Lecture 8 - Medieval culture Flashcards
Propagation of the mentality
Cultural, philosophical, religious, scientific, technological, social and
political news, innovations, trends, Zeitgeist - transmitted and disseminated by the
wonderers, settlers, conquerors, emissaries, and the mass media
Hellenization: The arts and philosophy in a search for truth, harmony and beauty
Ethos of decency, pride, honor. Democratic collectivism
Focus on the self-perfecting virtuosi
Romanization: State-controlled law to impose order & duty. Materialism, egoism
Focus on the strong and fearless
Christianization: Schools, hospitals, charities, services. Spiritualism, altruism
Focus on the weak, poor and helpless
The Middle Ages (Medieval Period)
Fall of Rome to Barbarians 476
Fall of Constantinople to Muslims 1453
The Roman Empire partitioned into:
Western (Latin) part
fragmented into small kingdoms;
later re-united as an empire again.
Its part survived until Napoleon invasion in 1806
Eastern (Greek) part
called the Byzantine Empire
Survived until Muslim invasion in 1453
The Medieval sub-periods
:
* Early or “Dark” 476 - 1000
* High 1000 - 1250
* Late 1250 - 1453
Early
Early (Dark) Middle Ages 476 - 1000
The Fall of Rome: the collapse of law and order, anarchy:
lack of central authority, the terror of local usurpers,
robbery and attacks of criminal gangs
534 Byzantine Emperor Justinian goes to war against the Ostrogoths
558 The Huns led by Attila invaded Greece, Macedonia and Turkey
552 Earthquake in Beirut: 250 000 victims
541 - 767 Multiple epidemic crises halved the population.
of Central Africa, Byzantium, Spain, and France
570 Prophet Mohammed born in Mecca
Islam - a new monotheist religion
The followers (Muslims or Moslems) start the conquest
Religious conquest: to convert the “infidels” and fight the competitors
ISLAM = submission to the will of God (Allah)
570 - 632 Prophet Mohammed
* Followers of Abu Bakr - Mohammed’s father-in-law
The Sunnis with the Caliph as their leader
Today 80 % of Muslims are Sunnis.
Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia, Marocco, Saudi Arabia,
Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Indonesia
* Followers of Ali - Mohammed’s son-in-law
The Shiites with the Imam as their leader
Today 20 % of Muslims are Shiites. Iran, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Azerbaijan
Propagation of Islam
and the military conquests:
Conquest from the Arabian Peninsula to:
Egypt, Persia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria,
Palestine, Spain, and France
717 Muslim invasion and blockade of Byzantium
732 The Frank armies (led by Gen. Charles Martel)
stop the Muslim military invasions
at Tours and Poitiers (today France)
Sacral music in the churches
Secular music in palaces
The courtly culture
A fashion to have
* Troubadours or musicians invited or employed and
* Members of aristocratic family playing or singing
in front of guests
The musical notations, scores
The homophonic music,
e.g. Te Deum Laudamus – the hymn traditionally sung on occasions
of
coronation of kings, proclamation of peace or victory
- Gregorian chant introduced to the liturgy in Rome by Pope Gregory I (ca.590)
Schola Cantorum in Rome Cultivated now in monasteries, e.g. St.
Benoit
- Byzantine chant in the Orthodox Greek, Armenian, Syrian,
Coptic, Bulgarian, Russian and Ukrainian liturgy
Later, in 13 c. the polyphonic music developed
Christianization resulting from
missionary activity or king’s conversion
European kingdoms christianized either in
- The Roman rite, e.g., Poland in 966
- The Byzantine rite, e.g., Ukraine in 989
Monasterial movement
* First as the withdrawn individual hermits: prayers and meditations.
* Later as communities of monks or nuns: living in seclusion.
