Cicero and the Boundaries of Friendship in the Twelfth Century

Abstract

Cicero’s De amicitia exerted a powerful influence on Latin Christian thought in the twelfth century. This paper considers core features of Cicero’s idealization of friendship and the way these ideals were transformed within a Christian context, above all in the writing of Augustine, as a prelude to exploring how twelfth-century writers responded to the themes of the De amicitia. Traditionally, friendship was perceived as operating within a purely masculine environment. I consider the way in which Abelard composed his Historia calamitatum as a way of offering consolation to someone in distress, perhaps intending it to be read by Heloise. I also explore the way in which Heloise sought to redefine their relationship by recalling Ciceronian ideals of true friendship, as not seeking any personal advantage, suggesting further evidence for considering the exchange of love letters known as the Epistolae duorum amantium as a record of the early letters of Abelard and Heloise. The teacher in this exchange alludes t...