Hé·lo·ise  (ěl'ə-wēz', ā-lô-ēz')  French philosopher, writer, and religious figure who was the lover and wife of Peter Abelard. She became abbess of a convent founded by him and with him published a collection of their correspondence. |
Heloise
wife of the theologian and philosopher Peter Abelard, with whom she was involved in one of the best known love tragedies of history. Fulbert, Heloise's uncle and a canon of Notre-Dame, entrusted Abelard with the education of his brilliant niece (c. 1118). The two fell in love and were secretly married after Heloise returned to Paris from Brittany, where she had given birth to Abelard's son. Her relatives, outraged by the situation, caused Abelard to be attacked and castrated. He became a monk at the monastery of St. Denis, and Heloise entered the convent at Argenteuil. After the convent dispersed, Abelard gave Heloise and her nuns the property of the community of the Paraclete (Le Paraclet), which he had been allowed to found. There Heloise became abbess.
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