EP 103: Paris History Avec a Hemingway (Heloise)

Heloise, the name that may ring more of a bell as Heloise and Abelard. A couple is known as the French Romeo & Juliette long before Shakespeare would write the story. 

Heloise was born around 1092, it is unsure of her actual birthday and can swing into the 1070s depending on what you read. Heloise would spend most of her childhood raised by her brother and at 11 would be sent to Paris to live with her uncle Fulbert. 

Uncle Fulbert served as a canon at the Hotel Dieu de Paris on the Ile de la Cité where he also lived. His house on the Quai des Fleurs was large and had room for a few renters so he offered a room to Abelard. Abelard was a schoolmaster for the Cloister Catholic School and was known all over Paris for his handsome looks and charismatic personality. 

Abelard and Heloise were taken with each other immediately and to spend more time together he took her on as his personal student. The two began a very hot and steamy affair that they kept from Fulbert. That is until she became pregnant. Abelard took her to Brittany to stay with his sister Dionysis. In the fall of 1116 Astrolab was born. 

Heloise left Paris for the convent of Saint Marie d’Argenteuil where she would become a nun. Abelard would eventually leave Paris to set up his own convent and chapel and the two would keep in touch through their letters. 

In the 16th century, their first four letters were discovered and published and brought the story of the lovers to life. Over time more letters were found drawing a long list of fans including Josephine. 

In 1817, a new cemetery opened in Paris, today’s  Pere Lachaise. Far outside the city at the time, it was having a hard time drawing people who would want to be buried there. The idea was to move some famous residents that would draw others that would want to spend the rest of their lives next to the famous. Josephine led the charge to have Heloise and Abelard moved to Paris to lay together for eternity.

Alexandre Lenoir, the man who saved the monuments of France during the Revolution designed the Castrum Doloris, “castle of grief” a gothic revival structure with the two lying on top of a bed looking towards the sky. Lenoir used stones for the Oratoire du Paraclete that Abelard loved and built at the end of his life. 

More info and photos: https://www.claudinehemingway.com/paris-history-avec-a-hemingway-podcast-1

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