10.1 The City, the Cathedral, and the University
Goals
Discuss the important role of the city in the development of medieval society.
Discuss the important role of the Church in the development of medieval society.
Discuss the important role of the university in the development of medieval society.
The High Middle Ages saw the growth of a number of institutions that stood in sharp contrast to those of the Carolingian period. Foremost was the rise of the city. Urbanization brought with it a lessening of the importance of monastic life as a cultural center and the emergence of the influence of the bishop and the cathedral school. The increased need for a “knowledge class” triggered an expansion in education that would eventually lead to the university of scholars. Urbanization also warred against the old feudal values. It fostered trade and commerce, and it made possible the growth of what today we would call a “middle class” who stood on the social ladder between the rural peasant/city worker and the landed royalty or hereditary aristocracy.
10.2 Intellectual and Architectural Advances
Discuss the increased importance of intellectual pursuits.
Discuss the important contributions of Arabic sources to the development of Western awareness of classical scholarship.
Recognize developments in architecture during the Middle Ages.
Recognize developments in art during the Middle Ages.
Recognize developments in music during the Middle Ages.
The 12th and 13th Centuries were times of intense intellectual ferment and advance. New sources of knowledge came through Arabic sources either as original contributions (e.g., in medicine and science) or in the form of lost works of the classical past (e.g., the writings of Aristotle) that fueled the work of medieval scholars. Advances in technology as “spinoffs” from the ambitious plans of both Romanesque and Gothic architects had their impact. The growing prevalence of a money-based economy aided the growth of artistic and musical culture.
10.3 Philosophical Investigations
Goals
Discuss the architectural accomplishments evident in Chartres Cathedral.
Discuss the philosophical contributions of Thomas Aquinas.
Discuss the literary accomplishments of Dante Alighieri.
One conspicuous characteristic of medieval culture was its belief that everything knowable could be expressed in a manageable and rational whole. Whether it appeared in stone (Chartres) or technical prose (Thomas Aquinas) or in poetry (Dante), the medieval mind saw hierarchy, order, intelligibility, and, above all, God, in all of observable creation. This hierarchy expressed itself in an emphasis on advancing steps of understanding. The sculptural program of Chartres, for example, is a revelation of the Old Testament figures who point us to their proper fulfillment in the New Testament. In the theology of Aquinas, we move from the plane of natural reason to a fuller truth taught by revelation. In Dante, we progress from an awareness of our sinful nature to an intuition into the nature of God. In each of these cases, the emphasis is on harmony, on gradation, and on a final purpose of all knowledge, which is to become aware of God. In that sense, at least, much of medieval culture could be said to be oriented in an otherworldly manner.
Glossary |
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Chapter 10 |
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canto |
Literally, a “song”—used to describe part of the Commedia by Dante Alighieri. |
cantus |
Early term for singing as opposed to musica, which meant the ordering of tones and intervals. |
cantus firmus |
Latin for “fixed song,” a system of structuring a polyphonic composition around a preselected melody by adding new melodies above and/or below. The technique was used by medieval and Renaissance composers. |
cathedra |
The bishop’s throne. From that word comes the word cathedral, i.e., a church where a bishop officiates. |
cathedral |
The church of the bishop named for the seat or chair (cathedra) from which he preached and taught. |
chancel |
The part of a church that is east of the nave and includes the choir and sanctuary. |
flying arch |
External curved buttresses of a Gothic church characteristic of that style. |
gargoyle |
Extravagant animal carving, symbolizing the flight of demons, used on gothic churches to serve as drains. |
goliardic verse |
Term used to describe medieval student poetry and songs. |
horarium |
The daily schedule in a monastery or a church community; a term derived from the Latin word for an hour (hora). |
lancet |
A pointed window frame of a medieval Gothic cathedral. |
legend |
Stories meant to be read aloud; often used for stories about the saints in medieval literature. |
motet |
(1) Musical composition, developed in the thirteenth century, in which words (French “mots”) were added to fragments of Gregorian chant. (2) Sixteenth century composition: four- or five-voiced sacred work, generally based on a Latin text. |
mullion |
A slender divider of light panels on a window. |
narthex |
The porch or vestibule of a church. |
nave |
From the Latin meaning “ship.”The central space of a church. |
pilgrimage church |
A church designated as a pilgrimage destination as opposed to a church (e.g., Chartres) that was a pilgrimage destination but was also a cathedral. |
relics |
Parts of a body or material (clothing, personal objects) associated with a saint. |
tercet |
A three-line stanza of a poem. |
troubadors |
Aristocratic southern French musicians of the Middle Ages who composed secular songs with themes of love and chivalry; called trouvčres in northern France. Compare minnesingers. |
universitas |
A guild or cooperative body. The academic universitas is the ancestor of the present-day university. |
Timeline
1121 |
Abelard, Sic
et Non; birth of Scholasticism |
1140 |
Abbot
Suger begins
rebuilding Abbey
Church of
Saint Denis; Gothic style evolves: use of pointed arch, flying
buttress, and window tracery |
c. 1163 |
Oxford University founded |
1194 | Chartres Cathedral destroyed by fire; rebuilding begins 1195 (ends 1260) |
c. 1209 |
Cambridge University founded |
1215 |
Magna
Carta, limiting powers of the king, signed in
England |
1220-1269 |
Cathedral of Amiens |
c. 1220 | Growth
begins of mendicant friars; Franciscans,
Dominicans |
c. 1224-1226 |
Saint
Francis of Assisi, "Canticle
of Brother Sun" |
c. 1267-1273 |
St.
Thomas Aquinas, Summa
Theologica |
1301-1321 | Dante, Divine Comedy |