to link our  souls closer together2 the 
plentitude of the love which was denied 
to us inflamed us more than ever4 ,once 
the first wildness of shame  had passed1
 it left us more shameless than before1 
and as shame  died within us the cause  
of it seemed to us ever more desirable4 
,and so it chanced with us as1 in the   
stories that the poets tell1  it once   
happened with ,mars and ,venus when they

 were caught together4    ,it was not   
long after this that ,hlose found that  
she was  pregnant1 and of this she wrote
 to me in the utmost exultation1  at the
 same time asking me to consider what   
had best be done4  ,accordingly1 on a   
night when her uncle was absent1 we     
carried out  the plan we had determined 
on1 and ,i stole her secretly away from 
her uncle's house1 sending her without  
delay to my own country4 ,she  remained 
there with my sister until she gave     
birth to a son1 whom  she named         
,astrolabe4 ,meanwhile her uncle1 after 
his return1 was  almost mad with grief2 
only one who had then seen him could    
rightly  guess the burning agony of his 
sorrow and the bitterness of his  shame4
 ,what steps to take against me1 or what
 snares to set for me1  he did not know4
 ,if he should kill me or do me some    
bodily hurt1 he  feared greatly lest his
 dear-loved niece should be made to     
suffer  for it among my kinsfolk4 ,he   
had no power to seize me and imprison   

me somewhere against my will1 though ,i 
make no doubt he would have  done so    
quickly enough had he been able or      
dared1 for ,i had taken  measures to    
guard against any such attempt4    ,at  
length1 however1 in pity for his        
boundless grief1 and bitterly  blaming  
myself for the suffering which my love  
had brought upon him  through the       
baseness of the deception ,i had        
practiced1 ,i went to  him to entreat   
his forgiveness1 promising to make any  
amends that  he himself might decree4 ,i
 pointed out that what had happened     
could  not seem incredible to any one   
who had ever felt the power of love1  or
 who remembered how1 from the very      
beginning of the human race1  women had 
cast down even the noblest men to utter 
ruin4 ,and in  order to make amends even
 beyond his extremest hope1 ,i offered  
to  marry her whom ,i had seduced1      
provided only the thing could be kept   
secret1 so that ,i might suffer no loss 
of reputation thereby4 ,to  this he     

gladly assented1 pledging his own faith 
and that of his  kindred1 and sealing   
with kisses the pact which ,i had sought
 of  him--and all this that he might the
 more easily betray me4        ,,chapter
 ,,vii    ,,of ,,the ,,arguments ,,of   
,h,,lo,,se ,,against ,,wedlock--,,of    
,,how ,,none ,,the ,,less  ,,he ,,made  
,,her ,,his ,,wife    ,forthwith ,i     
repaired to my own country1 and brought 
back thence my  mistress1 that ,i might 
make her my wife4 ,she1 however1 most   
violently disapproved of this1 and for  
two chief reasons3 the  danger thereof1 
and the disgrace which it would bring   
upon me4 ,she  swore that her uncle     
would never be appeased by such         
satisfaction  as this1 as1 indeed1      
afterwards proved only too true4 ,she   
asked how  she could ever glory in me if
 she should make me thus inglorious1    
and should shame herself along with me4 
,what penalties1 she said1  would the   
world rightly demand of her if she      
should rob it of so  shining a light6   

,what curses would follow such a loss to
 the  ,church1 what tears among the     
philosophers would result from such a   
marriage6 ,how unfitting1 how lamentable
 it would be for me1 whom  nature had   
made for the whole world1 to devote     
myself to one woman  solely1 and to     
subject myself to such humiliation6 ,she
 vehemently  rejected this marriage1    
which she felt would be in every way    
ignominious and burdensome to me4       
,besides dwelling thus on the disgrace  
to me1 she reminded me of the  hardships
 of married life1 to the avoidance of   
which the ,apostle  exhorts us1 saying3 
,art thou loosed from a wife8 seek not a
 wife4  ,but and if thou marry1 thou    
hast not sinned2 and if a virgin marry1 
she hath not sinned4 ,nevertheless such 
shall have trouble in the  flesh3 but ,i
 spare you 7,i ,cor4 vii1 #bg74 ,and    
again3 ,but ,i would  have you to be    
free from cares 7,i ,cor4 vii1 #cb74    
,but if ,i would  heed neither the      
counsel of the ,apostle nor the         

exhortations of the  saints regarding   
this heavy yoke of matrimony1 she bade  
me at least  consider the advice of the 
philosophers1 and weigh carefully what  
had been written on this subject either 
by them or concerning their  lives4     
,even the saints themselves have often  
and earnestly spoken  on this subject   
for the purpose of warning us4 ,thus    
,st4 ,jerome1  in his first book against
 ,jovinianus1 makes ,theophrastus set   
forth  in great detail the intolerable  
annoyances and the endless  disturbances
 of married life1 demonstrating with the
 most  convincing arguments that no wise
 man should ever have a wife1 and       
concluding his reasons for this         
philosophic exhortation with these      
words3 ,who among ,christians would not 
be overwhelmed by such  arguments as    
these advanced by ,theophrastus8        
,again1 in the same work1 ,st4 ,jerome  
tells how ,cicero1 asked by  ,hircius   
after his divorce of ,terentia whether  
he would marry the  sister of ,hircius1 

replied that he would do no such thing1 
saying  that he could not devote himself
 to a wife and to philosophy at the     
same time4 ,cicero does not1 indeed1    
precisely speak of devoting  himself1   
but he does add that he did not wish to 
undertake  anything which might rival   
his study of philosophy in its demands  
upon him4    ,then1 turning from the    
consideration of such hindrances to the 
study of philosophy1 ,hlose bade me     
observe what were the  conditions of    
honourable wedlock4 ,what possible      
concord could there  be between scholars
 and domestics1 between authors and     
cradles1  between books or tablets and  
distaffs1 between the stylus or the  pen
 and the spindle8 ,what man1 intent on  
his religious or  philosophical         
meditations1 can possibly endure the    
whining of  children1 the lullabies of  
the nurse seeking to quiet them1 or the 
noisy confusion of family life8 ,who can
 endure the continual  untidiness of    
children8 ,the rich1 you may reply1 can 

do this1  because they have palaces or  
houses containing many rooms1 and       
because their wealth takes no thought of
 expense and protects them  from daily  
worries4 ,but to this the answer is that
 the condition of  philosophers is by no
 means that of the wealthy1 nor can     
those  whose minds are occupied with    
riches and worldly cares find time  for 
religious or philosophical study4 ,for  
this reason the renowned  philosophers  
of old utterly despised the world1      
fleeing from its  perils rather than    
reluctantly giving them up1 and denied  
themselves all its delights in order    
that they might repose in the  embraces 
of philosophy alone4 ,one of them1 and  
the greatest of all1  ,seneca1 in his   
advice to ,lucilius1 says3 ,philosophy  
is not a thing  to be studied only in   
hours of leisure2 we must give up       
everything  else to devote ourselves to 
it1 for no amount of time is really     
sufficient thereto 7,epist4 #gc74    ,it
 matters little1 she pointed out1       

whether one abandons the study  of      
philosophy completely or merely         
interrupts it1 for it can never  remain 
at the point where it was thus          
interrupted4 ,all other  occupations    
must be resisted2 it is vain to seek to 
adjust life to  include them1 and they  
must simply be eliminated4 ,this view is
  maintained1 for example1 in the love  
of ,god by those among us who  are truly
 called monastics1 and in the love of   
wisdom by all those  who have stood out 
among men as sincere philosophers4 ,for 
in every  race1 gentiles or ,jews or    
,christians1 there have always been a   
few  who excelled their fellows in faith
 or in the purity of their  lives1 and  
who were set apart from the multitude by
 their  continence or by their          
abstinence from worldly pleasures4      
,among the ,jews of old there were the  
,nazarites1 who consecrated  themselves 
to the ,lord1 some of them the sons of  
the prophet ,elias  and others the      
followers of ,eliseus1 the monks of     

whom1 on the  authority of ,st4 ,jerome 
7,epist4 #d and #ac71 we read in the    
,old  ,testament4 ,more recently there  
were the three philosophical sects      
which ,josephus defines in his ,book of 
,antiquities 7xviii1 #b71  calling them 
the ,pharisees1 the ,sadducees and the  
,essenes4 ,in our  times1 furthermore1  
there are the monks who imitate either  
the  communal life of the ,apostles or  
the earlier and solitary life of  ,john4
 ,among the gentiles there are1 as has  
been said1 the  philosophers4 ,did they 
not apply the name of wisdom or         
philosophy  as much to the religion of  
life as to the pursuit of learning1 as  
we find from the origin of the word     
itself1 and likewise from the  testimony
 of the saints8    ,there is a passage  
on this subject in the eighth book of   
,st4  ,augustine's ,city of ,god1       
wherein he distinguishes between the    
various schools of philosophy4 ,the     
,italian school1 he says1 had  as its   
founder ,pythagoras of ,samos1 who1 it  

is said1 originated the  very word      
'philosophy4' ,before his time those who
 were regarded as  conspicuous for the  
praiseworthiness of their lives were    
called  wise men1 but he1 on being asked
 of his profession1 replied that he  was
 a philosopher1 that is to say a student
 or a lover of wisdom1  because it      
seemed to him unduly boastful to call   
himself a wise  man4 ,in this passage1  
therefore1 when the phrase conspicuous  
for  the praiseworthiness of their lives
 is used1 it is evident that  the wise1 
in other words the philosophers1 were so
 called less  because of their erudition
 than by reason of their virtuous lives4
  ,in what sobriety and continence these
 men lived it is not for me to  prove by
 illustration1 lest ,i should seem to   
instruct ,minerva  herself4    ,now1 she
 added1 if laymen and gentiles1 bound by
 no profession of  religion1 lived after
 this fashion1 what ought you1 a cleric 
and a  canon1 to do in order not to     
prefer base voluptuousness to your      

sacred duties1 to prevent this          
,charybdis from sucking you down        
headlong1 and to save yourself from     
being plunged shamelessly and           
irrevocably into such filth as this8 ,if
 you care nothing for your  privileges  
as a cleric1 at least uphold your       
dignity as a  philosopher4 ,if you scorn
 the reverence due to ,god1 let regard  
for  your reputation temper your        
shamelessness4 ,remember that ,socrates 
was chained to a wife1 and by what a    
filthy accident he himself  paid for    
this blot on philosophy1 in order that  
others thereafter  might be made more   
cautious by his example4 ,jerome thus   
mentions  this affair1 writing about    
,socrates in his first book against     
,jovinianus3 ,once when he was          
withstanding a storm of reproaches      
which ,xantippe was hurling at him from 
an upper story1 he was  suddenly        
drenched with foul slops2 wiping his    
head1 he said only1  ',i knew there     
would be a shower after all that        

thunder4'    ,her final argument was    
that it would be dangerous for me to    
take  her back to ,paris1 and that it   
would be far sweeter for her to be      
called my mistress than to be known as  
my wife2 nay1 too1 that  this would be  
more honourable for me as well4 ,in such
 case1 she  said1 love alone would hold 
me to her1 and the strength of the      
marriage chain would not constrain us4  
,even if we should by chance  be parted 
from time to time1 the joy of our       
meetings would be all  the sweeter by   
reason of its rarity4 ,but when she     
found that she  could not convince me or
 dissuade me from my folly by these and 
like arguments1 and because she could   
not bear to offend me1 with  grievous   
sighs and tears she made an end of her  
resistance1 saying3  ,then there is no  
more left but this1 that in our doom the
 sorrow  yet to come shall be no less   
than the love we two have already       
known4 ,nor in this1 as now the whole   
world knows1 did she lack the  spirit of

 prophecy4    ,so1 after our little son 
was born1 we left him in my sister's    
care1  and secretly returned to ,paris4 
,a few days later1 in the early         
morning1 having kept our nocturnal vigil
 of prayer unknown to all  in a certain 
church1 we were united there in the     
benediction of  wedlock1 her uncle and a
 few friends of his and mine being      
present4  ,we departed forthwith        
stealthily and by separate ways1 nor    
thereafter did we see each other save   
rarely and in private1 thus  striving   
our utmost to conceal what we had done4 
,but her uncle and  those of his        
household1 seeking solace for their     
disgrace1 began to  divulge the story of
 our marriage1 and thereby to violate   
the  pledge they had given me on this   
point4 ,hlose1 on the contrary1         
denounced her own kin and swore that    
they were speaking the most  absolute   
lies4 ,her uncle1 aroused to fury       
thereby1 visited her  repeatedly with   
punishments4 ,no sooner had ,i learned  

this than ,i  sent her to a convent of  
nuns at ,argenteuil1 not far from       
,paris1  where she herself had been     
brought up and educated as a young girl4
  ,i had them make ready for her all the
 garments of a nun1 suitable  for the   
life of a convent1 excepting only the   
veil1 and these ,i  bade her put on4    
,when her uncle and his kinsmen heard of
 this1 they were convinced  that now ,i 
had completely played them false and had
 rid myself  forever of ,hlose by       
forcing her to become a nun4 ,violently 
incensed1 they laid a plot against me1  
and one night1 while ,i1 all            
unsuspecting1 was asleep in a secret    
room in my lodgings1 they  broke in with
 the help of one of my servants1 whom   
they had bribed4  ,there they had       
vengeance on me with a most cruel and   
most shameful  punishment1 such as      
astounded the whole world1 for they cut 
off  those parts of my body with which  
,i had done that which was the  cause of
 their sorrow4 ,this done1 straightway  

