Historia Calamitatum (known in English as "Story of His Misfortunes" or "A history of my Calamities"), also known as Abaelardi ad Amicum Suum Consolatoria, is an autobiographical work in Latin 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 of Hippo"s Confessions).
This extensive letter provides an honest self-analysis of Peter Abelard"s up to the age of about fifty-four. The Historia Calamitatum provides readers with knowledge of his views of women, learning, monastic life, Church and State combined, and the social milieu of the time. Within this impo...
