Not only shalt thou do what seems well to thee; but thou shalt do right, with wisdom. History has laid some thousands of years of emphasis on this. Thou shalt not only be sincere, but thou shalt be righteous, and not iniquitous; beneficent, and not malignant; loving and lovable, and not hating and hateful. Thou shalt be a promoter of light, and not of darkness; an illuminator, and not an obscurer. Not only shalt thou seek to choose aright, but at thy peril thou shalt so choose. “Unto him that hath shall be given”—nothing is said about sincerity. The fool, the maniac, is sincere; the mainsprings of the good which we may commend lie deeper.
So, and at his peril likewise, must the historian judge. He cannot state the facts and sit aloof, impartial between good and ill, between success and failure, progress and retrogression, the soul’s health and loveliness, and spiritual foulness and disease. He must love and hate, and at his peril love aright and hate what is truly hateful. And although his sympathies quiver to understand and feel as the man and woman before him, his sympathies must be controlled by wisdom.
Whatever may be one’s beliefs, a realization of the power and import of the Christian Faith is needed for an understanding of the thoughts and feelings moving the men and women of the Middle Ages, and for a just appreciation of their aspirations and ideals. Perhaps the fittest standard to apply to them is one’s own broadest conception of the Christian scheme, the Christian scheme whole and entire with the full life of Christ’s Gospel. Every age has offered an interpretation of that Gospel and an attempt at fulfilment. Neither the interpretation of the Church Fathers, nor that of the Middle Ages satisfies us now. And by our further understanding of life and the Gospel of life, we criticize the judgment of mediaeval men. We have to sympathize with their best, and understand their lives out of their lives and the conditions in which they were passed. But we must judge according to our own best wisdom, and out of ourselves offer our comment and contribution.
HENRY OSBORN TAYLOR.
Many translations from mediaeval (chiefly Latin) writings will be found in this work, which seeks to make the Middle Ages speak for themselves. With a very few exceptions, mentioned in the foot-notes, these translations are my own. I have tried to keep them literal, and at all events free from the intrusion of thoughts and suggestions not in the originals.
CONTENTS
| [BOOK I] THE GROUNDWORK | ||
| PAGE | ||
| [CHAPTER I] | ||
| Genesis of the Mediaeval Genius | [3] | |
| [CHAPTER II] | ||
| The Latinizing of the West | [23] | |
| [CHAPTER III] | ||
| Greek Philosophy as the Antecedent of the Patristic Apprehension of Fact | [33] | |
| [CHAPTER IV] | ||
| Intellectual Interests of the Latin Fathers | [61] | |
| [CHAPTER V] | ||
| Latin Transmitters of Antique and Patristic Thought | [88] | |
| [CHAPTER VI] | ||
| The Barbaric Disruption of the Empire | [110] | |
| [CHAPTER VII] | ||
| The Celtic Strain in Gaul and Ireland | [124] | |
| [CHAPTER VIII] | ||
| Teuton Qualities: Anglo-Saxon, German, Norse | [138] | |
| [CHAPTER IX] | ||
| The Bringing of Christianity and Antique Knowledge to the Northern Peoples | [169] | |
| I. | Irish Activities; Columbanus of Luxeuil. | |
| II. | Conversion of the English; the learning of Bede and Alfred. | |
| III. | Gaul and Germany; from Clovis to St. Winifried-Boniface. | |
| [BOOK II] THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES | ||
| [CHAPTER X] | ||
| Carolingian Period: the First Stage in the Appropriation of the Patristic and Antique | [207] | |
| [CHAPTER XI] | ||
| Mental Aspects of the Eleventh Century: Italy | [238] | |
| I. | From Charlemagne to Hildebrand. | |
| II. | The Human Situation. | |
| III. | The Italian Continuity of Antique Culture. | |
| IV. | Italy’s Intellectual Piety: Peter Damiani and St. Anselm. | |
| [CHAPTER XII] | ||
| Mental Aspects of the Eleventh Century: France | [280] | |
| I. | Gerbert. | |
| II. | Odilo of Cluny. | |
| III. | Fulbert and the School of Chartres; Trivium and Quadrivium. | |
| IV. | Berengar of Tours, Roscellin, and the coming time. | |
| [CHAPTER XIII] | ||
| Mental Aspects of the Eleventh Century: Germany; England | [307] | |
| I. | German Appropriation of Christianity and Antique Culture. | |
| II. | Othloh’s Spiritual Conflict. | |
| III. | England; Closing Comparisons. | |
| [CHAPTER XIV] | ||
| The Growth of Mediaeval Emotion | [330] | |
| I. | The Patristic Chart of Passion. | |
| II. | Emotionalizing of Latin Christianity. | |
| [BOOK III] THE IDEAL AND THE ACTUAL: THE SAINTS | ||
| [CHAPTER XV] | ||
| The Reforms of Monasticism | [353] | |
| Mediaeval Extremes; Benedict of Aniane; Cluny; Citeaux’s Charta Charitatis; the vita contemplativa accepts the vita activa. | ||
| [CHAPTER XVI] | ||
| The Hermit Temper | [368] | |
| Peter Damiani; Romuald; Dominicus Loricatus; Bruno and Guigo, Carthusians. | ||
| [CHAPTER XVII] | ||
| The Quality of Love in St. Bernard | [392] | |
| [CHAPTER XVIII] | ||
| St. Francis of Assisi | [415] | |
| [CHAPTER XIX] | ||
| Mystic Visions of Ascetic Women | [442] | |
| Elizabeth of Schönau; Hildegard of Bingen; Mary of Ognies; Liutgard of Tongern; Mechthild of Magdeburg. | ||
| [CHAPTER XX] | ||
| The Spotted Actuality | [471] | |
| The Testimony of Invective and Satire; Archbishop Rigaud’s Register; Engelbert of Cologne; Popular Credences. | ||
| [CHAPTER XXI] | ||
| The World of Salimbene | [494] | |
| [BOOK IV] THE IDEAL AND THE ACTUAL: SOCIETY | ||
| [CHAPTER XXII] | ||
| Feudalism and Knighthood | [521] | |
| Feudal and Christian Origin of Knightly Virtue; the Order of the Temple; Godfrey of Bouillon; St. Louis; Froissart’s Chronicles. | ||
| [CHAPTER XXIII] | ||
| Romantic Chivalry and Courtly Love | [558] | |
| From Roland to Tristan and Lancelot. | ||
| [CHAPTER XXIV] | ||
| Parzival, the Brave Man slowly Wise | [588] | |