Abelard

Peter Abelard, who lived in medieval France from 1079 to 1142, was the husband of Heloise of the Paraclete. As a philosopher, theologian, logician, and poet, Abelard also has merit in his own person. Abelard was a dedicated teacher whose teaching encompassed the most important practical topic: love. Abelard loved women in general and Heloise in particular. He deeply appreciated women’s full humanity. He also understood personally the horror of castration culture. Abelard’s plantus on notable Hebrew women and men are some of the most imaginative, perceptive, and daring works concerning gender in all of literary history.