This text looks at the early correspondence between Abelard and Heloise, revealing the emotions and intimate exchanges that occurred between them. The perspectives presented here are very different from the view related by Abelard in his "History of My Calamities", an account which provoked a much more famous exchange of letters between Heloise and Abelard after they had both entered religious life. Offering a full translation of the love letters along with a copy of the actual Latin text, the authors provide an in-depth analysis of the debate concerning the authenticity of the letters and look at the way in which the relationship between Heloise and Abelard has been perceived over the centuries. They also explore the political, literary, and religious contexts in which the two figures conducted their affair, and offer new insights into Heloise as an astonishingly gifted writer, whose literary gifts were ultimately frustrated by the course of her relationship with her teacher.
- ISBN10 0333754727
- ISBN13 9780333754726
- Publish Date 19 October 1999 (first published 19 August 1999)
- Publish Status Out of Print
- Out of Print 8 August 2005
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Palgrave Macmillan
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 302
- Language English