A letter from Peter Abelard (1133-37)

Translated letter:

To the Nuns of the Paraclete In his great concern for the virgins of Christ and their instruction, and in his writings for their edification, the blessed Jerome strongly recommended the study of sacred literature, encouraging them in this study by both word and example. I have in mind what he said by way of advising the monk Rusticus: “Love the knowledge of Scripture and you will not love the vices of the flesh.” Indeed, he regarded the love of study as especially appropriate to women, since they are naturally weaker and physically more susceptible than men. Nor was this advice meant only for virgins, as he noted in comparing their studies with the no less important examples offered by widows and married women. As an inspiration to the brides of Christ in this study of Scripture, the example of lay women’s virtue should banish the nuns’ lethargy or arouse them from it. Since, as St. Gregory says, “we begin with the lesser in order to reach the greater,” Jerome was pleased to begin by noting how diligently little girls undertook the study of sacred literature. If I may pass over other remarks of his, he conveyed their essence in his advice to Laeta regarding the instruction of her daughter, Paula, and the molding of her character. Jerome: This is how a soul must be trained that is to become a temple of God. Have a set of letters made for her of boxwood or ivory, and tell her their names. Let her play with them, making play a path to learning, and let her not only grasp the correct order of the letters and remember their names in a simple song, but also upset their order and mix the last letters with the middle ones, the middle with the first. When she begins to press the stylus in the wax with a shaky hand, either have someone’s hand placed over hers to guide it or else have the letters marked out on the tablet so that her writing may follow their outlines and keep to their limits without wandering away. Reward her with prizes for spelling, tempting her with the little gifts young children love. She should have companions in her lessons as well, so that she may try to rival them and be stimulated by any praise they win. Do not scold her if she is a little slow; praise is the mind’s best sharpener. Let her be happy when she is first, and sad when she falls behind. Above all, be careful not to make her lessons unattractive; a childish dislike often lasts beyond childhood. The words she will use to practice making sentences should not be picked at random but carefully chosen and purposefully arranged. For example, let her take the names of the prophets and the apostles along with the entire list of the patriarchs from Adam forward, as recorded by Matthew and Luke; making two lists at the same time will help her to remember them afterward. You should choose as her teacher a man of suitable age, life, and learning. Even a wise person is not ashamed, I think, to do for a relative or for a noble virgin what Aristotle did for Philip’s son when, like a humble clerk, he taught Alexander his first letters. Nothing should be despised as trifling, if without it great results are impossible without it. The very letters themselves, and so the first lesson about them, sound differently when they are spoken by a learned man rather than by a peasant. Children should never learn what they will later have to unlearn. The first impression made on a young mind is hard to eradicate. Greek history tells us that the mighty King Alexander, who subdued the whole world, could not rid himself of the tricks of manner and movement that in his childhood he had picked up from his tutor. Abelard paraphrases Jerome’s text: To help the child commit to memory the pronunciation of Scripture, a certain amount of reading should be assigned every day for memorizing. Attention should be given to the study not only of Latin, but also of Greek, because both are commonly spoken in Rome, and especially because the Scriptures had been translated from Greek into Latin, so that the pupil can know them better from their origins and can understand them more truly. (For the Latin world had not yet begun the translation of Hebrew Truth). Then Jerome said: Let her repeat to you every day a passage in Scriptures as her assigned task. A good many of these lines she should learn by heart in Greek, but knowledge of the Latin should follow closely after it. If the young child’s lips are not trained from the beginning, the language is spoiled by a foreign accent, and our native tongue debased by alien mistakes. Rather than trusting in jewels or silk let her love the Holy Scriptures, preferring their learned style rather than gilding and Babylonian parchment with elaborate decorations. Let her learn the Psalter first; let her divert herself with these songs, and then she should learn lessons for living from the Proverbs of Solomon. In reading Ecclesiastes, she should become accustomed to trampling underfoot the things of this world; let her follow the examples of virtue and patience she will find in Job. Once she has moved to the Gospels, she should never again let them out of her hands. Let her embrace the Acts of the Apostles and the Epistles with all her heart. As soon as she has enriched her mind’s storehouse with these treasures, she should commit to memory the Prophets, the Heptateuch, the Books of Kings and the Chronicles, and the scrolls of Ezra and Esther. Then at last she may safely read the Song of Songs; if she were to read it first, she might be harmed by not perceiving in its carnal language the song of a spiritual bridal union. She should avoid all of the apochryphal books and if she ever wishes to read them, not for the truth of their teaching but out of respect for their remarkable stories, she should realize that they were not actually written by those to whom they are attributed. They are full of mistakes and great perception is needed in looking for gold in the mud. Let her always keep Cyprian’s works at hand, and explore the letters of Athanasius and the writings of Hilary with assurance. She may take pleasure in the learned commentaries of all those writers who sustain in their books a steady love of the faith. If she reads others, it should be as a critic rather than a follower. You (Laeta) will answer: “How shall I, a woman of the world living among the crowds of men in Rome, be able to watch over her in keeping with all of these injunctions?” But I reply, then do not take up a burden that you cannot carry. After you have weaned Paula, send her to her grandmother and aunt [Paula and Eustochium]. Set this most precious jewel in Mary’s resting-place, and put her in the cradle where Jesus cried. Let her be reared in the company of virgins, in a monastery where she will learn never to take an oath and to regard a lie as sacrilege. Let her reject the world, and live like the angels; let her be in the flesh, without yielding to the fleshly, but thinking everyone else is like herself. In this way she will free you from the difficult task of watching over her, and from all the perils of guardianship. It is better for you to miss her in her absence than to worry every minute about what she is saying, to whom she is speaking, whom she greets, and whom she likes to see. Give Eustochium this little child, whose crying is now a prayer in your behalf, to be her companion today, and to inherit her sanctity in the years to come. Let her look upon and love, ‘let her from her first years admire,’ one whose words and movement and dress are an education in virtue. Let her sit on the lap of her grandmother [Paula], whom long experience has taught how to rear, instruct, and watch over virgins. After Anna brought to the tabernacle the son whom she had promised to God, she never took him back again. If you will send us Paula, I undertake to be both her tutor and her foster-father. I shall carry her on my shoulders and my old tongue shall train her stammering lips. I shall take more pride in my task than did the worldly philosopher [Aristotle]. For I shall not be teaching a Macedonian king, fated to die by poison in Babylon, but a handmaid and bride of Christ, destined to be offered the celestial throne. Abelard to the nuns of the Paraclete: Consider, dearest sisters in Christ, and likewise you lay sisters, how much care this great doctor of the Church gave to the education of one little girl, diligently planning the whole so as to answer in detail the needs of teaching, beginning with the alphabet itself. Not only did he go on to the pronunciation of syllables and the joining together of letters as well as the writing of texts. He also provided for young companions whose envy and praise he emphasized very strongly. To encourage the child to respond to her studies spontaneously rather than under compulsion, thus moving her to embrace them with greater love, he advised compliments and praise as well as the reward of little presents. He also organized words assembled from Scripture, putting those first that he recommended as the best exercise for her memory, in keeping with Horace’s words: “ The first impression made on young minds is hard to erase.” Jerome carefully described the kind of teacher who should be chosen for this purpose and he did not neglect the fixed amount of reading that, as he explained, should be memorized daily. Although at that time Greek literature was very actively taught in Rome, he did not require his pupil to be expert in it. This was especially, I believe, because translation of the sacred books had passed from the Greeks to us, which made it possible to discern what was missing or different in our translations, and perhaps also because the discipline of the liberal arts made no small contribution to encouraging the quest for perfection in learning. Jerome stressed learning of Latin as the beginning of our mastery. When, however, he progressed from the sound of words to their meaning, and then to the understanding of Scriptures, he distinguished between two kind of books, one containing the Old and New Testaments and the other the lesser commentaries of teachers whose learning aided their study’s progress toward completion. Among the canonical Scriptures he so strongly recommended the Gospels that, he declared, they should never leave the hands of virgins, as if he imposed the reading of the Gospels more strongly on deaconesses than on deacons, since these were obliged only to recite them in church while the women were enjoined never to give up reading them. Then, in case this mother [Laeta] should offer the excuse that no lay woman could carry out a program involving such frequent association with men, he advised her to free herself from this burden, and send her daughter to a community of virgins where she could be educated without danger and instructed in those subjects of which he had spoken. Finally, so as not to lose an opportunity for the kind of teacher he had described, he persuaded Laeta to send the girl from Rome to Jerusalem, to her grandmother, Paula, and her aunt, Eustochium, offering himself at one and the same time as teacher and guide. Wonderful to say, in fulfilling such a promise, this great doctor of the