they fled1 but two of  them were        
captured1 and suffered the loss of their
 eyes and their  genital organs4 ,one of
 these two was the aforesaid servant1   
who1  even while he was still in my     
service1 had been led by his avarice  to
 betray me4        ,,chapter ,,viii     
,,of ,,the ,,suffering ,,of ,,his       
,,body--,,of ,,how ,,he ,,became ,a     
,,monk ,,in ,,the  ,,monastery ,,of     
,,st4 ,,denis ,,and ,h,,loise ,a ,,nun  
,,at ,,argenteuil    ,when morning came 
the whole city was assembled before my  
dwelling4  ,it is difficult1 nay1       
impossible1 for words of mine to        
describe the  amazement which bewildered
 them1 the lamentations they uttered1   
the  uproar with which they harassed me1
 or the grief with which they  increased
 my own suffering4 ,chiefly the clerics1
 and above all my  scholars1 tortured me
 with their intolerable lamentations and
  outcries1 so that ,i suffered more    
intensely from their compassion  than   
from the pain of my wound4 ,in truth ,i 

felt the disgrace more  than the hurt to
 my body1 and was more afflicted with   
shame than  with pain4 ,my incessant    
thought was of the renown in which ,i   
had so  much delighted1 now brought low1
 nay1 utterly blotted out1 so  swiftly  
by an evil chance4 ,i saw1 too1 how     
justly ,god had punished  me in that    
very part of my body whereby ,i had     
sinned4 ,i perceived  that there was    
indeed justice in my betrayal by him    
whom ,i had  myself already betrayed2   
and then ,i thought how eagerly my      
rivals  would seize upon this           
manifestation of justice1 how this      
disgrace  would bring bitter and        
enduring grief to my kindred and my     
friends1  and how the tale of this      
amazing outrage would spread to the very
  ends of the earth4    ,what path lay  
open to me thereafter8 ,how could ,i    
ever again hold up  my head among men1  
when every finger should be pointed at  
me in  scorn1 every tongue speak my     
blistering shame1 and when ,i should be 

a monstrous spectacle to all eyes8 ,i   
was overwhelmed by the  remembrance     
that1 according to the dread letter of  
the law1 ,god  holds eunuchs in such    
abomination that men thus maimed are    
forbidden to enter a church1 even as the
 unclean and filthy2 nay1  even beasts  
in such plight were not acceptable as   
sacrifices4 ,thus  in ,leviticus 7xxii1 
#bd7 is it said3 ,ye shall not offer    
unto the  ,lord that which hath its     
stones bruised1 or crushed1 or broken1  
or  cut4 ,and in ,deuteronomy 7xxiii1   
#a71 ,he that is wounded in the  stones1
 or hath his privy member cut off1 shall
 not enter into the  congregation of the
 ,lord4    ,i must confess that in my   
misery it was the overwhelming sense of 
my disgrace rather than any ardour for  
conversion to the religious  life that  
drove me to seek the seclusion of the   
monastic cloister4  ,hlose had already1 
at my bidding1 taken the veil and       
entered a  convent4 ,thus it was that we
 both put on the sacred garb1 ,i in the 

abbey of ,st4 ,denis1 and she in the    
convent of ,argenteuil1 of which  ,i    
have already spoken4 ,she1 ,i remember  
well1 when her fond friends  sought     
vainly to deter her from submitting her 
fresh youth to the  heavy and almost    
intolerable yoke of monastic life1      
sobbing and  weeping replied in the     
words of ,cornelia3        444 ,o       
husband most noble1      ,who ne'er     
shouldst have shared my couch6 ,has     
fortune such power  ,to smite so lofty a
 head8 ,why then was ,i wedded  ,only to
 bring thee to woe8 ,receive now my     
sorrow1  ,the price ,i so gladly pay4   
7,lucan1 ,pharsalia1 viii1 #id47        
,with these words on her lips did she go
 forthwith to the altar1 and  lifted    
therefrom the veil1 which had been      
blessed by the bishop1  and before them 
all she took the vows of the religious  
life4 ,for my  part1 scarcely had ,i    
recovered from my wound when clerics    
sought me  in great numbers1 endlessly  
beseeching both my abbot and me myself  

that now1 since ,i was done with        
learning for the sake of gain or        
renown1 ,i should turn to it for the    
sole love of ,god4 ,they bade me  care  
diligently for the talent which ,god had
 committed to my  keeping 7,matthew1    
xxv1 #ae71 since surely ,he would demand
 it back  from me with interest4 ,it was
 their plea that1 inasmuch as of old ,i 
had laboured chiefly in behalf of the   
rich1 ,i should now devote  myself to   
the teaching of the poor4 ,therein above
 all should ,i  perceive how it was the 
hand of ,god that had touched me1 when  
,i  should devote my life to the study  
of letters in freedom from the  snares  
of the flesh and withdrawn from the     
tumultuous life of this  world4 ,thus1  
in truth1 should ,i become a philosopher
 less of this  world than of ,god4      
,the abbey1 however1 to which ,i had    
betaken myself was utterly  worldly and 
in its life quite scandalous4 ,the abbot
 himself was as  far below his fellows  
in his way of living and in the foulness

 of  his reputation as he was above them
 in priestly rank4 ,this  intolerable   
state of things ,i often and vehemently 
denounced1  sometimes in private talk   
and sometimes publicly1 but the only    
result was that ,i made myself detested 
of them all4 ,they gladly  laid hold of 
the daily eagerness of my students to   
hear me as an  excuse whereby they might
 be rid of me2 and finally1 at the      
insistent urging of the students        
themselves1 and with the hearty  consent
 of the abbot and the rest of the       
brotherhood1 ,i departed  thence to a   
certain hut1 there to teach in my wonted
 way4 ,to this  place such a throng of  
students flocked that the neighbourhood 
could not afford shelter for them1 nor  
the earth sufficient  sustenance4       
,here1 as befitted my profession1 ,i    
devoted myself chiefly to  lectures on  
theology1 but ,i did not wholly abandon 
the teaching of  the secular arts1 to   
which ,i was more accustomed1 and which 
was  particularly demanded of me4 ,i    

used the latter1 however1 as a hook1    
luring my students by the bait of       
learning to the study of the true       
philosophy1 even as the ,ecclesiastical 
,history tells of ,origen1 the  greatest
 of all ,christian philosophers4 ,since 
apparently the ,lord  had gifted me with
 no less persuasiveness in expounding   
the  ,scriptures than in lecturing on   
secular subjects1 the number of my      
students in these two courses began to  
increase greatly1 and the  attendance at
 all the other schools was              
correspondingly diminished4  ,thus ,i   
aroused the envy and hatred of the other
 teachers4 ,those who  sought to        
belittle me in every possible way took  
advantage of my  absence to bring two   
principal charges against me3 first1    
that it  was contrary to the monastic   
profession to be concerned with the     
study of secular books2 and1 second1    
that ,i had presumed to teach  theology 
without ever having been taught therein 
myself4 ,this they  did in order that my

 teaching of every kind might be        
prohibited1  and to this end they       
continually stirred up bishops1         
archbishops1  abbots and whatever other 
dignitaries of the ,church they could   
reach4        ,,chapter ,,ix    ,,of    
,,his ,,book ,,on ,,theology ,,and ,,his
 ,,persecution ,,at ,,the ,,hands ,,of  
,,his  ,,fellow ,,students--,,of ,,the  
,,council ,,against ,,him    ,it so     
happened that at the outset ,i devoted  
myself to analyzing the  basis of our   
faith through illustrations based on    
human  understanding1 and ,i wrote for  
my students a certain tract on the      
unity and trinity of ,god4 ,this ,i did 
because they were always  seeking for   
rational and philosophical explanations1
 asking rather  for reasons they could  
understand than for mere words1 saying  
that  it was futile to utter words which
 the intellect could not possibly       
follow1 that nothing could be believed  
unless it could first be  understood1   
and that it was absurd for any one to   

preach to others  a thing which neither 
he himself nor those whom he sought to  
teach  could comprehend4 ,our ,lord     
,himself maintained this same thing when
  ,he said3 ,they are blind leaders of  
the blind 7,matthew1 xv1 #ad74    ,now1 
a great many people saw and read this   
tract1 and it became  exceedingly       
popular1 its clearness appealing        
particularly to all  who sought         
information on this subject4 ,and since 
the questions  involved are generally   
considered the most difficult of all1   
their  complexity is taken as the       
measure of the subtlety of him who      
succeeds in answering them4 ,as a       
result1 my rivals became furiously      
angry1 and summoned a council to take   
action against me1 the chief            
instigators therein being my two        
intriguing enemies of former days1      
,alberic and ,lotulphe4 ,these two1 now 
that both ,william and ,anselm1  our    
erstwhile teachers1 were dead1 were     
greedy to reign in their  stead1 and1 so

 to speak1 to succeed them as heirs4    
,while they were  directing the school  
at ,rheims1 they managed by repeated    
hints to  stir up their archbishop1     
,rodolphe1 against me1 for the purpose  
of  holding a meeting1 or rather an     
ecclesiastical council1 at  ,soissons1  
provided they could secure the approval 
of ,conon1 ,bishop  of ,praeneste1 at   
that time papal legate in ,france4      
,their plan was  to summon me to be     
present at this council1 bringing with  
me the  famous book ,i had written      
regarding the ,trinity4 ,in all this1   
indeed1 they were successful1 and the   
thing happened according to  their      
wishes4    ,before ,i reached ,soissons1
 however1 these two rivals of mine so   
foully slandered me with both the clergy
 and the public that on the  day of my  
arrival the people came near to stoning 
me and the few  students of mine who had
 accompanied me thither4 ,the cause of  
their  anger was that they had been led 
to believe that ,i had preached and     

written to prove the existence of three 
gods4 ,no sooner had ,i  reached the    
city1 therefore1 than ,i went forthwith 
to the legate2  to him ,i submitted my  
book for examination and judgment1      
declaring  that if ,i had written       
anything repugnant to the ,catholic     
faith1 ,i  was quite ready to correct it
 or otherwise to make satisfactory      
amends4 ,the legate directed me to refer
 my book to the archbishop  and to those
 same two rivals of mine1 to the end    
that my accusers  might also be my      
judges4 ,so in my case was fulfilled the
 saying3  ,even our enemies are our     
judges 7,deut4 ,xxxii1 #ca74    ,these  
three1 then1 took my book and pawed it  
over and examined it  minutely1 but     
could find nothing therein which they   
dared to use as  the basis for a public 
accusation against me4 ,accordingly they
 put  off the condemnation of the book  
until the close of the council1  despite
 their eagerness to bring it about4 ,for
 my part1 everyday  before the council  

convened ,i publicly discussed the      
,catholic faith  in the light of what ,i
 had written1 and all who heard me were 
enthusiastic in their approval alike of 
the frankness and the logic  of my      
words4 ,when the public and the clergy  
had thus learned  something of the real 
character of my teaching1 they began to 
say  to one another3 ,behold1 now he    
speaks openly1 and no one brings  any   
charge against him4 ,and this council1  
summoned1 as we have  heard1 chiefly to 
take action upon his case1 is drawing   
toward its  end4 ,did the judges realize
 that the error might be theirs rather  
than his8    ,as a result of all this1  
my rivals grew more angry day by day4   
,on  one occasion ,alberic1 accompanied 
by some of his students1 came to  me for
 the purpose of intimidating me1 and1   
after a few bland  words1 said that he  
was amazed at something he had found in 
my  book1 to the effect that1 although  
,god had begotten ,god1 ,i denied  that 
,god had begotten ,himself1 since there 

was only one ,god4 ,i  answered         
unhesitatingly3 ,i can give you an      
explanation of this if  you wish it4    
,nay1 he replied1 ,i care nothing for   
human  explanation or reasoning in such 
matters1 but only for the words  of     
authority4 ,very well4 ,i said2 turn the
 pages of my book and  you will find the
 authority likewise4 ,the book was at   
hand1 for he  had brought it with him4  
,i turned to the passage ,i had in mind1
  which he had either not discovered or 
else passed over as  containing nothing 
injurious to me4 ,and it was ,god's will
 that ,i  quickly found what ,i sought4 
,this was the following sentence1 under 
the heading ,augustine1 ,on the         
,trinity1 ,book ,i3 ,whosoever  believes
 that it is within the power of ,god to 
beget ,himself is  sorely in error2 this
 power is not in ,god1 neither is it in 
any  created thing1 spiritual or        
corporeal4 ,for there is nothing that   
can give birth to itself4    ,when those
 of his followers who were present heard

 this1 they were  amazed and much       
embarrassed4 ,he himself1 in order to   
keep his  countenance1 said3 ,certainly1
 ,i understand all that4 ,then ,i       
added3 ,what ,i have to say further on  
this subject is by no means  new1 but   
apparently it has nothing to do with the
 case at issue1  since you have asked   
for the word of authority only1 and not 
for  explanations4 ,if1 however1 you    
care to consider logical  explanations1 
,i am prepared to demonstrate that1     
according to  ,augustine's statement1   
you have yourself fallen into a heresy  
in  believing that a father can possibly
 be his own son4 ,when ,alberic  heard  
this he was almost beside himself with  
rage1 and straightway  resorted to      
threats1 asserting that neither my      
explanations nor my  citations of       
authority would avail me aught in this  
case4 ,with this  he left me4    ,on the
 last day of the council1 before the    
session convened1 the  legate and the   
archbishop deliberated with my rivals   

