The Epistolae Duorum Amantium, Abelard, and Heloise: An Annotated Concordance

Abstract

This concordance juxtaposes passages from the Epistolae duorum amantium with passages from the authentic writings of Abelard and Heloise which have clear resonance with the anonymously transmitted love letters. The accumulated evidence of authorship by Abelard and Heloise is considerable. At the same time the flaws in argumentation of the most prominent and vocal deniers of the ascription leave the current state of the question clear: authorship by Abelard and Heloise is probable; few arguments of substance opposing that claim remain. The texts juxtaposed here do not prove authorship by Abelard and Heloise conclusively, but they more than justify placing them in the foreground as the legitimate focus of study of the question, who wrote the Epistolae duorum amantium.