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CHAPTER 8

The High and Late Middle Ages

CHRISTINE DE PISA N, wh o wrote in praise of the virtue s, abilities , and a cco mplish m ents of w om en , pr esenting h e r m anu script to Isabel of Bav a ria . (© Historical Picture A rchive/Corbis)

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T h e High Middle Ages (1050-1300) were an era of growth and vi­ tality in Latin Christendom. Improvements in technology and cultivation of new lands led to an increase in agricultural pro­

duction; the growing food supply, in turn, reduced the number of deaths from starvation and malnutrition, and better cultivation meth­ ods freed more people to engage in nonagricultural pursuits, particu­ larly commerce.

During the Early Middle Ages, Italian towns had maintained a weak link with the Byzantine lands in the eastern Mediterranean. In the eleventh century, the Italians gained ascendancy over Muslim fleets in the Mediterranean and rapidly expanded their trade with the Byzan­ tine Empire and North Africa. The growing population provided a market for silk, sugar, spices, dyes, and other Eastern goods. Other mercantile avenues opened up between Scandinavia and the Atlantic coast; between northern France, Flanders, and England; and along the rivers between the Baltic Sea in the north and the Black Sea and Con­ stantinople in the southeast.

The revival of trade and the improved production of food led to the rebirth of towns in the eleventh century. During the Early Middle Ages, urban life had largely disappeared in Latin Christendom except in Italy, and even Italian towns had declined since Roman times both in population and as centers of trade and culture. During the twelfth century, towns throughout Latin Christendom became active centers of commerce and intellectual life. The rebirth of town life made possible the rise of a new social class: the middle class, consisting of merchants and artisans. These townspeople differed sig­ nificantly from the clergy, the nobles, and the serfs-the other so­ cial strata in medieval society. The world of the townspeople was the marketplace rather than the church, the castle, or the manorial village. These merchants and artisans resisted efforts by lords to im­ pose obligations upon them, as their livelihood required freedom from such constraints. The middle class became a dynamic force for change.

The High Middle Ages were also characterized by political and re­ ligious vitality. Strong kings extended their authority over more and more territory, often at the expense of feudal lords; in the process, they laid the foundation of the modern European state system. By the eleventh century the autonomy of the church-its freedom to select its own leaders and to fulfill its moral responsibilities-was threatened by kings and lords who appointed bishops and abbots to ecclesiastical offices. In effect, the churches and monasteries were at the mercy of temporal rulers, who distributed church positions as patronage, award­ ing them to their families , vassals, and loyal servants. These political ap­ pointees often lacked the spiritual character to maintain high standards of discipline among the priests or monks they supervised. Many clergy resented the subordination of the church to the economic and political

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interests of kings and lords. They held that for the church to fulfill its spiritual mission, it must be free from lay control.

The crisis within the church was dramatically addressed by a small band of clergy, mostly monks, who managed to elect to the pa­ pacy a series of committed reformers. These popes condemned clerical marriages, deeming them uncanonical, because they risked subordinating the church's interests to those of the clergymen's wives and children. Priests were required to be celibate like bishops and monks. The re­ formers also pressed for the systematic exclusion of the laity from par­ ticipation in the governing of the church. In calling for the abolition of lay investiture (that is, the formal installation of clergy to their office by temporal lords), the papacy encountered bitter opposition. As head of the church, charged with the mission of saving souls, the papacy re­ fused to accept a subordinate position to temporal rulers.

Economic, political, and religious vitality was complemented by a cultural and intellectual awakening. The twelfth and thirteenth cen­ turies marked the high point of medieval civilization. The Christian outlook, with its otherworldly emphasis, shaped and inspired this awakening. Christian scholars rediscovered the writings of ancient Greek thinkers, which they tried to harmonize with Christian teach­ ings. In the process, they constructed an impressive philosophical system that integrated Greek rationalism into the Christian world­ view. The study of Roman law was revived, and some of its elements were incorporated into church law. A varied literature expressed both secular and religious themes, and a distinctive form of architecture, the Gothic, conveyed the overriding Christian concern with things spiritual.