Church, weakened though he was by age, said that he did not disdain carrying the young girl as a burden on his shoulders. This could hardly happen, however, without arousing suspicion among those who were already suspicious, and giving scandal to the religious. But, strengthened by God and by an integrity of life long well known to everyone, Jerome responded confidently that he could teach this one virgin in such a way that in her, he would leave to others a teacher through whom Jerome might teach without being seen as Jerome. But now let us proceed from the younger to the older virgins, whom he always encouraged in literary studies by writing to advise them about what they should read, and by praising them for their constancy in study and learning. We see this in what he wrote to Principia regarding the forty-fourth psalm: I know that I am often much criticized because I sometimes write to women and seem to prefer the more fragile sex to the stronger. So I owe it to my detractors to reply to this charge first and thus I come to the brief discussion that you have requested. If men would seek out the Scriptures, I would not be addressing women. If Baraih had wished to go into battle, Deborah would not have triumphed over the defeated enemy.” Somewhat later he says: Aquila and Priscilla taught Apollo, an apostolic man and very learned in the Law, and instructed him in the way of the Lord. If it was not shameful for an apostle to be taught by a woman, why is it shameful for me to teach women, too, after men? This and its like I have touched on briefly, to ensure that you should not be penalized because of your sex, or those men encouraged who are condemned when the life of women is praised in Holy Scriptures. After virgins, Jerome was pleased to speak admiringly, offering examples and praise, about the abundant progress of widows in the study of sacred literature. Thus, writing to the same virgin, Principia, as she had requested, about the life of the saintly Marcella, Jerome stressed among her distinguished virtues: “Her ardent love for God’s Scriptures surpasses all belief. She was forever singing: ‘Your words have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against you.’ and also the passage about the perfect man: ‘His delight is in the law of the Lord; and on his law he meditates day and night,’ and ‘Through your precepts I have got understanding.’” Lastly Jerome wrote: When the needs of the church brought me also to Rome in company with the holy pontiffs [Paulinus and Epiphanius, respectively of the churches of Syrian Antioch and of Salamis in Cyprus], in my modesty I was inclined to avoid the company of aristocratic ladies. But Marcella was so urgent ‘both in season and out of season’, as the Apostle says (I Tim. 4:12), that her persistence overcame my timidity. At that time I had some reputation as a student of Scriptures, and so she never met me without asking me questions about them. Nor would she ever rest content at once, but would bring forward points on the other side. This was not for the sake of argument, however, but rather so that by questioning she might learn an answer to any objection that, in her view, might be raised. What virtue and intellect, what holiness and purity, I found in her I hesitate to say, both because I would exceed the limits of human belief, and also because I might increase the pain of your grief by reminding you of the blessings you have lost. This alone I shall say: all that I had gathered together by long study and made part of my nature by constant meditation, she first sipped, then learned, and finally took for her own. Consequently, after my departure from Rome, if any argument arose, it was to her verdict that people appealed regarding the testimony of Scriptures. Because Marcella was very prudent, when she was questioned in this way, even if her answers were her own, she said that they came not from her but from me or someone else, claiming that she was a pupil even when she was teaching. Well aware that the Apostle said: ‘I do not allow a woman to teach,’ she did not wish to embarrass the male sex and sometimes even the priests who asked her questions about obscure and doubtful matters. Meanwhile she and I consoled ourselves for our separation by conversing in letters, discharging in the spirit the debt that we could not pay in the flesh. Our letters always crossed, outdone in courtesies, anticipated in greetings. Separation brought no great loss since it was bridged by our continuing correspondence. In the midst of this tranquillity and service to God, there arose in these provinces a tempest that threw everything into confusion, and finally swelled to such heights of madness that it spared neither itself nor anything that was good. As if it were not enough to have disturbed all of our community here, it dispatched a ship laden with blasphemers to the port of Rome. Their muddy feet befouled the clear doctrine of the Roman faith. Finally, our saintly Marcella, who had closed her eyes to all this for a long time, not wishing to assert herself in the conflict, found that the faith once praised by the Apostle was now being endangered in many people, and she came forward openly on my side. Since the heretic was not only drawing to his cause priests, monks, and, above all, lay people, but was even imposing on the simplicity of the bishop, who judged other men by himself, Marcella publicly withstood him, choosing to please God rather than men. It was she who took the first steps in getting the heretics condemned, bringing forward as witnesses those who had first been instructed by them and afterward had seen the error of their heresy. It was she who revealed the numbers of those they had deceived, while she brandished in their faces the impious book, On First Principles, which, as amended by that scorpion (Rufinus), was then openly on view. It was she, finally, who in a succession of letters challenged the heretics to defend themselves. But they did not dare. So strong was their awareness of sin that they preferred to be condemned in their absence rather than to appear and be proved guilty. For this great victory Marcella was responsible. Abelard to the nuns of the Paraclete: You have seen, dearly beloved sisters, how beneficial it was for the city of Rome that heresies were suppressed by the leadership of this woman and her praiseworthy zeal for learning. Concerning the proficiency in sacred studies by which she merited this victory, Jerome recalls this for your encouragement in Book I of his commentary on Paul’s epistle to the Galatians: Indeed, I know how her ardor, her faith, the flame that burns in her breast have moved her to transcend her sex, to forget about men, to make the tympanum of the holy books resound, to pass over the Red Sea of this world. Certainly, when I am in Rome, she never sees me without hastening to ask me something concerning the Scriptures. Yet she follows the Pythagorean custom and does not accept whatever I may answer as correct; authority unsupported by reason does not convince her. But she investigates everything, and weighs it all in her sagacious mind, and thus she makes me feel that I have not so much a pupil as a judge. Abelard continues: Scriptural studies flourished so actively among holy women at that time, just as among men, that they never drew merely upon the rivulets of Scripture. Instead, they sought the sources, believing that a single language was not enough for them. So we have what Jerome said concerning the death of Paula’s daughter Blesilla, writing among other words in her praise: Who could contemplate without weeping the constancy of her prayers, the power of her tongue, the tenacity of her memory, the sharpness of her mind? If you heard her speaking Greek, you would have thought that she did not know Latin. If she turned her tongue to Roman speech, no strange sound would come from her mouth. Now, indeed, with the swiftness marveled at in the case of Origen’s Greek, she had—in a few, I do not say months, but days—so mastered the difficulties of Hebrew that she rivaled her mother in learning Psalms by heart and chanting them. Abelard continues: Indeed, their teacher, Jerome himself, did not surpass Paula and that other daughter of hers, the virgin Eustochium, who was dedicated to God, in the same study of literature and languages. Writing about these in commemorating the life of Paula, he said: No talents were better adapted to study and learning than hers. Slow to speak, swift to learn, she was mindful of the precept: ‘Listen, Israel, and be silent.’ She cherished the Scriptures in her memory, and finally persuaded me to discuss them with her as she read through both Old and New Testaments with her daughter. At first refusing this out of modesty, I was persuaded by her constant insistence and frequent demands that I should teach what I had learned. If I ever hesitated and frankly confessed my ignorance, she would never agree with me, but compelled me to join in questioning, and declaring which among many and diverse opinions seemed to me more probable. I speak about something that may seem unbelievable: the Hebrew language that I have studied from my youth with much labor, sweat, and untiring meditation, I never neglect now, for fear that she may neglect me. She has wished to continue learning this language so that she can sing the Psalms in Hebrew, as well as to learn to speak the Greek language without any echo of Latin. This desire we find also today in her holy daughter, Eustochium. These women knew that the teaching of the Latin text of Scriptures had proceeded from Hebrew and Greek texts, and that the idiom could not be preserved to the fullest in translation. Priding themselves on the perfection of their Hebrew and Greek, they were sometimes accustomed to deriding our translations as imperfect, asserting by way of argument that when any liquid was poured into many vessels in turn, these were necessarily reduced in fullness and their amount in other vessels would not be equal to the first. Thus it often happened that we tried to oppose the Jews with certain arguments which they were accustomed to refute easily against us in our ignorance of Hebrew, because of the falsity, as they say, of our translations. So these wisest of women, described earlier as diligently attentive, were by no means content with their own language. They wished not only to teach their own pupils, but also to refute others, and strengthen their own position with the most limpid waters from the fount. To this end, especially, if I am not mistaken, Jerome fostered their mastery of languages by his own example. Regarding the extensive labor and expense with which he sought this perfection, he wrote to Pammachius and Oceanus in these words: When I was young, I burned with a marvelous love of learning and I did not imitate the presumption of some others by teaching myself. I often listened to the teaching of Appolinaris the Laodicean at Antioch. When I studied with him and he instructed me in the holy Scriptures, I never accepted his contentious doctrine regarding the senses. My hair was already gray and I should have been a teacher rather than a student. Yet, passing on