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Peter Abelard

Type Figure Region Kingdom of France Time 1079–1142 Also known as Abelard

Scholastic philosopher and logician (1079–1142) of twelfth-century France, famed for dialectic, nominalism, and his tragic love affair with Heloise.

Timeline

  1. 1079–1100Le Pallet · BrittanyBorn to a noble family at Le Pallet in Brittany, he showed talent young. Studying logic and theology under Roscellin and William of Champeaux, he quickly became famed for his dialectical skill, laying the groundwork for his later Paris debates.
  2. 1101–1110Paris · Île-de-FranceAfter 1101 he taught publicly in Paris and Melun, and from 1101 to 1105 debated the problem of universals fiercely with his former master William of Champeaux, drawing crowds of students. From 1105 to 1110 he further developed his dialectic and theology, becoming one of the most controversial and influential teachers in Paris.
  3. 1111–1142Paris · Kingdom of FranceIn the 1110s his love affair with Heloise led to his castration; he later became an abbot and wrote the Historia Calamitatum. His theological work on the Holy Trinity was condemned at the Council of Soissons in 1121. He retired to Cluny in old age and died near the abbey of Saint-Marcel in 1142.

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