Early European History Part 101

UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION

The word "university" [21] meant at first simply a union or a.s.sociation.

In the Middle Ages all artisans were organized in guilds, [22] and when masters and pupils a.s.sociated themselves for teaching and study they naturally copied the guild form. This was the more necessary since the student body included so many foreigners, who found protection against annoyances only as members of a guild.

DEGREES

Like a craft guild a university consisted of masters (the professors), who had the right to teach, and students, both elementary and advanced, who corresponded to apprentices and journeymen. After several years of study a student who had pa.s.sed part of his examination became a "bachelor of arts"

and might teach certain elementary subjects to those beneath him. Upon the completion of the full course--usually six years in length--the bachelor took his final examinations and, if he pa.s.sed them, received the coveted degree of "master of arts." But as is the case to-day, many who attended the universities never took a degree at all.

THE TEACHERS

A university of the Middle Ages did not need an expensive collection of libraries, laboratories, and museums. Its only necessary equipment consisted in lecture rooms for the professors. Not even benches or chairs were required. Students often sat on the straw-strewn floors. The high price of ma.n.u.scripts compelled professors to give all instruction by lectures. This method of teaching has been retained in modern universities, since even the printed book is a poor subst.i.tute for a scholar's inspiring words.

THE STUDENTS

The universities being under the protection of the Church, it was natural that those who attended them should possess some of the privileges of clergymen. Students were not required to pay taxes or to serve in the army. They also enjoyed the right of trial in their own courts. This was an especially valuable privilege, for medieval students were constantly getting into trouble with the city authorities. The sober annals of many a university are relieved by tales of truly Homeric conflicts between Town and Gown. When the students were dissatisfied with their treatment in one place, it was always easy for them to go to another university. Sometimes masters and scholars made off in a body. Oxford appears to have owed its existence to a large migration of English students from Paris, Cambridge arose as the result of a migration from Oxford, and the German university of Leipzig sprang from that of Prague in Bohemia.

[Ill.u.s.tration: VIEW OF NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD New College, despite its name, is one of the oldest of the Oxford collegiate foundations. It was established in 1379 A.D. by William of Wykeham. The ill.u.s.tration shows the chapel, the cloisters consecrated in 1400 A.D., and the detached tower, a tall, ma.s.sive structure on the line of the city wall.]

COLLEGES

The members of a university usually lived in a number of colleges. These seem to have been at first little more than lodging-houses, where poor students were cared for at the expense of some benefactor. In time, however, as the colleges increased in wealth, through the gifts made to them, they became centers of instruction under the direction of masters.

At Oxford and Cambridge, where the collegiate system has been retained to the present time, each college has its separate buildings and enjoys the privilege of self-government.

FACULTIES

The studies in a medieval university were grouped under the four faculties of arts, theology, law, and medicine. The first-named faculty taught the "seven liberal arts," that is, grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. They formed a legacy from old Roman education. Theology, law, and medicine then, as now, were professional studies, taken up after the completion of the Arts course. Owing to the constant movement of students from one university to another, each inst.i.tution tended to specialize in one or more subjects. Thus, Paris came to be noted for theology, Montpellier, Padua, and Salerno for medicine, and Orleans, Bologna, and Salamanca for law.

[Ill.u.s.tration: TOWER OF MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD Magdalen (p.r.o.nounced Maudlin) is perhaps the most beautiful college in Oxford. The bell tower stands on High Street, the princ.i.p.al thoroughfare of Oxford, and adjoins Magdalen Bridge, built across the Cherwell. Begun in 1492 A.D.; completed in 1505 A.D. From its summit a Latin hymn is sung every year on the morning of May Day. This graceful tower has been several times imitated in American collegiate structures.]

204. SCHOLASTICISM

THEOLOGICAL STUDY

Theology formed the chief subject of instruction in most medieval universities. Nearly all the celebrated scholars of the age were theologians. They sought to arrange the doctrines of the Church in systematic and reasonable form, in order to answer those great questions concerning the nature of G.o.d and of the soul which have always occupied the human mind. For this purpose it was necessary to call in the aid of philosophy. The union of theology and philosophy produced what is known as scholasticism. [23]

[Ill.u.s.tration: INTERIOR OF KING'S COLLEGE CHAPEL, CAMBRIDGE.