to Alexandria, I listened to the teaching of Didymus; I am grateful to him for learning many things I did not know, and I have not wasted diverse aspects of his teaching. People thought that I had come to an end of my studies. But I returned to Jerusalem and at great labor and expense I had Baranninah, a Hebrew, as a teacher at night. For he was afraid of the Jews and he showed himself to me as another Nicodemus. I have mentioned all of these men often in my briefer writings. Abelard to the nuns of the Paraclete: By stressing the zeal of such a great teacher and of holy women in the study of divine Scriptures, I wish to urge and implore you, while you can and while you have a mother [Heloise] skilled in these three languages, to try to perfect their study, so that whenever doubts have arisen about different translations, your examination can resolve them. This study seems appropriately foreshadowed by the very title of the Lord himself on the Cross, written in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin so that in his Church everywhere in the tripartite world teaching should abound in these languages in which the Scripture in both testaments is written. But you will not need long journeys and vast expenses to learn these languages, as the blessed Jerome did, since, as I have said, you have a mother well-trained in their study. Besides virgins and widows, faithful married women offer you incitement to learning, and either counter your negligence or increase your ardor. A distinguished example for you is the venerable Celancia who, wishing to live in marriage according to a rule, anxiously besought Jerome to prescribe such a rule for her. Writing to her later about this, Jerome recalled: When your letters have urged me to write, I have been embarrassed to hesitate so long over my answer. For you ask, indeed, anxiously and urgently seek, that I prescribe for you from the Holy Scriptures a definite rule by which you may plan the course of your life. In doing this, knowing the will of God, you will prize the supernatural path more than the honors of the world and the appeal of its beauties, and thus you can remain in marriage not only to please your husband but also the Lord, who permits your marriage. He who is not satisfied either by holy petitions or by pious desires, what does he love more than another’s progress? I shall yield to your prayers and when you are ready to fulfill the will of God, I shall strive to hasten his decision. Abelard to the nuns of the Paraclete: Perhaps this matron [Celancia] had heard what the Scripture tells us in praise of St. Susanna . After first describing her as very beautiful and God-fearing, it goes on at once to point to the source of this fear and true decorum of spirit, saying: “For her parents were upright; they brought up their daughter according to the law of Moses” (Daniel 13:22). After the trials of marriage and the confusions of worldly life, Susannah was not unmindful of this training, and when she was condemned to death, she did well to condemn her own judges and priests. Indeed, expounding the passage of Daniel that speaks of her parents being just, etc., Jerome himself took occasion to exhort his readers, saying, “This testimony should be used to urge parents to teach the divine word according to the law of God not only to their sons, but also to their daughters.” Because riches are often most likely to impede the pursuit of both learning and virtue, the example of that exceedingly rich Queen Saba should drive from you all lethargy and negligence. A member of the weaker sex, enduring the vast effort and fatigue of a long journey, with its dangers and very great expenses, she came to the ends of the earth to experience the wisdom of Solomon, and to discuss with him those matters of which she was ignorant. Solomon approved of her effort and study so much that he gave her by way of reward all that she asked, excepting what remained by custom in the possession of the king himself. Many powerful men flocked to listen to his wisdom, and many kings and leaders in the land honored his teaching with great munificence, and not one of them was rewarded as was the woman just mentioned. In this way he showed clearly how much he approved of this woman’s holy zeal and ardent studies, and how he judged them pleasing to the Lord himself. The Lord and true Solomon, indeed, more than Solomon, did not fail to emphasize her learning as a condemnation of men, saying (III Kings, 10.1): “The Queen of the East will rise in judgment and condemn this generation,” etc. Take care, my dearest sisters, that your own negligence does not condemn you in this generation, since you need not endure the fatigue of a long journey or provide for vast expenses. You have a leader and teacher in your mother [Heloise], who can answer any need, both as an example of virtue and as a teacher of letters. For she is not only learned in Latin literature as well as Hebrew and Greek, but, apparently alone in this age, she enjoys a command of all three languages. This was foretold by the blessed Jerome as a singular grace, most especially praised in the venerable women mentioned earlier. For our instruction these three languages are encompassed by the entire two testaments as a whole. The titles of the Lord are displayed on the Cross in these three languages, that is, inscribed in Hebrew, Greek, and Latin. This clearly demonstrates the Lord’s teaching and the praises of Christ and the very mystery of the Trinity, especially in these three languages, in the tripartite breadth of the world, just as it was proclaimed and supported by the wood of the Cross itself on which this title was displayed. It is written (Matt. 18:16): “In the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may stand.” In order that the Holy Scripture should be confirmed by the authority of the three languages, and the teaching of each language should be strengthened by the other two, divine providence decreed that both the Old and the New Testament should be encompassed in the three languages. Clearly, since the New Testament surpassed the Old in both dignity and utility, it was the first to be written in the three languages, as if the inscription on the Cross predicted the future. For example, the earliest gospel, according to Matthew, was first written in Hebrew. Paul’s epistle to the Hebrews and that of James to the then dispersed twelve tribes, and likewise the epistle of Peter and, perhaps for the same reason, some others were also written in Hebrew. Who doubts that the three gospels addressed to the Greeks were written in Greek and also certain epistles of Paul and others destined for them, as well as the Apocalypse sent by him to the seven churches? We know that one epistle was written by Paul to the Romans so that we might glory in the little we have in Latin and reflect on how very necessary to us are the teachings of the others [in Hebrew and Greek]. If we strive to know these fully, they must be sought out at the source rather than in the rivulets of translations, especially if these translations produce doubt rather than certainty in the reader. For it is not easy, as we noted, to preserve in translation the idiom proper to each language and to achieve in each a faithful interpretation, so that all is said in every way as fully in a foreign language as it is in our own. When we wish to express in one language something in another, we often fail because we do not have the correct word to express our thought most precisely. We know that the blessed Jerome, who was among us [Latin Christians] particularly expert in these three languages, sometimes disagreed with much in his own translations and with himself in his commentaries on them. He often made the statement in these commentaries: “this is how it is in Hebrew,” regarding a text that, nevertheless, is not in fact found in his translations from Hebrew, as he himself asserts. When different interpreters disagree among themselves, what wonder, then, if we find one who even disagrees with himself! Anyone, therefore, who wishes to be certain about these matters should not be content with the water from a stream, but should seek and draw out its purity at the source. For this reason the blessed Jerom’s latest translation made from Hebrew and Greek directly, according as he himself had drunk from the sources at their fount, surpasses among us the old translations. “The newest arrivals,” as it is written in the Law, “cast away the old “(Lev. 26:10). For this reason Daniel says, “Many shall be passed over; knowledge shall be manifold” (Dan. 12:4). Jerome did what he could in his time and was almost alone in his knowledge of foreign languages, but he had a Jewish interpreter on whose assistance he greatly depended, as he himself testified, since he was displeased with many translations. He did not believe that the translations already available were sufficient, and he persevered in his intention, in which, with God’s help, he succeeded, attending to and completing the saying of Ecclesiasticus (1:7): “The streams returned to the fount from which they came and flowed out again.” The fount and origin, as it were, of scriptural translations is that from which they flow, and translations quickly become false and untrue if they deviate from their origin and are not shown to return in agreement with it. We should not believe that a single interpretation can suffice for all, as if the perfection of knowledge is contained in each, especially in Hebrew, which we regard as superior. We should listen to its testimony, and not presume to impute to it more than it possesses. Jerome wrote about this to Pammachius and Marcella and against his accuser in these words: “We who have at least a little knowledge of Hebrew and are not deficient in Latin speech are better able to judge the other language and to explain what we understand in our own language.” Happy is that soul which, meditating on the law of God night and day, strives to draw on each Scripture at the very source of its fount, like the very purest water, in order that he should not. through ignorance or incapacity. mistake as clear the turbulent waters running through diverse streams, and be forced to vomit what he drinks. For a long time the study of foreign languages [Greek and Hebrew] has been abandoned by men and, through their neglect, knowledge of letters and literature has perished. What we have lost in men let us recover in women, and to the condemnation of men and the judgment of the stronger sex, let the Queen of the East seek out in you the wisdom of Solomon. To this purpose you can devote greater effort than men since nuns are less burdened by manual labor than men and because of their greater leisure and natural weakness, they yield more easily to dishonorable temptation. This is why, in directing and exhorting women by both words and examples, the teacher Jerome, mentioned earlier, urged you to devote yourselves to the study of letters, especially so that there should never be an occasion to introduce men into the community or with the soul’s intention defeated by the body, for her to wander outside and, leaving her spouse behind, fornicate with the world.

