''Historia Calamitatum'' (known in English as ''The Story of My Misfortunes'' or ''The History of My Calamities''), also known as ''Abaelardi ad Amicum Suum Consolatoria,'' is an autobiographical work in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

by Peter Abelard (1079–1142), a medieval French pioneer of scholastic philosophy. The work, written in 1132 or soon after, is one of the first autobiographical works in medieval Western Europe, written in the form of a letter (and, as such, is clearly influenced by

Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North A ...

's '' Confessions''). The letter is an extensive and honest self-analysis of Abelard up to the age of about fifty-four, and provides readers with knowledge of his views of women, learning, monastic life, Church and State combined, and the social milieu of the time. It should be particularly noted that the work was written at a time when Western Europe had only recently surfaced into the world of philosophy. Abelard emphasizes how persecuted he feels by his peers throughout the work. He quotes saints, apostles, and at one point, compares his struggles in likeness to those of

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

Editions

* ''The Letters of Abelard and Heloise'', trans. Betty Radice (Penguin, 1974) ontains translation of the ''Historia Calamitatum'' on pp. 57–106

References

External links

English translation of ''Historia Calamitatum''
by Henry Adams Bellows on the Internet Medieval Sourcebook * {{librivox book , title=The Story of My Misfortunes , author=Pierre ABÉLARD
Latin text of Historia Calamitatum from the Latin Library
Medieval literature Autobiographies 12th-century Latin books