and sundry  others as to what should be 
done about me and my book1 this being   
the chief reason for their having come  
together4 ,and since they had           
discovered nothing either in my speech  
or in what ,i had hitherto  written     
which would give them a case against me1
 they were all  reduced to silence1 or  
at the most to maligning me in whispers4
  ,then ,geoffroi1 ,bishop of ,chartres1
 who excelled the other bishops  alike  
in the sincerity of his religion and in 
the importance of his  see1 spoke thus3 
,you know1 my lords1 all who are        
gathered here1 the doctrine of  this    
man1 what it is1 and his ability1 which 
has brought him many  followers in every
 field to which he has devoted himself4 
,you know  how greatly he has lessened  
the renown of other teachers1 both his  
masters and our own1 and how he has     
spread as it were the offshoots  of his 
vine from sea to sea4 ,now1 if you      
impose a lightly  considered judgment on
 him1 as ,i cannot believe you will1 you

 well  know that even if mayhap you are 
in the right there are many who  will be
 angered thereby1 and that he will have 
no lack of  defenders4 ,remember above  
all that we have found nothing in this  
book of his that lies before us whereon 
any open accusation can be  based4      
,indeed it is true1 as ,jerome says3    
',fortitude openly  displayed always    
creates rivals1 and the lightning       
strikes the  highest peaks4' ,have a    
care1 then1 lest by violent action you  
only  increase his fame1 and lest we do 
more hurt to ourselves through  envy    
than to him through justice4 ,a false   
report1 as that same wise  man reminds  
us1 is easily crushed1 and a man's later
 life gives  testimony as to his earlier
 deeds4 ,if1 then1 you are disposed to  
take canonical action against him1 his  
doctrine or his writings  must be       
brought forward as evidence1 and he must
 have free  opportunity to answer his   
questioners4 ,in that case1 if he is    
found  guilty or if he confesses his    

error1 his lips can be wholly sealed4   
,consider the words of the blessed      
,nicodemus1 who1 desiring to free  ,our 
,lord ,himself1 said3 ',doth our law    
judge any man before it hear  him and   
know what he doeth8 ' 7,john1 vii1 #ea74
    ,when my rivals heard this they     
cried out in protest1 saying3 ,this  is 
wise counsel1 forsooth1 that we should  
strive against the  wordiness of this   
man1 whose arguments1 or rather1        
sophistries1 the  whole world cannot    
resist6 ,and yet1 methinks1 it was far  
more  difficult to strive against       
,christ ,himself1 for ,whom1            
nevertheless1  ,nicodemus demanded a    
hearing in accordance with the dictates 
of the  law4 ,when the bishop could not 
win their assent to his proposals1  he  
tried in another way to curb their      
hatred1 saying that for the  discussion 
of such an important case the few who   
were present were  not enough1 and that 
this matter required a more thorough    
examination4 ,his further suggestion was

 that my abbot1 who was  there present1 
should take me back with him to our     
abbey1 in other  words to the monastery 
of ,st4 ,denis1 and that there a large  
convocation of learned men should       
determine1 on the basis of a  careful   
investigation1 what ought to be done4   
,to this last proposal  the legate      
consented1 as did all the others4       
,then the legate arose to celebrate mass
 before entering the  council1 and      
through the bishop sent me the          
permission which had  been determined   
on1 authorizing me to return to my      
monastery and  there await such action  
as might be finally taken4 ,but my      
rivals1  perceiving that they would     
accomplish nothing if the trial were to 
be held outside of their own diocese1   
and in a place where they  could have   
little influence on the verdict1 and in 
truth having  small wish that justice   
should be done1 persuaded the archbishop
  that it would be a grave insult to him
 to transfer this case to  another      

court1 and that it would be dangerous   
for him if by chance  ,i should thus be 
acquitted4 ,they likewise went to the   
legate1 and  succeeded in so changing   
his opinion that finally they induced   
him  to frame a new sentence1 whereby he
 agreed to condemn my book  without any 
further inquiry1 to burn it forthwith in
 the sight of  all1 and to confine me   
for a year in another monastery4 ,the   
argument they used was that it sufficed 
for the condemnation of my  book that ,i
 had presumed to read it in public      
without the approval  either of the     
,roman pontiff or of the ,church1 and   
that1  furthermore1 ,i had given it to  
many to be transcribed4 ,methinks it    
would be a notable blessing to the      
,christian faith if there were  more who
 displayed a like presumption4 ,the     
legate1 however1 being  less skilled in 
law than he should have been1 relied    
chiefly on the  advice of the           
archbishop1 and he1 in turn1 on that of 
my rivals4  ,when the ,bishop of        

,chartres got wind of this1 he reported 
the whole  conspiracy to me1 and        
strongly urged me to endure meekly the  
manifest violence of their enmity4 ,he  
bade me not to doubt that  this violence
 would in the end react upon them and   
prove a blessing  to me1 and counseled  
me to have no fear of the confinement in
 a  monastery1 knowing that within a few
 days the legate himself1 who  was now  
acting under compulsion1 would after his
 departure set me  free4 ,and thus he   
consoled me as best he might1 mingling  
his tears  with mine4        ,,chapter  
,x    ,,of ,,the ,,burning ,,of ,,his   
,,book--,,of ,,the ,,persecution ,,he   
,,had ,,at ,,the ,,hands  ,,of ,,his    
,,abbot ,,and ,,the ,,brethren          
,straightway upon my summons ,i went to 
the council1 and there1  without further
 examination or debate1 did they compel 
me with my  own hand to cast that       
memorable book of mine into the flames4 
,although my enemies appeared to have   
nothing to say while the book  was      

burning1 one of them muttered something 
about having seen it  written therein   
that ,god the ,father was alone         
omnipotent4 ,this  reached the ears of  
the legate1 who replied in astonishment 
that he  could not believe that even a  
child would make so absurd a blunder4   
,our common faith1 he said1 holds and   
sets forth that the ,three  are alike   
omnipotent4 ,a certain ,tirric1 a       
schoolmaster1 hearing  this1            
sarcastically added the ,athanasian     
phrase1 ,and yet there are  not three   
omnipotent ,persons1 but only ,one4     
,this man's bishop forthwith began to   
censure him1 bidding him  desist from   
such treasonable talk1 but he boldly    
stood his ground1  and said1 as if      
quoting the words of ,daniel3 ',are ye  
such fools1  ye sons of ,israel1 that   
without examination or knowledge of the 
truth ye have condemned a daughter of   
,israel8 ,return again to the  place of 
judgment1' 7,daniel1 xiii1 #dh--,the    
,history of ,susanna7 and  there give   

judgment on the judge himself4 ,you have
 set up this  judge1 forsooth1 for the  
instruction of faith and the correction 
of  error1 and yet1 when he ought to    
give judgment1 he condemns himself  out 
of his own mouth4 ,set free today1 with 
the help of ,god's mercy1  one who is   
manifestly innocent1 even as ,susanna   
was freed of old  from her false        
accusers4    ,thereupon the archbishop  
arose and confirmed the legate's        
statement1 but changed the wording      
thereof1 as indeed was most  fitting4   
,it is ,god's truth1 he said1 that the  
,father is  omnipotent1 the ,son is     
omnipotent1 the ,holy ,spirit is        
omnipotent4  ,and whosoever dissents    
from this is openly in error1 and must  
not  be listened to4 ,nevertheless1 if  
it be your pleasure1 it would be  well  
that this our brother should publicly   
state before us all the  faith that is  
in him1 to the end that1 according to   
its deserts1 it  may either be approved 
or else condemned and corrected4        

,when1 however1 ,i fain would have      
arisen to profess and set forth my      
faith1 in order that ,i might express in
 my own words that which was  in my     
heart1 my enemies declared that it was  
not needful for me to  do more than     
recite the ,athanasian ,symbol1 a thing 
which any boy  might do as well as ,i4  
,and lest ,i should allege ignorance1   
pretending that ,i did not know the     
words by heart1 they had a copy  of it  
set before me to read4 ,and read it ,i  
did as best ,i could for  my groans and 
sighs and tears4 ,thereupon1 as if ,i   
had been a  convicted criminal1 ,i was  
handed over to the ,abbot of ,st4       
,mdard1  who was there present1 and led 
to his monastery as to a prison4 ,and   
with this the council was immediately   
dissolved4    ,the abbot and the monks  
of the aforesaid monastery1 thinking    
that ,i  would remain long with them1   
received me with great exultation1 and  
diligently sought to console me1 but all
 in vain4 ,o ,god1 who dost  judge      

justice itself1 in what venom of the    
spirit1 in what  bitterness of mind1 did
 ,i blame even ,thee for my shame1      
accusing  ,thee in my madness6 ,full    
often did ,i repeat the lament of ,st4  
,anthony3 ,kindly ,jesus1 where wert    
,thou8 ,the sorrow that tortured  me1   
the shame that overwhelmed me1 the      
desperation that wracked my  mind1 all  
these ,i could then feel1 but even now  
,i can find no words  to express them4  
,comparing these new sufferings of my   
soul with  those ,i had formerly endured
 in my body1 it seemed that ,i was in   
very truth the most miserable among men4
 ,indeed that earlier  betrayal had     
become a little thing in comparison with
 this later  evil1 and ,i lamented the  
hurt to my fair name far more than the  
one  to my body4 ,the latter1 indeed1 ,i
 had brought upon myself through  my own
 wrongdoing1 but this other violence had
 come upon me solely  by reason of the  
honesty of my purpose and my love of our
 faith1  which had compelled me to write

 that which ,i believed4    ,the very   
cruelty and heartlessness of my         
punishment1 however1 made  every one who
 heard the story vehement in censuring  
it1 so that  those who had a hand       
therein were soon eager to disclaim all 
responsibility1 shouldering the blame on
 others4 ,nay1 matters came  to such a  
pass that even my rivals denied that    
they had had  anything to do with the   
matter1 and as for the legate1 he       
publicly  denounced the malice with     
which the ,french had acted4 ,swayed by 
repentance for his injustice1 and       
feeling that he had yielded  enough to  
satisfy their rancour1 he shortly freed 
me from the  monastery whither ,i had   
been taken1 and sent me back to my own4 
,here1 however1 ,i found almost as many 
enemies as ,i had in the  former days of
 which ,i have already spoken1 for the  
vileness and  shamelessness of their way
 of living made them realize that they  
would again have to endure my censure4  
,after a few months had passed1 chance  

gave them an opportunity by  which they 
sought to destroy me4 ,it happened that 
one day1 in the  course of my reading1  
,i came upon a certain passage of ,bede1
 in his  commentary on the ,acts of the 
,apostles1 wherein he asserts that      
,dionysius the ,areopagite was the      
bishop1 not of ,athens1 but of          
,corinth4 ,now1 this was directly       
counter to the belief of the monks1  who
 were wont to boast that their          
,dionysius1 or ,denis1 was not only  the
 ,areopagite but was likewise proved by 
his acts to have been the  ,bishop of   
,athens4 ,having thus found this        
testimony of ,bede's in  contradiction  
of our own tradition1 ,i showed it      
somewhat jestingly  to sundry of the    
monks who chanced to be near4           
,wrathfully they  declared that ,bede   
was no better than a liar1 and that they
 had a  far more trustworthy authority  
in the person of ,hilduin1 a former     
abbot of theirs1 who had travelled for a
 long time throughout  ,greece for the  

purpose of investigating this very      
question4 ,he1  they insisted1 had by   
his writings removed all possible doubt 
on  the subject1 and had securely       
established the truth of the            
traditional belief4    ,one of the monks
 went so far as to ask me brazenly which
 of the  two1 ,bede or ,hilduin1 ,i     
considered the better authority on this 
point4 ,i replied that the authority of 
,bede1 whose writings are  held in high 
esteem by the whole ,latin ,church1     
appeared to me the  better4 ,thereupon  
in a great rage they began to cry out   
that at  last ,i had openly proved the  
hatred ,i had always felt for our       
monastery1 and that ,i was seeking to   
disgrace it in the eyes of the  whole   
kingdom1 robbing it of the honour in    
which it had  particularly gloried1 by  
thus denying that the ,areopagite was   
their  patron saint4 ,to this ,i        
answered that ,i had never denied the   
fact1  and that ,i did not much care    
whether their patron was the            

