The Story of My Misfortunes

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Dover Publications, 2005 - Biography & Autobiography - 96 pages
In this classic of medieval literature, a brilliant and daring thinker relates the spellbinding story of his philosophical and spiritual enlightenment--and the tale of his tragic personal life as well. Peter Ab lard paints an absorbing portrait of monastic and scholastic life in twelfth-century Paris, while also recounting the circumstances and consequences of one of history’s most famous love stories--his doomed romance with Heloise.
Considered the founder of the University of Paris, Ab lard was instrumental in promoting the use of the dialectical method in Western education. He regarded theology as the "handmaiden" of knowledge and believed that through reason, people could attain a greater knowledge of God. "By doubting," he declared, "we come to inquire, and by inquiry we arrive at truth." Ab lard's tendency to leave questions open for discussion made him a target for frequent charges of heresy, and all his works were eventually included in the church's Index of Forbidden Books. Unfortunately, Ab lard’s reputation as a philosopher is often overshadowed by his renown as a lover.
In addition to its value as a scholarly treatise, The Story of My Misfortunes offers the rare opportunity to observe a legendary romance from the point of view of one of its participants.

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About the author (2005)

Peter Abelard is considered to be the founder of the University of Paris. He studied under the nominalist Roscelin de Compiegne and the realist William of Champeaux. Disagreement with William led Abelard to withdraw to the provinces and set up his own school at Melun, in northern France, in 1104. He returned to Paris in 1116 to teach. A disastrous love affair with the brilliant and sensitive Heloise followed in 1118. Abelard had been hired as her tutor, and, after the birth of their son, they were secretly married. They later separated, and Abelard became a monk and Heloise a nun. Their correspondence during their years of separation is a literary classic. After the separation Abelard withdrew to Brittany and wrote The Theologia Summi Boni, which was condemned at Soissons in 1121. When he returned once more to Paris in 1136 to teach, his theology was condemned at Sens, chiefly because of the influence of Bernard of Clairvaux. Peter the Venerable of Cluny mediated the dispute between the two while Abelard was on his deathbed. Abelard spent his last days peacefully and was buried near Heloise.

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