During the Late Middle Ages, roughly the fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, medieval civilization declined. In contrast to the vigor of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, the fourteenth century was burdened by crop failures, famine, plagues, and reduced popula­ tion. The church also came under attack from reformers who chal­ lenged clerical authority and questioned church teachings; from powerful kings who resisted papal interference in the political life of their kingdoms; and from political theorists who asserted that the pope had no authority to intervene in matters of state. In the city­ states of Italy, a growing secularism signified a break with medi­ eval other-worldliness and heralded the emergence of the modern outlook. Known as the Renaissance, this development is discussed in Chapter 9.

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Chapter 8 Th e High and Late M iddle A ges 223

The Revival of Trade .-.O'V_

and the Growth of Towns

Several factors contributed to economic vitality in the High Middle Ages: the end of the Viking raids in n orthwestern Europe, greater political stability provided by kings and powerful lords, and increased agricultural productivity, which freed some people to work at other pursuits and facilitated a population increase. The prime movers in trade were the merchant adventurers, a new class of entrepre­ neurs. N either bound to the soil nor obligated to lifelong military service , mer­ chants traveled th e sea lanes and land roads to distant places in search of goods that could profitably be traded in other markets.

HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS

In the following reading from The King's Mirror , an anonymous thirteenth­ century Norseman outlined the characteristics and skills a merchant needed and de~cribed the hazards of the job. In typical medieval fashion, he emphasized the riloral dimensions of c~mmercial transactions.

The man who is to be a trader will have to serve as witnesses as to how the bargain was brave many perils , sometimes at sea and some­ made . times in heathen lands, but nearly alwa ys You should keep occupied with your busi­ am orig alien peoples ; and it must be his con­ ness till breakfast or, if necessity demands it , stant purpose to act discreetly wherever he hap­ till midday ; after that you should eat pens to be. On the sea he must be alert and your meal. Keep your table well provided fearless. a nd set with a white cloth , clean vi ctuals ,

When you are in a market town, or wher­ a nd g ood drinks . Serv e enjoyable meals , if ever you are , be polite and agreeable ; then you ca n afford it. After the meal you may ei­ you will secure the friendship of all good ther take a nap or stroll about a little while men. Make it a habit to rise early in the for p astime and to see what other good mer­ morning, and go first and immediatel y to chants are employed with, or whether any church.. . . new wares hav e come to the borough which

.. . When the servic es are over, g o out to you ought to buy. On returning to your look after your business affairs. If you are un­ lodgings exa m ine your wares , lest they suf­ acquainted with the traffic of the town , ob­ fer damage after coming into your hands. If serve carefull y how those who are reputed the they ar e found to be injured and you ar e a bou t best and most prominent merchants conduct t o dispose of them, do not conceal the flaws their business. You must also be careful to from the purchaser: show him what the de­ examine the war es that you buy before the fects are and m ake such a bargain as you can ; purchase is finally m ade to m ake sur e th at they th en you cannot be called a d eceiver. Al so put are sound and flawless. And whenever you a g ood price on your wares, though not too make a purchase, call in a few trusty men to h igh, a nd yet ve ry near what you see can be

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obtained; then you cannot be call ed a foisrer [trickster} .

Finally, remember this, that whenever you have an hour to spare you should give thought to your studies, especially to the law books ; for it is clear that those who gain knowledge from books have keener wits than others, since those who are the most learned have the best proofs for their knowledge . Make a study of all the laws . . .. If you are acquainted with the law, you will not be annoyed by quibbles when you have suits to bring against men of your own class, but will be able to plead according to law in every case.

But although I have most to say about laws, I regard no man perfect in knowledge unless he has thoroughly learned and mastered the cus­ toms of the place where he is sojourning . And if you wish to become perfect in knowledge, you must learn all the languages, first of all Latin and French, for these idioms are most widely used; and yet, do not neglect your native tongue or speech .

