Abelard and Heloise. Love and Crime. REMARKS on A Literal Translation of their Correspondence

Many scholars are familiar with the story of Abelard and Heloise through various translations of their Correspondence from the twelfth century. The catch is, they aren’t love letters at all, but legal pieces of a clandestine folder, parts of which have been carefully concealed. Actually the whole forms the framework of an amazing thriller whose pretended witnesses and exponents haven't wanted to find the master key until now. This key is Heloise's pregnancy. In his book Abelard and Heloise. Crime and Love; Remarks on the Literal Translation of Their Correspondence, Author Roland D. Oberson makes clear the true meaning of the affair. She has been abused by her “educator” Rev. Fulbert, canon of the Cathedral of Paris. As schoolgirl, extraordinary clever, she looks in the crucial times of fear to be pregnant for the rescue of her seducing and compassionate teacher in moral and philosophy, Peter Abelard. Surprisingly, at the summit of worldly glory, this potential monk will put all his energy into helping his exceptional student of another gender. The gender question is part of the plot. She becomes his companion and his friend not only for the sake of literary studies, but also for the sake of gender researches already a biased line of questioning at that time. They will first be associates in the process of rescue and redemption of lost sheep Heloise against the unrestrained behavior of the vile representative of the church, her so-called uncle Fulbert. Oberson explains that, besides being a cryptic denunciation of the pedophilic crime, the Correspondence is also a book of redemption. Readers of today must understand the right plot: young teen Heloise has been incestuously raped by her “uncle.” The prestigious Master Abelard comes to disclose the offense. He cares for her, but also falls in love for her, in a love that is much more than common love. He surely is the saver of the wretched Heloise, but in no case the father of her rejected bastard Astrolabe. This starkly contradicts the prevailing opinion that their letters exposed a torrid and illicit sexual liaison that results in Heloise’s pregnancy. Abelard, the leading master of the schools and at the same time the moral voice of the twelfth century, flagship of the Greek thinkers of the past, in particular Socrates and Aristotle, cannot be the abuser of Heloise and father of her bastard. Unbeatable dialectician, he manages a way out from the scandal. He leads both already true monks in the soul in the only sustainable way. They, who projected to be secular or liberal (free) monks in the world, living as Fathers of the primitive Syrian Desert, enter together a regular monastic life, being than freed when called Christ’s slaves. The neglect that has been shown toward Heloise’s pregnancy and the ubiquitous trend to describe her as a nymphomaniac spinster leads Oberson to take a closer look. Whereas previous writers and booksellers exploited only the erotic tone of the letters, Oberson concludes that a complete reappraisal of the drama is required. The checking of some Latin words and constantly surreptitious and sarcastic situations leads him first to attempt a more literal translation of the letters into English. The Remarks he exposes are clear evidence that he provides to the credit of quite another exposition of the case. In reality, through this adventurous drama, Abelard becomes the true monk, humble, miserable but born and bred charitable he always has been, ready to die for his friend Heloise, an exceptional child. His discourses about flesh do not make him a lustful pleasure-seeker. They are not far from the acerb comments of the prophet Job. Readers who have embraced the story of Abelard and Heloise will find Oberson’s notes updating a long-loved story and breaking the wrongs of past interpretations told over the centuries for not too mysterious reasons. He only tries to stir up the hand laid upon their mouths.