Heloise and Abelard were scholars and lovers in 12th-century France. Abelard was a famous teacher who met Heloise, his most famous student. They fell in love, secretly married, and had a child. After Abelard was castrated, Heloise became a nun and they corresponded. They were buried together in the Oratory of the Paraclete and moved to Pere-Lachaise in 1817. Their monument is a traditional place for lovers to leave letters.
Heloise and Abelard were scholars and clandestine lovers in 12th-century France, known for their correspondence. Pierre Abelard wrote about his relationship with Eloise in his autobiography. The couple’s monument in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris is a traditional place for lovers to leave letters in tribute to Heloise and Abelard.
By the early 12th century, Abelard, still in his early twenties, had already surpassed his teachers at Notre-Dame de Paris and established his own school, first at Melun and then at Corbeil, near Paris. He became a famous and sought-after teacher of philosophy and theology in Paris, becoming the head of Notre-Dame in 12. Within a few years of his appointment to Notre-Dame, Abelard met his most famous student, Heloise.
To the pupil of a canon named Fulbert, Heloise was an extraordinarily intelligent and busy young woman, educated in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and also presumably very beautiful. Abelard obtained a position as Heloisa’s private tutor and the two soon fell in love. Fulbert was furious when he found out about their relationship and kept the two apart. However, Heloise had already become pregnant and Abelard had her child born, named Astrolabe after a new navigational instrument in Brittany.
In an effort to appease Fulbert, Abelard secretly married Heloise, although she was against the plan, as she felt it would limit Abelard’s professional options. Heloise soon after her entered a convent at Argenteuil at Abelard’s suggestion, as she believed she would protect her from the wrath of her guardian. Unfortunately, this gave Fulbert an excuse to attack Abelard, whom he accused of trying to get rid of Heloise. Fulbert and a group of his friends castrated Abelard, ruining not only his marriage to Heloise, but also his chances for a priesthood, which was canonically closed to eunuchs.
After Abelard’s castration, Heloisa became a nun in the convent where she took refuge, eventually becoming prioress. When her convent was taken over, Abelard made a home for Heloise and her sisters in her convent, the Oratory of the Paraclete, while he moved to the Abbey of St Gildas in Brittany. Eloisa became abbess of the Oratory of the Paraclete and began a long correspondence with Abelard in which they renewed their mutual devotion, albeit chaste. Heloise and Abelard were buried together in the Oratory of the Paraclete and moved to Pere-Lachaise in 1817, although the truth of this account of their final resting place is debated. In any case, the Lovers’ Monument at Pere Lachaise was largely responsible for the cemetery’s current popularity, which now boasts the remains of countless celebrities.
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