Abelard, Pierre (c.1079-1142)

Pierre Abelard (c.1079-1142) was a French philosopher born in the village of Palet near Nantes. He received his instruction in dialectic from Roscelin of Compiegne and William of Champeaux, and later developed into a brilliant and highly influential teacher in his own right, chiefly at Paris.

After a tragic love affair with Héliose, neice of a canon of Notre Dame, he embraced the monastic life. His subsequent career was filled with turmoila and controversy. His theological writings encountered the determined opposition of St. Bernard of Clairvaux, founder of the abbey there. Abelard also met with ecclesiastical condemnation at Soissons (1121) and Sens (1141). He was laid under ban of excommunication by the pope and, submitting to the judgment of the Church, retired to the Abbey of Cluny, where he shortly died.