So incessant and unrelenting were the persecutions he suffered from those enemies, and so deep his indignation at their baseness, that for some time he seriously thought of escaping beyond the bounds of Christendom, and seeking refuge among the Muslim.  But just then (1125) he was offered an important position, the abbotship of the monastery of St. Gildas-de-Rhuys, in Lower Brittany, on the lonely, inhospitable shore of the Atlantic.  Eager for rest and a position promising influence, Abelard accepted the offer and left the Paraclete, not knowing what he was doing.

His position at St. Gildas was little less than slow martyrdom.  The country was wild, the inhabitants were half barbarous, speaking a language unintelligible to him; the monks were violent, unruly, and dissolute, openly living with concubines; the lands of the monastery were subjected to intolerable burdens by the neighboring lord, leaving the monks in poverty and discontent.  Instead of finding a home of God-fearing men, eager for enlightenment, he found a nest of greed and corruption.  His attempts to introduce discipline, or even decency, among his “sons,” only stirred up rebellion and placed his life in danger.  Many times he was menaced with the sword, many times with poison.  In spite of all that, he clung to his office, and labored to do his duty.  Meanwhile the jealous abbot of St. Denis succeeded in establishing a claim to the lands of the convent at Argenteuil,—­of which Heloise, long since famous not only for learning but also for saintliness, was now the head,—­and she and her nuns were violently evicted and cast on the world.  Hearing of this with indignation, Abelard at once offered the homeless sisters the deserted Paraclete and all its belongings.  The offer was thankfully accepted, and Heloise with her family removed there to spend the remainder of her life.  It does not appear that Abelard and Heloise ever saw each other at this time, although he used every means in his power to provide for her safety and comfort.  This was in 1129.  Two years later the Paraclete was confirmed to Heloise by a Papal bull.  It remained a convent, and a famous one, for over six hundred years.

After this Abelard paid several visits to the convent, which he justly regarded as his foundation, in order to arrange a rule of life for its inmates, and to encourage them in their vocation.  Although on these occasions he saw nothing of Heloise, he did not escape the malignant suspicions of the world, nor of his own flock, which now became more unruly than ever,—­so much so that he was compelled to live outside the monastery.  Excommunication was tried in vain, and even the efforts of a Papal legate failed to restore order.  For Abelard there was nothing but “fear within and conflict without.”  It was at this time, about 1132, that he wrote his famous ‘Historia Calamitatum,’ from which most of the above account of his life has been taken.  In 1134, after nine years of painful struggle, he definitely left St. Gildas, without, however, resigning the abbotship.  For the next two years he seems to have led a retired life, revising his old works and composing new ones.