Part 18 (1/2)
Up to about the close of the eleventh century western Europe had been living in an age of simple faith The Christian world everywhere lay under ”a veil of faith, illusion, and childish prepossession” The mysteries of Christianity and the s and beliefs were accepted with childlike docility, and the Church had felt little call to organize, to systematize, or to explain Here and there, to be sure, so monk or cleric had raised questions over matters [9] of faith which his reason could not explain, and had, perhaps, for a time disturbed the peace of orthodoxy, but a statement somewhat similar to that made by Anselm of Canterbury (footnote, p 173), as to the precedence of faith over reason, had usually been sufficient to silence all inquiry
Once, in the latter part of the eleventh century, when a great discussion as to the nature of knowledge had taken place a the leaders of the Church, a church council had been called to pass upon and give final settlement to the questions raised [10]
RISE OF THE SPIRIT OF INQUIRY As the cathedral schools grew in i institutions, and came to have many teachers and students, a few of theood instruction was iland, Paris and Chartres in France, and several of the cities in northern Italy early were noted for the quality of their instruction The great teachers and the keenest students of the time were to be found in the cathedral schools in these places, and theinstitutions By the twelfth century they had been co centers by the rapidly developing cathedral schools To thesedistances to study under some noted teacher Says McCabe: [11]
The scholastic fever which was soon to influence the youth of Europe, had already set in You could not travel far over the rough roads of France without e monastery or cathedral town Robbers, frequently in the service of the lord of the land, infested every province It was safest to don the coarse frieze tunic of the pilgri your little wax tablets and stylus at your girdle, strap a wallet of bread and herbs and salt on your back, and laugh at the nervous folk who peeped out froers Fewscholar
Rarely was any fee exacted for the lesson given
The cathedral school in connection with the church of Notre Dame [12]
became especially famous for its teachers of the Liberal Arts (particularly Dialectic) and of Theology, and to this school, just as the eleventh century was drawing to a close, caenerally regarded as having been the keenest scholar of the twelfth century His brilliant intellect soon enabled him to refute the instruction of his teachers and to vanquish the he hiic at Paris, and later of Theology, and, so widely had he read, so clearly did he appeal to the reason of his hearers, and so incisive was his teaching, that he attracted large nu of Theology he prepared a little textbook, _Sic et Non_ (Yea and Nay), in which he raised for debate s (R 91 b), such as ”That faith is based on reason, or not” In the introduction to this textbook he held that ”constant and frequent questioning is the first key to wisdoive the authorities on both sides, but to render no decision His boldness in raising such questions for debate was new, and his failure to give the students a decision was quite unusual, while his clai Even after being driven from Paris, in part because of this boldness and in part because of a most unfortunate incident which deservedly ruined his career in the Church, students in nus His method of instruction was for the ti that he sti One of his pupils was Peter the Lo of theology with his _Book of Sentences_ (c 1145)--This was based largely on Abelard's method, except that a positive and orthodox decision was presented for each question raised
[Illustration: FIG 53 THE CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME, AT PARIS The present cathedral was begun in 1163, consecrated in 1182, and completed in the thirteenth century It is built on an island in the Seine, and on the site of a church built in the fourth century The little corew up about the cathedral church forrew This cathedral front, with its statues and beautiful carving, forreat period of cathedral-building (thirteenth century) in Europe The school in connection with this cathedral early became fah generally on a smaller scale, at many other cathedral and monastery schools of western Europe
The spirit of inquiry had at last been awakened, the Church was being respectfully challenged by its children to prove its faith, and the learning of the Saracens in Spain, which now began to filter across the Pyrenees, added to the strength of their challenge Returning pilgrian to ask for an explanation of the doubts which had come to them from the contact with Greek and Arab in the East A desire for a philosophy which would explain the mysteries and contradictions of the Christian faith found expression aer cathedral schools, at least, it became common to discuss the doctrines of the Church with much freedom
THE RISE OF SCHOLASTIC THEOLOGY The Church, in a very intelligent and commendable anization, systematization, and restatereat era of Scholasticis the latter part of the twelfth and in the thirteenth century Scholasticis done, it rapidly declined as an educational force, and the new universities inherited the spirit which had given rise to its labors
With the new eic superseded Graical analysis was now applied to the probleuided the y into directions approved by it Aristotle also was in time adopted by the Church, after the translation of his principal works had been effected (Rs 87, 90), and his philosophy was hout the rees For the next four centuries Aristotle thoroughly doreat developical analysis now produced many keen and subtle minds, orked intensively a narrow and lianization and restatey of the Church
[Illustration: PLATE 3 SAINT THOMAS AQUINAS]
This was the work of Scholasticism The movement was not characterized by the evolution of new doctrines, but by a syste for thousand years To a large degree it was also an ”accoy to the new Aristotelian philosophy which had recently been brought back to western Europe, and the stateood philosophic form