Original letter:

Beatus Hieronymus in eruditione virginum Christi plurimum occupatus, inter caetera, quae ad aedificationem earum scribit, sacrarum studium litterarum eis maxime commendat, et ad hoc eas non tam verbis hortatur, quam exemplis invitat. Memor quippe sententiae, qua Rusticum instruens ait:  “Ama scientiam Scripturarum, et carnis vitia non amabis;” tanto magis necessarium amorem hujus studii feminis esse censuit, quanto eas naturaliter infirmiores et carne debiliores esse conspexit.  Nec solum ad hanc virginum exhortationem argumentum a similitudine a virginibus sumptum inducit, unde ad comparationem minoris, viduas et conjugatas in exemplum assumit: quo magis sponsas Christi ad hoc studium incitet per matronas seculi, et ex virtute laicarum torporem excutiat vel confundat monialium. Et quoniam, juxta illud Gregorianum, “a minimis quisque inchoat, ut ad majora perveniat;” praemittere juvat quanta diligentia virgunculas in sacris imbuere litteris studuerit. Unde, ut omittam caetera, illud nunc in medium procedat, quod ad Laetam de institutione filiae Paulae, propter morum doctrinam, tradit hanc litterarum disciplinam. “Sic erudienda est, inquit, anima, quae futura est templum Dei. Fiant ei litterae vel buxeae, vel eburneae, et suis nominibus appellentur. Ludat in eis, ut et lusus ipse eruditio sit. Et non solum ordinem teneat litterarum, ut memoria nominum in canticum transeat : sed et ipse inter se crebro ordo turbetur, et mediis ultima, primis media misceantur, ut eas non sono tantum, sed et visu noverit. Cum vero coeperit trementi manu stylum in cera ducere, vel alterius superposita manu teneri regantur articuli, vel in tabula sculpantur elementa; ut per eosdem sulcos inclusa marginibus trahantur vestigia, ut foras non queant evagari. Syllabas jungat ad praemium, et quibus illa aetas deliniri potest, munusculis invitetur. Habeat in discendo socias, quibus invideat, quarum laudibus mordeatur. Non objurganda est, si tardior sit; sed laudibus excitandum est ingenium, et ut vicisse gaudeat, et victa doleat. Cavendum imprimis, ne oderit studia, ne amaritudo eorum, praecepta in infantia, ultra rudes annos transeat. Ipsa nomina, per quae consuescit paulatim verba contexere, non sint fortuita, sed certa et coacervata de industria, prophetarum videlicet, atque apostolorum, et omnis ab Adam patriarcharum series, de Matthaeo Lucaque descendat: ut, dum aliud agit, futurae memoriae praeparetur.  Magister probae aetatis et vitae, atque eruditionis est eligendus; nec, puto, erubescat vir doctus id facere in propinqua vel nobili virgine, quod Aristoteles fecit in Philippi filio, ut ipse librariorum vilitate initia traderet litterarum.  Non sunt contemnenda quasi parva, sine quibus magna consistere non possunt.  Ipse elementorum sonus, et prima institutio praeceptorum aliter de erudito, aliter de rustico ore profertur.  Nec discat in tenero, quod ei postea dediscendum est.  Difficulter eradicatur, quod rudes animi perbiberunt.”  Graeca narrat historia Alexandrum potentissimum regem, orbisque domitorem, et in moribus, et in incessu, leonidis paedagogi sui non potuisse carere vitiis, quibus adhuc parvulus fuerat infectus.  Ut autem pronuntiationem scripturae commendet memoriae, certam et ipse lectionis mensuram singulis diebus vult praefigi:  quam cum memoriter persolvat, nec solum Latinis, verum etiam Graecis litteris operam dari praecipit, cum utraeque linguae tunc Romae frequentarentur, et maxime propter scripturas de Graceco in Latinum versas: us eas ex origine sua melius cognosceret, ac verius dijudicare posset.  Nondum enim Hebraicae veritatis translatione Latinitas utebatur.  Ait itaque:  “Reddat tibi pensum quotidie de Scripturarum floribus carptum.  Ediscat Garecorum versuum numerum.  Sequatur statim et Latina eruditio:  quae si non ab initio os tenerum composuerit, in peregrinum sonum lingua corrumpitur, et externis vitiis sermo patrius sordidatur.  Pro gemmis et serico, divinos codices amet, in quibus non auri, et pellis Babylonicae vermiculata pictura, sed ad fidem placeat emendata et erudita distinctio.  Discat primo Psalterium, his se canticis avocet, et in Proverbiis Salomonis erudiatur ad vitam.  In Ecclesiaste consuescat, quae mundi sunt, calcare.  In Job, virtutis et patientiae exempla sectetar.  Ad Evangelia transeat, nunquam ea depositura de manibus.  Apostolorum Acta et Epistolas tota cordis imbibat voluntate.  Cumque pectoris sui cellarium his opibus locupletaverit, mandet memoriae prophetas, Heptateuchum, et Regum, et Paralipomenon libros,  Esdrae quoque et Esther volumina.  Ad ultimum, sine periculo discat Canticum canticorum; ne, si in exordio legerit, sub carnalibus verbis spiritualium nuptiarum epithalamium non intelligens, vulneretur. Caveat omnia apocrypha, et, si quando ea non ad dogmatum veritatem, sed ad signorum reverentiam legere voluerit, sciat non eorum esse, quorum titulis praenotantur, multaque his admista vitiosa, et grandis esse prudentiae aurum in luto quaerere. Cypriani opuscula semper in manu teneat. Athanasii Epistolas, et Hilarii libros inoffenso decurrat pede. Illorum tractatibus, illorum delectetur ingeniis, in quorum libris pietas non vacillet. Caeteros sic legat, ut magis judicet, quam sequatur. Respondebis: Quomodo haec omnia mulier saecularis, in tanta frequentia hominum, Romae custodire potero? Noli ergo subire onus, quod ferre non potes; sed, postquam ablactaveris eam cum Isaac, et vestieris cum Samuele, mitte aviae et amittae. Redde pretiosissimam gemmam cubiculo Mariae, et cunis Jesu vagientis impone. Nutriatur in monasterio : sit inter virginum choros : jurare non discat: mentiri sacrilegium putet: nesciat saeculum: vivat angelice: sit in carne sine carne: omne hominum genus sui simile putet. Et, ut cetera taceam, certe te liberet servandi difficultate, et custodiae periculo. Melius est tibi desiderare absentem, quam pavere ad singula. Trade Eustochio parvulam : illam primis miretur ab annis: cujus et sermo, et incessus, et habitus doctrina virtutum est. Sit in gremio aviae, quae longo usu didicit nutrire, servare, docere virgines. Anna filium, quem Deo voverat, postquam obtulit in tabernaculo, nunquam recepit. Ipse, si Paulam miseris, et magistrum me, et nutritium spondeo, gestabo humeris, bulbutia senex verba formabo, multo gloriosior mundi philosopho, qui non regem Macedonum, Babylonio periturum veneno, sed ancillam et sponsam Christi erudiam, regnis ccelestibus offerendam.” Perpendite, sorores in Cbristo charissimae, pariter et conservae, quantam curam tantus Ecclesiae doctor in eruditione unius parvulae susceperit, in qua tam diligenter cuncta distinxerit, quae necessaria doctrinae decreverit, ab ipso alphabeto sumens exordium. Nec solum de pronuntiandis syllabis, et litteris conjungendis, verum etiam de scribendis adhibet documentum: nec non et de sociis providet adjungendis, quorum livore, vel laude plurimum moveatur. Quod etiam, ut spontanea magis quam coacta faciat, et majori studium amore complectatur; blanditiis, et laudibus, nec non et munusculis incitari admonet. Ipsa quoque nomina distinguit ex Scripturis sacris colligenda, in quibus proferendis se primum exercens, haec memoriae suae plurimum commendet, juxta illud Poeticum :