. . . Train yourself to be as active as possible, though not so as to injure your health . Strive never to be downcast, for a downcast mind is always morbid; try rather to be friendly and genial at all times, of an even temper and never moody. Be upright and teach the right to every man who wishes to learn from you; and al­ ways associate with the best men. Guard your tongue carefully; this is good counsel, for your tongue may honor you, but it may also condemn you . Though you be angry speak few words and never in passion; for unless one is careful, he may utter words in wrath that he would later give gold to have unspoken. On the whole, I know of no revenge, though many employ it, that profits a man less than to bandy heated words with another, even though he has a quar­ rel to settle with him. You shall know of a truth that no virtue is higher or stronger than the power to keep one 's tongue from foul or profane speech , tattling, or slanderous talk in any form. If children be given to you, let them not grow up without learning a trade; for we may expect a

man to keep closer to knowl edge and business when he comes of age, if he is trained in youth while under control.

And further, there are certain things which you must beware of and shun like the devil him­ self: these are drinking, chess, harlots, quarreling, and throwing dice for stakes. For upon such foun­ dations the greatest calamities are built; and un­ less they strive to avoid these things, few only are able to live long without blame or sin .

Observe carefully how the sky is lighted, the course of the heavenly bodies, the grouping of the hours, and the points of the horizon. Learn also how to mark the movements of the ocean and to discern how its turmoil ebbs and swells ; for that is knowledge which all must possess who wish to trade abroad . Learn arithmetic thoroughly, for merchants have great need of that.

If you come to a place where the king or some other chief who is in authority has his officials, seek to win their friendship; and if they demand any necessary fees on the ruler 's behalf, be prompt to render all such payments, lest by holding too tightly to little things you lose the greater.. .. If you can dispose of your wares at suitable prices, do not hold them long; for it is the wont of merchants to buy constantly and to sell rapidly....

. . . If you attend carefully to all these things, with God 's mercy you may hope for success . This , too, you must keep constantly in mind , if you wish to be counted a wise man, that you ought never to let a day pass without learning something that will profit you. Be not like those who think it beneath their dignity to hear or learn from others such things even as might avail them much if they knew them. For a man must regard it as great an honor to learn as to teach, if he wishes to be considered thoroughly informed . .. .

... Always buy good clothes and eat good fare if your means permit ; and never keep unruly or quarrelsome men as attendants or messmates. Keep your temper calm though not to the point of suffering abuse or bringing upon yourself the reproach of cowardice. Though necessity may

Chapter 8 The High and Late Middle Ages 225

force you into strife, be not in a hurry to take re­ venge; first make sure that your effort will suc­ ceed and strike where it ought. Never display a heated temper when you see that you are likely to fail, but be sure tornaintain your honor at some later time, unless your opponent should of­ fer a satisfactory atonement.

If your wealth takes on rapid growth, di­ vide it and invest it in a partnership trade in

fields where you do not yourself travel; but be cautious in selecting partners. Always let Almighty God, the holy Virgin Mary, and the saint whom you have most frequently called upon to intercede for you be counted among your partners. Watch with care over the prop­ erty which the saints are to share with you and always bring it faithfully to the place to which it was originally promised.

ORDINANCES OF THE GUlLD MERCHANTS OF SOUTHAMPTON Along with revived trade and burgeoning towns in the High Middle Ages came the formation of businessmen's associations, called guilds. Merchant guilds en­ compassed all townspeople engaged in commerce. Carpenters, bakers, shoe­ makers, and other skilled craftsmen formed, guilds that specialized in each occupation. Though women were employed in many trades, working under male guild masters, they were rarely admitted to full membership. Guilds composed exclusively of women existed in only a few places like Paris and Cologne. Guilds tried to eliminate competition by barring outsiders from doing business in the town, by limiting membership, by fixing. the price of their goods, and by setting quality standards. Guilds provided for thesocial needs of their members, too, as the following selection of guild regulations for the seaport of Southampton, Eng­ land, show. The document itself belongs to the fourteenth century, but several of the regulations had been framed earlier.

6.... Arid if a guildsman be ill and in town, his father, or of his uncle, if his father was not a one shall send to him two loaves and a gallon of guildsman, but of no one else. Nor can any hus­ wine, and one dish of cooked food; and two of band, by reason of his wife, either have a seat in the approved men of the guild shall go to visit the guild or demand it by any right of his wife's him and look to his condition. ancestors....

