The Life of an Early Feminist
The belief that women are inherently submissive and incapable of higher thinking has prevailed for millennia. In 2020, most of us know that women and men are equally able to successfully fill intellectual roles within society. Heloise d’Arugeneuil was ahead of her time in understanding and advocating for the recognition of the female mind. She was a powerful, intelligent and deeply religious woman who challenged traditional notions of femininity in medieval society. As a strong woman of the church, one would assume that she should be quiet, obedient and accept her alleged inferiority to men. However, Heloise broke the bounds of what an abbess represented.
It is in Heloise’s upbringing that we find explanations for the divergent thinking she displayed as an adult. At a young age, she became the ward of her uncle, Fulbert, a cleric and canon of Notre Dame in Paris. He took note of her intellect early on and ensured she was properly educated, in spite of her gender. Historians report that Heloise was Fulbert’s ‘pride and joy’, suggesting he possessed a deep level of adoration for his young niece. Heloise was trained in the classics, understood Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and studied mathematics. Thus, it is no surprise that esteemed American historian Smith describes her one of the most learned women in France of the 12th century. In the year 1113 C.E, at the age of sixteen or seventeen, Heloise became the pupil of Peter Abelard. There’s undeniable irony in that through recognising her intellect and ensuring her education, Fulbert led Heloise directly into the arms of the man who would lead her astray from the church she was raised in and strengthen her feminist beliefs.
No historian can quite agree on the nature of the relationship between Peter Abelard and Heloise d’Argenteuil. Some suggest that in her sensual love letters, Heloise enjoyed being seductive and flirtatious. Heloise herself stated that she “took secret pleasure in being admired by a man who, when he pleased, could raise his mistress to the character of a goddess.” A woman daring to disclose her desires? Shock! Horror! This was completely unheard of in medieval society. However, in 2020 we’d have some serious issues with Peter Abelard. He stated, in a private letter, that he “frequently forced [her] consent […] by threats and blows”. It doesn’t take a university degree to identify this as an unapologetic confession to abuse and rape. Heloise’s reoccurring experiences of sexual assault by her lover Abelard cannot be used to distort her image as an early feminist. Rather, they serve as a reminder that sexual abuse has existed throughout all of history and even powerful intellectual woman can be affected by it.
What really carves Heloise into the walls of feminist history are the beliefs she held regarding marriage, menstruation and the role of women in medieval society. She was a revolutionary. While it was commonplace for women to be married as teenagers, Heloise strongly opposed the practice of marriage. In a letter to Abelard, she expressed her views, proclaiming, “-I knew that the name of wife was honourable in the world and holy in religion; yet the name of your mistress had greater charms because it was more free.” She chose freedom over marriage, disregarding the virtues she associated with being a wife. Very few women of her time experienced freedom, and powerful woman of religion and politics, such as abbesses and Queens, were few and far between.
In her third letter to Abelard, Heloise boldly discussed menstruation and confided in him her discomfort with the lack of consideration for it in the Benedictine rule. She declared that it needed to “better accommodate” the materiality of women’s bodies. It was distasteful to make mention of the menstrual cycle in medieval society, but Heloise’s letters reveal that she recognised this aversion as blatant sexism.
Heloise changed the course of history. Her feminism challenged medieval gender stereotypes and her legacy has evolved throughout history alongside the slowly changing attitudes towards women. At the close of the 12th century, the power of abbesses was reduced significantly and covenants were separated from monasteries. It was not till contemporary historians studied her writings and accounts that her revolutionary beliefs were recognised and applauded.
The belief that women should be equal to men in society has not only existed in the past couple of centuries. Feminism is timeless.
