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Abelard's Sacrifice

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The Role of God and Church in the Twelfth Century
Abelard and Heloise place themselves in many societal positions throughout the coverage of the Historia Calamiatum. The Historia Calamiatum was written much after some of the events described in the letter; however, Abelard describes the event and the states his observations and the lessons he has learned from the events over the years. This gives a unique view on what transpired as well as what Abelard believes the specific event means. The letter tracks Abelard and Heloise from before their involvement as rather typical for that time – Abelard a philosopher, Heloise a student and virgin – as social extremes by having a premarital affair with an attempt to reconcile it by getting married, as social outcasts as their affair is found out, and finally as monks. Through each of these roles, we can see how Abelard views God being in and affecting his and Heloise’s life as well as how …show more content…
While Abelard does not mention Heloise much in this portion, one can gather information about Abelard’s involvement with the church and religion. Abelard does not mention religion much until he studies under Anselm of Laon. There, some of Anselm’s students confronted Abelard on his beliefs on reading the bible. Abelard states, “I found it most surprising that for educated men the writings of glosses of the Fathers themselves were not sufficient for interpreting their commentaries without further instructions” (Abelard, 2003, p. 7). Anselm’s students respond to Abelard’s statement with “general laughter” (Abelard, 2003, p. 7) suggesting that – in the educated community – Abelard is an outlier with that belief. It suggests that since one is capable of reading the bible, one should read the bible. This passage also makes it clear that the bible is much more important than the writings of the fathers of the

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