The chief architectural ornament of King's College, founded by King Henry VI, is the chapel in the Gothic perpendicular style.* This building was begun in 1446 A.D., but was not completed until nearly seventy years later. The finest features of the interior are the fan vaulting which extends throughout the chapel, the stained-gla.s.s windows, and the wooden organ screen.]

ABELARD AND FREEDOM OF THOUGHT

The scholastics were loyal children of the Church and did not presume to question her teaching in matters of religion. They held that faith precedes reason. "The Christian," it was said, "ought to advance to knowledge through faith, not come to faith through knowledge." The brilliant Abelard, with his keenly critical mind, found what he considered a flaw in this position: on many subjects the authorities themselves disagreed. To show this he wrote a little book called _Sic et Non_ ("Yes and No"), setting forth the conflicting opinions of the Church Fathers on one hundred and fifty-eight points of theology. In such cases how could truth be reached unless one reasoned it out for oneself? "Constant questioning," he declared, "is the key to wisdom.... Through doubting we come to inquiry and through inquiry we perceive the truth." But this reliance on the unaided human reason as a means of obtaining knowledge did not meet with approval, and Abelard's views were condemned as unsound.

Abelard, indeed, was a man in advance of his age. Freedom of thought had to wait many centuries before its rights should be acknowledged.

STUDY OF ARISTOTLE

The philosophy on which the scholastics relied was chiefly that of Aristotle. [24] Christian Europe read him at first in Latin translations from the Arabic, but versions were later made from Greek copies found in Constantinople and elsewhere in the East. This revival of Aristotle, though it broadened men's minds by acquainting them with the ideas of the greatest of Greek thinkers, had serious drawbacks. It discouraged rather than favored the search for fresh truth. Many scholastics were satisfied to appeal to Aristotle's authority, rather than take the trouble of finding out things for themselves. The story is told of a medieval student who, having detected spots in the sun, announced his discovery to a learned man. "My son," said the latter, "I have read Aristotle many times, and I a.s.sure you there is nothing of the kind mentioned by him. Be certain that the spots which you have seen are in your eyes and not in the sun."

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS, 1227-1274 A.D.

There were many famous scholastics, or "schoolmen," but easily the foremost among them was the Italian monk, Thomas Aquinas. He taught at Paris, Cologne, Rome, and Bologna, and became so celebrated for learning as to be known as the "Angelic Doctor." Though Aquinas died at an early age, he left behind him no less than eighteen folio volumes. His _Summa Theologiae_ ("Compendium of Theology"), as the name indicates, gathered up all that the Middle Ages believed of the relations between G.o.d and man.

The Roman Church has placed him among her saints and still recommends the study of his writings as the foundation of all sound theology.

THE SCHOLASTIC METHOD

Enough has been said to show that the method of study in medieval universities was not that which generally obtains to-day. There was almost no original research. Law students memorized the Justinian code. Medical students learned anatomy and physiology from old Greek books, instead of in the dissecting room. Theologians and philosophers went to the Bible, the Church Fathers, or Aristotle for the solution of all problems. They often debated the most subtle questions, for instance, "Can G.o.d ever know more than He knows that He knows?" Mental gymnastics of this sort furnished a good training in logic, but added nothing to the sum of human knowledge. Scholasticism, accordingly, fell into disrepute, in proportion as men began to subst.i.tute scientific observation and experiment for speculation.

205. SCIENCE AND MAGIC

SCIENTIFIC INVENTIONS

Not all medieval learning took the form of scholasticism. The twelfth and thirteenth centuries were marked by a healthy interest in science. Long encyclopedias, written in Latin, collected all available information about the natural world. The study of physics made conspicuous progress, partly as a result of Arab influence. Various scientific inventions, including magnifying gla.s.ses and clocks, were worked out. The mariner's compa.s.s, perhaps derived from the Arabs, also came into general use. [25]

ROGER BACON, ABOUT 1214-1294 A.D.

