Astrolabe

Astrolabe is the story of a young man who came from a scholarly family. His mother and father were two of the most noted people in early twelfth-century Paris. This novel delves into his troubled youth and is a completely fictional account of a character we know very little about.

Anyone who has studied the middle ages is familiar with the story of Abelard and Heloise. For a couple that lived over nine hundred years ago, we know a surprising amount of information about this...
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Astrolabe is the story of a young man who came from a scholarly family. His mother and father were two of the most noted people in early twelfth-century Paris. This novel delves into his troubled youth and is a completely fictional account of a character we know very little about.

Anyone who has studied the middle ages is familiar with the story of Abelard and Heloise. For a couple that lived over nine hundred years ago, we know a surprising amount of information about this famous couple. However, what ever happened to Astrolabe, the child of their love - the cause of their "misfortunes?" The answer is - no one really knows.

Other than a few scant references to him, he disappeared completely in the annals of history. He may or may not have joined a religious order, according to one later account of him, but other than that, we know absolutely nothing about the mysterious child of Abelard and Heloise.

Before you now is his story as I have imagined it. The action within this novel takes place in and around Paris, France sometime in the mid-1130's.