Abelard: A Medieval Life

"A great book, 'unique' like its hero" Jaques Le Goff, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Science Sociales

"A crowning achievement of writing medieval history in our generation." John W. Baldwin, John Hopkins University

"Michael Clanchy's book will rank for some time as the best scholarly biography of Abelard. It is a compelling and convincing account that draws together the many disparate facets of the life of one of the most energetic minds and personalities of the twelfth century, or indeed of the Middle Ages." Times Literary Supplement

"It takes a touch of genius to bring a twelfth-century intellectual to life in this way." The English Historical Review

"The new biography by Michael Clanchy ... [is now] the standard historical study of Abelard's life. It is a work of great energy and insight ... It also provides analyses based on a thorough knowledge of Abelard and Abelard studies, that are as stimulating as they are provocative." The Medieval Review, August 1999

"Here is a fresh and central reconstruction of Abelard as a person, based on the research and text editions of previous decades, that puts him at the very center of medieval life and culture and thus makes him relevant for our own times." Revue d'histoire ecclesiastique

"This marvelous book about one of the most controversial and interesting of twelfth-century men deserves the warmest welcome...It will surely establish itself and maintain a place for many years, as an accessible and balanced assessment of Abelard ..." Reviews in History

"This book is much more than a life of Abelard: it is also an excellent survey of the twelfth century, which, while remaining faithful to the highest standards of scholarship, reads much like a good novel. This is a rare case indeed: a book with much to offer to specialists and beginners, which can also be recommended to historians and theologians alike." Theological Studies

"This is one of the half-dozen best books ever written about the European Middle Ages. M.T. Clanchy integrates ecclesiastical, cultural, and social history, and the biography of a great mind and academic with depth of learning, subtlety of insight, and skillful and at times elegant writing that are rarely seen among medievalists ... My only regret is that I came to the end of it too quickly. I would gladly have remained immersed in Abelard and Heloise and their world for another two or three hundred pages ... Clanchy's Aberlard will stay with you and haunt your sensibility and imagination." American Historical Review

"Clanchy has performed a valuable service in bringing together often difficult and specialised scholarship into accessible form for the general reader." Journal of Religious History