medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Dear Christopher!
Thanks for your reply.
>Does he [Abelard] appear in *any* charters, early on?
There is no evidence in the *printed* charters of Paris that Abelard was a
canon at all, or that he held an "officium" at ND. On the other hand, there
are many *indices*, that he did NOT. The sources of a teacher's income in
Paris are unknown. Abelard wasn't rich, his family couldn't give him
support: (Fulco of Deuil: parentum tuorum res familiaris in nullo
subministrabit tibi) It seems that Abaelard lived from school fees and
natural gifts, primarily provided by rich students. A valuable reference
about his income is HC: "et qui divitibus maxime hucusque intenderam,
pauperibus erudiendis amodo studerem... [HC, after castration] Scolares
autem ultro mihi quelibet necessaria preparabant, tam in victu scilicet quam
in vestitu vel cultura agrorum seu in expensis edificiorum, ut nulla me
scilicet a studio cura domestica retardaret...[HC, in the Paraclete]
>Heloise's uncle Fulbert was a canon, but *he* was still a student(?), and
membership in the chapter of Paris was a pretty small club for a boy from
the sticks (even from the lower aristocracy, but lacking serious Parisian
connections, i assume) to be able to break into, seems to me...
The "pretty small club" of ND maintained some 51 prebends, 45 full vote, 6
half vote, so it should have been much more comfortable "to get a job" there
than in a mini-chapter like Angers (30 canons). But in reality, Paris was
very attractive then, and it was a severe problem to get one of the higher
canonries, which were mostly occupied by feudal families ("canon's
heritage": from senior canon to nephew canon).
>As regards Abelard as a "canon" of Notre-Dame, this interpretation derives
from Heloise's words, quoted by Abelard in HC: "te clericum atque
canonicum..." mmmmm... this would seem to be rather clear, would it not ?
At first sight, yes. But H. alluded to A.'s reputation and style of life. In
this context, "clericus" means tonsure, habit and profession for a religious
life, canonicus A.'s social status or perhaps his canonry at Saint-Etienne
in Sens. Fulco of Deuil clearly separated the "canonici liberales" from the
prebendaries of ND: "Plangit liberalium canonicorum ac nobilium clericorum
multitudo..." " Nobiles clerici B. M." was not a general expression, but a
specific term for the prebendaries. It can be found in many documents.
Roscelin of Compiègne used "canonicus" only as epithet, when he talked about
Fulbert: "vero viri illius nobilis et clerici, Parisiensis etiam Ecclesiae
canonici..."
>this distinction between "minor" and "major" canons is not on which i've
come across before --it does not seem to appear in the Chartres documents of
the 11th-13th centuries, unless i overlooked such a reference.
It's a contemporary "papal" bull, describing the classes of the
*prebendaries* of ND: "Illud sane quod apud quosdam clericorum fieri
audivimus, ut videlicet majores prebendarii a minoribus hominia suscipiant,
et huic prohibendum precipimus..." Paschalis II. to the chapter of
Notre-Dame, in Lasteyrie, CG Paris, p. 156. See also: Guérard, Préface XCIX.
>Abelard's chair near Saint-Christophe on the Parvis Notre-Dame (outside the
cloister) i'm not sure what you mean, here. did they set up "chairs"
(literally or figuratively) at specific sites ?
"Chair" is a modern circumscription for "cathedra", "scholae" or
"magisterium", whatever these expressions mean. The story of
Saint-Christophe is a little bit complicated and can't be told completely
here. There are many little mosaic pieces from the known charters, giving a
quite plausible image all together. Here is a short overview: The 11 (!)
subdeaconries of ND were partially associated with some title churches
belonging to ND, including Saint-Christophe. Until 1097, Saint-Christophe,
as church of the "hospitale pauperum", belonged half to the bishop, half to
the archdeacon of Paris. Fulbert was probably installed at Saint-Christophe
in about 1097 by bishop William of Montfort, brother of lovely Bertrada,
shortly before he gave his episcopal right in Saint-Christophe to the
chapter of ND. Probably Fulbert entered the chapter of Notre-Dame then and
became subsequently subdeacon in about 1102. The chair of William of
Champeaux, "conquered" by A.in 1113, was associated with the archdeaconry
of Paris and Saint-Christophe, too. Fulbert lived in a canon house outside
the cloister, next to Saint-Christophe. He was the only canon in Paris then,
who gave his anniversary gift (statio quatuor ferculorum) to the "hospitale
pauperum" vis-à-vis Notre-Dame, which was linked with Saint-Christophe.
Fulbert's gift is quite unusual and unique at this time. The "statio quatuor
ferculorum" was usually placed in front of the house of a dead canon. So
Fulbert's household was probably situated next to the hospital and
Saint-Christophe in the "city" of Paris, where the "newcomers" in the
chapter of ND lived. This was exactly the situation, given by Abelard in HC:
"in ipsa civitate Parisius erat puella nomine Heloysa etc." "In ipsa
civitate" means the city quarter of Paris between the ancient cardo, ND and
the cloister walls. Some lines later in HC: My schools (i. e. William's
former chair) were close to Fulbert's house. In all his writings, A. never
said: "In claustro Beatae Marie..." BTW, the cloister of Notre-Dame was very
restricted for a attractive woman like Heloise (facie not infima).
>former chair of William of Champeaux, which he took over in 1113, had
primarily been linked to the archdeaconry of Paris ... this would have been
Stephen of Garland, at this date, would it not?
No, Stephan was archdeacon of Brie, not of Paris like William of Champeaux.
There were three archeacons at Notre-Dame, the archdeacons of Brie, Josas
and Paris. Stephan resided some meters apart from Notre-Dame, in a double
house or "palace" the northwestern part of the cloister, next to
Saint-Aignan.
>i look forward to seeing what you have to say about Stephen of Garland's
chapel of St. Aignan.
I was not able to check all the references about Saint-Aignan. The date of
foundation is uncertain. At least, it seems quite plausible that this chapel
was integrated in the cloister's wall and could be entered from both sides
(cloister and city district), so it *may* have been the wedding chapel of A
and H . Another important episode concerning the story of Abelard (and Saint
Bernard) may have taken place in Saint-Aignan, tto, but this is part of an
upcoming work and it's too early to talk about it.
>also unknown to me at Chartres, though there were, of course, _ex officio_
canonries in the cathedral chapter granted to the abbots of various
Chartrain monasteries (St. John's, St. Peter's, St. Cheron's, etc.) ; but
whether or not these involved a "beneficium" (which i take to mean an actual
payment from the _fisc_ (or whatever) of the chapter i've never been able to
determine.
In Paris, the situation was quite similar. But it was Saint-Victor, which
collected most of the Parisian prebends or canonries, e. g. from ND itself ,
from Sainte-Geneviève or Saint-Marcel (where I *believe* A.'s colleague
Gilbert de la Porrée was deacon). Most of these privileges were granted by
episcopal, royal and papal charters and combined with feudal rights and
income, e. g. the right of the "annates" and a seat in the associated
chapter.
>Lacking any *specific* documentary evidence, it just seems to me to be
very, very improbable that he [Abelard] held a stall in the choir.
A romantic illusion, indeed!!!
Kind regards
Werner
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