,areopagite or some one else1 provided  
only he had received his  crown from    
,god4 ,thereupon they ran to the abbot  
and told him of the  misdemeanour with  
which they charged me4    ,the abbot    
listened to their story with delight1   
rejoicing at having  found a chance to  
crush me1 for the greater vileness of   
his life  made him fear me more even    
than the rest did4 ,accordingly he      
summoned his council1 and when the      
brethren had assembled he  violently    
threatened me1 declaring that he would  
straightway send  me to the king1 by him
 to be punished for having thus sullied 
his  crown and the glory of his royalty4
 ,and until he should hand me  over to  
the king1 he ordered that ,i should be  
closely guarded4 ,in  vain did ,i offer 
to submit to the customary discipline if
 ,i had in  any way been guilty4 ,then1 
horrified at their wickedness1 which    
seemed to crown the ill fortune ,i had  
so long endured1 and in utter  despair  
at the apparent conspiracy of the whole 

world against me1 ,i  fled secretly from
 the monastery by night1 helped thereto 
by some  of the monks who took pity on  
me1 and likewise aided by some of my    
scholars4    ,i made my way to a region 
where ,i had formerly dwelt1 hard by the
  lands of ,count ,theobald 7of         
,champagne74 ,he himself had some slight
  acquaintance with me1 and had         
compassion on me by reason of my        
persecutions1 of which the story had    
reached him4 ,i found a home  there     
within the walls of ,provins1 in a      
priory of the monks of  ,troyes1 the    
prior of which had in former days known 
me well and  shown me much love4 ,in his
 joy at my coming he cared for me with  
all diligence4 ,it chanced1 however1    
that one day my abbot came to  ,provins 
to see the count on certain matters of  
business4 ,as soon as  ,i had learned of
 this1 ,i went to the count1 the prior  
accompanying  me1 and besought him to   
intercede in my behalf with the abbot4  
,i  asked no more than that the abbot   

should absolve me of the charge  against
 me1 and give me permission to live the 
monastic life  wheresoever ,i could find
 a suitable place4 ,the abbot1 however1 
and  those who were with him took the   
matter under advisement1 saying  that   
they would give the count an answer the 
day before they  departed4 ,it appeared 
from their words that they thought ,i   
wished  to go to some other abbey1 a    
thing which they regarded as an  immense
 disgrace to their own4 ,they had1      
indeed1 taken particular  pride in the  
fact that1 upon my conversion1 ,i had   
come to them1 as  if scorning all other 
abbeys1 and accordingly they considered 
that  it would bring great shame upon   
them if ,i should now desert their      
abbey and seek another4 ,for this reason
 they refused to listen  either to my   
own plea or to that of the count4       
,furthermore1 they  threatened me with  
excommunication unless ,i should        
instantly  return2 likewise they forbade
 the prior with whom ,i had taken       

refuge to keep me longer1 under pain of 
sharing my excommunication4  ,when we   
heard this both the prior and ,i were   
stricken with fear4  ,the abbot went    
away still obdurate1 but a few days     
thereafter he  died4    ,as soon as his 
successor had been named1 ,i went to    
him1 accompanied  by the ,bishop of     
,meaux1 to try if ,i might win from him 
the  permission ,i had vainly sought of 
his predecessor4 ,at first he  would not
 give his assent1 but finally1 through  
the intervention of  certain friends of 
mine1 ,i secured the right to appeal to 
the king  and his council1 and in this  
way ,i at last obtained what ,i sought4 
,the royal seneschal1 ,stephen1 having  
summoned the abbot and his  subordinates
 that they might state their case1 asked
 them why they  wanted to keep me       
against my will4 ,he pointed out that   
this might  easily bring them into evil 
repute1 and certainly could do them no  
good1 seeing that their way of living   
was utterly incompatible with  mine4 ,i 

knew it to be the opinion of the royal  
council that the  irregularities in the 
conduct of this abbey would tend to     
bring it  more and more under the       
control of the king1 making it          
increasingly  useful and likewise       
profitable to him1 and for this reason  
,i had  good hope of easily winning the 
support of the king and those about     
him4    ,thus1 indeed1 did it come to   
pass4 ,but in order that the monastery  
might not be shorn of any of the glory  
which it had enjoyed by  reason of my   
sojourn there1 they granted me          
permission to betake  myself to any     
solitary place ,i might choose1 provided
 only ,i did  not put myself under the  
rule of any other abbey4 ,this was      
agreed  upon and confirmed on both sides
 in the presence of the king and  his   
councellors4 ,forthwith ,i sought out a 
lonely spot known to me  of old in the  
region of ,troyes1 and there1 on a bit  
of land which  had been given to me1 and
 with the approval of the bishop of the 

district1 ,i built with reeds and stalks
 my first oratory in the  name of the   
,holy ,trinity4 ,and there concealed1   
with but one  comrade1 a certain cleric1
 ,i was able to sing over and over again
  to the ,lord3 ,lo1 then would ,i      
wander far off1 and remain in the       
wilderness 7,ps4 ,,iv1 #g74             
,,chapter ,,xi    ,,of ,,his ,,teaching 
,,in ,,the ,,wilderness    ,no sooner   
had scholars learned of my retreat than 
they began to  flock thither from all   
sides1 leaving their towns and castles  
to  dwell in the wilderness4 ,in place  
of their spacious houses they  built    
themselves huts2 instead of dainty fare 
they lived on the  herbs of the field   
and coarse bread2 their soft beds they  
exchanged  for heaps of straw and       
rushes1 and their tables were piles of  
turf4  ,in very truth you may well      
believe that they were like those       
philosophers of old of whom ,jerome     
tells us in his second book  against    
,jovinianus4    ,through the senses1    

says ,jerome1 as through so many        
windows1 do  vices win entrance to the  
soul4 ,the metropolis and citadel of the
  mind cannot be taken unless the army  
of the foe has first rushed in  through 
the gates4 ,if any one delights in the  
games of the circus1  in the contests of
 athletes1 in the versatility of actors1
 in the  beauty of women1 in the glitter
 of gems and raiment1 or in aught  else 
like to these1 then the freedom of his  
soul is made captive  through the       
windows of his eyes1 and thus is        
fulfilled the  prophecy3 ,for death is  
come up into our windows' 7,jer4 ix1    
#ba74  ,and then1 when the wedges of    
doubt have1 as it were1 been driven     
into the citadels of our minds through  
these gateways1 where will  be its      
liberty8 where its fortitude8 where its 
thought of ,god8 ,most  of all does the 
sense of touch paint for itself the     
pictures of  past raptures1 compelling  
the soul to dwell fondly upon remembered
  iniquities1 and so to practice in     

imagination those things which  reality 
denies to it4    ,heeding such counsel1 
therefore1 many among the philosophers  
forsook the thronging ways of the cities
 and the pleasant gardens  of the       
countryside1 with their well-watered    
fields1 their shady  trees1 the song of 
birds1 the mirror of the fountain1 the  
murmur of  the stream1 the many charms  
for eye and ear1 fearing lest their     
souls should grow soft amid luxury and  
abundance of riches1 and  lest their    
virtue should thereby be defiled4 ,for  
it is perilous to  turn your eyes often 
to those things whereby you may some day
 be  made captive1 or to attempt the    
possession of that which it would  go   
hard with you to do without4 ,thus the  
,pythagoreans shunned all  companionship
 of this kind1 and were wont to dwell in
 solitary and  desert places4 ,nay1     
,plato himself1 although he was a rich  
man1 let  ,diogenes trample on his couch
 with muddy feet1 and in order that he  
might devote himself to philosophy      

established his academy in a  place     
remote from the city1 and not only      
uninhabited but unhealthy  as well4     
,this he did in order that the          
onslaughts of lust might be  broken by  
the fear and constant presence of       
disease1 and that his  followers might  
find no pleasure save in the things they
 learned4    ,such a life1 likewise1 the
 sons of the prophets who were the      
followers of ,eliseus are reported to   
have led4 ,of these ,jerome also  tells 
us1 writing thus to the monk ,rusticus  
as if describing the  monks of those    
ancient days3 ,the sons of the prophets1
 the monks  of whom we read in the ,old 
,testament1 built for themselves huts by
  the waters of the ,jordan1 and        
forsaking the throngs and the cities1   
lived on pottage and the herbs of the   
field 7,epist4 iv74    ,even so did my  
followers build their huts above the    
waters of the  ,arduzon1 so that they   
seemed hermits rather than scholars4    
,and as  their number grew ever greater1

 the hardships which they gladly        
endured for the sake of my teaching     
seemed to my rivals to reflect  new     
glory on me1 and to cast new shame on   
themselves4 ,nor was it  strange that   
they1 who had done their utmost to hurt 
me1 should  grieve to see how all things
 worked together for my good1 even      
though ,i was now1 in the words of      
,jerome1 afar from cities and the       
market place1 from controversies and the
 crowded ways of men4 ,and  so1 as      
,quintilian says1 did envy seek me out  
even in my hiding  place4 ,secretly my  
rivals complained and lamented one to   
another1  saying3 ,behold now1 the whole
 world runs after him1 and our          
persecution of him has done nought save 
to increase his glory4 ,we  strove to   
extinguish his fame1 and we have but    
given it new  brightness4 ,lo1 in the   
cities scholars have at hand everything 
they  may need1 and yet1 spurning the   
pleasures of the town1 they seek  out   
the barrenness of the desert1 and of    

their own free will they  accept        
wretchedness4    ,the thing which at    
that time chiefly led me to undertake   
the  direction of a school was my       
intolerable poverty1 for ,i had not     
strength enough to dig1 and shame kept  
me from begging4 ,and so1  resorting    
once more to the art with which ,i was  
so familiar1 ,i was  compelled to       
substitute the service of the tongue for
 the labour of  my hands4 ,the students 
willingly provided me with whatsoever ,i
  needed in the way of food and         
clothing1 and likewise took charge of   
the cultivation of the fields and paid  
for the erection of  buildings1 in order
 that material cares might not keep me  
from my  studies4 ,since my oratory was 
no longer large enough to hold even a   
small part of their number1 they found  
it necessary to increase its  size1 and 
in so doing they greatly improved it1   
building it of  stone and wood4         
,although this oratory had been founded 
in honour of  the ,holy ,trinity1 and   

afterwards dedicated thereto1 ,i now    
named it  the ,paraclete1 mindful of how
 ,i had come there a fugitive and in    
despair1 and had breathed into my soul  
something of the miracle of  divine     
consolation4    ,many of those who heard
 of this were greatly astonished1 and   
some  violently assailed my action1     
declaring that it was not permissible   
to dedicate a church exclusively to the 
,holy ,spirit rather than to  ,god the  
,father4 ,they held1 according to an    
ancient tradition1 that  it must be     
dedicated either to the ,son alone or   
else to the entire  ,trinity4 ,the error
 which led them into this false         
accusation  resulted from their failure 
to perceive the identity of the         
,paraclete with the ,spirit ,paraclete4 
,even as the whole ,trinity1 or  any    
,person in the ,trinity1 may rightly be 
called ,god or ,helper1 so  likewise may
 ,it be termed the ,paraclete1 that is  
to say the  ,consoler4 ,these are the   
words of the ,apostle3 ,blessed be ,god1

 even  the ,father of our ,lord ,jesus  
,christ1 the ,father of mercies1 and the
  ,god of all comfort2 who comforteth us
 in all our tribulation  7#b ,cor4 i1   
#c74 ,and likewise the word of truth    
says3 ,and he shall  give you another   
comforter 7,greek another ,paraclete1   
,john1 xiv1 #af74    ,nay1 since every  
church is consecrated equally in the    
name of the  ,father1 the ,son and the  
,holy ,spirit1 without any difference in
  their possession thereof1 why should  
not the house of ,god be  dedicated to  
the ,father or to the ,holy ,spirit1    
even as it is to the  ,son8 ,who would  
presume to erase from above the door the
 name of him  who is the master of the  
house8 ,and since the ,son offered      
,himself  as a sacrifice to the ,father1
 and accordingly in the ceremonies of   
the mass the prayers are offered        
particularly to the ,father1 and  the   
immolation of the ,host is made to ,him1
 why should the altar not  be held to be
 chiefly ,his to whom above all the     

supplication and  sacrifice are made8   
,is it not called more rightly the altar
 of ,him  who receives than of ,him who 
makes the sacrifice8 ,who would admit   
that an altar is that of the ,holy      
,cross1 or of the ,sepulchre1 or of     
,st4 ,michael1 or ,john1 or ,peter1 or  
of any other saint1 unless  either he   
himself was sacrificed there or else    
special sacrifices  and prayers are made
 there to him8 ,methinks the altars and 
temples  of certain ones among these    
saints are not held to be idolatrous    
even though they are used for special   
sacrifices and prayers to  their        
patrons4    ,some1 however1 may         
perchance argue that churches are not   
built or  altars dedicated to the       
,father because there is no feast which 
is  solemnized especially for ,him4 ,but
 while this reasoning holds good  as    
regards the ,trinity itself1 it does not
 apply in the case of the  ,holy        
,spirit4 ,for this ,spirit1 from the day
 of ,its advent1 has had  ,its special  

feast of the ,pentecost1 even as the    
,son has had since  ,his coming upon    
earth ,his feast of the ,nativity4 ,even
 as the ,son  was sent into this world1 
so did the ,holy ,spirit descend upon   
the  disciples1 and thus does ,it claim 
,its special religious rites4 ,nay1  it 
seems more fitting to dedicate a temple 
to ,it than to either of  the other     
,persons of the ,trinity1 if we but     
carefully study the  apostolic          
authority1 and consider the workings of 
this ,spirit  ,itself4 ,to none of the  
three ,persons did the apostle dedicate 
a  special temple save to the ,holy     
,spirit alone4 ,he does not speak of  a 
temple of the ,father1 or a temple of   
the ,son1 as he does of a  temple of the
 ,holy ,spirit1 writing thus in his     
first epistle to the  ,corinthians3 ,but
 he that is joined unto the ,lord is one
 spirit4  7,i ,cor4 vi1 #ag74 ,and      
again3 ,what8 know ye not that your body
 is  the temple of the ,holy ,spirit    
which is in you1 which ye have of  ,god1

 and ye are not your own8 7ib4 #ai74    
,who is there who does not know that the
 sacraments of ,god's  blessings        
pertaining to the ,church are           
particularly ascribed to the  operation 
of divine grace1 by which is meant the  
,holy ,spirit8  ,forsooth we are born   
again of water and of the ,holy ,spirit 
in  baptism1 and thus from the very     
beginning is the body made1 as it  were1
 a special temple of ,god4 ,in the      
successive sacraments1  moreover1 the   
seven-fold grace of the ,spirit is      
added1 whereby  this same temple of ,god
 is made beautiful and is consecrated4  
,what  wonder is it1 then1 if to that   
,person to ,whom the apostle assigned  a
 spiritual temple we should dedicate a  
material one8 ,or to what  ,person can a
 church be more rightly said to belong  
than to ,him to  ,whom all the blessings
 which the church administers are       
particularly ascribed8 ,it was not1     
however1 with the thought of  dedicating
 my oratory to one ,person that ,i first

 called it the  ,paraclete1 but for the 
reason ,i have already told1 that in    
this  spot ,i found consolation4 ',none 
the less1 even if ,i had done it for    
the reason attributed to me1 the        
departure from the usual custom  would  
have been in no way illogical4          
,,chapter ,,xii    ,,of ,,the           
,,persecution ,,directed ,,against ,,him
 ,,by ,,sundry ,,new ,,enemies ,,or1    
,,as ,,it ,,were1 ,,apostles    ,and so 
,i dwelt in this place1 my body indeed  
hidden away1 but my  fame spreading     
throughout the whole world1 till its    
echo  reverberated mightily-echo1 that  
fancy of the poet's1 which has so  great
 a voice1 and nought beside4 ,my former 
rivals1 seeing that  they themselves    
were now powerless to do me hurt1       
stirred up  against me certain new      
apostles in whom the world put great    
faith4  ,one of these 7,norbert of      
,prmontr7 took pride in his position as 
canon of a regular order2 the other     
7,bernard of ,clairvaux7 made it  his   

boast that he had revived the true      
monastic life4 ,these two ran  hither   
and yon preaching and shamelessly       
slandering me in every way  they could1 
so that in time they succeeded in       
drawing down on my  head the scorn of   
many among those having authority1 among
 both the  clergy and the laity4 ,they  
spread abroad such sinister reports of  
my faith as well as of my life that they
 turned even my best  friends against   
me1 and those who still retained        
something of their  former regard for me
 were fain to disguise it in every      
possible way  by reason of their fear of
 these two men4    ,god is my witness   
that whensoever ,i learned of the       
convening of a  new assemblage of the   
clergy1 ,i believed that it was done for
 the  express purpose of my             
condemnation4 ,stunned by this fear like
 one  smitten with a thunderbolt1 ,i    
daily expected to be dragged before     
their councils or assemblies as a       
heretic or one guilty of impiety4       

