Abelard, ab'e lard, PIERRE, (1079-1142), an illustrious French scholastic philosopher and theologian. He went to Paris at the age of twenty, where he established himself as a philosophical lecturer in 1113. Later he obtained the chair held by his former master. At this moment his reputation was greatest. From Rome, England and Germany, students hastened to listen to his eloquent logic, and he numbered among his followers the ablest men of his time. He secretly married Heloise, the beautiful niece of Fulbert, canon of Notre Dame, who in revenge put an end to their union. A council held at Soissons in 1121 condemned Abelard's opinions on the Trinity as heretical, and soon after he withdrew to Nogent-on-the-Seine, where he built an oratory, and named it the Paraclete, or Comforter. In 1140 the pope condemned him, as a heretic, to perpetual silence. Two years after, he died.