THE ORGANIZING WORK OF THE SCHOOLMEN Peter the Lombard (1100-1160), whose _Book of Sentences_, ed the character of the instruction in Theology, began this work of theological reorganization Albert the Great (_Albertus Magnus_, 1193-1280) was the first of the great School intellect of the Middle Ages” He was a German Dominican monk [15], born in Swabia, and educated in the schools of Paris, Padua, and Bologna Later he becane He was the first to state the philosophy of Aristotle in systematic form, and was noted as an exponent of the work of Peter the Loreatest and es, studied first at Monte Cassino and Naples, and then at Paris and Cologne, under Albertus Magnus He later becana, Viterbo, Perugia, and Naples
Under hihest develop the new Aristotelianis was based on Aristotle, [16] the Vulgate Bible, and Peter the Lo the last three years of his life he wrote his _Suiae_, a book which has ever since been accepted as an authoritative statement of the doctrines of the Roanization made by Peter the Lombard and Thomas Aquinas may be seen from an examatic in form and siy was divided out into parts, heads, subheads, etc, in a way that would cover the subject, and a group of proble with some doctrinal point, was then presented under each The probleuments for each solution other than that considered as orthodox were presented and confuted, in order The orthodox solution was next presented, the arguments and authorities for such solution quoted, and the objections to the correct solution presented and refuted (R 152)
RESULTS OF THEIR WORK The work of the Schools of the Church (R
92) This they did exceedingly well, and the result was a thorough organization of Theology as a teaching subject They did little to extend knowledge, and nothing at all to apply it to the problems of nature and man Their as abstract and philosophical instead, dealing wholly with theological questions The purpose was to lay down principles, and to offer a training in analysis, comparison, classification, and deduction which would prepare learned and subtle defenders of the faith of the Church So successful were the Schooly was raised by their work to a new position of iical scholarshi+p and general learning akened which helped not a little to deflectspirits from a life of warfare to a life of study Theyseem much more worth while, and their work helped to create a more tolerant attitude toward the supporters of either side of debatable questions by revealing so clearly that there are two sides to every question This new learning, new interest in learning, and new spirit of tolerance the rising universities inherited
III LAW AND MEDICINE AS NEW STUDIES
THE OLD ROMAN CITIES The old Roely a collection of provincial cities These were the centers of Rooverning power of Roe becaely ceased, and the provincial cities which were not destroyed in the barbarian invasions declined in population and nu ruled the period of disorder many of the old Roman cities entirely disappeared (R 49) Only in Italy, and particularly in northern Italy, did these old cities retain anything of their earlierof their former industry and commerce But even here they lost most of their earlier i ne, the break-up of his empire, and the institution of feudal conditions, the cities and towns declined still more in importance, and few of any size reth it did in northern Europe
Throughout all the early Middle Ages the cities there retained soh ruled by prince-bishops residing in the of the old Roe of Roman law never quite died out In other respects they much resembled mediaeval cities elsewhere
REESTABLISHMENT OF THE HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE After the disintegration of Charlene's empire, the portion of it non as Gerely independent of one another, and full of fight and pride The result there was continual and pitiless warfare This, coupled with the raids of the Northyars on the east, led to the election of a king in 919 (Henry the Fowler) who could establish some semblance of unity and order By 961 the German duchies and small principalities had been so consolidated that a succeeding king (Otto I) felt himself able to atte Italy and annexing it as an appendage under Gerated the cities, overthrew the Papacy, created a pope to his liking, and reestablished the old Empire, in name at least For a century the German rule was nominal, but with the outbreak of the conflict in the eleventh century between king and pope over the question of which one should invest the bishops with their authority (known as the _investiture conflict_, 1075-1122), Pope Gregory VII hu (Henry IV) at Canossa (1077) and won a partial success Then followed repeated invasions of Italy, and a century and a half of conflicts between pope and king before the drea ended in disaster, and Italy was freed from Teutonic rule
[Illustration: FIG 54, THE CITY-STATES OF NORTHERN ITALY All of the cities in the valley of the Po, except Turin, Pavia, and Mantua, were ue of 1167]
THE ITALIAN CITIES REVIVE THE STUDY OF ROMAN LAW As was stated above, Roe of Roman law had never quite died out in these Italian cities But, while regarded with reverence, the laas not iven to it, and ile with the ruling bishops in the second half of the eleventh century, and the discussions which arose during the investiture conflict, caused new attention to be given to legal questions, and both the study of Roman (civil) and Church (canon) laere revived The Italian cities stood with the Papacy in the struggles with the Gers, and, in 1167, those in the Valley of the Po forue_ for defense Under the pressure of Geran a careful study of the known Rorant of power upon which they could base their claihts The result was that the study of Roiven an emphasis unknown in Italy since the days of the old E the period of disorder at last came to be understood, additional books of the laere discovered, and men suddenly awoke to a realization that what had been before considered as of little value actually contained , as well as many principles of importance that were applicable to the conditions and problems of the time
[Illustration: FIG 55 FRAGMENT FROM THE RECOVERED ”DIGEST” OF JUSTINIAN Capitals and s without spacing or punctuation]