,though ,i seem to compare a flea with a
 lion1 or an ant with an  elephant1 in  
very truth my rivals persecuted me no   
less bitterly  than the heretics of old 
hounded ,st4 ,athanasius4 ,often1 ,god  
knows1  ,i sank so deep in despair that 
,i was ready to leave the world of      
,christendom and go forth among the     
heathen1 paying them a  stipulated      
tribute in order that ,i might live     
quietly a ,christian  life among the    
enemies of ,christ4 ,it seemed to me    
that such people  might indeed be kindly
 disposed toward me1 particularly as    
they  would doubtless suspect me of     
being no good ,christian1 imputing my   
flight to some crime ,i had committed1  
and would therefore believe  that ,i    
might perhaps be won over to their form 
of worship4        ,,chapter ,,xiii     
,,of ,,the ,,abbey ,,to ,,which ,,he    
,,was ,,called ,,and ,,of ,,the         
,,persecution ,,he ,,had  ,,from ,,his  
,,sons1 ,,that ,,is ,,to ,,say ,,the    
,,monks1 ,,and ,,from ,,the ,,lord ,,of 

,,the  ,,land    ,while ,i was thus     
afflicted with so great perturbation of 
the  spirit1 and when the only way of   
escape seemed to be for me to seek      
refuge with ,christ among the enemies of
 ,christ1 there came a chance  whereby  
,i thought ,i could for a while avoid   
the plottings of my  enemies4 ,but      
thereby ,i fell among ,christians and   
monks who were far  more savage than    
heathens and more evil of life4 ,the    
thing came  about in this wise4 ,there  
was in lesser ,brittany1 in the         
bishopric  of ,vannes1 a certain abbey  
of ,st4 ,gildas at ,ruits1 then mourning
  the death of its shepherd4 ,to this   
abbey the elective choice of the        
brethren called me1 with the approval of
 the prince of that land1  and ,i easily
 secured permission to accept the post  
from my own  abbot and brethren4 ,thus  
did the hatred of the ,french drive me  
westward1 even as that of the ,romans   
drove ,jerome toward the ,east4  ,never1
 ,god knows1 would ,i have agreed to    

this thing had it not been  for my      
longing for any possible means of escape
 from the sufferings  which ,i had borne
 so constantly4    ,the land was        
barbarous and its speech was unknown to 
me2 as for the  monks1 their vile and   
untameable way of life was notorious    
almost  everywhere4 ,the people of the  
region1 too1 were uncivilized and       
lawless4 ,thus1 like one who in terror  
of the sword that threatens  him dashes 
headlong over a precipice1 and to shun  
one death for a  moment rushes to       
another1 ,i knowingly sought this new   
danger in  order to escape from the     
former one4 ,and there1 amid the        
dreadful  roar of the waves of the sea1 
where the land's end left me no  further
 refuge in flight1 often in my prayers  
did ,i repeat over and  over again3     
,from the end of the earth will ,i cry  
unto ,thee1 when  my heart is           
overwhelmed 7,ps4 lxi1 #b74    ,no one1 
methinks1 could fail to understand how  
persistently that  undisciplined body of

 monks1 the direction of which ,i had   
thus  undertaken1 tortured my heart day 
and night1 or how constantly ,i  was    
compelled to think of the danger alike  
to my body and to my  soul4 ,i held it  
for certain that if ,i should try to    
force them to  live according to the    
principles they had themselves          
professed1 ,i  should not survive4 ,and 
yet1 if ,i did not do this to the utmost
 of  my ability1 ,i saw that my         
damnation was assured4 ,moreover1 a     
certain lord who was exceedingly        
powerful in that region had some  time  
previously brought the abbey under his  
control1 taking  advantage of the state 
of disorder within the monastery to     
seize  all the lands adjacent thereto   
for his own use1 and he ground down  the
 monks with taxes heavier than those    
which were extorted from  the ,jews     
themselves4    ,the monks pressed me to 
supply them with their daily            
necessities1  but they held no property 
in common which ,i might administer in  

their behalf1 and each one1 with such   
resources as he possessed1  supported   
himself and his concubines1 as well as  
his sons and  daughters4 ,they took     
delight in harassing me on this matter1 
and  they stole and carried off         
whatsoever they could lay their hands   
on1 to the end that my failure to       
maintain order might make me  either    
give up trying to enforce discipline or 
else abandon my post  altogether4 ,since
 the entire region was equally savage1  
lawless and  disorganized1 there was not
 a single man to whom ,i could turn for 
aid1 for the habits of all alike were   
foreign to me4 ,outside the  monastery  
the lord and his henchmen ceaselessly   
hounded me1 and  within its walls the   
brethren were forever plotting against  
me1 so  that it seemed as if the        
,apostle had had me and none other in   
mind  when he said3 ,without were       
fightings1 within were fears 7,,ii ,cor4
 vii1 #e74    ,i considered and lamented
 the uselessness and the wretchedness of

  my existence1 how fruitless my life   
now was1 both to myself and to  others2 
how of old ,i had been of some service  
to the clerics whom ,i  had now         
abandoned for the sake of these monks1  
so that ,i was no  longer able to be of 
use to either2 how incapable ,i had     
proved  myself in everything ,i had     
undertaken or attempted1 so that above  
all others ,i deserved the reproach1    
,this man began to build1 and  was not  
able to finish 7,luke xiv1 #cj74 ,my    
despair grew still  deeper when ,i      
compared the evils ,i had left behind   
with those to  which ,i had come1 for my
 former sufferings now seemed to me as  
nought4 ,full often did ,i groan3       
,justly has this sorrow come upon  me   
because ,i deserted the ,paraclete1     
which is to say the ,consoler1  and     
thrust myself into sure desolation2     
seeking to shun threats ,i  fled to     
certain peril4    ,the thing which      
tormented me most was the fact that1    
having  abandoned my oratory1 ,i could  

make no suitable provision for the      
celebration there of the divine office1 
for indeed the extreme  poverty of the  
place would scarcely provide the        
necessities of one  man4 ,but the true  
,paraclete ,himself brought me real     
consolation in  the midst of this sorrow
 of mine1 and made all due provision for
  ,his own oratory4 ,for it chanced that
 in some manner or other1  laying claim 
to it as having legally belonged in     
earlier days to  his monastery1 my abbot
 of ,st4 ,denis got possession of the   
abbey of  ,argenteuil1 of which ,i have 
previously spoken1 wherein she who was  
now my sister in ,christ rather than my 
wife1 ,hlose1 had taken the  veil4 ,from
 this abbey he expelled by force all the
 nuns who had  dwelt there1 and of whom 
my former companion had become the      
prioress4 ,the exiles being thus        
dispersed in various places1 ,i         
perceived that this was an opportunity  
presented by ,god himself to  me whereby
 ,i could make provision anew for my    

oratory4 ,and so1  returning thither1 ,i
 bade her come to the oratory1 together 
with  some others from the same convent 
who had clung to her4    ,on their      
arrival there ,i made over to them the  
oratory1 together  with everything      
pertaining thereto1 and subsequently1   
through the  approval and assistance of 
the bishop of the district1 ,pope       
,innocent ,,ii promulgated a decree     
confirming my gift in perpetuity  to    
them and their successors4 ,and this    
refuge of divine mercy1  which they     
served so devotedly1 soon brought them  
consolation1 even  though at first their
 life there was one of want1 and for a  
time of  utter destitution4 ,but the    
place proved itself a true ,paraclete to
  them1 making all those who dwelt round
 about feel pity and  kindliness for the
 sisterhood4 ,so that1 methinks1 they   
prospered  more through gifts in a      
single year than ,i should have done if 
,i  had stayed there a hundred4 ,true it
 is that the weakness of  womankind     

makes their needs and sufferings appeal 
strongly to  people's feelings1 as      
likewise it makes their virtue all the  
more  pleasing to ,god and man4 ,and    
,god granted such favour in the eyes of 
all to her who was now my sister1 and   
who was in authority over the  rest1    
that the bishops loved her as a         
daughter1 the abbots as a  sister1 and  
the laity as a mother4 ,all alike       
marvelled at her  religious zeal1 her   
good judgment and the sweetness of her  
incomparable patience in all things4    
,the less often she allowed  herself to 
be seen1 shutting herself up in her cell
 to devote  herself to sacred           
meditations and prayers1 the more       
eagerly did  those who dwelt without    
demand her presence and the spiritual   
guidance of her words4        ,,chapter 
,,xiv    ,,of ,,the ,,evil ,,report ,,of
 ,,his ,,iniquity    ,before long all   
those who dwelt thereabouts began to    
censure me  roundly1 complaining that ,i
 paid far less attention to their needs 

than ,i might and should have done1 and 
that at least ,i could do  something for
 them through my preaching4 ,as a       
result1 ,i returned  thither frequently1
 to be of service to them in whatsoever 
way ,i  could4 ,regarding this there was
 no lack of hateful murmuring1 and  the 
thing which sincere charity induced me  
to do was seized upon by  the wickedness
 of my detractors as the subject of     
shameless outcry4  ,they declared that  
,i1 who of old could scarcely endure to 
be parted  from her ,i loved1 was still 
swayed by the delights of fleshly lust4 
,many times ,i thought of the complaint 
of ,st4 ,jerome in his letter  to       
,asella regarding those women whom he   
was falsely accused of  loving1 when he 
said 7,epist4 xcix73 ,i am charged with 
nothing save  the fact of my sex1 and   
this charge is made only because ,paula 
is  setting forth to ,jerusalem4 ,and   
again3 ,before ,i became intimate  in   
the household of the saintly ,paula1 the
 whole city was loud in  my praise1 and 

nearly every one deemed me deserving of 
the highest  honours of priesthood4 ,but
 ,i know that my way to the kingdom of  
,heaven lies through good and evil      
report alike4    ,when ,i pondered over 
the injury which slander had done to so 
great  a man as this1 ,i was not a      
little consoled thereby4 ,if my rivals1 
,i  told myself1 could but find an equal
 cause for suspicion against  me1 with  
what accusations would they persecute   
me6 ,but how is it  possible for such   
suspicion to continue in my case1 seeing
 that  divine mercy has freed me        
therefrom by depriving me of all power  
to  enact such baseness8 ,how shameless 
is this latest accusation6 ,in  truth   
that which had happened to me so        
completely removes all  suspicion of    
this iniquity among all men that those  
who wish to  have their women kept under
 close guard employ eunuchs for that    
purpose1 even as sacred history tells   
regarding ,esther and the  other damsels
 of ,king ,ahasuerus 7,esther ii1 #e74  