7. And when a guildsman dies, all those who 10. And no one ought nor can lawfully sell are of the guild and in the town shall be at the or give his seat in the guild to any man. And service of the dead, and guildsmen shall carry the son of a guildsman, other than his eldest, the body, and bring it to the place of sepulture shall be admitted to the guild on payment of [burial]. And he who will not do this shall pay, ten shillings [120 pence], and shall take the on his oath, twopence to be given to the poor. oath. And those of the ward where the dead man shall 11. And if any guildsman be imprisoned in be, shall find a man to watch with the body the England in time of peace, the alderman, with night that the dead person shall lie in his the seneschal! ... shall go at the cost of the house ....

9. And when a guildsman dies, his eldest­ IAn alderman was the chief of the guild, and a seneschal born son or his next heir shall have the seat of acted as its treasurer and vice-president.

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guild to procure the release of him that is in pnson .

12. And if any guildsman strike another with his fist, and be thereof attainted [found guilty], he shall lose his guildship until he has purchased it again for ten shillings, and shall take the oath like a new member. And if a guildsman strike another with a stick or a knife, or any other weapon, whatever it may be, he shall lose his guildship and his franchise. ? and shall be held a stranger, until he be reconciled to good people of the guild, and have made satisfaction to the person whom he has injured, and be fined to the guild twenty shillings , which shall not be [forgiven or re­ funded] . . . .

19. And no one shall buy anything in the town of Southampton to sell it again in the same town, unless he be of the guild merchant or of the franchise. And if anyone do so and be at­ tainted (thereof) , all that he has so bought shall be forfeited to the king. And no one shall be quit of custom unless he has done so as to be of the guild or of the franchise, and this from year to year.

20 . And no one shall buy honey, seim [lard], salt herring, or any kind of oil, or mill­ stones, or fresh hides, or any kind of fresh skins, except a guildsman; nor keep a tavern for wine, or sell cloth by retail, except on a market day or fair day; nor keep above five quar­ ters of corn in his granary to sell by retail, if he is not a guildsman; and whoever shall do this, and be attainted (thereof), shall forfeit all to the king.

2A per son's franchise was the pr ivilege of ci ti zenship in the town,

REVIEW QUESTIONS

21 . Noone of the guild shall be partner or joint dealer in any of the foresaid merchandises with any person who is (not? ) of the guild , by any manner of coverture [concealment], art, contrivance, collusion , or an y other manner. And whosoever shall do this, and be attainted (thereof), the goods so bought shall be fore­ feited to the king , and the guildsman shall lose his guildship.

22. And if any guildsman fall into poverty and have not wherewith to live, and cannot work, he shall be provided for: when the guild shall be held he shall have one mark from the guild to relieve his condition. No one of the guild or franchise shall avow another's goods for his own, by which the custom of the town may be defrauded. And if anyone so do , and be at­ tainted (thereof), he shall lose the guildship and the franchise, and the merchandise so avowed shall be forfeited to the king . ...

4 1. No butcher or cook shall sell to any man other than wholesome and clean provisions, and well cooked; and if any do, and he be thereof at­ tainted, he shall be put in the pillory an hour of the day, or give two shillings to the town for the offence.

42 . And that no butcher or cook throw into the street any filth or other matter whereby the town or the street become more dirty, filthy, or corrupt; and if anyone do this, and be at­ tainted, he shall pay a fine of twelve pence, as often as he shall offend in the manner aforesaid .

43. No man shall have any pigs going about in the street , or have before his door, or in the street, muck or dung beyond two nights; and if anyone has, let whoever will take it away; and he who shall have acted contrary to this statute shall be grievously fined .

1. What attitudes were merchants encouraged to cultivate when dealing with customers and fellow merchants? How did their outlook differ from that of medieval clergy and nobility ?

2 . What business practices were recommended to merchants? 3. What was a g uild and how did it benefit its members ?

Chapter 8 Th e High and Late Middle A ges 227

2 Papal Supremacy ~

As the sole interpreters of God's revelation and the sole ministers of his sacra­ ments, the clergy imposed and supervised the moral standards of Christendom. Papal theory maintained that human society was part of a divinely ordered uni­ verse, governed by God's universal law, and as the supreme spiritual leader of Christendom, the pope was charged with the mission of establishing a Christian society on earth. Popes maintained that all kings came under their power. Dis­ obeying the pope, God's viceroy on earth, constituted disobedience to God him­ self. Responsible for implementing God's law, the pope could never take a subordinate position to kings, an attitude that led to a conflict between church and state in the High and Late Middle Ages as the power of monarchs grew.

