Who were Heloise and Abelard?
Heloise and Abelard were scholars and clandestine lovers in 12th century France, known for their correspondence. Pierre Abelard wrote of his affair with Heloise in his autobiography. The couple’s monument in Pere Lachaise Cemetery in Paris is a traditional site for lovers to leave letters in tribute to Heloise and Abelard. At the turn of the 12th century, Abelard, still in his early twenties, had already surpassed his teachers at Notre-Dame de Paris and set up his own school, first at Melun and later at Corbeil, closer to Paris. He became a celebrated and sought after teacher of philosophy and theology in Paris, becoming the head of Notre-Dame by 1115. Within a few years of his appointment at Notre-Dame, Abelard would meet his most famous student, Heloise. To the ward of a canon named Fulbert, Heloise was a remarkably intelligent and engaged young woman, learned in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and also supposedly very beautiful. Abelard gained a post as Heloise’s private tutor and the two
The Letters of Heloise and Abelard: Introduction, pp. 9-55 18 The Letters of Heloise and Abelard: Historia Calamitatum, pp. 57-106 20 The Letters of Heloise and Abelard: The Personal Letters, pp. 109-156 25 PAPER DUE (First Version––Primary Sources Only––See Note Below) 27 Middle English Lyrics and Ballads (in Norton Anthology) November 1 RETURN PAPERS 3 Review of Medieval Love, Allegory, and Consolation Literature 8 In-Class Essay on Medieval Love, Allegory and Consolation Literature Mysticisms and Miracles 10 The Book of Margery Kempe (in Norton Anthology) The Showings of Julian of Norwich (in Norton Anthology) 15 The Wakefield Second Shepherd’s Play (in Norton Anthology) The Romance: Sword and Grail 17 Legendary Histories of Britain: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Layoman, and the Myth of Arthur’s Return (in Norton Anthology) Malory: The Tale of King Arthur, pp. 21-94 22 Malory: The Tale of the Sangreal, pp. 359-431 24-28 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY 29 Malory: The Book of Sir Launcelot and Queen Gw
The Faces of Love 19 The Letters of Heloise and Abelard: Introduction, pp. 9-55 22 The Letters of Heloise and Abelard: Historia Calamitatum, pp. 57-106 24 PAPER DUE (First VersionPrimary Sources OnlySee Note Below) 26 The Letters of Heloise and Abelard: The Personal Letters, pp. 109-156 29 Middle English Ballads • Middle English Lyrics November 2 RETURN PAPERS 5 Review of Medieval Love, Allegory, and Consolation Literature 7 In-Class Essay on Medieval Love, Allegory and Consolation Literature Medieval People: A Fair Field of Folk 9 Chaucer: General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales I 12 Chaucer: General Prologue to the Canterbury Tales II 14 William Langland: The Prologue of the Vision of Piers the Plowman 16 The Book of Margery Kempe 19 The Wakefield Second Shepherds Play 21 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY 23 THANKSGIVING HOLIDAY The Romance: Sword and Grail 26 Legendary Histories of Britain: Geoffrey of Monmouth, Layoman, and the Myth of Arthurs Return 28 Marie de France: Lanval and the Fables 3