* Some orders remained isolated in monasteries,
while others would reach out to offer nursing, caring, teaching,
charity, and farming Ora et labora
Religious nurses (“sisters”, “brothers”) in hospitals in Beirut,
Damascus, Lubeck. At times of plagues, they died massively…
Pandemic and epidemic crises
in the Middle Ages
541 - 767 Pandemic crisis in the Central Africa, Spain, France,
and Byzantium:
in 14 epidemics, caused probably by the Smallpox
1344 - 1352 the Bubonic Plague* also called the Black Death**
brought by Mongolian armies attacking the Crimea
The bacteria yersinia pestis transmitted from rats via fleas to people
The plague killed 25 million
(World War I, killed 10 millions)
* boubon - from Greek – the lymph node swelling
** black spots on the skin
Carolingian renaissance (part of early Middle Ages)
-not the same as renaissance
-part of the medieval ages
Political unification of the Western Europe. Restoration of the Roman
civilization (law & order) and the Christian ethics
508 The Franks (Gallic, Celtic & German tribes), led by Clovis,
the Merovingian king, convert to Christianity
Carolingian dynasty (730 - 830)
Gen. Charles Martel - as major domus and regent
His son: Pepin the Short crowned as the Frankish king in 751
His son: Charles the Great “Charlemagne” 768 - 800 the King
800 - 814 the Emperor of the Sacrum Romanum Imperium
The Holy Roman Empire
The capital in Aachen (Germany)
Charlemagne… king and emperor. Emperor in the roman empire, not OF the roman empire
-dependent on the pope
Sacrum Romanum Imperium = holy roman empire … linked to pope (Vatican) and to differentiate from former roman empire existing (not gonna ask as a question on exam tho)
Charles the Great “Charlemagne” 742 - 814
Carolingian renaissance
- - Reintegration of the fragmented Europe
- Restoration of Roman law and order, “Capitulare”
- Rebirth of the Greco-Roman civilization
combined with Christian ethics
- Promotion of the romantic code of conduct:
honor, decency, patriotism, courtesy, elegance, respect
chivalry: horsemanship. wrestling, archery, care, poetry, music
- Romanesque, Gothic and Carolingian architecture
HIGH MEDIEVAL 1000 - 1250
Vikings settled in Newfoundland; and Northern France “Normans”
The pilgrims to the Holy Land blocked by the Muslim army
1095 - 1291 European kings organize eight Crusades -
to regain access. Templar Knights in the castles/
garrisons to protect the Holy Land
Gothic architecture, e.g., Notre Dame, Paris 1182
Public schooling, ordered by the The Council of Rome 1215
Rise of the first universities: Bologna, Salerno, Paris, Oxford,
Modena, Cambridge, Napoli, Salamanca, Seville, Padua.
Medieval school system
Already schools in Athens
Union of students and professors
LATE MEDIEVAL 1250 - 1453
- The next universities: Coimbra & Lisbon 1290, Rome 1300, Pisa 1343,
Florence 1349, Prague 1350, Krakow 1364, Modena 1365, Vienna & Koln 1382,
Heidelberg & Ferrara 1391. - 1308 - 1377 The French appointed Pope in Avignon.
- 1344 - 1352 Black Death in Europe.
- 1450 J. Gutenberg - the alphabetic printing machine
– invented the printing machine!… but it existed for centuries in China… but was different in China. Gutenberg = single characters of the latin alphabet, movable - 1453 Fall of Constantinople to Turks.
Exodus of Byzantine scholars to other European countries.
Medieval school system
527 The Church Council of Toledo:
schools to train priests, lawyers, scribes
800 Charlemagne: cathedral and monasterial schools
1079 Pope Gregory VII: cathedral school transformed into
Studium generale (theology, philosophy) and
Studium particulare (medicine, law, commerce, arts)
//Prototypes of colleges and universities//
Universitas magistrorum et scholarium meant a union of teachers & students
The first universities: Bologna 1089, Paris 1150, Oxford 1167, Salamanca 1218
Latin as an international language in European universities
The Curriculum in the early European universities.
Scholasticism* - the use of rational reasoning
and faith in scholarly debates
- a prototype of logic and methodology
* schola = school
scholars = scientists, thinkers, teachers
ISLAMIC SCHOLARS
Translating and copying works of the ancient
Greek and Roman philosophers, doctors and writers.
* Discussion on theological matters with Jewish,
Christian and Persian scholars.
* Contributions to algebra, medicine, astronomy and
theology.
Avicenna
AVICENNA (981-1037)
Abū Alī al-HSusayn ibn Abdillāh ibn al-HSasan ibn Alī ibn Sīnāʿ ʿ ʿ
* Encyclopedic “Canon of Medicine”
-Famous from book ‘’Canon of Medicine’’
* Aristotelian-style faculties of the soul: human,
animal and vegetative - hierarchically arranged.
* A person as a microcosm reflecting Neoplatonian
macrocosm.