Quo semet est imbula recest, servabit odorem

Testa diu…..  

Qualis etiam magister ad hoc sit eligendus, diligenter describit : nec praetermittit praefixam esse debere mensuram lectionis, quam cordetenus firmatam quotidie persolvat. Et quia eo tempore, Graecarum quoqus litterarum usus Romae abundabat, nec Graecarum litterarum expertem eam esse permittit: maxime, ut arbitror, propter translationem divinorum Librorum a Graecis ad nos derivatam, unde discernere posset, quid apud nos minus, vel aliter esset: et fortasse propter liberalium disciplinam artium, quae his, qui ad perfectionem doctrinae nituntur, nonnihil afferunt utilitatis. Qui etiam conditionem Latinae linguae praemittit, quasi ab ipsa nostrum inchoaverit magisterium.  Cum autem a sono vocum ad earum pervenerit sensum, ut quae  proferre didicerit jam intelligere velit : codices ei distinguit diversos, tam de canone duorum Testamentorum, quam de opusculis doctorum, ex quorum eruditione proficiat, ut consummetur. Inter canonicas autem Scripturas, ita ei Evangelia commendat, ut nunquam haec de manibus virginis recessura censeat; quasi plus aliquid diaconissis, quam diaconis de lectione injungat Evangelica: cum isti in ecclesia illam habeant recitare, illae nunquam ab eorum debeant lectione vacare. Deinde ista matri de filia scribens, ne quam mater excusationem praetenderet, haec omnia Romae saecularem feminam in tanta hominum frequentia perficere posse; dat consilium, ut ab isto se onere liberet, monasterio virginum tradat filiam, ubi educari sine periculo, et de his, quae dixit, perfectius instrui possit. Omnem denique occasionem amputans nede magistro tandem, qualem  ipse descripserat, mater sollicitaretur, puellae Roma Hierosolymam, ad aviam scilicet sanctam Paulam, et amitam Eustochium missae, se magistrum pariter et nutritiam offert. Et in tantum, quod dictu mirabile est, erumpit promissum, ut tantus Ecclesiae doctor etiam senio debilis, dicat se virginem, quasi bajulum ejus, humeris gestare non dedignari. Quod quam apud suspiciosos, non sine suspicione fieri, non apud religiosos sine scandalo vix contingeret. Huc tamen omnia vir Deo plenus, et de integritate vita; omnibus tandiu cognitus, confidenter spondebat: dummodo unam sic instruere virginem posset, ut ipsam caeteris magistram relinqueret, et in ipsam Hieronymum legeret, qui Hieronymum non vidisset. Ut autem de parvulis ad majores transeamus virgines, quas plurimum semper provocat ad studium litterarum, tam eis videlicet scribendo quae legant, quam eas laudando de assidutlate legendi vel dicendi : quid ad Principiam virginem de psalmo quadragesimo quarto scribens dicat, audiamus.  “Scio me, Principia in Christo filia, a plerisque reprehendi, quod interdum scribam ad mulieres, et fragiliorem sexum maribus praeferam : et idcirco debeo primum obtrectatoribus meis respondere, et sic venire ad disputatiunculam, quam regasti. Si viri de Scripturis quaererent, mulieribus non loquerer.  Si Barach ire ad praelium voluisset, Dehora de victis hostibus non triumphasset. “ Et post aliqua: « Apollo, virum apostolicum, et in lege doctissimum, Aquila et Priscilla erudiunt, et instruunt cum de via Domini. Si doceri a femina non fuit turpe Apostolo: mihi quare turpe sit post viros docere et feminas?  Haec et istius modi,  semnotate [Greek letters] filia, perstrinxi breviter, ut nec te poeniteret sexus tui, nec viros suum nomen erigeret, in quorum condemnationem , feminarum in Scripturis sanctis vita laudatur.”  Juvat post virgines, intueri de viduis quantum et ipsae in studia sacrarum litterarum ipsius testimonio et laude profecerint. Scribens igitur idem doctor ad eamdem virginem Principiam de vita sanctae Marcellae sicut ilia postulabat, inter virtutum ejus insigni :  “Divinarum, inquit, Scripturatum ardor erat incredibilis: semperque cantabat: « In corde meo abscondi eloquia tua, ut non peccem tibi " (Psal. cxviii, 11). Et illud de perfecto viro: “Et in lege Domini voluntas ejus, et in lege ejus dominabitur die ac nocte” (Psal. 1, 2); et : “A mandatis tuis intellexi”' (Psal. cxviii, 104). Denique, cum et me Romam cum sanctis pontificibus Paulino, et Epiphanio, ecclesiastica traxisset necessitas, et verecunde nobiiium feminarum oculos declinarem : ita egit, secundum  Apostolum,  “importune opportune”  (II Tim iv, 2); ut pudorem meum sua superaret industria.  Et quia alicujus tunc nominis esse existimabar super studio Scripturarum, nunquam convenit quin de Scripturis aliquid interrogaret, nec statim acquiesceret, sed moveret e contrario quaestiones, non ut contenderet sed ut quarendo disceret earum solutiones, quas opponi posse intelligebat. Quid in illa virtutum, quid ingenii invenerim, vereor dicere: ne fidem credulitatis excedam, et tibi majorem dolorem incutiam, recordanti quanto bono carueris. Hoc solum dicam, quod quidquid in nobis longo fuit studio congregatum, et meditatione diuturna, quasi in naturam versum, hoc illa libavit, didicit, atque possedit, ita ut post perfectionem nostram, si in aliquo testimonio Scripturarum esset oborta contentio, ad illam judicem pergeretur. Et quia valde prudens erat, sic ad interrogata respondebat, ut etiam sua non sua diceret, sed vel mea, vel cujuslibet alterius, ut in eo ipso, quod docebat, se discipulam fateretur. Sciebat enim dictum ab Apostolo: “Docere autem mulieri non permitto” (I Tim. ii, 12), ne virili  sexui, et interdum sacerdotibus, de obscuris et ambiguis sciscitantibus, facere videretur injuriam.  Absentiam nostri mutuis solabatur alloquiis, et quod carne non poteramus, spiritu reddebamus : semper obvlare epistolis, superare officiis, salulationibus praevenire. Non multum perdebat absentia, quae jugibus sibi litteris jungebatur. In hac tranquillitate, etl Domini servitute, haeretica in his provinciis exorta tempestas cuncta turbavit: et in tantam rabiem comitata est, ut nec sibi, nec ulli bonorum parceret: et quasi parum esset, hic universa novissse, navem plenam blasphemiarum Romano intulit portui, cum venenata spurcaque doctrina Romae invenerit, quos induceret. Tunc sancta Marcella, quae diu se cohibuerat, ne per aemulationem  quippiam facere fideretur, postquam sensit fidem apostolico ore laudatam in plerisque violari, ita ut sacerdotes quoque, et nonnullos monachorum, maximeque saeculi homines in assensum sui traheret, ac simplicitati illuderet episcopi, qui de suo ingenio caeteros aestimabat,  publice restitit, malens Deo placere quam hominibus. Damnationis haereticorum  haec  fuit principium, dum adducit testes, qui prius ab eis eruditi, et postea ab haeretico fuerant errore correpti, dum ostendit multitudinem deceptorum, dum  impia periarchon (in Greek) ingerit volumina, quae emendata manu scorpii  monstrabantur, dum acciti frequentibus litteris haeretici, ut se defenderent, venire non ausi sunt. Tantaque vis conscientiae fuit, ut absentes damnari, quam praesentes coargui, maluerint. Hujus tam gloriosae victoriae origo, Marcella est.  Videtis, dilectissimae, qnantum attulerit fructum, repressis haeresibus, in urbe fidelibus omnibus in caput constitutae unius matronae laudabile studium, et quanta lampade doctrinae ipsorum quoque doctorum ecclesiasticorum tenebras una mulier expulerit. De cujus studio in sacris litteris, quo ipsa victoriam istam meruerit, idem doctor proemio lib.1 in Epistolam Pauli ad Galatas, ad exhortationem  vestram ita meminit:  “Scio equidem  ardorem ejus, scio fidem  (quam  flammam semper habeat in pectore) superare sexum, oblivisci hominis, et divinorum voluminum tympano concrepante, Rubrum hujus saeculi pelagus transfretare. Certe cum Romae essem, nunquam tam festina me vidit, ut non de Scripturis aliquid interrogaret.  