Notes

"Foundations of the medieval world"


Let's learn a bit about Pope Gregory I
• Born believing in monotheism
• Developed an early version of the Gregorian chant

VOCABULARY
epic poem a long, narrative poem about an important event that usually features a hero
framed narrative a story within a story
monotheism the belief that there is only one God (as opposed to believing in multiple gods)
Vocab Arcade
All roads lead to Rome—or, so they used to! At the height of the Roman Empire (around AD 117), the Empire stretched from modern-day Turkey, south into Iraq and Syria, west through Egypt and the rest of North Africa, and north into modern-day Spain and Great Britain. To upkeep such a vast empire, the Romans built many roads; thus, the Roman culture and ideas were spread throughout Europe and Asia Minor.

Between the 5th and 6th century, the Roman Empire was in constant turmoil and eventually fell. Warring over land, it seemed, had stunted civilized growth throughout the remnants of the old Empire.

Many people looked to religious institutions for support and guidance. Christianity was gaining in numbers—Christian converts left behind their old Roman beliefs of multiple gods for monotheism, the belief in only one God. Religious institutions evolved as well.

The Medieval Period (500-1500)
As warring nations rose and fell during the Dark Ages (between 500-1000), there was a glimmer of hope upon the horizon. Some civilizations were beginning to settle down and legitimately grow—they grew in population, and with it came growing needs and desires.

Literature provided one avenue of entertainment as well as a way to obtain knowledge. Epic poems, such as Beowulf, portrayed heroic warriors oftentimes overcoming cataclysmic events with a bit of romance and gore. Mythology was everywhere in literature—in epic poems and in tales of the day; Le Morte d’Arthur (translated as The Death of Arthur) was a set of romantic tales about King Arthur and his knights, one being Sir Lancelot.

Writers are writing in the context of their time period. During the Medieval period philosophical ideas were many times developed in the Christian church, led by the Pope. Indeed, you saw how Pope Gregory I promoted the importance of pilgrimages. The searching of one’s soul for answers became a focal point of many philosophers of this time.

Philosophers were asking existential questions. Existential questions are questions about existence. St. Augustine was an early Christian church leader. He looked to philosophy to help him answer the questions that religion could not answer.

Medieval philosophy included the study of: religious ideas, math, and natural science.

Because many of the writers were risking a reprimand from political and religious authorities they tried to protect themselves from persecution by writing in a complex, almost cryptic-like manner. The allegories and commentaries served to conceal their true meaning from the people.

Most people couldn’t read, and only a small percentage of those who were literate would be able to understand the fundamental meanings. They used their cleverness to reduce the chance of getting caught. Of course, that means it’s also more difficult for us to decode their message.

''The permanent of philosophy"

Vocab: Aristotelianism; a school of thinking that relies on scientific or pragmatic experiences; followers believe humans perceive reality through physical objects and experiences with those objects,
Scholasticism; philosophical teachings based on Aristotle and the Church fathers, such as Thomas Aquinas; followers believe humans should use reasoning and inference to analyze reality;
anthropology the study of human development of humans, including Christian theology on humans in contrast with God

Saint Thomas Aquinas was a medieval philosopher and intellectual. He was born in his father’s castle near Naples, Italy. By the age of nineteen, Thomas Aquinas decided to become a monk. He joined the Dominican Order and was educated at a monastery. He received his doctorate in theology, and taught in Paris until 1259. Afterward, he spent years studying at Dominican monasteries near Rome, Italy. Unlike Augustine who focused on the world, Aquinas desired to understand the individual soul. To find the answers to his questions, whom did Aquinas study?

Aristotle! Aristotle was born in Greece and studied philosophy with Plato in Athens in 367. He defined reality through his experiences with physical objects. Aristotle was influential; he even tutored Alexander the Great.

Medieval philosophers agreed with Aristotle's ideas and confirmed that his ideas did not contradict the Bible; so, the philosophers, many of whom were also Church Fathers, merged Aristotle's ideas with Christian principles. This newly created philosophy came to be called Scholasticism.

Thomas Aquinas’s ideas are sometimes referred to as Thomism. He tried to combine reason with faith through Aristotle’s philosophy and theology. Aquinas came to terms with Augustine’s pessimistic views of reason–that reason was dependent on human will. Aquinas believed man’s will was free and reason, “though spoiled by sin,” could tell much about the world. Aquinas also believed that acquiring knowledge, even things beyond what our senses can perceive and comprehend at a given time, must start with the senses.

Thomas helped establish Scholasticism in medieval Europe, ideas that reconciled reason and faith into a synthesis of Roman Catholic Church ideals, and he was formally recognized as a saint in 1323.

• Aquinas asserts God’s existence in Summa Theologica
• Aquinas says angels are evidence of God's existence
• Purpose of angels is to show men Divinity and to lead men to God