Major Advancements During the "Dark Ages"

Burkhardt is heartily incorrect in stating that there was little or no intellectual or cultural development in the Middle Ages. Educational developments began and more colleges and universities were founded. Church organizations changed and morphed, while trade and chivalry began to popularize.

Education was a large intellectual development that started in the middle ages. The development of Scholastic thought dominated teaching in universities from 1100 all the way until 1600. It had a strong emphasis on understanding through faith rather than reason. The discovery of classical works also became standard in teaching. Bonaventure relied heavily upon the teachings of Aristotle and Plato. Thomas Aquinas in Summa against the Gentiles writes a guide for missionaries to use when trying to convert the Muslims. The significance of this work is that it uses Aristotle logic and reason to back up its Christian demands. He uses approaches broad and significant topics systematically. Thomas Aquinas is a great example of Medieval Scholastism and educational development. More proof that education was starting to truly flourish in the Middle Ages is Dante Alighieri’s three piece epic poem. While Dante travels through the Inferno and Paradise, he runs into multiple people from history. Virgil is his guide, the classical roman historian. This work is proof that Dante was well educated in not only classical works, but contemporary (ish) ones as well. He knows of Guinevere and Sir Lancelot, Cleopatra, Saint Benedict, and many others. This Florentine’s education is not lacking. The Middle Ages truly had educational developments.

Not only did the Middle Ages have educational developments, but it also had religious (cultural) developments as well. Saint Benedict and Francis brought forth a new way of religious life by establishing their monastic orders with strict rules and ways of living. This created a culture in itself. Those who prayed now prayed without as much ‘deadly’ sin as before. They were more pious, honest, pure, and godly than their corrupt predecessors. The Abbey at Cluny is the best example of this pious lifestyle invented and perfected by these saints. In Saint Bernard’s Apologia he essentially outlines the proper way a monk should be living. He speaks against superfluity, fasting, pride, drinking, idolatry and other disturbing things that monks should not take part in and did not take part in at Cluny before it became corrupt. This defense of cultural change in Christian religious houses takes pride in its piety and good graces while belittling the ones who do not take part in the proper monastic way of life. Peter the Venerable in Miracles rebuffs Bernard’s remarks about the abbey’s poor condition. But it also shows the changes that it had to go through to become pious like it once had. Both of these monks show the importance and changes in the cultural that was practiced by the monks at Cluny. 

Another major cultural and intellectual change that came out of the middle ages is the flourishing of trade and awareness of other cultures. The crusades brought forth his major change. Because Christians were now regularly going to the Holy Land, they brought back with them goods and knowledge of the Moors, Saracens, and other Muslims. While the crusades were called by popes to save the Holy Land, others sponsored it. The Conquest of Lisbon (1147-8) is a persuasive sermon given to call people to the crusade. In it they depict the horrors that the Moors committed against the Christians and how they must be stopped. Stephen of Blois wrote a Letter to His Wife also describing the crusades and the battles that he faced. The crusades started a way of life culturally and intellectually. It saw the rise of Chivalry and Knighthood which was a major aspect of the middle ages. In Froissart’s Chronicles, he depicts the ways of knighthood and chivalry. He describes the glory that the knights brought with them from the war. This idea of glory is rooted in the crusades.

Interest in trade also developed out of the Middle Ages and crusades. Because people now know of the spices, goods, clothes, and other merchandise that resided in the east they wished to find a faster route to it. This lead to the exploration and founding of the new world. Without all the developments in the middle ages in education, chivalry, piety, and glory…. There may not have been a finding of the new world. The interest was sparked in the Middle Ages and it is important to know this because without the interest, the pursuit of these matters could have been non-existent. To say there was no development during the Middle Ages is blasphemy. As talked about in the previous essay, the development of governance in England truly started the rise of democracy with the Magna Carta as well as the People’s Republic cities in Italy. The middle ages cannot be viewed as “lay dreaming or half awake”. Indeed it was not a swift and quick as the developments made in the Enlightenment, but everything had to start somewhere!