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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture > and something that purports to be a cellar. Do we know > the date and purpose of these buildings? Dear Marjorie You are asking questions, very interesting for an Abelardian, but I fear that a description of all the buildings situated at the Paraclete would require many pages and thereby exceed the patience of the other list-members. At least, I can tell you that most buildings of "la ferme" or "la basse-cour" date from the 15/16th century. The enclosure war fortified during the religious wars, at the same time, when the peasants' houses south the Paraclete were destroyed. During this period, about two hundred farmers, now living inside the farm, defended the Paraclete. Jeanne de Chabot, the abbess of the Paraclete, commanded these people, "tous bons soldatz et gens de coeur, pour mettre en garnison en sondit monastère..." The result: "....lesdis reistres n'y entrerent point". Surprisingly, the courageous abbess converted to Protestantism, later. The most ancient building within the farm area is "le cellier aux moins", dating partially from the 12th century, i.e. from the very beginning. By the way, the traditional name "aux moins" reflects that there were "fratres" at the Paraclete. These "men" are described by many documents, throughout the centuries: Laymen, "converses", priests, confessors, even administrators etc. But there was never an abbot at the Paraclete. This fact was often misinterpreted as H's deviation from A's rule for the Paraclete. There is a very simple reason why H and her (female) successors couldn't found a real double monastery intended by Abelard. The agricultural income of the Paraclete (la Champagne sèche!) was always very modest and restricted. For several times, the Paraclete nuns suffered from severe poverty, even hunger. The number of nuns seldom exceeded the number of 20. By the way, Abelard had recommended to restrain the number of nuns, as he knew about the risks of a wealthy and overcrowded convent. Due to the lack of facilities, H. was caused to found all the priories of the Paraclete, during her lifetime. But this is another story.... If you want to know more about the history of the Paraclete - and you can't read my Paraclete website - see: Willocx, Albert, Abélard, Héloise et le Paraclet, Librairie Bleue, Troyes, 1996. The booklet is not always exact in detail, but it gives a nice synopsis. Kind regards Werner ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html