Pope Gregory VII THE DICTATUS PAPAE

Like no other pope before him, Gregory VII (1073-1085) asserted the preeminence of the papacy over secular rulers. He declared that princes should "not seek to sub­ due or subject holy Church to themselves as a handmaiden; but indeed let them fit­ tingly strive to honor her eyes, namely the priests of the Lord, by acknowledging them as masters and fathers ." His exaltation of the spiritual authority of the church encouraged future popes to challenge the state whenever it threatened the su­ premacy of Christian moral teachings or the church's freedom to carry out its m is­ sion. The exalted conception of the papacy as the central authority in the Christian church was expressed in its most extreme and detailed form in a series of proposi­ tions called the Dictatus papae (Rules of the Pope), which appear as numbered paragraphs in the excerpt below. Drawn up by the papal government during the pontificate of Gregory VII , the Dictatus p apae represents claims and ambitions that would inspire many popes and theologians throughout the Middle Ages.

1. That the Roman church was established by 6. That , among other things , we ought not to God alone . remain in the same house with those whom

2. That the Roman pontiff [bishop] alone is he has excommunicated. rightly called uni versal. 7 . That he alone has the right , accord ing to

3 . That he alone has the power to depose and the necessity of the occasion , to make new reinstate bishops. laws , to create new bishoprics , to make a

4 . That his legate [emissary] , even if he be monastery of a chapter of canons,' and vice of lower ecclesiastical rank, pres ides over versa , and either to di vide a rich bishopric bishops in council , and has the power to or to unite several poor on es. gi ve sentence of deposition against them.

5. That the pope has the power to depose 1A chap te r of canons is a corpora te ecclesiastica l body com ­

those who are abs ent (i.e., without gi ving posed of pr iests who adm iniste r cathedra ls or monastic them a hearing) . comm u nit ies.

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8 . That he alone may use the imperial . . . mSlgnla .

9 . That all princes shall kiss the foot of the pope alone .

10 . That his name alone is to be recited in the ch urches.

11 . That the name applied to him belongs to him alone .

12 . That he has the power to depose emperors . 13 . That he has the right to transfer bishops

from one see to another when it becomes necessary.

14 . That he has the right to ordain as a cleri c anyone from any part of the church wh at­ soever.

15 . That anyone ord ained by him may rule (as bishop) over another church, but cannot serve (as priest) in it, and that such a cleric may not receive a higher rank from any other bishop .

16. That no general synod may be called with­ out his ord er.

17. That no action of a synod and no book shall be reg arded as canonical [official] without his authority.

18 . That his decree can be annulled by no one, and that he can annul the decrees of anyone.

19 . That he can be judged by no on e. 20 . That no one shall dare to condemn a person

who has appealed to the apostolic seat. 21. That the important cases of any chur ch

whatsoever shall be referred to the Roman church (t hat is, to the pope).

22. That the Roman church has never erred and will never err to all eternity, according to the testimony of the holy scriptures .

2 3 . Th at the Roman pontiff who has been canoni cally ordained is m ade holy by th e merits of St. Peter, according to the testi­ mony of St. Ennodius , bishop of Pavia, which is confirmed by many of the holy fa­ thers, as is shown by the de crees of the blessed pope Symmachus.

24. That by his command or permission sub­ jects m ay accuse their rulers .

25 . That he can depose and reinstate bishops without the call ing of a synod.

26 . That no one can be regarded as catholic who does not agr ee with the Roman church.

27. That he has the power to absolve subjects from their oath of fidelity to wicked rulers.

Pope Innocent III "ROYAL POWER DERIVES ITS DIGNITY FROM THE PONTIFICAL AUTHORITY"

In the tradition of Gregory VII, Innocent III (1198-1216), the most powerful of medieval popes, asserts the claim for papal supremacy.

