Hi everyone,
In week 5 it's going to be another
bumper discussion! Lectures will be introducing us to the rise of two
important components of late medieval urban life: communes and
universities. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries saw the foundation of
some of the most famous universities in Europe, for example, these two,
which in some ways still look as though one might bump into a medieval
student around any given corner...
And in tutorials we will be discussing
universities and education in more detail. In particular, we'll use the
story of the two people pictured below
as a juicy entrée into issues related to education at the time. Think
about Abelard's
Historia Calamitatum in light of the questions in
the reading guide. What does his story tell us about intellectual and
philosophical life and thought in twelfth-century France (apart from
some pretty gory things about castration...)? If the extract whets your
appetite, or you just want to know
Heloise's side of the story (!), look for their letters which are published in various editions and
available in the library; or look for the works of Monash's own
Professor Constant Mews, who is a world expert on their correspondence.
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| Abelard & Heloise |
7 comments:
While Abelard clearly felt an overwhleming sexual desire for Heloise, and acted on it (many times from what we can tell in his letter) ultimately his role as a philosoper was paramount, excepiting the breif period when he felt more insperation for writting love songs than for wrtting lectures. However I believe this can be attributed to the fact that his affair with Heloise began as an all consuming obsession. Abelard describes his dedication to the 'life-style' of his work when he quotes Seneca "Philosophy is not a subject for idle moments. We must neglect everything else and concentrate on this, for no time is long enough for it...We must resist all other occupations, not merely dispose of them but reject them." Teaching was Abelard's lifes happiness, Heloise understood this and was as attatched to Abelard's reputaion as a scholar as he was. I was constantly shocked at the oppostion Abelard faced from his fellow teachers and supposed mentors, due to his brilliance and superiority in the feild of philisophic thought. The fact that his students flocked to him at his exile of sorts in Troyes, confirms his gift for teaching and the thirst for knowledge possesed by this new generation of university students. I don't believe his problem was that of a sexual nature, he accepted his fate in that regard with humility. I think the slander and embarrasment at risk of looseing his well earnt reputation, were among his greatest troubles. Often stating in his letter that the trials he faced in realtion to Heloise were naught compared to the despair of what he faced in later life.
Thanks for starting us off, Victoria: you've articulated Abelard's position nicely. Does anyone want to make the case for the prosecution? I'd be sort of surprised if there was nobody who found Abelard rather repugnant. He tends to polarise his readers!
What struck me about the reading was that Heloise, a woman, not only had access to education, but was also privately tutored. Perhaps the family she came from believed that women deserved to be treated equally as men when it came to education or perhaps the amount of females in the family outweighed the number of males (therefore, not taking the place of a male who could be educated).
Although, I was not as surprised to read that "religious women" were literate. The reasoning behind Heloise's education is not distinctly mentioned. However, it is touched on for the women in the convents. These women were able to read to the sisters in the convent - spreading the word of God. The mentioned "divine visions" may have also encouraged the education of women, as it may have been perceived as approval by God in regards to the education of women.
I found the readings on the letters of Abelard and Heloise quite a pleasure to read. Although Abelard is less than humble about his own achievements as a scholar, describing his teaching as having "so much prestige and authority" it is of greatest importance to consider the state of institutionalised knowledge at the time. Seeking to debate and question the scholarly authority of a teacher/master and then go on to establish his own school is quite a remarkable feat. It is obvious that he was a brilliant thinker of his time.
Learning of the education of women through monasteries and even through private tutoring as provided to by Abelard to Heloise was of great significance for the time. The fact that the literary works of women began to be referenced and even approved by the pope (so long as they didn't challenge the established dogma) I feel is a sign of changing times.
I also think that comparing the purpose of education through universities of the middle ages to the institutions of knowledge today is also interesting, back then studying the liberal arts could land you a job as a scribe for example ;)
I was interested in reading about the formation of the university. Today education is a factor of life that many of us take for granted, and we therefore probably fail to consider the amount of time, cooperation and effort that is employed in all formal educational institutions. I know I certainly hadn't given much thought to the initial systems that the modern university is shaped upon. Learning about the legal documents that were written for the purpose of granting these early institutions collective rights was therefore quite a fascinating element of this week's reading. Abelard's 'Historia Calamitatum', however, was not quite as simple for me to pursue, purely because whilst I do sympathise with Abelard for the level of persecution he was forced to endure, I also feel that his account was tinged with a desire to promote his own genius and virtues, whilst detracting from those of everyone else. I couldn't help but wonder whether his description of his own 'exceptional good looks and ... great reputation', along with his account of his rivals as shouting, ' "Fine advice that is, to bid us compete with the ready tongue of a man whose arguments and sophistries could triumph over the whole world!" ' were entirely accurate. Surely this is a little too obsequious for rivals regardless of Abelard's famous reputation. However, I can and do appreciate his clear love of education and learning, a fact that is reflected in the broad range of material that he quotes throughout his work.
I found Abelard to be rather proud. He seemed to think very highly of himself and I thought this was quite infuriating at times.. It's pretty clear that he was highly intelligent, but he didn't have to go and rub it in everyone's face.
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