Varieties of the Self

Peter Abelard and the Mental Architecture of the Paraclete

Series: 

The Paraclete was founded in 1129. Out of necessity to find a new place to shelter a group of nuns, this female community was created by Peter Abelard (1079–1142) for Heloise of Argenteuil (1090–1164). Varieties of the Self shows how this community was dependent on a network of monasteries, while also representing a formative driving force in the twelfth-century reform, the period of flourishing to which it clearly belonged. The anthropological approach connects different works written by Peter Abelard (hymns, life-rules, letters, biblical commentaries) to views on the female self. What is the perspective on identity, sacrifice, and intentionality within these sources, and how do views on pollution, purity, and sacredness reflect on ethics of body and soul?
Copyright Year:
2023
E-Book (PDF)
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-54085-9
Publication:
31 Jul 2023
Hardback
Availability:
Published
ISBN:
978-90-04-54083-5
Publication:
26 Jul 2023
Cover Varieties of the Self

Prices from (excl. shipping):

€122.38€116.00 excl. VAT
Add to Cart
Babette S. Hellemans, Ph.D. (2006), University of Utrecht and EHESS Paris, is lecturer in Medieval and Cultural History at the University of Groningen. She has published monographs, collected volumes, and articles on intellectual history, cultural history, and the history of religion.
1 Introduction

2 Anthropology and the Idea of the Paraclete
 1 About Rules and Individual Life
 2 The Foundation of the Paraclete and the Beginning of Faith
 3 The Myth of Institutions: About Systems and Collections
 4 Exemplum’s Perplexity

3 Diptych I: Bringing Abelard Home
 1 Living Together, or the Creation of the Monastic Myth
 2 When Earth and Heaven Meet
 3 Is Contempt for the World Possible?
 4 Peter the Venerable’s Compassion
 5 The Anthropology of Grace
 6 Abelard’s Last Years
 7 The Illusion of Permanence
 8 The Mental Architecture of the Paraclete
 9 Is Religion a Category?

4 Diptych II: Architecture of Songs
 1 Time, Space, and the Self in the Paraclete
 2 God hors jeu
 3 Collection and Chaos: The Paraclete Hymns
 4 A Changing Light
 5 Mary Magdalene’s Stones
 6 Jephthah’s Daughter
 7 The Child and the Stick, or Mirroring Measures
 8 Epilogue

5 Conclusion
Appendix
 Peter the Venerable, Letter 115
 Heloise of Argenteuil, Letter 167
 Selected Hymns from the Hymnarius Paraclitensis, Composed by Peter Abelard
Bibiliography
Index
Those interested in medieval intellectual history, monasticism, poetry, and performative studies, and how the historical anthropological approach may give new insights into (female) images of the Self. Keywords: Middle Ages, France, Heloise of Argenteuil, Peter the Venerable, Bernard of Clairvaux, Monasticism, Historical Anthropology, Hymns, Rule of Saint Benedict, Poetry, Philosophy, Theology, 12th-century Renaissance, twelfth-century Renaissance, 1079-1142 AD.
  • Collapse
  • Expand

Manufacturer information:
Koninklijke Brill B.V. 
Plantijnstraat 2
2321 JC
Leiden / The Netherlands
productsafety@degruyterbrill.com