Birth of Peter Abelard

February 1, 1079

A Breton minor knight's son was born near Nantes who would grow up to become the most brilliant and abrasive philosopher of his generation, seducing his pupil Heloise, being castrated by her uncle's thugs, and writing logical treatises that pushed scholastic theology toward new rigor in Paris. His letters with Heloise remain the most passionate and intellectually searching love correspondence of the entire Middle Ages.