The Tomb of Abelard and Héloïse

The first tomb to visit in Père-Lachaise is the shared grave of Abelard and Héloïse. Héloïse was a French woman who lived in the early to mid 12th century. She was well versed in the classics in Latin, Hebrew and Greek, was a gifted writer, and served as abbess of a convent. Wanting the best education for his remarkably bright niece, Héloïse's uncle entrusted her to Abelard, a famous philosopher of the day. Abelard fell in love with her.

Born into a military family, Abelard had such intellectual curiosity that he became a scholar. At 22 he pointed out an error made by his own teacher and founded a school of his own, and at 35 he became a professor at the Notre-Dame cathedral school, where no one of his day could match his writing. But at 39, the moment he met 17-year-old Héloïse, he lost all reason. Abelard was famous but had no means, and when their relationship came to light, Héloïse, already pregnant, refused to marry him because she feared it would damage his reputation.

The couple fled together to Brittany, where their child was born, then returned to Paris and married in secret. Héloïse's uncle, outraged, had men inflict a terrible injury on Abelard. Abelard shut himself away in a monastery out of shame, and Héloïse spent the rest of her life in a convent. Years later, she came across a letter Abelard had written to a friend and got in touch, but the two never met again.

The letters they exchanged were later published as a book. They are an important source on the romances of the era and are regarded as literature of great merit. Abelard, the older of the two, died first, and Héloïse buried him near the convent where she worked and tended his grave. After her death, people are said to have laid her to rest alongside him. After being separated, rejoined and moved several times, the tomb arrived at Père-Lachaise in 1817. The two died in 1142 and 1164 respectively, and theirs are the oldest graves in the cemetery.