Letters to Abelard

Introduction

Three Latin letters by Héloïse, by then abbess of the Paraclete, survive, together with Abelard’s answers; they are usually dated to the 1130s. The first two insist that she preferred the free bond of love to marriage, that guilt lies in the intention rather than the deed, and that she cannot honestly repent of a desire she still feels. The third turns to the monastic life and asks for a rule written for women, which Abelard then supplied. In the 19th and 20th centuries some scholars doubted the letters’ authenticity or thought Abelard had composed them; most now accept Héloïse as their author.