* Let’s reconcile reason with faith
* Galenic concept of 4 temperaments
Avicenna’s “senses” or tools of orientation
EXTERNAL SENSES:
vision, hearing, touch, taste & smell
INTERNAL SENSES:
Common sense integration of sensory input in perception
Compositive animal imagination polysensory
generalization
Compositive human imagination non-sensory abstract
generalization
Estimative power species memory, instinctual intuition
Retentive imagination individually learned memory
Self awareness consciousness & self-awareness
The free will understanding the choices, foreseeing their consequences
Avicenna and Aristotle on
the differences between the animal psyche and the human mind
Similar: - basic five senses,
- common sense,
- polisensory generalization,
- individually learned memory,
- species memory, instinctive intuition
- biological urges and needs (individual and species survival)
Different (differentia specifica - specifically human):
- abstract generalization (beyond sensory similarity)
- consciousness, self-awareness
- the free will: self-monitoring, self-modelling, judgement and choices
- altruistic aspirations, perfection in virtues, spiritual actualization
Avicenna’s sense or tools of orientation
2 types of senses: external senses and internal senses
MAIMONIDES 1135 - 1204
Zeitgeist in Spain then was hostile towards Jews;
the choice: conversion to Islam or exile
As a “convert”, Maimonides studied medicine in Spain
Teaching philosophy and theology in Morocco, Egypt and Palestine
His tomb in the city of Tiberias, Israel
“The Guide for the Perplexed” - an attempt to reconcile religious
the faith with the reason
The Scriptures provide metaphoric stories, symbolic proverbs, analogies, and examples
– useful in theological teaching.
Simplified & understandable for uneducated people e.g., the story of Adam’s “apple”
A few more important people
Pierre Abelard
-monk
-The letters of Abélard and Heloise
* Teacher of philosophy and theology in Paris
* Master and canon of Notre Dame School
* Prefers Plato over Aristotle
* His favorite epistemology: logic reasoning
* Eloquent scholastic polemist
using the dialectic method: considering pros & cons
of each contrasting opinion, to reach a conclusion
-considering the other’s opinion. Not just trying to be right
dia = Greek - through Dialectic: going through, analyzing my arguments (thesis)
and the opponents’ arguments (antithesis) to reach a conclusion
Socrates, Plato, Hegel
Roger Bacon 1214 -1292
a Franciscan monk and teacher at Oxford University, England
A Franciscan monk, exposed to Jewish teachers in
England
In France studied under the famous Albertus Magnus
Roger Bacon preferred empiricism over rationalism
Challenged, asked questions monks not supposed to ask…
Preferred empiricism, unlike Abélard
Experimenting with objects: essays on optics
ALBERTUS MAGNUS 1193 - 1280
German Dominican bishop & philosopher
German theologian and philosopher
Teaching at Paris University
Aristotle: his favorite philosophy.
* Books on ethics, psychology: sensation, memory,
intelligence etc.
Faith and reason are NOT contradictory.
A role model for
Thomas Aquinas in Cologne and Paris
St.-Thomas Aquinas 1225 - 1274
- Dominican monastery in Monte Casino
- University of Napoli
- University of Cologne
- University of Paris
* Preferred Aristotle over Plato.
* Back to Italian monastery and University of Napoli -
* epoch-making “Summa Theologiae”
* Thomism a theology
* Postmortem (in 1323) canonized as a saint.
Thomism, a new theology based on Aristotle:
Epistemology: empirical observations combined
with rational thinking in the study of
the material world, God’s creation. In case of
doubts, the rules of faith should prevail
over empirical observations.
Ontology: Body-mind compositum
Ethics: Care of the soul and the body, its habitat
(to be resurrected)
Freedom of choice increases with increased
knowledge of necessities.
sceticism is not necessary to deserve salvation.
Terrestrial life - is a part of human existence and
should be appreciated and fulfilled
God’s creation should be studied and reflected upon.
Voice of reason should be given an open and
sympathetic audience.
Theology has little to fear from science and reason.