Neque vero more Pythagorico, quidquid responderam, rectum putabat, nec sine ratione praejudicata apud eam valebat auctoritas : sed examinabat omnia, et sagaci mente universa pensabat, ut me sentirem non tam discipulam habere quam judicem. » Tantum eo tempore in sanctis feminis, sicut et in viris, studium fervebat litterarum, ut nequaquam suae linguae disciplina contentae, ipsos Scripturarum rivulos, quos habebant, ab ipsis inquirerent fontibus; nec inopiam unius linguae sibi crederent sufficere. Unde et illud est supra memorati doctoris ad Paulam de morte Blesillae filiaae suae, sic inter caetera in ejus praecipuam laudem scribentis : “ Quis sine singultibus transeat orandi instantiam, nitorem linguae, memoriae tenacitatem, acumen ingenii? Si Graece loquentem audisses, Latine eam nescire putares. Si in Romanum sonum lingua se verteret, nihil omnino peregrini sermo redolebat. Jam vero, quod in Origene quoque illo Graecia tota miratur, in paucis non dicam mensibus, sed diebus, ita Hebraeae linguae vicerat difficultates, ut in discendis canendisque  psalmis cum matre contenderet. “  Ipsam quippe matrem ejus Paulam,  nec non et alteram ipsius filiam Eustochium virginem Deo dicatam, in eodem studio litterarum atque linguarum non minus occupatas esse, idem  non praeterit doctor. Sic quippe de his commemorat, vitam ipsius Paulae scribens, et de ipsa dicens:  “Nihil ingenio ejus docilius. Tarda  erat ad loquendum, velox ad audiendum, memor  illius praecepti: ‘Audi, Job, et tace’ (Job xxxm,  31).  Scripturas sanctas tenebat memoriter. Denique compulit me, ut Vetus et Novum Instrumentum cum filia, me disserente, perlegeret. Quod propter verecundiam negans, propter assiduitatem tamen, et crebras postulationes ejus, praestiti, ut docerem quod didiceram. Sicubi haesitabam, et nescire me ingenue confitebar : nequaquam mihi volebat acquiescere : sed jugi interrogatione cogebat, ut e multis variisque sententiis, quae mihi videretur probabilior, indicarem. Loquar et aliud, quod forsitan aemulis videatur incredibile. Hebraeam linguam, quam ego ab adolescentia multo labore ac sudore ex parte didici, et infatigabili meditatione non desero, ne ipse ab ea deserar, discere voluit, et consecuta est: ita ut psalmos Hebraice caneret, et sermonem absque ulla Latinae linguae proprietate personaret. Quod quidem usque hodie in sancta filia ejus Eustochio cernimus.  Sciebant quippe Latinorum codicum doctrinam ex Hebraicis et Graecis processisse scriptis : et idioma cujuscunque linguae ad plenum in peregrina servari ab interprete non posse. Quod tam Hebraei, quam Graeci de perfectione gloriantes, nostris translatoribus, velut imperfectis nonnunquam insultare consueverunt, talem in argumentum similitudinem asserentes, quod quilibet liquor in plura vasa vicissim transfusus, plenitudine sua necessario minuitur, nec ejus quantitas in caeteris vasis potest reperiri, quam in priore habuit. Unde et illud saepe accidit, quod cum aliquibus testimoniis Judaeos arguere nitimur,  facile nos refellere solent, qui Hebraicum ignoramus, ex translationum, ut aiunt, nostrarum falsitate.” Quod sapientissimae mulieres praedictae diligenter attendentes, nequaquam propriae linguae doctrina contentae fuerunt: ut non solum suos instruere, verum etiam alios refellere possent, et de limpidissima fontis aqua, sitim suam reficerent. Ad quod maxime, ni fallor, ipse Hieronymus harum peritus linguarum, suo provocaverat exemplo. Cujus quidem peritiae perfectionem quanto labore vel expensis acquisierit, ad Pammachium et Oceanum scribit his verbis : “Dum essem juvenis,  miro discendi ferebar ardore, nec,  juxta quorumdam  praesumptionem, ipse me docui. Apollinarium Laodicenum audivi Antiochiae frequenter, et colui : et cum me in sanctis Scripturis erudiret,  nunquam  iliius contentiosum super sensu dogma suscepi.  Jam canis spargebatur caput, et magistrum potius quam discipulum decebat. Perrexi tamen Alexandriam, audivi Didymum : in multis ei gratias ago : quod nescivi, didici : quod sciebam, illo docente non perdidi. Putabant me homines finem fecisse discendi : veni rursum Jerosolymam et Bethlehem : quo labore, quo pretio Barrabanum nocturnum habui praeceptore ? Timebat euim Judaeos, et mihi se alterum exhibebat Nicodemum.  Horum omnium frequenter in opusculis meis facio mentionem.” Hunc zelum tanti doctoris, et sanctarum feminarum in Scripturis divinis considerans, monui, et incessanter implere vos cupio, ut dum potestis, et matrem harum peritam trium linguarum habetis, ad hanc studii perfectionem feramini: ut quaecunque de diversis translationibus oborta dubitatio fuerit, per vos probatio terminari possit. Quod et ipse Dominicae crucis titulus Hebraice, Graece, et Latine scriptus non incongrue praefigurasse videtur: ut in ejus Ecclesia ubique terrarum dilatata, harum linguarum., quae preeminent, abundaret doctrina; quarum litteris utriusque Testamenti comprehensa est Scriptura.  Non longa peregrinatione, non expensis plurimis, pro his linguis addiscendis, opus vobis est, ut beato accidit Hieronymo : cum matrem, ut dictum est, habeatis ad hoc studium sufficientem. Post virgines quoque ac viduas, fideles conjugatae incitamentum  praebeant vobis doctrinae, ut vel negligentiam vestram arguant vel ardorem  augeant. Praestat exemplum etiam vobis Celantia venerabilis, quae in conjugio quoque regulariter vivere cupiens, legem  sibi conjugii praescribi ab ipso etiam Hieronymo sollicite petiit. Unde et ipse ad eamdem super hoc rescribens, ita meminit:  “Provocatus ad scribendum litteris tuis, diu  fateor, de responsione dubitavi, silentium mihi imperante verecundia. Petis namque, et sollicite ac violenter petis, ut tibi certam ex Scripturis sanctis praefiniamus regulam, ad quam tu ordines cursum vitae tuae: ut cognita Domini voluntate, inter honores saeculi, et divitiarum illecebras, morum magis diligas supellectilem, atque ut possis in conjugio constituta, non solum conjugi placere, sed etiam ei, qui ipsum indulsit conjugium. Cui tam sanctae petitioni, tamque pio desiderio non satisfacere, quid aliud est, quam profectum alterius non amare? Parebo  igitur precibus tuis, teque paratam ad implendam Dei voluntatem, ipsius nitar incitare sententiis.” Audierat fortassis haec matrona quod in laudem sanctae Susannae Scriptura commemorat. Quam cum praemisisset pulchram nimis, et timentem Deum, unde hic timor et verus animae decor procederet, statim annexuit dicens : “Parentes enim illius, cum essent justi, erudierunt filiam suam secundum legem Moysi” (Dan. xiii, 3).  Cujus eruditionis inter molestias nuptiarum et saecularium perturbationes occupationum Susanna non immemor, et morti adjudicata, ipsos suos judices atque presbyteros damnare promeruit.  