The Creator of the universe set up two great lu­ authorit y and the royal power. Furthermore, th e minaries in the firmament of heaven; the greater moon derives her light from the sun, and is in light to rule the day, the lesser light to rule the truth inferior to the sun in both size and quality, night. In the same way for the firmament of the in position as well as effect. In the same way the universal Church, which is spoken of as heaven , royal power derives its dignity from the pontifical he appointed two great dignities ; the greater to authority: and the more closely it cleaves to the bear rule over souls (these being, as it were, days), sphere of that authority th e less is the light with the lesser to bear rul e over bodies (those being , as which it is adorned ; the further it is removed, th e it were nights). Thes e dignities are the pontifical more it increases in splendour.

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Chapter 8 The High and Late Middle A ges 229

REVIEW QUESTION

1. Why were papal claims likely to stir a conflict with secular rul ers ?

3 The Crusades

In the eleventh century the Seljuk Turks, recent converts to Islam, conquered vast regions of the Near East including most of Asia Minor, the heartland of the Byzan­ tine Empire. When the Seljuk empire crumbled, Byzantine emperor Alexius I Com­ nenus (1081-1118), seeing an opportunity to regain lost lands, appealed to Latin princes and the pope for assistance, an appeal answered by Urban II (1088-1099).

In 1095 at the Council of Clermont, Pope Urban II in a dramatic speech urged Frankish lords to take up the sword against the Muslims, an event that marked the beginning of the Crusades-the struggle to regain the Holy Land from Islam. A Christian army mobilized by the papacy to defend the Christian faith ac­ corded with the papal concept of a just war. Moreover, Urban hoped that such a venture might bring the Byzantine church under papal authority. Nobles viewed Urban's appeal as a great adventure that held the promise of glory, wealth, and new lands; they were also motivated by religious reasons: recovery of Christian holy places and a church-approved way of doing penance for their sins .

The Crusades demonstrated the growing strength and confidence of Latin Christendom, which previously had been on the defensive against Islam; it was also part of a wider movement of expansion on the part of Latin Christians. In the eleventh century, Italians had already driven the Muslims from Sardinia; Nor­ mans had taken Sicily from the Muslims and southern Italy from Byzantium; and Christian knights, supported by the papacy, were engaged in a long struggle to expel the Muslim Moors from Spain.

The First Crusade demonstrated Christian fanaticism as well as idealism and growing power, as contingents of crusaders robbed and massacred thousands of Jews in the Rhineland (see page 244). The First Crusade was climaxed by the storm­ ing of Jerusalem in June 1099 and the slaughter of the city's inhabitants.

Robert the Monk APPEAL OF URBAN II TO THE FRANKS

Pope Urban's speech, as reported by Robert the Monk, shows how skillfully the pope appealed to the Frankish lords.

"0 race of the Franks, 0 people who live be­ uation of your land, your catholic faith, and yond the mountains, 0 people loved and cho­ your regard for the holy church, we have a sen of God, as is clear from your many deeds , special message and exhortation for you . For distinguished over all other nations by the sit- we wish you to know what a grave matter has

230 Part Two The M iddle Ag es

brought us ro your country. The sad news has come from Jerusalem and Constantinople that the people of Persia, an accursed and foreign race [the Turks], enemies of God, 'a generation that set not their heart aright, and whose spirit was not steadfast with God' (Ps . 78:8), have in­ vaded the lands of those Christians and devas­ tated them with the sword , rapine, and fire. Some of the Christians they have carried away as slaves, others they have put ro death. The churches they have either destroyed or turned into mosques. They desecrate and overthrow the altars . ... They have taken from the Greek em­ pire a tract of land so large that it takes more than two months to walk through it . Whose duty is it to avenge this and recover that land, if not yours? For ro you more than ro other nations the Lord has given the military spirit, courage, agile bodies, and the bravery to strike down those who resist you. Let your minds be stirred to bravery by the deeds of your fore­ fathers, and by the efficiency and greatness of . . . [Charlemagne], and of ... his son [Louis the Pious], and of the other kings who have de­ stroyed [Muslim] kingdoms, and established Christianity in their lands. You should be moved especially by the holy grave of our Lord and Saviour which is now held by unclean peo­ ples, and by the holy places which are treated with dishonor and irreverently befouled with their uncleanness.

