J.-A. Benouville table entitled "Abelard talking to his students near Melun, 1837, Pinakothek in Munich
If we hear most often by a common heritage or monuments department, it can also take a more intangible such as language, music, culture and links with prominent figure in history. Also, beyond the buildings, it is common to associate a city or village with a character whose past will fall upon the streets he once walked. Thus we will link La Fontaine at Chateau-Thierry, Meaux Bossuet or Gaston Phoebus in Foix.
links between Peter Abelard's intellectual early twelfth century, famous for its history with Heloise and Seine-et-Marne are many. Of course talk of the Seine-et-Marne for a character in the twelfth century did not make much sense but at least two cities can boast of having hosted the brilliant thinker. First Melun, then in the royal domain, where Abelard moved as a teacher in 1102 before Corbeil then moving on to return in 1109 after many vicissitudes. Perhaps that the choice of the name of the library of the city (known as the Astrolabe) is no stranger to this historical fact puisqu'Astrolabe is also the name of the son of Abelard and Heloise. The second city could be Provins (then in the county of Champagne) in which Abelard took refuge after his flight from the Abbey of St. Denis in 1122, shortly before founding the Paraclete. If the two cities have a street dedicated to Abelard, however, be noted that neither the one nor the other does make a massive celebration: on the website of the Mayor of Melun it is mentioned in a list of writers who have stayed in the city while the site of Provins does not even quote. Note, however, that his presence here is posted on the site of the departmental archives of Seine-et-Marne in the "local Figures.
is curiously a small village between Meaux and Coulommiers Maisoncelles-en-Brie, which seeks to register as Peter Abelard in his heritage. It all began in 1845 with the publication by Charles de Remusat the first biography of Abelard and a note that the author slips on a passage from his autobiography ( The story of my misfortunes ) Could not be more vague . In 1120, Abelard, then a monk at the Abbey of Saint-Denis, moved out of the monastery to resume his education. Himself said: "I finally retire to a sanctuary ( ad cellam quamdam , sometimes translated as" priory "or as" monk's cell) and resumed my teaching habits. My classes attracted such a crowd of students that fail to place the house and land to feed them. "Later he says that this place was on the lands of Count Theobald (so in Champagne). The original and contemporary sources do not say more about this place of education. In his text, Charles Remusat resumed identification made - without explanation - by the editor of Volume XIV Series Historians Gallic containing the story of Abelard. Following the words "ad quamdam cella", he inserts a note containing a word: "Maisoncelle" without qualification. Remusat therefore used for his book but not without suspicion
"D. Brial only said that this place is Maisoncelle. There is in the department of Seine-et-Marne several villages of that name. The place where Abelard lived [...] may or Maisoncelle borough and township of Coulsdon, or rather Maisoncelles Township Villiers-Saint-Georges in the arrondissement of Provins "(NB. auj. in the town of Saint-Martin-du-Bochet).
We see clearly that this is an assumption that does not completely convinces Remusat and it prefers to place located near Provins, that is to say closer to the Count of Champagne, which has established itself as protector of Abelard. Here we see the little consideration that the historian may grant the proposed identification: the word "cella" of the original text being found in the place name and Maisoncelles Maisoncelles originally belonging to the abbey of Saint-Denis, it was concluded that Abelard had stayed The ... wire is thin but tenacious especially when a scholar of the late nineteenth century, Gabriel's Chaffault, publishes a book entitled Mesoncelles-en-Brie, a dependency of the abbey of Saint-Denis - Abelard and Heloise (1894). Taking the assumption that his writing is no longer one of his two predecessors, it links the village to the final figure of Abelard in the only monograph devoted to the town.
However, for any specialist that time, the error is gross. On the one hand the link between the Latin word used by Abelard (which actually refers to a dwelling place of religion in a broad sense) and name of the village can not be a tangible proof. In addition, Peter Abelard in the same passage says that the success of its reduced during "those of all other teachers," meaning that it is so close (or in) a city with several teachers, what does is probably not the case of a village in rural Brie. It is for this reason that historians of the twelfth century as Michael Clanchy and John Benton prefer to imagine a place close to Paris or around Nogent-sur-Seine (for explanation see: M. Clanchy, Abelard, Paris, 2000, p. 284). Add to this a compelling argument related the local context: Maisoncelles occurs at this period in the forest of Le Mans, Meaux between forest and Coulommiers now virtually disappeared. This is also from here that the locality takes its name: the "Home" Maisoncelles, as for the nearby town of Upper House, indeed refers to the name of the forest of Le Mans. However, this forest is cleared only from the thirteenth century. It was around 1220-1230 that the parish of Upper House for example is created. It's the same for Maisoncelles. Until now the monks of St. Denis had the rights over a portion of the forest and clearing allows the emergence of new village communities (Including revenue sharing is negotiated, as evidenced by the few charters cartulary of the cathedral chapter of Meaux). We can therefore say with certainty that no Maisoncelles early twelfth century Abelard and therefore could not settle there with his students. For the historian, he must resolve to some hypotheses that remain uncertain ...
Yes, but here, the books and Remusat Chaffault have their effect. The village of Maisoncelles is now widely associated with Peter Abelard: there is such a "street Castle of Abelard and Heloise" (as legend has it that the two lovers there are located), and a retirement home "Heloise and Abelard." In October 2009, the municipality has even opened the new school under the patronage of 'Peter Abelard. " The website of the Mayor spends a long page the general character, even specifying them wrote letters Abelard to Heloise!
It is well here against the heritage of a historic mistake. For the common Maisoncelles highlights a character who has probably never set foot on its territory. We may, from this case, reflect on the current role of the historian. The art historian is made of assumptions that need to explore, confirm or deny. However, the public expects the historian a link between the present and the past, a solid foundation for the establishment of a tradition, a heritage, a memory. Admittedly, the historian can not change its working methods. By cons, it is important to explain to the uninitiated how we make history and to understand the hypothetical part of this human science.
To conclude the adventures of Peter Abelard in Seine-et-Marne, I would point out another phenomenon. Indeed, the presence of Abelard to Maisoncelles revealed by the book by Gabriel Chaffault seems to have penetrated a little in the oral tradition of the surrounding communities. I recently read notes left by an amateur historian and folklorist, Gerard Mourlet, who worked on the village of Quincy-Voisins in the 60s. Here's what he reports: "Mrs. D. .. Germaine tells us that the Cross would Segy put on the very site of a convent and Abelard would come to rest." Segy is a hamlet in Quincy-Voisins, a town situated about ten kilometers from Maisoncelles. There never was a monastery there and it is highly unlikely that the husband of Heloise has come to stay but that note, however, prevents patrimonialization a future ...