Quem quidem in Daniele locum ipse Hieronymus exponens, illud quod dictum est: “Parentes illius, cum essent justi, erudierunt filiam suam,” etc., in exhortationis competenter assumens occasionem, ait :  “Hoc utendum est testimonio ad exhortationem parentum, ut doceant juxta legem Dei sermonemque divinum non solum filios, sed et filias suas.” Et quia diu me tam litterarum quam virtutum impedire studia plurimum solent, omnem vobis negligentiae torporem excutiat illa ditissima regina Saba, quae cum magno labore infirmi sexus, et longae viae faticatione pariter atque periculis, expensisque nimiis, venit a finibus terrae sapientiam experiri Salomonis, et cum eo conferre quae noverat de his quae ignorabat. Cujus studium et laborem intantum Salomon approbavit, ut ei pro remuneratione cuncta quae petiit daret, exceptis quae ipse illi ultro more obtulerat regio. Multi viri potentes ad sapientiam ejus audiendam confluebant, et multi regum et ducum terrae doctrinam ejus magnis muneribus honorabant, et cum ab eis multa susciperet donaria, neminem  eorum super his remunerasse legitur, nisi supradictam feminam. Ex quo patenter exhibuit quantum sanctae feminae studium et ardorem doctrinae approbavit: et quantum Domino ipsum gratum esse censuerit. Quam et postmodum  ipse Dominus et Salomon verus, imo plusquam Salomon, ad condemnationem virorum eruditionem suam contemnentium, non praetermisit inducere.  “Regina, inquit, austri surget in judicio, et condemnabit generationem istam” (Matth. xii, 42).  In qua generatione, charissimae, ne vos quoque vestra condemnet negligentia, providete. In quo etiam, quo minus excusabiles sitis, non est vobis necessarium longi fatigationem itineris arripere, nec de  magnis expensis providere. Magisterium habetis in matre, quod ad omnia vobis sufficere, tam ad exemplum scilicet virtutum, quam ad doctrinam litterarum potest : quae non solum Latinae, verum etiam tam Hebraicae quam Graecae non expers litteraturae, sola hoc tempore illam trium linguarum adepta peritiam videtur, quae ab omnibus in beato Hieronymo, tanquam singularis gratia, praedicatur, et ab ipso in supradictis venerabilibus feminis maxime commendatur. Tribus quippe linguis principalibus istis duo Testamenta comprehensa, pervenerunt ad nostram notitiam. Quibus etiam linguis titulus Dominicae crucis insignitus, Hebraice scilicet, Graece et Latine conscriptus, patenter innuit his praecipue linguis Dominicam doctrinam et Christi laudes, ipsum Trinitatis mysterium in tripertitam mundi latitudinem, sicut et ipsum crucis lignum, cui titulus est superpositus, tripertitum fuerat, indicanda et cor roboranda fore. Scriptum quippe est: “In ore duorum vel trium testium stabit omne verbum” (Matth. xviii, 16).  Unde ut trium linguarum auctoritate Scriptura sanciretur sacra, et cujuscunque linguae doctrina duarum aliarum testimonio roboraretur, tribus his linguis Vetus simul et Novum Testamentum divina providentia comprehendere decrevit. Ipsum etiam Novum Testamentum, quod tam dignitate quam utilitate Veteri supereminet, tribus istis linguis primo scriptum fuisse constat, tanquam id titulus cruci superpositus futurum praesignaret. Quaedam namque in eo Hebraeis scripta linguam eorum exigebant: quaedam similiter ex eis Graecis, quaedam Romanis, propriis eorum linguis, ad quos dirigebantur, scribi necesse fuit. Primum quidem Evangelium secundum Matthaeum, sicut Hebraeis, sic Hebraice primo scriptum est. Epistolam quoque Pauli ad Hebraeos, et Jacobi ad duodecim tribus jam dispersas, et Petri similiter, et nonnullas fortassis alias eadem  ratione constat esse scriptas Hebraice. Ad Graecos vero tria Evangelia Graece  quia dubitet esse scripta, et quascunque Epistolas tam Pauli quam caeterorum ad eos destinatas, necnon et Apocalypsis ad septem Ecclesias a se missas? Unam vero ad Romanos scriptam Pauli novimus Epistolam, ut parum a nobis habere nos Latini gloriemur, et quantum nobis aliorum sunt doctrinae necessariae cogitemus: quas ad plenum si cognosces studeamus, in ipso fonte magis quam in rivulis translationum perquirendae sunt : praesertim cum earum diversae translationes ambiguitatem magis, quam certitudinem lectori generent. Non enim facile est idioma, id est proprietatem cujuscunque linguae, sicut et supra meminimus, translationem servare, et ad singula fidam interpretationem accommodare, ut quaelibet ita exprimere possimus in peregrina, sicut dicta sunt in propria lingua. Nam et in una lingua cum aliquid exponere per aliud volumus, saepe deficimus: cum verbum proprium, quod apertius id exprimere possit, non habeamus. Novimus et beatum Hieronymum apud eos praecipue trium harum linguarum peritum, multum in translationibus suis, et in commentariis earum a se ipso nonnunquam dissidere. Saepe namque in expositionibus suis dicit:  “Sic habetur in Hebraeo,”  quod tamen in translationibus ejus secundum Hebraicum, ut ipsemet asserit, factis non reperitur. Quid igitur mirum, si diversi interpretes ab invicem discrepent, si unus etiam nonnunquam a se dissonare inveniatur ? Quisquis ergo de his certus esse desiderat, non sit contentus aqua rivuli, sed puritatem ejus de fonte inquirat et  hauriat. Hac enim ratione et translatio beati Hieronymi, qua novissima fuit, et de ipso Hebraico vel Graeco, prout ipse potuit, tanquam ab origine fontis diligentius requisivit, veteres apud nos translationes superavit et supervenientibus novis, sicut in lege scriptum est, vetera projecta sunt. Unde et Daniel: “Pertransibunt, inquit, plurimi, et multiplex erit scientia” (Dan.  xii, 4).  Fecit Hieronymus suo tempore quod potuit, et quasi solus in lingua peregrina: nec fidelem, sed Judaeum habens interpretem, cujus auxilio plurimum nitebatur, sicut et ipse testatur, multis displicuit, quod translationes jam factas sufficere non credidit: et quia perstitit in proposito, vicit adjuvante Deo, tanquam illud Ecclesiastes attendens et complens:  “Ad fontem unde exeunt flumina revertuntur, ut iterum fluant” (Eccle. I, 7).  Quasi fons origo translationum Scripturae sunt illae, a quibus ipse fuerit; et cito translationes, tanquam mendaces, repulsae deficiunt, si ab origine sua deviare, et ad ipsam per concordiam recurrere non probentur.  At ne ad omnia unum hunc interpretem sufficere credamus, tanquam peritiae perfectionem  de singulis adeptum, maxime in Hebraico,ubi apud nos praeminere dicitur, ipsius super hoc testimonium audiamus, ne plus ei quam habeat imputare praesumamus.  Scribit super hoc ad Domnionem  et  Rogatianum, et contra accusatorem, his verbis. “Nos, qui Hebraeae linguae saltem parvam habemus scientiam, et Latinus nobis utcunque sermo non deest, et de aliis magis possumus judicare, et ea, quae ipsi intelligimus, in nostra lingua promere.”  Felix illa anima est, quae in lege Domini meditans die ac nocte, unamquamque scripturam in ipso ortu fontis quasi purissimam aquam haurire satagit, ne rivos per diversa discurrentes, turbulentos pro claris per ignorantiam vel impossibilitatem sumat:  et quod biberat, evomere cogatur.  Defecit jamdudum hoc peregrinarum linguarum vitis studium, et cum negligentia litterarum, scientia periit earum.  Quod in viris amisimus, in feminis recuperamus; et ad virorum condemnationem, et fortioris sexus judicium, rursum regina austri sapientiam veri Salomonis in vobis exquirat.  Cui tanto magis operam dare potestis, quanto in opere manuum minus moniales quam monachi desudare possunt, et ex otii quiete atque infirmitate naturae facilius in tentationem labi.  Unde ex praemissus doctor in vestram doctrinam et exhortationem praecipuus, tam scriptis quam exemplis laborem vestrum ad studium incitat litterarum: maxime ne occasione discendi vires unquam acciri necessarium sit, aut frustra corpore intentae animus foras evagetur, et relicto sponso, fornicetur cum mundo.