FAITH and REASON as two valid epistemological
tools must be reconciled in scholarly debates
Reminder of THE HUMAN SOUL
Rational:
Cognition of the universals
Intellectual curiosity
Sensitive-locomotive:
Exterior senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell
Interior senses: imagination, memory,
estimation and common sense
Vegetative: Nutrition, reproduction, and growth
Back to The Midde Ages 476 - 1453
- The Fall of Rome brought political turmoil, wars
between local usurpers, chaos, the lack of central
authority, and anarchy;
the collapse of the law-and-order: terror bandits and
outlaws - Carolingian Renaissance: restoration of the law-and-
order, ethos. - Christianization and Islamization. Religious wars and
conquests
The Crusades. New military technologies. - Migrations, pilgrimages; exchange of opinion,
Christian civilization (both the Roman and the Byzantine part)
was based on: - the Greek classic philosophy
- the Roman law and
- the Judeo-Christian ethics
Regional languages (applying the Latin or Greco-Cyrillic alphabet & grammar): - Romance: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese
- Anglo-Saxon: German, English, Swedish, Dutch, Danish
- Slavic: (Latin) Polish, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Slovenian
- Slavic: (Greco-Cyrillic) Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian
- Scholasticism: a prototype of methodology
- Monasterial movement:
- meditation, work, service, ascetic humility
- copying the Greco-Roman scripts
- teaching in schools and universities
- helping the poor (hospices) and ill (hospitals)
- teaching basic rules of hygiene and ethics
- Emergence of public schools and universities in Europe
- Re-emergence of Roman customs (“romantic” as opposed to
“barbarian”): Romanticized chivalry and respect towards women,
courtesy, savoir-vivre, virtuous conduct and kindness; the cult of
virtuous knights, chevaliers and troubadours. - Professional ethos and pride of specialists-manufacturers.
- Anonymous artists and architects: Roman, later Gothic cathedrals,
castles and palaces in Europe. - Development of sacral and secular music notation
- Transition from Augustinian theology to Thomism
- Emphasis on the spirituality of human existence.
Service for others (altruism) to deserve eternity
The end of the Medieval Period
and the beginning of Renaissance 1453
The Zeitgeist transformation
from spiritual collectivism and altruism
to materialistic individualism and egoism
At the end of the Medieval period:
* The Hundred Years war: 1337 - 1453 between
England and France. Joan d’Arc - a hero and victim
* Centralization of royal power (France, England)
* Confrontations between kings and the Church
* Antagonisms within Christianity between popes (Rome),
anti-popes (Avignon) and the patriarchs (Constantinople)
1054 Great Schism: the West Roman vs. the East Byzantine Church
The authority of Popes and Patriarchs was challenged by:
- monarchs (French king Phillip IV)
- aristocrats (Medici clan in Florence)
- lobbies of merchants and bankers
- ideological dissidents “heretics”
Political intrigues, disloyalty and betrayal
1453 Fall of Constantinople to invading Muslims
Byzantine cultural objects ruined or “converted”;
The scholars, artists & monks killed or escaped
Summary
Propagation of the mentality
Cultural, philosophical, religious, scientific, technological, social and
political news, innovations, trends, Zeitgeist - transmitted and disseminated
by the wonderers, settlers, conquerors, emissaries, and the mass media
Hellenization: The arts and philosophy in a search for truth, harmony
and beauty
Ethos of decency, pride, honor. Democratic
collectivism
Focus on the self-perfecting virtuosi
Romanization: State-controlled law to impose order & duty. Materialism,
egoism
Focus on the strong and fearless
Christianization: Schools, hospitals, charities, services. Spiritualism,
altruism
Focus on the weak, poor and helpless
The Middle Ages (Medieval Period)
Fall of Rome to Barbarians 476
Fall of Constantinople to Muslims 1453
The Roman Empire partitioned into:
- Western (Latin) part, fragmented into small kingdoms.
later re-united as an empire again.
- Eastern (Greek) part, called the Byzantine Empire
Survived until the Muslim
invasion in 1453
EARLY (Dark) Middle Ages 476 – 1000
The Fall of Rome: the collapse of law and order, anarchy:
lack of central authority, the terror of local
usurpers,
robbery and attacks of criminal gangs
Byzantine Emperor Justinian goes to war against the Ostrogoths
The Huns led by Attila invaded Greece, Macedonia and Turkey
552 Earthquake in Beirut: 250 000 victims
541 - 767 Multiple epidemic crises halved the population.
of Central Africa, Byzantium, Spain, and France
570 Prophet Mohammed born in Mecca
Islam - a new monotheist religion
The followers (Muslims or Moslems) start the conquest
Religious conquest: to convert the “infidels” and fight the competitors
ISLAM = submission to the will of God (Allah)
Propagation of Islam and the military conquests from the Arabian Peninsula
to:
Egypt, Persia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Syria, Palestine, Spain, and
France. Muslim invasion and blockade of Byzantium.
