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PERIPATETICUS PALATINUS (21) Abelard responded to Heloise's letter with some difficulty. Simply to have got the matter off her chest may have been some relief to Heloise, because in her next letter she is much calmer. She asks Abelard if he can at least give her something else to think about. She asks him specifically for two things: first, a history of the order of nuns. Abelard supplied this; it is not generally considered to be one of his more interesting works. Heloise's second request deserves to be quoted at length: ' . . . that you will prescribe some Rule for us and write it down, a Rule which shall be suitable for our women, and also describe fully the manner and habit of our way of life, which we find was never done by the holy Fathers. Through lack and need of this it is the practice today for men and women alike to be received into monasteries to profess the same Rule, and the same yoke of monastic ordinance is laid on the weaker sex as on the stronger. At present the one Rule of St Benedict is professed in the Latin Church by women equally with men, although, as it was clearly written by men alone, it can only be fully obeyed by men . . .' She points out that, as everybody knows, it is practically impossible for a woman to get drunk. She cites Macrobius and Aristotle as authorities for this statement. This is because women's bodies have more holes than men's. 'Through these holes the fumes of wine are quickly released.' That being so, was there any chance of a drop more wine in the daily allowance? A bit more meat in the diet would also be welcome; not the thing for monks, of course, but harmless and necessary to support the infirmity of the weaker sex. She also fancied wearing linen next to the skin, like Augustinian Canons, not the rough cloth worn by monks. Abelard may have had that request in mind when he made provision for the burial of his nuns: 'The body of the dead woman must then be washed at once by the sisters, clad in some cheap but clean garment and stockings, and laid on a bier, the head covered by the veil . . . The burial of an abbess [and of course, Heloise was the abbess] shall have only one feature to distinguish it from that of others: her entire body shall be wrapped only in a hair-shirt and sewn up in this as in a sack.' Gotcha! * * * * * The Supple Doctor By the way: I shall be suspending my e-mail at Easter as I pay a visit to my mother-in-law in Londonderry, New Hampshire. She lives within striking distance of Boston, Mass and I wonder if any cyberchums would like to get together to clink a foaming tankard or two? Also we shall pay a call on Sister Susie who lives in Guilford,Ct. - not too far from New Haven. Any of my fellow Yalies, or others in the area, fancy something similar? %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%