Collection of Letters: Detail
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Sender(s):
Receiver(s):
- Peter Abelard
Date:
Translated letter:
see Betty Radice, The Letters of Abelard and Heloise (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1974), p.127-36.
Original letter:
Historical context:
Heloise’s feelings of guilt over what Abelard suffered as a result of their affair leads her to an attack on women as the ruin of great men. It should be noted, however, that Heloise’s anti-feminism frequently leads Abelard to strong defenses of women. On Abelard’s complicated feminism, see Mary M. McLaughlin, "Peter Abelard and the Dignity of Women: Twelfth Century Feminism’ in Theory and Practice," Pierre Abélard, Pierre le Venerable (Paris: Centre National de la Recherche Scientifiques, 1975), 287-333.
Scholarly notes:
Manuscript source:
Printed source:
J.T. Muckle, "The Personal letters between Abelard and Heloise," Medieval Studies 15 (1953), ep.3, p.77-82.