,we read1 too1 of  that eunuch of great 
authority under ,queen ,candace who had 
charge  of all her treasure1 him to     
whose conversion and baptism the        
apostle ,philip was directed by an angel
 7,acts viii1 #bg74 ,such men1  in      
truth1 are enabled to have far more     
importance and intimacy  among modest   
and upright women by the fact that they 
are free from  any suspicion of lust4   
,the sixth book of the ,ecclesiastical  
,history tells us that the  greatest of 
all ,christian philosophers1 ,origen1   
inflicted a like  injury on himself with
 his own hand1 in order that all        
suspicion of  this nature might be      
completely done away with in his        
instruction  of women in sacred         
doctrine4 ,in this respect1 ,i thought1 
,god's  mercy had been kinder to me than
 to him1 for it was judged that he  had 
acted most rashly and had exposed       
himself to no slight censure1  whereas  
the thing had been done to me through   
the crime of another1  thus preparing me

 for a task similar to his own4         
,moreover1 it had  been accomplished    
with much less pain1 being so quick and 
sudden1  for ,i was heavy with sleep    
when they laid hands on me1 and felt    
scarcely any pain at all4    ,but alas1 
,i thought1 the less ,i then suffered   
from the wound1 the  greater is my      
punishment now through slander1 and ,i  
am tormented  far more by the loss of my
 reputation than ,i was by that of part 
of  my body4 ,for thus is it written3 ,a
 good name is rather to be  chosen than 
great riches 7,prov4 xxii1 #a74 ,and as 
,st4 ,augustine  tells us in a sermon of
 his on the life and conduct of the     
clergy1  ,he is cruel who1 trusting in  
his conscience1 neglects his            
reputation4 ,again he says3 ,let us     
provide those things that are  good1 as 
the apostle bids us 7,rom4 xii1 #ag71   
not alone in the eyes  of ,god1 but     
likewise in the eyes of men4 ,within    
himself each one's  conscience suffices1
 but for our own sakes our reputations  

ought  not to be tarnished1 but to      
flourish4 ,conscience and reputation are
  different matters3 conscience is for  
yourself1 reputation for your           
neighbour4 ,methinks the spite of such  
men as these my enemies  would have     
accused the very ,christ ,himself1 or   
those belonging to  ,him1 prophets and  
apostles1 or the other holy fathers1 if 
such  spite had existed in their time1  
seeing that they associated in  such    
familiar intercourse with women1 and    
this though they were  whole of body4   
,on this point ,st4 ,augustine1 in his  
book on the duty  of monks1 proves that 
women followed our ,lord ,jesus ,christ 
and the  apostles as inseparable        
companions1 even accompanying them when 
they preached 7,chap4 #d74 ,faithful    
women1 he says1 who were  possessed of  
worldly wealth went with them1 and      
ministered to them  out of their wealth1
 so that they might lack none of those  
things  which belong to the substance of
 life4 ,and if any one does not  believe

 that the apostles thus permitted       
saintly women to go about  with them    
wheresoever they preached the ,gospel1  
let him listen to  the ,gospel itself1  
and learn therefrom that in so doing    
they  followed the example of the ,lord4
 ,for in the ,gospel it is written      
thus3 ,and it came to pass afterward1   
that ,he went throughout every  city and
 village1 preaching and showing the glad
 tidings of the  kingdom of ,god3 and   
the twelve were with ,him1 and certain  
women1  which had been healed of evil   
spirits and infirmities1 ,mary called   
,magdalene1 and ,joanna the wife of     
,chuza1 ,herod's steward1 and  ,susanna1
 and many others1 which ministered unto 
,him of their  substance 7,luke viii1   
i-#c74    ,leo the ,ninth1 furthermore1 
in his reply to the letter of           
,parmenianus concerning monastic zeal1  
says3 ,we unequivocally  declare that it
 is not permissible for a bishop1       
priest1 deacon or  subdeacon to cast off
 all responsibility for his own wife on 

the  grounds of religious duty1 so that 
he no longer provides her with  food and
 clothing2 albeit he may not have carnal
 intercourse with  her4 ,we read that   
thus did the holy apostles act1 for ,st4
 ,paul  says3 ',have we not power to    
lead about a sister1 a wife1 as well as 
other apostles1 and as the brethren of  
the ,lord1 and ,cephas8' 7,i  ,cor4 ix1 
#e74 ,observe1 foolish man1 that he does
 not say3 'have we  not power to embrace
 a sister1 a wife1' but he says 'to lead
  about1' meaning thereby that such     
women may lawfully be supported  by them
 out of the wages of their preaching1   
but that there must be  no carnal bond  
between them4    ,certainly that        
,pharisee who spoke within himself of   
the ,lord1  saying3 ,this man1 if ,he   
were a prophet1 would have known who and
  what manner of woman this is that     
toucheth ,him3 for she is a  sinner     
7,luke vii1 #ci71 might much more       
reasonably have suspected  baseness of  
the ,lord1 considering the matter from a

 purely human  standpoint1 than my      
enemies could suspect it of me4 ,one who
 had  seen the mother of ,our ,lord     
entrusted to the care of the young man  
7,john xix1 #bg71 or who had beheld the 
prophets dwelling and  sojourning with  
widows 7,i ,kings xvii1 #aj71 would     
likewise have had  a far more logical   
ground for suspicion4 ,and what would my
  calumniators have said if they had but
 seen ,malchus1 that captive  monk of   
whom ,st4 ,jerome writes1 living in the 
same but with his  wife8 ,doubtless they
 would have regarded it as criminal in  
the  famous scholar to have highly      
commended what he thus saw1 saying      
thereof3 ,there was a certain old man   
named ,malchus1 a native of  this       
region1 and his wife with him in his    
hut4 ,both of them were  earnestly      
religious1 and they so often passed the 
threshold of the  church that you might 
have thought them the ,zacharias and    
,elisabeth  of the ,gospel1 saving only 
that ,john was not with them4    ,why1  

finally1 do such men refrain from       
slandering the holy fathers1  of whom we
 frequently read1 nay1 and have even    
seen with our own  eyes1 founding       
convents for women and making provision 
for their  maintenance1 thereby         
following the example of the seven      
deacons  whom the apostles sent before  
them to secure food and take care of    
the women8 7,acts vi1 #e74 ,for the     
weaker sex needs the help of the        
stronger one to such an extent that the 
apostle proclaimed that the  head of the
 woman is ever the man 7,i ,cor4 xi1    
#c71 and in sign  thereof he bade her   
ever wear her head covered 7ib4 #e74    
,for this  reason ,i marvel greatly at  
the customs which have crept into       
monasteries1 whereby1 even as abbots are
 placed in charge of the  men1 abbesses 
now are given authority over the women1 
and the women  bind themselves in their 
vows to accept the same rules as the    
men4  ,yet in these rules there are many
 things which cannot possibly be        

carried out by women1 either as         
superiors or in the lower orders4  ,in  
many places we may even behold an       
inversion of the natural order  of      
things1 whereby the abbesses and nuns   
have authority over the  clergy1 and    
even over those who are themselves in   
charge of the  people4 ,the more power  
such women exercise over men1 the more  
easily can they lead them into          
iniquitous desires1 and in this way  can
 lay a very heavy yoke upon their       
shoulders4 ,it was with such  things in 
mind that the satirist said3            
,there is nothing more intolerable than 
a rich woman4                           
7,juvenal1 ,sat4 ,,vi1 v1 #dei74        
,,chapter ,,xv    ,,of ,,the ,,perils   
,,of ,,his ,,abbey ,,and ,,of ,,the     
,,reasons ,,for ,,the ,,writing ,,of    
,,this ,,his ,,letter    ,reflecting    
often upon all these things1 ,i         
determined to make  provision for those 
sisters and to undertake their care in  
every  way ,i could4 ,furthermore1 in   

order that they might have the greater  
reverence for me1 ,i arranged to watch  
over them in person4 ,and  since now the
 persecution carried on by my sons was  
greater and  more incessant than that   
which ,i formerly suffered at the hands 
of  my brethren1 ,i returned frequently 
to the nuns1 fleeing the rage of  the   
tempest as to a haven of peace4 ,there1 
indeed1 could ,i draw  breath for a     
little in quiet1 and among them my      
labours were  fruitful1 as they never   
were among the monks4 ,all this was of  
the  utmost benefit to me in body and   
soul1 and it was equally essential  for 
them by reason of their weakness4       
,but now has ,satan beset me to such an 
extent that ,i no longer know  where ,i 
may find rest1 or even so much as live4 
,i am driven hither  and yon1 a fugitive
 and a vagabond1 even as the accursed   
,cain 7,gen4  iv1 #ad74 ,i have already 
said that without were fightings1 within
  were fears 7,,ii ,cor4 vii1 #e71 and  
these torture me ceaselessly1 the  fears

 being indeed without as well as within1
 and the fightings  wheresoever there   
are fears4 ,nay1 the persecution carried
 on by my  sons rages against me more   
perilously and continuously than that of
  my open enemies1 for my sons ,i have  
always with me1 and ,i am ever  exposed 
to their treacheries4 ,the violence of  
my enemies ,i see in  the danger to my  
body if ,i leave the cloister2 but      
within it ,i am  compelled incessantly  
to endure the crafty machinations as    
well as  the open violence of those     
monks who are called my sons1 and who   
are entrusted to me as their abbot1     
which is to say their father4    ,oh1   
how often have they tried to kill me    
with poison1 even as the  monks sought  
to slay ,st4 ,benedict6 ,methinks the   
same reason which  led the saint to     
abandon his wicked sons might encourage 
me to  follow the example of so great a 
father1 lest1 in thus exposing  myself  
to certain peril1 ,i might be deemed a  
rash tempter of ,god  rather than a     

lover of ,him1 nay1 lest it might even  
be judged that  ,i had thereby taken my 
own life4 ,when ,i had safeguarded      
myself to  the best of my ability1 so   
far as my food and drink were concerned1
  against their daily plottings1 they   
sought to destroy me in the  very       
ceremony of the altar by putting poison 
in the chalice4 ,one  day1 when ,i had  
gone to ,nantes to visit the count1 who 
was then  sick1 and while ,i was        
sojourning awhile in the house of one of
 my  brothers in the flesh1 they        
arranged to poison me1 with the         
connivance of one of my attendants1     
believing that ,i would take no         
precautions to escape such a plot4 ,but 
divine providence so ordered  matters   
that ,i had no desire for the food which
 was set before me2  one of the monks   
whom ,i had brought with me ate thereof1
 not  knowing that which had been done1 
and straightway fell dead4 ,as for  the 
attendant who had dared to undertake    
this crime1 he fled in  terror alike of 

his own conscience and of the clear     
evidence of his  guilt4    ,after this1 
as their wickedness was manifest to     
every one1 ,i began  openly in every way
 ,i could to avoid the danger with which
 their  plots threatened me1 even to the
 extent of leaving the abbey and        
dwelling with a few others apart in     
little cells4 ,if the monks knew        
beforehand that ,i was going anywhere on
 a journey1 they bribed  bandits to     
waylay me on the road and kill me4 ,and 
while ,i was  struggling in the midst of
 these dangers1 it chanced one day that 
the hand of the ,lord smote me a heavy  
blow1 for ,i fell from my  horse1       
breaking a bone in my neck1 the injury  
causing me greater  pain and weakness   
than my former wound4    ,using         
excommunication as my weapon to coerce  
the untamed  rebelliousness of the      
monks1 ,i forced certain ones among them
 whom  ,i particularly feared to promise
 me publicly1 pledging their faith  or  
swearing upon the sacrament1 that they  

would thereafter depart  from the abbey 
and no longer trouble me in any way4    
,shamelessly and  openly did they       
violate the pledges they had given and  
their  sacramental oaths1 but finally   
they were compelled to give this and    
many other promises under oath1 in the  
presence of the count and  the bishops1 
by the authority of the ,pontiff of     
,rome1 ,innocent1 who  sent his own     
legate for this special purpose4 ,and   
yet even this did  not bring me peace4  
,for when ,i returned to the abbey after
 the  expulsion of those whom ,i have   
just mentioned1 and entrusted myself  to
 the remaining brethren1 of whom ,i felt
 less suspicion1 ,i found  them even    
worse than the others4 ,i barely        
succeeded in escaping  them1 with the   
aid of a certain nobleman of the        
district1 for they  were planning1 not  
to poison me indeed1 but to cut my      
throat with a  sword4 ,even to the      
present time ,i stand face to face with 
this  danger1 fearing the sword which   

threatens my neck so that ,i can        
scarcely draw a free breath between one 
meal and the next4 ,even so  do we read 
of him who1 reckoning the power and     
heaped-up wealth of  the tyrant         
,dionysius as a great blessing1 beheld  
the sword secretly  hanging by a hair   
above his head1 and so learned what kind
 of  happiness comes as the result of   
worldly power 7,cicer4 #e1 ,tusc47      
,thus did ,i too learn by constant      
experience1 ,i who had been exalted     
from the condition of a poor monk to the
 dignity of an abbot1 that  my          
wretchedness increased with my wealth2  
and ,i would that the  ambition of those
 who voluntarily seek such power might  
be curbed  by my example4    ,and now1  
most dear brother in ,christ and comrade
 closest to me in  the intimacy of      
speech1 it should suffice for your      
sorrows and the  hardships you have     
endured that ,i have written this story 
of my own  misfortunes1 amid which ,i   
have toiled almost from the cradle4 ,for

  so1 as ,i said in the beginning of    
this letter1 shall you come to  regard  
your tribulation as nought1 or at any   
rate as little1 in  comparison with     
mine1 and so shall you bear it more     
lightly in  measure as you regard it as 
less4 ,take comfort ever in the saying  
of ,our ,lord1 what he foretold for his 
followers at the hands of the  followers
 of the devil3 ,if they have persecuted 
me1 they will also  persecute you 7,john
 xv1 #bj74 ,if the world hate you1 ye   
know that it  hated me before it hated  
you4 ,if ye were of the world1 the world
  would love his own 7ib4 #ah-ai74 ,and 
the apostle says3 ,all that  will live  
godly in ,christ ,jesus shall suffer    
persecution 7,,ii ,tim4  iii1 #ab74 ,and
 elsewhere he says3 ,i do not seek to   
please men4 ,for  if ,i yet pleased men1
 ,i should not be the servant of ,christ
  7,galat4 i1 #aj74 ,and the ,psalmist  
says3 ,they who have been pleasing  to  
men have been confounded1 for that ,god 
hath despised them4    ,commenting on   

