(118 THE MIDDLE AGES. A.I). 1040-1204.
next day Bernard publicly presented the charges, but, to the
great surprise of all, Abeelard declined to argue his case and
appealed it to the pope. Passing by Gilbert of Poictiers,
Abselard is said to have whispered Horace's line,
" Look well to your affairs now that your neighbor's house is burning."
Nam tua res agitur, paries cum proximus ardet.
To Rome the case must go. Abselard no doubt felt that he had nothing to hope for from the prelates.1 From Inno cent II., whose side he had espoused against the antipope, Anacletus, he might expect some favor and he had friends in the curia. The synod called upon the supreme pontiff to brand Abselard's heresies with perpetual condemnation — perpetua damnations — and to punish their defenders. The charges, fourteen in number, concerned the Trinity, the nature of faith, the power and work of Christ, and the na ture of sin.2 Bernard followed up the synodal letter with a communication to the pope, filling forty columns in Migne, and letters to cardinals, which are full of vehement charges against the accused man. Abtelard and Arnold of Brescia were in collusion. Abselard had joined himself with Arius in ascribing degrees within the Trinity, with Pelagius in putting free will before grace, and with Nestorius in sepa rating the person of Christ. In name and exterior a monk, he was at heart a heretic. He had emerged from Brittany as a tortuous snake from its hole and, as in the case of the hydra, seven heads appeared where before there had been but one.3 In his letter to the pope, he declared the only
tive. Migne, 178. 1858 sqq. Berengar represents the bishops and Bernard as being heated with wine at this preliminary conference, when they decided against Abaelard. The details of his account and his charges against Bernard are altogether out of accord with his character as it is otherwise known to us. Deutsch (Neander's St. Bernard, II. 1 sqq.) cannot free Bernard from un fairness in the part he took at this conference, as Vacandard does.
1 The statement is not inconsistent with the representation of Otto of Freising, a disinterested reporter, who gives as reason for refusing to make an argument that he feared a popular tumult.
2 Migne, 182. 1049-1051. Also Hefele, V. 463 sqq.
3 Ep., 331 ; Migne, 182. 537. There are nine of these letters to the cardi nals, 188, 192, 193, 331-335, 338. The longest letter was the one addressed
§ 99. PETER AB.ELARD. 619
thing Abaelard did not know was the word nescio, " I do not know."
The judgment was swift in coming and crushing when it came. Ten days were sufficient. The fourteen articles were burned by the pope's own hand in front of St. Peter's in the presence of the cardinals. Abselard himself was declared to be a heretic and the penalty of perpetual silence and confinement was imposed upon him. The unfortunate man had set out for Rome and was hardly well started on his journey, when the sentence reached him. He stopped at Cluny, where he met the most useful friend of his life, Peter the Venerable. At Peter's intercession, Innocent al lowed the homeless scholar to remain in Cluny whence the pope himself had gone forth.
Following Peter's counsel, Abselard again met Bernard face to face. In a defence of his orthodoxy, addressed to Heloise, he affirmed his acceptance of all the articles of the Church from the article on the Trinity to the resurrection of the dead. As it was with Jerome, so no one could write much without being misunderstood.
But his turbulent career was at an end. He was sent by Peter to St. Marcellus near Chalons for his health, and there he died April 21, 1142, sixty-three years old. His last days in Cluny are described by Peter in a letter written to Heloise, full of true Christian sympathy. He called Abselard a true philosopher of Christ. One so humble in manner he had not
to the pope, 190 ; Migne, 182. 1051-1071. The great vehemence of these letters have exposed Bernard in some quarters to unmitigated condemnation. From the standpoint of Christian moderation and charity they are difficult to understand and cannot be justified. Hausrath, p. 248, etc., represents him as der werltkluge Abt von Clairvaux, resorting to all the arts of diplomacy to secure a verdict against Abselard. M'Cabe, in a very readable chapter, pp. 322-354, takes the same view. Without excusing him, it must be remem bered in passing judgment that heresy was regarded with horror in that age. Bernard, no doubt, also shrank from Abselard as a man who sought applause rather than the advancement of the Church. Morison, p. 302, speaks " of a horror of great darkness falling upon Bernard," when he recognized the dangers of a new era. Neander, St. Bernard, II. 3, says that no one can question that Bernard's zeal proceeded from a pure Christian purpose, but that he used the weapons of hatred under the mask of holy love.