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Heloise In The Story Of My Misfortunes

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During the Middle Ages, women held the common positions of wife, mother, peasant, artisan, or nun. Besides taking on these traditional roles, Heloise was a brilliant “scholar of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and had a reputation for intelligence and insight” (New World Encyclopedia). She was raised in the nunnery of Argenteuil, where her mother lived. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, male primogeniture was established, this allowed for the eldest son to inherit all the property instead of sharing it among the family. In this period, “many wealthy women chose to live in monasteries, where they could receive education” (New World Encyclopedia). After being raised in the nunnery of Argenteuil, Heloise moved to Paris with her uncle Fulbert. …show more content…

In The Story of My Misfortunes, Abelard wrote “A gift for letters is so rare in women, that added greatly to her charm and had won her renown throughout the realm” (Abelard, 1132). He was impressed by Heloise’s intellect and knowledge, because as he said, it was a rare for women during the Middle Ages to be educated in the way Heloise was. After learning about who she was, Abelard developed a plan to become her tutor and seduce her. As her tutor in her home it opened all sorts of possibilities for him and he wasn’t afraid to describe every intimate detail of his relationship in his book. Being in a relationship with Heloise, Abelard discusses that he was “neglecting his scholarly duties, writing poems to Heloise and forgetting about Aristotle” (Schulenburg, 2008). His whole life revolved on his love affair. He was a canon who belonged to the Chapter of Notre Dame, where he was expected to be celibate, so not only was he neglecting his studies but, his beliefs as well. In The Story of My Misfortunes, he discusses that they took greater risks when it came to their relationship. As a result, Heloise’s uncle not only found out about their relationship, but he found out Heloise was pregnant. Uncle Fulbert trusted Abelard in their home to tutor Heloise only to find them in bed together, he was

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