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the words and ideas they sent a shiver down my spine. Unfortunately, that has been attacked as evidence of an emotional response," he said. "There has been some very quick stereotyping of other people's arguments." Most Latin experts agree the document is authentic and of great literary worth, but its uniqueness makes some scholars suspicious. "The most probable explanation is that it is a literary work written by one person who decided to reconstitute the writings of
Abelard and Heloise," Goullet said. Others say it was a stylistic exercise between two students who imagined themselves as the lovers, or that it was written by another couple. Mews has since discovered further textual parallels between the letters and the writings of Abelard which further support his arguments, included in
143:. The letters, ascribed simply to a man and woman, survived because a 15th-century monk copied them for an anthology. Having spent some 20 years studying Abelard's philosophical and theological writings, Mews concluded that the letters (the longest known correspondence between a man and a woman from the medieval period) were written by Abelard and Heloise. In 2005 the historian
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University. "If we had proof that it was
Abelard and Heloise then everyone would calm down. But the current position among literature scholars is that we are shocked by too rapid an attribution process." But after his years of research, Mews is all the more convinced. "The first time I encountered
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Whether the letters were indeed the actual correspondence became a matter of intense scholarly debate in France. Mews and other scholars who support the authenticity case say all the evidence in and around the text points to
Abelard and Heloise. Opponents say that is too simple and want definitive
67:. He won the Trenwith Cup for History, the Taylor Cup for languages, the Arthur Bolland Cup for English and was the Dux equal (with Richard Segedin) of the college in his final year at St Peter's College in 1971.
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proof. They reject accusations of tunnel vision and deny they are motivated by professional envy at not having got there first. "It's not jealousy, it's a question of method," said
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on editing the writings of Peter
Abelard. Mews took up a position at Monash University as Lecturer in the Department of History in July 1987. He became involved in developing the
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and in promoting studies in religion more generally, with a strong interest in interfaith work. He has had spells of study at the
Institute for Advanced Study,
187:"The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard: Perceptions of Dialogue in Twelfth-Century France", Palgrave MacMillan, New York, 1999; 2nd edition, 2008.
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and completed BA and MA degrees there in
History. He carried out doctoral study at the
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200:"Discussing Love: The Epistolae duorum amantium and Abelard's Sic et Non",
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Discussing Love: The
Epistolae duorum amantium and Abelard’s Sic et Non
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Jane
Sullivan, "Scholars turn medieval letters into a lovers' tiff",
193:"Cicero and the Boundaries of Friendship in the Twelfth Century",
240:(3rd ed.). Christchurch: Nota Bene Music. pp. 105–106.
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Monash
University, Constant Mews, profile and major Publications
190:"Abelard and Heloise", New York, Oxford University Press, 2005.
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Cicero and the
Boundaries of Friendship in the Twelfth Century
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Corresponding Fellows of the Medieval Academy of America
180:"Reason and Belief in the Age of Roscelin and Abelard",
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Fellows of the Australian Academy of the Humanities
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369:People educated at St Peter's College, Auckland
286:The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard
162:Abelard and Heloise, Great Medieval Thinkers
137:The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard
121:École des hautes études en sciences sociales
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55:and brother of musician and organist
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123:. He was elected a Fellow of the
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262:"Fellow Profile: Constant Mews"
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173:"Abelard and his Legacy",
202:Journal of Medieval Latin
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236:Norman, Philip (1991).
135:In 1999 Mews published
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99:research fellow at the
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77:University of Auckland
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27:(born 1954), D.Phil (
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312:Abelard and Heloise
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97:Leverhulme
47:Early life
127:in 2005.
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109:Princeton
91:, at the
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299:The Age
57:Douglas
41:Heloise
271:30 May
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195:Viator
113:Paris
273:2024
242:ISBN
29:Oxon
24:FAHA
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