 

Historical context:

Abelard encourages the nuns in the studies, particularly of the three biblical languages. Citing McLaughlin: "Often misunderstood and neglected, here in its first English translation, this significant work survives, with the Problemata, in a single manuscript, BNF 14511, dating from the very late fourteenth or early fifteenth century. Formerly Saint-Victor MS 297, the manuscript had come to the abbey as a bequest from its late medieval owner, the scholar and early humanist, Simon de Plumetot, a notable collector of Abelardian works. The second part of the manuscript, containing these two texts, was copied for him; the first part of the manuscript includes several other, briefer writings by Abelard. Without an epistolary salutation and sometimes designated as a “sermon,” this work in its relation to the correspondence, as well as to the Problemata, has raised questions chiefly concerning the sequence and dating of these texts in the corpus of Abelard’s works for the Paraclete. Largely because the Problemata failed to refer explicitly to Letter 9, its editor, Esme Smits, agreed with Damien van den Eynde in concluding that they should follow Letter 8 directly, with Letter 9 given the last place in this order. A considerably stronger argument can be made, however, for a reversal of these positions and the placement of Letter 9 in a sequence that follows textually, and virtually with interruption, from the last pages of Letter 8. This sequence thus demonstrates the continuing development of major themes in the content and intention of these works for the Paraclete. Unquestionably the most striking feature of Letter 9 is Abelard’s double dialogue, on the one hand with St. Jerome and, on the other, with the nuns of the Paraclete, to whom he addressed the letter as a whole. Taking up at once the theme with which Letter 8 somewhat abrubtly ends, the example of Paula and Eustochium in the study and teaching of nuns, Abelard began with Jerome’s instructions regarding the education of young girls intended for the religious life. ... From these early Christian models, Abelard returned to the present and the great opportunity now open to the nuns of the Paraclete, urging, even imploring them to take advantage of Heloise’s singular learning in the three Scriptural languages, Hebrew and Greek as well as Latin."

Manuscript source:

BNF 14511

Printed source:

PL 178, c.325-36, ep.9. Translation from Mary Martin McLaughlin,The Letters of Heloise and Abelard:  A Tranlation of Their Collected C orrespondence and Related Writings,  ed. Bonnie Wheeler, (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2009), with the generous permission of the translator and the editor.

Date:

1133-37