this1 ,st4 ,jerome1 whose heir methinks 
,i am in the  endurance of foul slander1
 says in his letter to ,nepotanius3 ,the
  apostle says3 ',if ,i yet pleased men1
 ,i should not be the servant of        
,christ4' ,he no longer seeks to please 
men1 and so is made ,christ's  servant  
7,epist4 #b74 ,and again1 in his letter 
to ,asella regarding  those whom he was 
falsely accused of loving3 ,i give      
thanks to my  ,god that ,i am worthy to 
be one whom the world hates 7,epist4    
#ii74  ,and to the monk ,heliodorus he  
writes3 ,you are wrong1 brother1 you    
are wrong if you think there is ever a  
time when the ,christian does  not      
suffer persecution4 ,for our adversary  
goes about as a roaring  lion seeking   
what he may devour1 and do you still    
think of peace8  ,nay1 he lieth in      
ambush among the rich4    ,inspired by  
those records and examples1 we should   
endure our  persecutions all the more   
steadfastly the more bitterly they harm 
us4 ,we should not doubt that even if   

they are not according to our  deserts1 
at least they serve for the purifying of
 our soul4 ,and  since all things are   
done in accordance with the divine      
ordering1  let every one of true faith  
console himself amid all his            
afflictions with the thought that the   
great goodness of ,god permits  nothing 
to be done without reason1 and brings to
 a good end  whatsoever may seem to     
happen wrongfully4 ,wherefore rightly do
 all  men say3 ,thy will be done4 ,and  
great is the consolation to all  lovers 
of ,god in the word of the ,apostle when
 he says3 ,we know  that all things work
 together for good to them that love    
,god  7,rom4 viii1 #bh74 ,the wise man  
of old had this in mind when he said  in
 his ,proverbs3 ,there shall no evil    
happen to the just  7,prov4 xii1 #ba74  
,by this he clearly shows that whosoever
 grows  wrathful for any reason against 
his sufferings has therein departed     
from the way of the just1 because he may
 not doubt that these  things have      

happened to him by divine dispensation4 
,even such are  those who yield to their
 own rather than to the divine purpose1 
and  with hidden desires resist the     
spirit which echoes in the words1  ,thy 
will be done1 thus placing their own    
will ahead of the will  of ,god4        
,farewell4          ,,appendix          
,,pierre ,,ab,,lard    ,petrus          
,abaelardus 7or ,abailardus7 was born in
 the year #ajgi at  ,palets1 a ,breton  
town not far from ,nantes4 ,his father1 
,berengarius1  was a nobleman of some   
local importance2 his mother1 ,lucia1   
was  likewise of noble family4 ,the name
 ,abaelardus is said to be a  corruption
 of ,habelardus1 which1 in turn1 was    
substituted by  himself for the nickname
 ,bajolardus given to him in his student
  days4 ,however the name may have      
arisen1 the famous scholar  certainly   
adopted it very early in his career1 and
 it went over  into the vernacular as   
,ablard or ,abailard1 though with a     
multiplicity of variations 7in ,villon's

 famous poem1 for example1  it appears  
as ,esbaillart74    ,for the main facts 
of ,ablard's life his own writings      
remain the  best authority1 but through 
his frequent contact with many of the   
foremost figures in the intellectual and
 clerical life of the early  twelfth    
century it has been possible to check   
his own account of  his career with     
considerable accuracy4 ,the story told  
in the  ,historia ,calamitatum covers   
the events of his life from boyhood  to 
about #aacb or #aacc1--;in other words1 
up to approximately his  fifty-third or 
fifty-fourth year4 ,that the account he 
gives of  himself is substantially      
correct cannot be doubted2 making all   
due  allowance for the violence of his  
feelings1 which certainly led him  to   
colour many incidents in a manner       
unfavourable to his enemies1  the main  
facts tally closely with all the        
external evidence now  available4    ,a 
very brief summary of the events of the 
final years of his life  will serve to  

round out the story4 ,the ,historia     
,calamitatum was  written while ,ablard 
was still abbot of the monastery of ,st4
  ,gildas1 in ,brittany4 ,the terrors of
 his existence there are fully  dwelt on
 in his autobiographical letter1 and    
finally1 in #aacd or  #aace1 he fled1   
living for a short time in retirement4  
,in #aacf1  however1 we find him once   
more lecturing1 and apparently with much
  of his former success1 on ,mont ,ste4 
,genevieve4 ,his old enemies were  still
 on his trail1 and most of all ,bernard 
of ,clairvaux1 to whose  fiery adherence
 to the faith ,ablard's rationalism     
seemed a sheer  desecration4 ,the       
unceasing activities of ,bernard and    
others finally  brought ,ablard before  
an ecclesiastical council at ,sens in   
#aadj1  where he was formally arraigned 
on charges of heresy4 ,had ,ablard's    
courage held good1 he might have won his
 case1 for ,bernard was  frankly        
terrified at the prospect of meeting so 
formidable a  dialectitian1 but ,ablard1

 broken in spirit by the prolonged      
persecution from which he had suffered1 
contented himself with  appealing to the
 ,pope4 ,the indefatigable ,bernard at  
once proceeded  to secure a condemnation
 of ,ablard from ,rome1 whither the     
accused  man set out to plead his case4 
,on the way1 however1 he collapsed1     
both physically and in spirit1 and      
remained for a few months at the  abbey 
of ,cluny1 whence his friends removed   
him1 a dying man1 to the  priory of ,st4
 ,marcel1 near ,chlons-sur-,sane4 ,here 
he died on ,april  #ba1 #aadb4    ,a    
discussion of ,ablard's position among  
the scholastic  philosophers would      
necessarily go far beyond the proper    
limits of a  mere historical note4 ,he  
stands out less commandingly as a       
constructive philosopher than as a      
master of dialectics4 ,he was1 as  even 
his enemies admitted1 a brilliant       
teacher and an unconquerable  logician2 
he was1 moreover1 a voluminous writer4  
,works by him which  have been preserved

 include letters1 sermons1 philosophical
 and  religious treatises1 commentaries 
on the ,bible1 on ,aristotle and on     
various other books1 and a number of    
poems4    ,many of the misfortunes which
 the ,historia ,calamitatum relates     
were the direct outcome of ,ablard's    
uncompromising position as a            
rationalist1 and the document is above  
all interesting for the  picture it     
gives of the man himself1 against the   
background of  early twelfth century    
,france4 ,a few dates will help the     
general  reader to connect the life     
surrounding ,ablard with other and more 
familiar facts4 ,william the ,conqueror 
had entered ,england thirteen  years    
before ,ablard's birth4 ,the boy was    
eight years old when the  ,conqueror    
died near ,rouen during his struggle    
with ,philip of  ,france4 ,he was       
seventeen when the ,first ,crusade      
began1 and twenty  when the crusaders   
captured ,jerusalem4    ,two of the men 
who most profoundly influenced the times

 in which  ,ablard lived were           
,hildebrand1 famous as ,pope ,gregory   
,,vii1 and  ,louis ,,vi 7the ,fat71 king
 of ,france4 ,it was to ,hildebrand that
 the  ,church owed much of that         
regeneration of the spirit which gave it
  such vitality throughout the twelfth  
century4 ,hildebrand died1  indeed1 when
 ,ablard was only six years old1 but he 
left the ,church  such a force in the   
affairs of men as it had never been     
before4 ,as  for ,louis the ,fat1 who   
reigned from #aajh to #aacg1 it was he  
who  began to lift the royal power in   
,france out of the shadow which the     
slothfulness and incompetence of his    
immediate predecessors1 ,henry  ,i and  
,philip ,i1 had cast over it4           
,discerning enough to see that the      
chief enemies of the crown were the     
great nobles1 and constantly  advised by
 a minister of exceptional wisdom1      
,suger1 abbot of ,st4  ,denis1 ,louis   
did his utmost to protect the towns and 
the churches1  and to bring that small  

part of ,france wherein his power was   
felt  out of the anarchy and chaos of   
the eleventh century4    ,it was the    
,france of ,louis ,,vi and ,sager which 
formed the background  for the great    
battle between the realists and the     
nominalists1 the  battle in which       
,ablard played no small part4 ,his life 
was divided  between the towns wherein  
he taught and the ,church which         
alternately welcomed and denounced him4 
,his fellow-disputants have  their      
places in the history of philosophy2 the
 story of ,ablard's  love for ,hlose has
 set him apart1 so that he has lived for
 eight  centuries less as a fearless    
thinker and masterly logician than as   
one of the glowingly romantic figures of
 the ,middle ,ages4      ,a ,,friend    
,it is not known to whom ,ablard's      
letter was addressed1 but it may  be    
guessed that the writer intended it to  
reach the hands of  ,hlose4 ,this       
actually happened1 and the first and    
most famous  letter from ,hloise to     

,ablard was substantially an answer to  
the  ,historia ,calamitatum4            
,,william ,,of ,,champeaux    ,william  
of ,champeaux 7,gulielmus ,campellensis7
 was born about #ajgj  at ,champeaux1   
near ,melun4 ,he studied under ,anselm  
of ,laon and  ,roscellinus1 his training
 in philosophy thereby being influenced 
by  both realism and nominalism4 ,his   
own inclination1 however1 was  strongly 
towards the former1 and it was as a     
determined proponent  of realism that he
 began to teach in the school of the    
cathedral of  ,notre ,dame1 of which he 
was made canon in #aajc4 ,in #aajh he   
withdrew  to the abbey of ,st4 ,victor1 
and subsequently became bishop of       
,chlons-sur-,marne4 ,he died in #aaba4  
,as a teacher his influence was  wide2  
he was a vigorous defender of orthodoxy 
and a passionate  adversary of the      
heterodox philosophy of his former      
master1  ,roscellinus4 ,that he and     
,ablard disagreed was only natural1 but 
,ablard's statement that he argued      

,william into abandoning the  basic     
principles of his philosophy is         
certainly untrue4      ,,the            
,,universals    ,it is not within the   
province of such a note as this to      
discuss in  detail the great controversy
 between the realists and the           
nominalists which dominated the         
philosophical and1 to some extent1  the 
religious thought of ,france during the 
first half of the  twelfth century4 ,in 
brief1 the realists maintained that the 
idea is  a reality distinct from and    
independent of the individuals          
constituting it2 their motto1           
,universalia sunt realia1 was  readily  
capable of extension far beyond the     
,church1 and ,william of  ,champeaux    
himself carried it to the extent of     
arguing that nothing  is real but the   
universal4 ,the nominalists1 on the     
other hand1  argued that universals are 
mere notions of the mind1 and that      
individuals alone are real2 their motto 
was ,universalia sunt  nomina4 ,thus the

 central question in the long           
controversy  concerned the reality of   
abstract or incorporate ideas1 and it is
  to be observed that the realists held 
views diametrically opposite  to those  
which the word realism today implies4   
,in upholding the  reality of the idea1 
they were what would now be called      
idealists1  whereas their opponents1    
denying the reality of abstractions and 
insisting on that of the concrete       
individual or object1 were  realists in 
the modern sense4    ,the peculiar      
importance of this controversy lay in   
its effect on  the status of the        
,church4 ,if nominalism should prevail1 
then the  ,church would be shorn of much
 of its authority1 for its greatest     
power lay in the conception of it as an 
enduring reality outside of  and above  
all the individuals who shared in its   
work4 ,it is not  strange1 then1 that   
the ardent realism of ,william of       
,champeaux  should have been outraged by
 the nominalistic logic of ,ablard4     

,ablard1 indeed1 never went to such     
extreme lengths as the  arch-nominalist1
 ,roscellinus1 who was duly condemned   
for heresy by  the ,council of ,soissons
 in #ajib1 but he went quite far enough 
to  win for himself the undying enmity  
of the leading realists1 who  were      
followed by the great majority of the   
clergy4      ,,porphyry    ,the         
,introduction 7,isagoge7 to the         
,categories of ,aristotle1  ,written by 
the ,greek scholar and neoplatonist     
,porphyry in the third  century ,a4,d41 
was translated into ,latin by ,boetius1 
and in this  form was extensively used  
throughout the ,middle ,ages as a       
compendium of ,aristotelian logic4 ,as a
 philosopher ,porphyry was  chiefly     
important as the immediate successor of 
,plotinus in the  neoplatonic school at 
,rome1 but his ,isagoge had             
extraordinary  weight among the medieval
 logicians4      ,,priscian    ,the     
,institutiones grammaticae of ,priscian 
7,priscianus  ,caesariensis7 formed the 

standard grammatical and philological   
textbook of the ,middle ,ages1 its      
importance being fairly indicated  by   
the fact that today there exist about a 
thousand manuscript  copies of it4      
,,anselm    ,anselm of ,laon was born   
somewhere about #ajdj1 and is said to   
have  studied under the famous ,st4     
,anselm1 later archbishop of            
,canterbury1 at the monastery of ,bec4  
,about #ajgj he began to teach  in      
,paris1 where he was notably successful4
 ,subsequently he returned  to ,laon1   
where his school of theology and        
exegetics became the most  famous one in
 ,europe4 ,his most important work1 an  
interlinear gloss  on the ,scriptures1  
was regarded as authoritative throughout
 the  later ,middle ,ages4 ,he died in  
#aaag4 ,that he was something of a      
pedant is probable1 but ,ablard's       
picture of him is certainly very  far   
from doing him justice4      ,,alberic  
,,of ,,rheims ,,and ,,lotulphe ,,the    
,,lombard    ,of these two not much is  

known beyond what ,ablard himself tells 
us4 ,a,lberic1 indeed1 won a            
considerable reputation1 and was highly 
recommended to ,pope ,honorius ,,ii by  
,st4 ,bernard4 ,in #aaci ,alberic  seems
 to have become archbishop of ,bourges1 
dying two years later4  ,lotulphe the   
,lombard is referred to by another      
authority as  ,leutaldus ,novariensis4  
,,st4 ,,jerome    ,the enormous         
scholarship of ,st4 ,jerome1 born about 
#cdj and dying  ,september #cj1 #dbj1   
made him not only the foremost authority
 within  the ,church itself throughout  
the ,middle ,ages1 but also one of the  
chief guides to secular scholarship4    
,ablard repeatedly quotes from  him1    
particularly from his denunciation of   
the revival of ,gnostic  heresies by    
,jovinianus and from some of his        
voluminous epistles4 ,he  also refers   
extensively to the charges brought      
against ,jerome by  reason of his       
teaching of women at ,rome in the house 
of ,marcella4  ,one of his pupils1      

