A B E 



baaiion and licl.iy lie rcfumcJ his Iccliire? at a finall village 

 ill ihc coiintiT, aiij rci^aiiicd his popularity. But liis repu- 

 tation cxcitcJ envy and expofed liim to a variety of perfccu- 

 tion». About this time he publilhcd a treatilV, intitled, " The 

 Theology of Abclard," wliich was faid to contain fomc here- 

 tical tenets concerning the Trinity. The work was condemn- 

 ed to be burnt, by a decree of the fynod at Soilfoiis, held 

 in 1 121, anil Abelard was ordered to throw it into the 

 flames. He was alfo required to read, as his own confelTion 

 of faith, the Athanafian creed, and to be confined in the 

 convent of St. Medaul. His perfecutors became alhamcd of 

 their conduft, which occnfioned general diflatisfadion ; and 

 Abelard was foon permitted to return to St. Denys. Here 

 again lie was purfued by his enemies ; and having aflTerted, 

 that the patron of the convent and of the French nation was 

 not Dlonylins the Areopagite, but another St. Dionyfius, 

 birtiop of Athens, he was aecufed to the bifliop and the 

 king, as a calumniator of the order and an enemy to his 

 country. On this occafion he made his efcape, and fled to 

 the convent of St. Ayoul at Provins in Champagne, the 

 prior of which was his intimate friend. Hence he foon re- 

 tired to a retreat in the forell of Champagne, near Nogent 

 upon the Seine, where, in 1 122, he creeled a fmall oratoiy, 

 which he dedicated to the Trinity, and which was afterwards 

 ciJarged and confecrated to the third perfon, the Comforter 

 or Paraclete. His pupils in this retreat foon amounted to 

 600 ; but he was compelled to withdraw from this folitude, 

 and, by the interell of the Duke of Brittany, he was elecled 

 fuperior of the monafteiy of St. Gildas, in the diocefe of 

 Vannes, where he remained for feveral years. Tiie nuns of 

 the convent of Argenteuil being difperfcd about this time, 

 Abclard invited Heloifc, with her eight companions, to take 

 polkiTion of the Paraclete. Heloifc accepted the invitation; 

 was ehofen abbefs of the new inftitution that was eflablilhed; 

 and in 1127, the donation was confirmed by the king. Whilft 

 Abelard refided at St. Gildas, the interelliug correfpond- 

 ence occuiTcd between him and Heloife, which is ilill extant ; 

 and he tlien wrote the memoirs of his life, which came down 

 to the year 1134. The letters of Heloife in this conefpondence 

 abound with proofs of genius, learning, and taile, which mi^ht 

 have graced a better age. Upon thefe letters Mr. Pope has 

 formed his " Epiftle from Eloifa to Abelard," a piece that 

 has been higlily celebrated for its poetical merit, but which 

 deviates in many particulars from the genuine cliaraifler and 

 ftoi-y of Heloife, and culpably violates moral propriety, as 

 Mr. Ben-ington (Hift. Abelard, p. 240, &c.) has fhewn in 

 his judicious critique. Abelard was, in this fituation, ae- 

 cufed to pope Innocent II. of noxious errors and mifchievous 

 <lefigns. His accufer, the Abbot of St. Thieny, was chal- 

 lenged by Abelard to make good his accufation in a public 

 aifembly ; and upon his delivering the heads of his accufa- 

 tion, Abelard, probably apprehending a popular tumult, 

 rofe up and exclaimed, " I appeal to Rome." The pope, 

 in confequence of fome perfon's intrigues, anticipated his 

 arrival by pronouncing his opinions heretical, and fen- 

 tencing him to pcipetual filencc and confinement. Abelard, 

 in his way to Rome, called at Cluni, a monaftery on the con- 

 fines of Burgundy, where he was kindly received by Peter 

 Maurice, the abbot : and here a reconcihation was efFefted 

 between him and Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, who had 

 prejudiced the pope againil him. Peter intei-pofed with the 

 pope in his favour, and obtained his pardon ; and he was 

 pennitted to end his days in the monaftery of Cluni. In this 

 monaftery, the cloiftcred philofophcr \vas retired, ftudious, 

 and devout ; and his lectures were renewed and heard \vith 

 applaufe. But his health and fpirits were too feeble to bear 

 tlic exertions which this fervicc required. Although he was 



ABE 



removed to the pure air of the prioiy of St. Marcellus, near 

 Chalons, his debility and decay increafed, and terminated his 

 life in his 63d year, on the 2 ill of April 1 142. His body 

 was fent to Heloife to be inteiTcd in the convent of the Pa- 

 raclete. Heloife furvived her luilhand 21 years, a pattern 

 of conjugal affcftion and monaftic virtue. Of the charadler 

 of Abelard, we Ihall fubjoin the following extrad from En- 

 field's account of him in the General Biogiaphy, vol. i. 

