to spend the remainder of her life. It does not appear that Abélard and
Héloïse ever saw each other at this time, although he used every means
in his power to provide for her safety and comfort. This was in 1129.
Two years later the Paraclete was confirmed to Héloïse by a Papal bull.
It remained a convent, and a famous one, for over six hundred years.

After this Abélard paid several visits to the convent, which he justly
regarded as his foundation, in order to arrange a rule of life for its
inmates, and to encourage them in their vocation. Although on these
occasions he saw nothing of Héloïse, he did not escape the malignant
suspicions of the world, nor of his own flock, which now became more
unruly than ever,--so much so that he was compelled to live outside the
monastery. Excommunication was tried in vain, and even the efforts of a
Papal legate failed to restore order. For Abélard there was nothing but
"fear within and conflict without." It was at this time, about 1132,
that he wrote his famous 'Historia Calamitatum,' from which most of the
above account of his life has been taken. In 1134, after nine years of
painful struggle, he definitely left St. Gildas, without, however,
resigning the abbotship. For the next two years he seems to have led a
retired life, revising his old works and composing new ones.

Meanwhile, by some chance, his 'History of Calamities' fell into the
hands of Héloïse at the Paraclete, was devoured with breathless
interest, and rekindled the flame that seemed to have smoldered in her
bosom for thirteen long years. Overcome with compassion for her husband,
for such he really was, she at once wrote to him a letter which reveals
the first healthy human heart-beat that had found expression in
Christendom for a thousand years. Thus began a correspondence which, for
genuine tragic pathos and human interest, has no equal in the world's
literature. In Abélard, the scholarly monk has completely replaced the