|
|
Article: Lovers in search of monastic bliss . . .
- Article from:
- Daily Mail (London)
- Article date:
- November 14, 2003
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 Solo Syndication Limited. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
Byline: FRANCES SPALDING
HELOISE AND ABELARD: A TWELFTH CENTURY LOVE STORY by James Burge (Profile Books, [pounds sterling]16.99)
THE story of Heloise and Abelard is 900 years old. Yet still today lovers throw flowers over the monument that marks their final resting place in the Pere Lachaise cemetery in Paris.
Theirs is a tale of illicit love, violence and revenge. Like most scandalous love affairs, its erotic charge would have been quickly forgotten had not the couple exchanged letters. The first cache was discovered 100 years after Heloise's death.
Of these eight letters, one contained Abelard's autobiography which ran to 20,000 words, and three were by ...