Review

General Books

The twelfth-century abbess Heloise once chided her husband, the philosopher, logician, and monk Peter Abelard, for putting her name before his own in an epistolary greeting, violating the rules of salutation that placed a superior before an inferior. It is appropriate that Constant Mews follows Abelard in placing Heloise's name first in the title of this work, in which Mews argues not only for the ascription of previously anonymous letters to the famous separated lovers, but also for their contribution to Heloise's reputation as a writer, scholar, and philosopher. The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard answers affirmatively the question posed by Ewald Könsgen in the title of his 1974 Epistolae duorum amantium. Briefe Abaelards und Heloises?, an edition of anonymous love letters from the twelfth century copied by the Cistercian monk Johannes de Vepria in 1471. Mews argues that the anonymous letters discovered by Könsgen were indeed written by Abelard and Heloise throughout their approximately year-long affair. They thus provide an important complement to the interpretations of their relationship in Abelard's Historia calamitatum (c.1132) and in letters exchanged by the lovers years after their entry into the religious life, first published by Jean de Meun (d.1305) in The Romance of the Rose. In presenting his case, Mews reiterates his belief in the long-debated authenticity of those later letters and, more importantly, amplifies one of the voices of medieval educated women that have been "all too easily lost." (p.177)	1
The first section of the book states the evidence for Abelard and Heloise's authorship, particularly by locating the letters in the context of the social and cultural worlds of twelfth-century Paris. Mews considers how the course of their affair was influenced by secular and ecclesiastical politics, specifically battles for power among prominent families and the drive for clerical reform. He discusses contemporary verse and prose debates about love between men and women, demonstrating that this anonymous Latin correspondence was not unusual. Mews then details the linguistic, stylistic, and conceptual similarities between the anonymous letters and the confirmed writings by Abelard and Heloise. Finally, Mews considers how the earlier letters expand our knowledge of the pair as lovers and intellectuals. He notes the divide that the letters disclose between their conceptions of love, as Heloise pondered with sophisticated subtlety the affinities among the Ovidian amor, the Ciceronian dilectio, and the Biblical caritas. The second section provides facing-page English translation of Könsgen's Latin edition of the collection.	2
Mews's case for authorship rests most firmly on textual grounds. His presentation of common language, ideas, and references in the anonymous and the ascribed letters is persuasive. But as Mews admits, the absence of detail in the anonymous letters prevents us from fixing them confidently in the known chronology of Abelard and Heloise's relationship. His attempts to read events into vague references in the letters can be awkward, such as the theory that the woman's claim of "great exultation" in her penultimate letter denotes Heloise's pregnancy with their son Astralabe.	3
That lack of anchoring detail makes the letters less suitable for teaching. For secondary-school students and undergraduates, the Historia calamitatum and the later letters serve as a better introduction to Abelard and Heloise and to high-medieval culture. Despite these gifted lovers' gorgeous and ingenious imagery ("to a reddening rose under the spotless whiteness of lilies"), the letters' insularity and opacity do not offer an accessible portal for younger students. As these earlier letters chiefly furnish greater insight into women's writing and education in the twelfth century, and the development of Abelard's philosophy and Heloise's influence upon it, they are more appropriate for students with a greater background in medieval history. The original text of the letters offers upper-level students with knowledge of Latin engaging examples of twelfth-century writing on love. The expressiveness and originality with which Heloise and Abelard addressed each other, including their use of metrical verse and rhyming prose, offer challenging but rewarding exercises in translation and in using primary sources. The index helpfully includes several terms in Latin with their English equivalents, distinguishing their appearances in Mews's study, in the letters written by the man, and in those by the woman. This facilitates students' examination of how the same word could bear diverse meanings and functions in the Latin of Abelard and of Heloise. Regardless of their authorship, these letters contribute well to our understanding of the intellectual community of high-medieval Paris and of Latin literature on love. Yet Mews's careful analysis also allows us to glimpse two brilliant lovers during the brief time when their passionate confidence in language and intellect was still matched by their confidence in the fate of their love.	4
University of Notre Dame Christine Caldwell

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