 " The amour, which has given Abelard fo much celebrity 

 in the annals of gallantry, will certainly not entitle his name 

 to a place in the tablet of moral merit : it will remain an 

 eternal blot upon his memory. In Heloife, the criminality, 

 though not obliterated, was palliated by youthful ardour and 

 inexperience ; and extreme fenfibility, romantic attachment, 

 noble generofity, and difinterelled invincible conftancy, uni- 

 ted to throw a veil over human frailty. In Abelard, every 

 circun-iftancc, inftead of excufing, aggravated the oifence. 

 At forty, ' the hey-day of the blood is tame, and waits 

 upon the judgment.' It was not a ju%enile indifcretion of 

 v.hich Abelard was guilty, but, according to his own con- 

 feffion, the feduftion of innocence, deliberately planned, 

 and rcfolutcly executed. It was accompanied with breach 

 of confidence, violation of duty, and degradation of charactero 

 Except in the grant of the Paraclete as an afylum to Heloife 

 and her fifterhood, an uniform felhlhuefs appears in Abe- 

 lard's condud, which admits of no apology ; unlefs we 

 transfer the blame from the man to the profeflion, and 

 reprobate that fyftem of fuperftition, which, by the un- 

 natural injundiou of clerical celibacy, has given birth to 

 innumerable in-egularities and enormities. Viewed apart 

 from this difgraceful affair, Abelard appears with more ad- 

 vantage. His writings, indeed, will not give the reader a 

 high idea of his genius or tafte : but it cannot be queftion- 

 ed, that the man, who could foil the firft mafters of the age 

 at the weapons of logic, could draw round him crowded and 

 admiring auditories, and could colled fcholars from different 

 provinces and countries, whenever he chofe to form a fchool, 

 muft have pofleffed extraordinary talents. He muft be al- 

 lowed the credit, not only of having made himfelf mafter of 

 the phUofophy and theology of the age, fuch as they were, 

 but of having boldly advanced, beyond the time, into the 

 region of new opinions. Had his love of truth been equal 

 to his thirft of fame,andhadh;s courage in adhering to his prin- 

 ciples been equal to his ingenuity in defending tlicm, his fuf- 

 ferings and perfecutions might h.'.ve excited more regret, 

 and his title to honourable remembrance woiJd have been 

 better eftablilhed. Upon the whole, of Abelard it may, 

 perhaps, with truth be faid, that he was too vain to be truly 

 great, and too lelfilh to be eminently good, and that his 

 charader is rather adapted to excite admiration tiian to com- 

 mand refped." His principal works, written in Latin, are, 

 " An Addrefs to the Paraclete on the Study of the Scrip- 

 tures," " Problems and Solutions," " Sermons on the Fef- 

 tivals," " A Treatife againil Herefies," " An Expohtion 

 of the Lord's Prayer," " A Commentary on the Romans," 

 " A Syftcm of Theology," and his letters to Heloife and 

 to others. Thefe, with fome other pieces, were colleded 

 and edited from the MSS. of Amboife, in 4to. at Paris, in 

 1616. Bayle. Moreri. Beirington's Hift. of the Lives of 

 Abelard and Heloife. Gen. Biog. 



ABELIANS, Abelonians, or Abelites, in Eccle- 

 f.ajlical Hyiory, a fed in Africa, not far from Hippo, men- 

 tioned by St. Auftin, (Oper. torn. vi. p. 14. ) and fuppofed 

 to have commenced in the reign of Arcadius and terminated 

 in that of Theodofius. Their diftinguilhing tenet and 

 pradice were to marry, and yet live with their wives in 

 a profefled abftinence, without having any carnal commerce 



together. 