The Frank armies (led by Gen. Charles Martel) stop the Muslim military
invasions
at Tours and Poitiers (today France)
Political unification of the Western Europe. Restoration of the Roman
civilization (law & order) and the Christian ethics
Carolingian dynasty (730 - 830); grandson of Gen. Charles Martel - Charles
the Great “Charlemagne” 768 - 800 the King, 800 - 814 the Emperor of The
Holy Roman Empire
Carolingian renaissance
Re-integration of the fragmented Europe
- Rebirth of the Greco-Roman civilization
combined with Christian ethics
- Restoration of Roman law and order; “Capitulare”
- Promotion of romantic code of conduct:
honour, decency, patriotism, courtesy, elegance, respect
chivalry: horsemanship. Wrestling, archery, care, poetry, music
- Romanesque, Gothic and Carolingian architecture
- Romanesque ethos: law, justice, honour, decency, patriotism, chivalry,
piety
Christianization resulting from missionary activity or king’s conversion
European kingdoms were Christianized either in
- The Roman rite, e.g., Poland in 966 or
- The Byzantine rite, e.g., Ukraine in 989
Monasterial movement
* First as the withdrawn individual hermits: prayers and meditations.
* Later as communities of monks or nuns: living in seclusion.
* Some orders remained isolated in monasteries,
while others would reach out to offer nursing, caring, teaching,
charity, and farming Ora et labora
Religious nurses (“sisters”, “brothers”) in hospitals in Beirut,
Damascus, Lubeck. At times of plagues, they died massively…
541 - 767 Pandemic crisis in the Central Africa, Spain, France,
and Byzantium:
in 14 epidemics, caused probably by the Smallpox
1344 - 1352 the Bubonic Plague* also called the Black Death**
brought by Mongolian armies attacking the Crimea
The bacteria yersinia pestis transmitted from rats via fleas to
people
The plague killed 25 million
High Medieval 1000-1250
Vikings settled in Newfoundland; and Northern France “Normans”
The pilgrims to the Holy Land blocked by the Muslim army
1095 - 1291 European kings organize eight Crusades - to regain access.
Templar Knights in the castles/garrisons to protect the Holy Land
Gothic architecture, e.g., Notre Dame, Paris 1182
Public schooling, ordered by the Council of Rome 1215
Rise of the first universities: Bologna, Salerno, Paris, Oxford, Modena,
Cambridge, Napoli, Salamanca, Seville, Padua.
LATE MEDIEVAL 1250 – 1453
The next universities: Coimbra & Lisbon 1290, Rome 1300, Pisa 1343,
Florence 1349, Prague 1350, Krakow 1364, Modena 1365, Vienna & Koln
1382,
Heidelberg & Ferrara 1391.
* 1344 - 1352 Black Death in Europe.
* 1450 J. Gutenberg - the alphabetic printing machine
* 1453 Fall of Constantinople to Turks.
Exodus of Byzantine scholars to other European countries.
Medieval school system
527 The Church Council of Toledo:
schools to train priests, lawyers, scribes
800 Charlemagne: cathedral and monasterial schools
1079 Pope Gregory VII: cathedral school transformed into
Studium generale (theology, philosophy) and
Studium particulare (medicine, law, commerce, arts)
//Prototypes of colleges and universities//
Universitas magistrorum et scholarium meant a union of teachers &
students
The first universities: Bologna 1089, Paris 1150, Oxford 1167, Salamanca
1218
Latin as an international language in European
universities
Teachers: monks, priests or theological scholars
Academic titles: magister (a master), doctor (a teacher)
Latin became a universal tongue in all European countries’ schools, churches
and hospitals.
The Curriculum in the early European universities.
Scholasticism* - the use of rational reasoning and faith in scholarly debates.
A prototype of logic and methodology
ISLAMIC SCHOLARS
Translating and copying works of the ancient
Greek and Roman philosophers, doctors and writers.
* Discussions on theological matters with Jewish, Christian and Persian
scholars.
* Contributions to algebra, medicine, astronomy and theology.
AVICENNA (981-1037)
* Encyclopedic “Canon of Medicine”
* Aristotelian-style faculties of the soul: human, animal and vegetative -
hierarchically arranged.
* A person as a microcosm reflecting Neoplatonian macrocosm.
* Let’s reconcile reason with faith
* Galenic concept of 4 temperaments
Avicenna and Aristotle on
the differences between the animal psyche and the human mind
Similar: - basic five senses,
- common sense,
- polysensory generalization,
- individually learned memory,
- species memory, instinctive intuition
- biological urges and needs (individual and species survival)
Different (specifically human):
- abstract generalization (beyond sensory similarity)
- consciousness, self-awareness
- the free will: self-monitoring, self-modelling, judgement and choices
- altruistic aspirations, perfection in virtues, spiritual actualization
MAIMONIDES 1135 – 1204
Zeitgeist in Spain then was hostile towards Jews.
the choice: conversion to Islam or exile
As a “convert”, Maimonides studied medicine in Spain
Teaching philosophy and theology in Morocco, Egypt and Palestine
His tomb in the city of Tiberias, Israel
“The Guide for the Perplexed” - an attempt to reconcile religious
the faith with the reason
The Scriptures provide metaphoric stories, symbolic proverbs, analogies, and
examples – useful in theological teaching.
