Long renowned as the place of burial for most of the kings of France, the abbey of St.Denis had a particular importance in Abelard's day by reason of its close association with the reigning monarch.

The abbot to whom Abelard refers so bitterly was Adam of St.Denis, who began his rule of the monastery about 1094.

In 1106 this same Adam chose as his secretary one of the inmates of the monastery, Suger, destined shortly to become the most influential man in France through his position as advisor to Louis VI, and also the foremost historian of his time.

Adam died in 1123, and his successor, referred to by Abelard in Chapter X, was none other than Suger himself.

From 1127 to 1137 Suger devoted most of his time to the reorganization and reform of the monastery of St.Denis.If we are to believe Abelard, such reform was sorely needed, but other contemporary evidence by no means fully sustains Abelard in his condemnation of Adam and his fellow monks.
ORIGEN The ALexandrian theological writer Origen, who lived from about 185 to 254, was the most distinguished and the most influential of all the theologians of the ancient Church, with the single exception of Augustine.