,paula1 a wealthy widow1 followed him on
 his  journey through ,palestine1 and   
built three nunneries at ,bethlehem1  of
 which she remained the head up to the  
time of her death in #djd4      ,,st4   
,,augustine    ,regarding the position  
of ,st4 ,augustine 7#ced-dcj7 throughout
 the  ,middle ,ages1 it is here         
sufficient to quote a few words of      
,gustav  ,krger3 ,the theological       
position and influence of ,augustine may
 be  said to be unrivalled4 ,no single  
name has ever exercised such power  over
 the ,christian ,church1 and no one mind
 ever made so deep an  impression on    
,christian thought4 ,in him scholastics 
and mystics1  popes and opponents of the
 papal supremacy1 have seen their       
champion4 ,he was the fulcrum on which  
,luther rested the thoughts by  which be
 sought to lift the past of the ,church 
out of the rut2 yet  the judgment of    
,catholics still proclaims the ideals of
 ,augustine  as the only sound basis of 
pbilosopby4      ,,abbey ,,of ,,st4     

,,denis    ,the abbey of ,st4 ,denis was
 founded about #fbe by ,dagobert1 son of
  ,lothair ,,ii1 at some distance from  
the basilica which the clergy of  ,paris
 had erected in the fifth century over  
the saint's tomb4 ,long  renowned as the
 place of burial for most of the kings  
of ,france1  the abbey of ,st4 ,denis   
had a particular importance in ,ablard's
 day  by reason of its close association
 with the reigning monarch4 ,the  abbot 
to whom ,ablard refers so bitterly was  
,adam of ,st4 ,denis1 who  began his    
rule of the monastery about #ajid4 ,in  
#aajf this same ,adam  chose as his     
secretary one of the inmates of the     
monastery1 ,suger1  destined shortly to 
become the most influential man in      
,france  through his position as advisor
 to ,louis ,,vi1 and also the foremost  
historian of his time4 ,adam died in    
#aabc1 and his successor1  referred to  
by ,ablard in ,chapter ,x1 was none     
other than ,suger  himself4 ,from #aabg 
to #aacg ,suger devoted most of his time

 to the  reorganization and reform of   
the monastery of ,st4 ,denis4 ,if we are
  to believe ,ablard1 such reform was   
sorely needed1 but other  contemporary  
evidence by no means fully sustains     
,ablard in his  condemnation of ,adam   
and his fellow monks4      ,,origen     
,the ,a,lexandrian theological writer   
,origen1 who lived from about #ahe  to  
#bed1 was the most distinguished and the
 most influential of all  the           
theologians of the ancient ,church1 with
 the single exception of  ,augustine4   
,his incredible industry resulted in    
such a mass of  ,writings that ,jerome  
himself asked in despair1 ,which of us  
can  read all that he has written8      
,origen's self-mutilation1 referred  to 
by ,ablard1 was subsequently used by his
 enemies as an argument  for deposing   
him from his presbyterial status4       
,,athanasius    ,ablard's tract         
regarding the power of ,god to create   
,himself was  one of the many distant   
echoes of the great ,arian-,athanasian  

controversy of the fourth century4 ,st4 
,athanasius1 bishop of  ,alexandria1    
well deserved the title conferred on him
 by the ,church  as the father of       
orthodoxy1 and it was by his name that  
the  doctrine of identity of substance  
7the ,son is of the same  substance with
 the ,father7 became known4 ,much of the
 life of  ,athanasius was passed amid   
persecutions at the hands of his        
enemies1 and on several occasions he was
 driven into exile4      ,,rodolphe1    
,,archbishop ,,of ,,rheims    ,rodolphe1
 or1 as some authorities call him1      
,rudolph or ,radulph1  became archbishop
 of ,rheims in #aaad1 after having      
served as  treasurer of the cathedral4  
,his importance among the ,french clergy
  is attested by the many references to 
him in contemporary  documents4         
,,conon ,,of ,,praeneste    ,conon1     
bishop of ,praeneste1 whose real name   
may have been ,conrad1  came to ,france 
as papal legate on at least two         
occasions4 ,he  represented ,paschal    

,,ii in #aaae at ecclesiastical councils
 held in  ,beauvais1 ,rheims and        
,chlons2 in #aabj he represented        
,calixtus ,,ii at  ,soissons on the     
occasion of ,ablard's trial4            
,,geoffroi ,,of ,,chartres    ,geoffroi1
 bishop of ,chartres1 the second of the 
name to hold that  post1 was            
subsequently a warm friend of ,st4      
,bernard4 ,ablard's high  estimate of   
him is fully confirmed by other         
contemporary  authorities4      ,,abbot 
,,of ,,st4 ,m,,dard    ,this abbot was  
probably1 though not certainly1 ,anselm 
of ,soissons1  who became a bishop in   
#aade4 ,the chronology1 however1 is     
confusing4      ,,dionysius ,,the       
,,areopagite    ,the confusion regarding
 the identity of ,dionysius the         
,areopagite  persists to this day1 at   
least to the extent that we do not know 
the real name of the fourth or fifth    
century writer who1 under this          
pseudonym1 exercised so profound an     
influence on medieval thought4  ,that he

 was not the bishop of either ,athens or
 ,corinth1 nor yet the  ,dionysius who  
became the patron saint of ,france1 is  
clear enough4  ,of the actual ,dionysius
 the ,areopagite we know practically    
nothing4  ,he is mentioned in ,acts1    
xvii1 #cd1 as one of those ,athenians   
who  believed when they had heard ,paul 
preach on ,mars ,hill4 ,a century or    
more later we learn from another        
,dionysius1 bishop of ,corinth1 that    
,dionysius the ,areopagite was the first
 bishop of ,athens1 a  statement of     
doubtful value4 ,in the fourth or fifth 
century a ,greek  theological writer of 
extraordinary erudition assumed the name
 of  ,dionysius the ,areopagite1 and as 
his works exerted an enormous  influence
 on later scholarship1 it was quite     
natural that the  personal legend of the
 real ,dionysius should have been       
extended  correspondingly4    ,the      
,hilduin referred to by ,ablard1 who was
 abbot of ,st4 ,denis from  #had to     
#hdj1 was directly responsible for the  

extreme phase of this  extension4       
,accepting1 as most of his              
contemporaries unquestioningly  did1 the
 identity of the theological writer with
 the ,dionysius  mentioned in ,acts and 
spoken of as bishop of ,athens1 ,hilduin
 went  one step further1 and            
demonstrated that this ,dionysius was   
likewise  the ,dionysius 7,denis7 who   
had been sent into ,gaul and martyred at
  ,catulliacus1 the modern ,st4 ,denis4 
,there is no evidence to support        
,hilduin's contention1 and the          
chronology of ,gregory of ,tours is     
quite sufficient to disprove it1 but    
none the less it was  enthusiastically  
accepted in ,france1 and above all by   
the monks of  ,st4 ,denis4    ,there    
was1 however1 a persistent doubt as to  
the identity of the  ,dionysius whose   
writings had become so famous4 ,bede1   
the authority  quoted by ,ablard1 was1  
of course1 wrong in saying that he was  
the  bishop of ,corinth1 but anything   
which tended to shake the triple        

identity1 established by ,hilduin1 of   
the ,dionysius of ,athens who  listened 
to ,st4 ,paul1 of the pseudo-,areopagite
 whose works were  known to every       
medieval scholar1 and of the ,st4 ,denis
 who had  become the patron saint of    
,france1 was naturally anathematized by 
the monks who bore the saint's name4    
,bede and ,ablard were by no  means     
accurate1 but ,bede's inkling of the    
truth was quite enough to  get ,ablard  
into serious trouble4      ,,theobald   
,,of ,,champagne    ,theobald ,,ii1     
,count of ,blois1 ,meaux and ,champagne1
 was one of the  most powerful nobles in
 ,france1 and by the extent of his      
influence  fully deserved the title of  
the ,great by which he was  subsequently
 known4 ,his domain included the modern 
departments of  ,ardennes1 ,marne1 ,aube
 and ,haute-,marne1 with part of ,aisne1
 ,seine-et-,marne1  ,yonne and ,meuse4  
,furthermore1 his mother ,adela1 was the
 daughter of  ,william ,i of ,england1  
and his younger brother1 ,stephen1 was  

,king of  ,england from #aace to #aaed4 
,theobald became ,count of ,blois in    
#aajb1  ,count of ,champagne in #aabe1  
and ,count of ,troyes in #aabh4 ,had he 
so  chosen1 he might likewise have      
become ,duke of ,normandy after the     
death of his uncle1 ,henry ,i of        
,england1 in #aace4 ,he died in #aaeb4  
,,stephen ,,the ,,seneschal    ,there is
 much doubt as to whether this ,stephen 
was ,stephen de  ,garland1 dapifer1 or  
another ,stephen1 who was royal         
chancellor  under ,louis the ,fat4 ,a   
charter of the year #aabd is signed by  
both  ,stephen dapifer and ,stephen     
cancellarius4 ,probably1 however1  the  
authority identifying ,stephen dapifer  
as ,stephen de ,garland1  seneschal of  
,france1 is trustworthy4      ,,the     
,,paraclete    ,among the terms which   
are characteristic of1 or even peculiar 
to1  the ,gospel of ,st4 ,john is that  
of the ,paraclete1 rendered in the      
,king games version the ,comforter4 ,the
 ,greek word of which  ,paraclete is a  

reproduction literally means advocate1  
one  called to aid2 hence intercessor4  
,the doctrine of the ,paraclete  appears
 chiefly in ,john1 xiv and xv4 ,for     
example3 7xiv1 #af-ag7 ,and  ,i will    
pray the ,father1 and he shall give you 
another ,comforter  7,paraclete7 that be
 may abide with you for ever2 even the  
spirit of  truth4 ,again3 7xiv1 #bf7    
,but the ,comforter 7,paraclete71 which 
is  the ,holy ,ghost1 whom the ,father  
will send in my name1 he shall  teach   
you all things4 ,with ,john's words as a
 basis1 the ,paraclete  came to be      
regarded as identical with the ,third   
,person of the  ,trinity1 but always    
with the special attributes of          
consolation and  intercession4          
,,norbert ,,of ,,pr,,montr    ,in #aabj 
there was established at ,prmontr1 a    
desert place in the  diocese of ,laon1 a
 monastery of canons regular who        
followed the  so-called ,rule of ,st4   
,augustine1 but with supplementary      
statutes  which made the life one of    

exceptional severity4 ,the head of this 
monastery was ,norbert1 subsequently    
canonized4 ,his order received  papal   
approbation in #aabf1 and thereafter it 
spread rapidly  throughout ,europe2 two 
hundred years later there were no less  
than  seventeen hundred ,norbertine or  
,premonstratensian monasteries4         
,norbert himself became archbishop of   
,magdeburg1 and it was in  ,germany that
 the most notable work of his order was 
accomplished4      ,,bernard ,,of       
,,clairvaux    ,regarding the           
illustrious ,st4 ,bernard1 abbot of     
,clairvaux1 it is  needless here to say 
more than that his own age recognized in
 him  the embodiment of the highest     
ideal of medieval monasticism4          
,intellectually inferior to ,ablard and 
to some others of those over  whom he   
triumphed1 he was their superior in     
moral strength1 in  zeal1 and above all 
in the power of making others share his 
own  enthusiasms4 ,born in #ajij1 he was
 renowned as one of the foremost  of    

,french churchmen before he was thirty  
years old2 his share in  the contest    
which followed the death of ,pope       
,honorius ,,ii in #aacj  made him one of
 the most commanding figures in all     
,europe4 ,it was  to him that the       
,cistercian order owed its extraordinary
 expansion  in the twelfth century4     
,that ,ablard should have fallen before 
so  redoubtable an adversary 7see the   
note on ,pierre ,ablard7 is in no  way  
surprising1 but there can be no doubt   
that ,st4 ,bernard's  persecution of    
,ablard was inspired solely by high     
ideals and an  intense zeal for the     
truth as ,bernard perceived it4         
,,abbey ,,of ,,st4 ,,gildas             
,traditionally1 at least1 this abbey was
 the oldest one in ,brittany4           
,according to the anonymous author of   
the ,life and ,deeds of ,st4  ,gildas1  
it was founded during the reign of      
,childeric1 the second of  the          
,merovingian kings1 in the fifth        
century4 ,be that as it may1 its        

authentic history had been extensive    
before ,ablard assumed the  direction of
 its affairs4 ,his gruesome picture of  
the conditions  which prevailed there   
cannot1 of course1 be accepted as wholly
  accurate1 but even allowing for gross 
exaggeration1 the life of the  monks    
must have been quite sufficiently       
scandalous4 ,it was  apparently in the  
closing period of ,ablard's sojourn at  
the abbey  of ,st4 ,gildas that he wrote
 the ,historia ,calamitatum4 ,he endured
  the life there for nearly ten years2  
the date of his flight is not  certain1 
but it cannot have been far from #aacd  
or #aace4      ,,leo ,,ix    ,leo ,,ix1 
pope from #ajdi to #ajed1 was a native  
of ,upper ,alsace4 ,it  was at the      
,easter synod of #ajdi that he enjoined 
anew the celibacy  of the clergy1 in    
connection with which the letter quoted 
by  ,ablard was written4