Authority on the tormented passion of Heloise and Abelard
PROFESSOR DAVID LUSCOMBE, who has died aged 83, was a medieval historian who devoted his scholarly career to the passionate and troubled relationship of Peter Abelard and Heloise.
He had come to Abelard at Cambridge in the late 1950s through the influence of the great Benedictine historian Dom David Knowles. Luscombe’s doctoral thesis on the school of Abelard took him to the heart of the intellectual history of Europe at one of its formative periods, the mid-12th century.
It was a world full of tricky theological questions, notably whether those who crucified Christ committed sin if they did not know that he was the son of God. Abelard argued not: that sin lay in intention. His views were criticised by the academic establishment of his day, including
St Bernard, but he was loved by his students, not least by Heloise, one of his private pupils, the niece of Fulbert, one of the canons of Paris.
Their affair produced a son, Astralabe, but led to Abelard’s castration by Fulbert’s henchmen – and it resulted in a correspondence which has become one of the classics of western literature.
There was dispute about the authenticity of the letters, but Luscombe stayed above such battles. His edition, completed in retirement in 2013, was described in the Times Literary Supplement as “a veritable Abelardian encyclopedia” and would be awarded the British Academy Medal.
David Edward Luscombe was born in north London on July 22
1938, into a devout Roman Catholic family. His father had earlier been a member of a teaching order, the Marists, and had worked in the missions. David was educated at Finchley Catholic Grammar School, where he was an active sportsman and twice became head boy.
In 1956 he went up to King’s College, Cambridge, to read English, but switched to History, gaining Firsts in both parts of the tripos. A research fellowship at King’s (1962-64) was followed by a teaching fellowship at Churchill College (1964-72).
In 1972 he was appointed Professor of Medieval History at the University of Sheffield. There he formed close working relationships with successive professors of Modern History – Kenneth Haley, Patrick Collinson and Sir Ian Kershaw – and concentrated on promoting post-doctoral research.
In the mid-1980s he secured a Leverhulme Trust research grant to prepare new editions of Abelard’s theological works. It put him ahead of the competition, which was where he liked to be.
He was instrumental in the development of Sheffield University’s Humanities Research Institute, which in 1998 was awarded a Queen’s Anniversary Prize for “making research available to a wider public audience”.
Luscombe was elected a fellow of the British Academy in 1986, and in the 1990s he served as its publications secretary. He also served twice as president of the local branch of the Association of University Teachers (now the University and College Union). He was also Pro-vicechancellor at Sheffield.
In his early years he turned out for the staff cricket club, though as a batsman he was not renowned for high scoring. On one occasion his run rate was so slow, the next batsman was sent in with instructions to run him out.
Statutory retirement in 2003, reluctantly accepted, saw little change in Luscombe’s routines. He completed his edition of the letters, received a Festschrift and was awarded a Sheffield Dlitt.
Away from the campus, he enjoyed French cricket, camping – and corny jokes from Christmas crackers: “What is a historian’s favourite fruit? … Dates.”
David Luscombe married, in 1960, Megan Phillips, whom he had met at a Cambridge Union Ball. She survives him with three sons and a daughter.
Professor David Luscombe, born July 22 1938, died August 30 2021