Pierre Abelard
* Teacher of philosophy and theology in Paris
* Master and canon of Notre Dame School
* He preferred Plato over Aristotle
* His favourite epistemology was logical reasoning
* Eloquent scholastic polemist
using the dialectic method: considering pros & cons
of each contrasting opinion, to reach a conclusion
dia = Greek - through Dialectic: going through, analyzing my arguments
(thesis)
and the opponents’ arguments (antithesis) to reach a
conclusion
Socrates, Plato, Hegel
Bacon
A Franciscan monk, exposed to Jewish teachers in England
In France, he studied under the famous Albertus Magnus
Roger Bacon preferred empiricism over rationalism
Experimenting with objects: essays on optics
Albertus Magnus
German theologian and philosopher
Teaching at Paris University
Aristotle: his favorite philosophy.
Books on ethics, psychology: sensation, memory, intelligence etc.
Faith and reason are NOT contradictory.
A role model for
Thomas Aquinas in Cologne and Paris
St.-Thomas Aquinas
Dominican Monastery in Monte Casino
- University of Napoli
- University of Cologne
- University of Paris
* He preferred Aristotle over Plato.
* Back to the Italian monastery and University of Napoli -
* epoch-making “Summa Theologiae”
* Thomism a theology
* Postmortem (in 1323) canonized as a saint.
Thomism, a new theology based on Aristotle:
Epistemology: empirical observations combined
with rational thinking in the study of
the material world, God’s creation. In case of
doubts, the rules of faith should prevail
over empirical observations.
Ontology: Body-mind compositum
Ethics: Care of the soul and the body, its habitat
(to be resurrected)
Freedom of choice increases with increased
knowledge of necessities.
Asceticism is not necessary to deserve salvation.
Terrestrial life - is a part of human existence and
should be appreciated and fulfilled
God’s creation should be studied and reflected upon.
Voice of reason should be given an open and
sympathetic audience.
Theology has little to fear from science and reason.
FAITH and REASON as two valid epistemological tools must be reconciled in
scholarly debates
THE HUMAN SOUL
Rational:
Cognition of the universals and the Intellectual curiosity
Sensitive-locomotive:
Exterior senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell
Interior senses: imagination, memory,
estimation and common sense
Vegetative: Nutrition, reproduction and growth
The Middle Ages
* The Fall of Rome brought political turmoil, wars between local usurpers,
chaos, the lack of central authority, and anarchy.
the collapse of the law-and-order: terror bandits and outlaws
* Carolingian Renaissance: restoration of the law-and-order, ethos.
* Christianization and Islamization. Religious wars and conquests
The Crusades. New military technologies.
* Migrations, pilgrimages; exchange of opinion, knowledge, genes and …
illnesses.
Christian civilization (both the Roman and the Byzantine part)
was based on:
- the Greek classic philosophy
- the Roman law and
- the Judeo-Christian ethics
Regional languages (applying the Latin or Greco-Cyrillic alphabet &
grammar):
- Romance: Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese
- Anglo-Saxon: German, English, Swedish, Dutch, Danish
- Slavic: (Latin) Polish, Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Slovenian
- Slavic: (Greco-Cyrillic) Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian, Serbian
* Scholasticism: a prototype of methodology
* Monasterial movement:
- meditation, work, service, ascetic humility
- copying the Greco-Roman scripts
- teaching in schools and universities
- helping the poor (hospices) and ill (hospitals)
- teaching basic rules of hygiene and ethics
* Emergence of public schools and universities in Europe
* Re-emergence of Roman customs (“romantic” as opposed to
“barbarian”): Romanticized chivalry and respect towards women,
courtesy, savoir-vivre, virtuous conduct and kindness; the cult of
virtuous knights, chevaliers and troubadours.
* Professional ethos and pride of specialists-manufacturers.
* Anonymous artists and architects: Roman, later Gothic cathedrals,
castles and palaces in Europe.
* Development of sacral and secular music notation
* Transition from Augustinian theology to Thomism
* Emphasis on the spirituality of human existence.
Service for others (altruism) to deserve eternity
