In twelfth-century France, Peter Abelard renounced his inheritance and knighthood and chose to become a philosopher. Héloïse, though raised in a convent, challenged cultural norms, became a scholar, and held a secret marriage with Abelard. Church officials sent Abelard to the monastery and Héloïse back to the convent. During their years of separation, they wrote voluminous love letters, which are celebrated to this day. Their story was dramatized in the 1988 film Stealing Heaven.