As representative of this scientific interest we may take the Englishman, Roger Bacon. He studied at Paris, where his attainments secured for him the t.i.tle of the "Wonderful Doctor," and lectured at Oxford. At a period when Aristotle's influence was unbounded, Bacon turned away from scholastic philosophy to mathematics and the sciences. No great discoveries were made by him, but it is interesting to read a pa.s.sage in one of his works where some modern inventions are distinctly foreseen. In time, he wrote, ships will be moved without rowers, and carriages will be propelled without animals to draw them. Machines for flying will also be constructed, "wherein a man sits revolving some engine by which artificial wings are made to beat the air like a flying bird." Even in Bacon's day it would appear that men were trying to make steamboats, automobiles, and aeroplanes.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ROGER BACON]

GUNPOWDER

The discovery of gunpowder, a compound of saltpeter, charcoal, and sulphur, has often been attributed to Bacon, probably incorrectly. Bacon and other men of his time seem to have been familiar with the composition of gunpowder, but they regarded it as merely a sort of firework, producing a sudden and brilliant flame. They little suspected that in a confined s.p.a.ce the expansive power of its gases could be used to hurl projectiles.

Gunpowder was occasionally manufactured during the fourteenth century, but for a long time it made more noise than it did harm. Small bra.s.s cannon, throwing stone b.a.l.l.s, began at length to displace the medieval siege weapons, and still later muskets took the place of the bow, the cross-bow, and the pike. The revolution in the art of warfare introduced by gunpowder had vast importance. It destroyed the usefulness of the castle and enabled the peasant to fight the mailed knight on equal terms. Gunpowder, accordingly, must be included among the forces which brought about the downfall of feudalism.

CHEMISTRY AND ALCHEMY

The study of chemistry also engaged the attention of medieval investigators. It was, however, much mixed up with alchemy, a false science which the Middle Ages had received from the Greeks, and they, in turn, from the Egyptians. The alchemists believed that minerals possessed a real life of their own and that they were continually developing in the ground toward the state of gold, the perfect metal. It was necessary, therefore, to discover the "philosopher's stone," which would turn all metals into gold. The alchemists never found it, but they learned a good deal about the various metals and discovered a number of compounds and colors. In this way alchemy contributed to the advance of chemistry.

ASTRONOMY AND ASTROLOGY

Astronomy in the Middle Ages was the most advanced of any natural science, though the telescope and the Copernican theory [26] were as yet in the future. Astronomy, the wise mother, had a foolish daughter, astrology, the origin of which can be traced back to Babylonia. [27] Medieval students no longer regarded the stars as divine, but they believed that the natural world and the life of men were controlled by celestial influences. Hence astrologers professed to predict the fate of a person from the position of the planets at the time of his birth. Astrological rules were also drawn from the signs of the zodiac. A child born under the sign of the Lion will be courageous; one born under the Crab will not go forward well in life; one born under the Waterman will probably be drowned, and so forth. Such fancies seem absurd enough, but in the Middle Ages educated people entertained them.

MEDIEVAL CREDULITY

Alchemy and astrology were not the only instances of medieval credulity.

The most improbable stories found ready acceptance. Roger Bacon, for instance, thought that "flying dragons" still existed in Europe and that eating their flesh lengthened human life. Works on natural history soberly described the lizard-like salamander, which dwelt in fire, and the phoenix, a bird which, after living for five hundred years, burned itself to death and then rose again full grown from the ashes. Another fabulous creature was the unicorn, with the head and body of a horse, the hind legs of an antelope, the beard of a goat, and a long, sharp horn set in the middle of the forehead. Various plants and minerals were also credited with marvelous powers. Thus, the nasturtium, used as a liniment, would keep one's hair from falling out, and the sapphire, when powdered and mixed with milk, would heal ulcers and cure headache. Such quaint beliefs linger to-day among uneducated people, even in civilized lands.

[Ill.u.s.tration: MAGICIAN RESCUED FROM THE DEVIL Miniature in a thirteenth-century ma.n.u.script in the Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. The Devil, attempting to seize a magician who had formed a pact with him, is prevented by a lay brother.]

MAGICIANS

Magicians of every sort flourished in the Middle Ages. Oneiromancers [28]

took omens from dreams. Palmists read fortunes in the lines and irregularities of the hand. Necromancers [29] professed to reveal the future by pretended communications with departed spirits. Other magicians made talismans or lucky objects to be worn on the person, mirrors in which the images of the dead or the absent were reflected, and various powders which, when mixed with food or drink, would inspire hatred or affection in the one consuming them. Indeed, it would be easy to draw up a long list of the devices by which pract.i.tioners of magic made a living at the expense of the ignorant and the superst.i.tious.

206. POPULAR SUPERSt.i.tIONS