Even as Abelard was assisting Heloise with the Paraclete, his life was changing yet again; after more than five years as abbot, he left the unruly monks at Saint Gildas and once again returned to teaching in Paris. Well-known twelfth-century intellectual John of Salisbury writes that he heard Abelard’s lectures at Saint Genevieve in 1136, although it seems likely that Abelard had returned to Paris a few years before then, perhaps around 1133. Saint Genevieve was outside the actual city limits of Paris, and, therefore, Abelard as master was beyond the jurisdictional reach of the bishop of Paris. Abelard’s return to Paris at this time was probably precipitated by the return once again to royal favor— this time as chancellor—of his patron and protector, Stephen of Garlande in late 1132. The school was located on land that belonged to the abbey of which Stephen of Garlande was dean, which perhaps gave Abelard the confidence to take up the role of schoolmaster once again. Abelard had not been a master in Paris for about 15 years, and in the intervening period, the city had become a beacon of learning for masters and students alike. John of Salisbury writes that students were drawn to Abelard as the most exciting and accomplished teacher—that he was famous and admired by all. Abelard’s return to Paris marks likely his longest period of uninterrupted teaching. From about 1133 to about 1140, he was probably teaching logic and theology, and this time, although his students were as enthusiastic about their charismatic master as ever, Abelard’s rival teachers, while probably not in accord with many of his ideas—he was refining his ideas on the Trinity—did not attack him as Alberic had in 1121. This time, the attacks on Abelard would come not from the masters of the schools but from William of Saint Thierry, Thomas of Morigny, and Bernard, the powerful abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Clairvaux.
World History
