Abelard

=The Life and Philosophy of Abelard=

=The Early Life of Abelard=

Peter Abelard was born in le Pallet, Brittany in 1079. When he was 16 years old the first Crusade was launched by Pope Urban II at Clermont-Ferrand. Although he was the eldest son of landed noblilty destined to inherit his father's title and associated income and property, he chose instead to be educated and make his living as a professional philosopher. His quick wit and love of philosophy lead him to the battlefield of logical debate rather than that of the soldier.

When he left his father's house he traveled toward Paris, stopping along the way to study with the most famous philosophers of his time. By the time he reach Paris he was an accomplished logician as well as an entertaining and popular teacher. It appears he was a showman both in and out of the classroom. "Abelard" was not part of his given name but rather was a stage name that he gave himself. Is is a play on the word "lard" in reference to his physical size. (Remember that in a culture where food was less plentiful than in our time, bodily size was an indicator of male attractiveness and material wealth.)

Thus had we met Abelard when he first arrived in Paris (more than 10 before he met Heloise), we would have seen a confident and good-looking young man clearly cut out for city life. A performer whose songs were rememberd and sung by the ordinary people who frequented the taverns and an irascible and combative dialectician loved by his students and feared by his opponents.

=The Society of Paris--1100= The Paris Abelard found in 1100 was not the Paris we might imagine in the so-call "Dark Ages." Over the past 200 years the weather was changing toward the better allowing farmers to gather larger crops for the same effort. Better crops meant a better life for everyone. A food surplus enhances every aspect of the society.

The crusades drew those who were attracted to the excitement and glory of battle to the Middle East and away from cities and towns of Europe. Those who remained at home could be productive on a variety of fronts. More food led to earlier marriage and childbearing. Additional people who did not have to farm to survive could engage in all the arts. During this period Europe saw a rise in the numbers of sculptors, builders, architects, musicians, poets and philosophers.

It was during this time that writers first started using the term "modern" to describe thier society. New musical forms were being developed as well as innovations in the visual arts. Those dwelling in the expanding cities were developing new ways of interacting with each other. New ways of arranging marriages and widening patterns of loyalty were being developed.

Everyone one involved in the story of Heloise and Abelard were caught up in these societial changes. Some were struggling to maintain the status quo, others saw the opportunities open to them and moved forward to exploit them.

All of this should sound familiar. We too are living in a time of change. Many of the challenges of life Abelard found in Paris in 1100 are similar to those we face every day.

Religious Life
Many of the rules of religious life we are familar with from the latter Middle Ages were still being developed during this time. In addition to priests, bishops and other familariy members of the church hierarchy, there were cathedral canons. Canons were considered minor clergy halfway between priests and laity. While they had special status close to that of monks and priests they were not bound by the same strict vows. For example, unlike monks, they were allowed to earn an income and own their own posssessions. However, whether they were bond by the same rules of celibacy was still an open question. Attempts to enforce a ban on concubines for canons in the previous century has lead to riots in several major European cities. Even among the clergy there were disagreements about celibacy. Reform movements attempting to enforce celibacy among the clergy were gaining strength around the time Abelard first came to Paris. It's hard to use the Bible to justify an insistance on celibacy. Although Paul certainly saw marriage as a less desirable state, many of Jesus's first disciples were married, including Peter the founder of the church in Rome and recognized as the first Pope. Historians suggest that the development of a celibrate clergy came about as the Church attempted to keep itself from entanglement with the feudal state. If priest were allowed to marry and pass their positions down to their legitimate children, the church's power would be diluted by its involvement in the ruling families of the times. By promoting celibacy (or at least disallowing legitimate relationships) the Church was able to maintain their powerbase separate form that of the surrounding aristocracy.

=Philosophy of Abelard= Abelard excelled in a form of teaching known as //disputatio// in which students were encouraged to debate with their teacher using their own reasoning abilities to puzzle out difficult theological and philosophical problems for themselves. Although he frequently humiliated his own teachers with his brilliance he was quite encouraging of his students as they worked their way through these problems. Like Plato who believed that through guided questioning one could come to the truth, Abelard believe that one could make sense of complex ideas about God, man, the soul and other theological topics. His teaching philosophy could be summed up in the famous phrase, "by doubting we come to inquire, by inquire we come to truth." //Disputatio// could lead one to a full understanding of life and the world. Abelard's investigation into the nature of the world began by examining language. How well does language describe the things around us. While this seems straightforward, one can quickly get caught up in a web of contradictions and confusion. For example, the statement "Abelard was a human being" seems simple enough but when we start to dissect it we can get mired into a discussion of what we mean by "human" and "being". Abelard could shift through these ideas, see the underlying pattern and articulate it better than most of his contemporaries. Heloise was able to carry her own in these discussions--which may be what part of what drew them together. Brillant Abelard got into trouble when he used this philosophical technique to theological topics. For Abelard, making theology rational was an essential part of his understanding of religion. However, there were many who could not follow his arguments. Eventually this would lead to charges of heresy.