Get thee to a nunnery, Heloise
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Everyone likes a scrap. At least, that is, the sight of sparks flying as conflicting parties battle out their differences in a public arena.
The Middle Ages, it seems, were no different from now though the major fisticuff of the century was not between any politicians, columnists or DJs, as is more often the case today, but between a saint and a scholar.
The big question of the day was not how to pay the mortgage or if life begins at 30, 40 or 50 years old, but how to get close to God - through mysticism or analysis? - and the public watched eagerly as the two main rival theologians argued their cases.
Strange Landscape: The Saint and the Scholar (8pm BBC2) follows the different careers and beliefs of Bernard of Clairvaux, "the saint", and Peter of Abelard, "the scholar", and the growing pressure on them to meet face- to-face and fight it out.
The story is interesting enough, with a bit of love interest thrown in in the form of Heloise, whose tragic romance with Abelard leaves him castrated and her in a nunnery. But the docu-drama style, interwoven with blood, gore, rush hour in modern-day Paris, and monks with pudding-bowl haircuts gives a very disjointed and inconsistent feel to the plot.
Mind you, the two adversaries do "make up" and the lovers end up sharing a tomb so at least it has a happy ending - of sorts.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments