Despite her opposition, Heloise and Abelard were married, although to maintain the secrecy of the marriage, the couple remained apart and rarely saw each other. Fulbert had agreed to keep the marriage a secret, but he began to speak openly about the union, which Heloise continued to deny vehemently, no doubt hoping to protect Abelard. Realizing that Heloise would not corroborate his (true) story, Fulbert reacted angrily. To protect Heloise from her uncle’s abuse, Abelard suggested that Heloise flee to the convent of Argenteuil where she had been educated and that she should be clothed as a nun, although he is careful to point out in his Historia that she did not wear a veil. To retreat to a monastery, but not as a nun who had taken monastic vows, was not unusual. Men and women in religious houses often were of diverse status; some lived within the walls and followed the rules of the monastery, but they need not have taken monastic vows and perhaps never intended to do so. While she was thus safely away from her uncle’s anger, Abelard continued to visit her in Argenteuil, although privacy was not afforded to the couple and Abelard discloses in a later letter that at one time they made love in a corner of the refectory, the hall where the community took their meals. He also writes that he forced himself upon her against her will.
In Paris, Fulbert was enraged because he believed that Abelard intended to set Heloise aside by forcing her into the convent, thereby freeing himself of the inconvenient marriage. In 1117, Fulbert sought vengeance for the perceived insult. He arranged to have Abelard attacked by a group of men while he slept. Abelard was brutally beaten and castrated, in effect ending his luminous career in Paris as a master. The brutality of the act, not to mention its illegality, was shocking even in those times. Abelard writes in his Histo-ria that his own reaction was one of shame, because he had given over to lust and carnal pursuits, and humiliation, because he was now a eunuch. He was certain that God was justified in delivering the severe punishment. The attackers were men closely associated with Fulbert; two of them were subsequently caught, castrated, and blinded. After the crime, Fulbert himself suffered a brief period of disgrace and forfeited his property temporarily. With their marriage effectively ended by the castration, Abelard asked Heloise to become a nun at the convent in Argenteuil, where she eventually became the prioress. Out of shame rather than religious conviction, Abelard became a monk.
World History