"0 bravest of knights, descendants of un­ conquered ancestors, do not be weaker than they, but remember their courage.... Let no possessions keep you back, no solicirude for your property. Your land [France] is shut in on all sides by the sea and mountains, and is roo thickly populated. There is not much wealth here , and the soil scarcely yields enough to support you. On this account you kill and de­ vour each other, and carry on war and mutu­ ally destroy each other. Let your hatred and quarrels cease, your civil wars come to an end,

and all your dissensions srop. Set out on the road ro the holy sepulchre [site of Jesus' burial], t ake the land from that wicked people , and make it your own. That land which, as the Scripture says, is flowing with milk and honey, God gave ro the children of Israel. J erusalem is the best of all lands, more fruitful than all others , as it were a second Paradise of delights . This land our Saviour [Jesus] made illustrious by his birth, beautiful with his life, and sacred with his suffering; he redeemed it with his death and glorified it with his tomb. This royal city is now held captive by her enemies , and made pagan by those who know not God. She asks and long s to be liberated and does not cease to beg you to come to her aid. She asks aid espe­ cially from you because, as I have said, God has given more of the military spirit to you than to other nations. Set out on this journey and you will obtain the remission of your sins and be sure of the incorruptible glory of the kingdom of heaven."

When Pope Urban had said this and much more of the same sort, all who were present were moved to cry out with one accord, "It is the will of God , it is the will of God. " When the pope heard this he raised his eyes to heaven and gave thanks to God, and , commanding silence with a gesture of his hand, he said: "My dear brethren. . . . [L]et these words be your battle cry, because God caused you to speak them. Whenever you meet the enemy in battle, you shall all cry out , 'I t is the will of God, it is the will of God .' .. . Whoever therefore shall deter­ mine to make this journey and shall make a vow to God , and shall offer himself as a living sacri­ fice, holy, acceptable to God (Rom. 12:1), shall wear across on his brow or on his breast. And when he returns after having fulfilled his vow he shall wear the cross on his back. In this way he will obey the command of the Lord , 'W hosoever doth not bear his cross and come after me is not worthy of rne'" (Luke 14:27).

Chapter 8 The High and Late Middle Ages 231

William of Tyre THE CAPTURE OF JERUSALEM

Over the centuries, some have praised the Crusades for inspiring idealism and heroism. Others, however, have castigated the movement for corrupting the Christian spirit and unleashing intolerance and fanaticism, which resulted in the slaughter of Jews in the Rhineland and of Muslims and Jews in Jerusalem-all in the name of Christ.

The Crusaders captured Jerusalem in 1099 after a difficult siege, overcoming its defenses and breaking into the city. The following account of the massacre in the Holy City was written by William of Tyre (c. 1130-c. 1184), archbishop of the Crusader kingdom established in Tyre.

It was a Friday at the ninth hour. Verily, it seemed divinely ordained that the faithful who were fighting for the glory of the Saviour should have obtained the consummation of their desires at the same hour and on the very day on which the Lord had suffered in that city for the salvation of the world. It was on that day, as we read, that the first man was created and the second was delivered over to death for the salvation of the first. It was fitting, therefore, that, at that very hour, those who were members of His body and imitators of Him should triumph in His name over His enemIes ....

. . . Regardless of age and condition, they laid low, without distinction, every enemy encoun­ tered. Everywhere was frightful carnage, every­ where lay heaps of severed heads, so that soon it was impossible to pass or to go from one place to another except over the bodies of the slain. Al­ ready the leaders had forced their way by various routes almost to the center of the city and wrought unspeakable slaughter as they advanced. A host of people followed in their train, athirst for the blood of the enemy and wholly intent upon destruction.... So frightful was the massacre throughout the city, so terrible the shedding of blood, that even the victors experienced sensations of horror and loathing....

... A crowd of knights and foot soldiers ... massacred all those who had taken refuge [in the

court of the Temple]. No mercy was shown to anyone, and the whole place was flooded with the blood of the victims.

It was indeed the righteous judgment of God which ordained that those who had profaned the sanctuary of the Lord by their superstitious rites and had caused it to be an alien place to His faith­ ful people should expiate their sin by death and, by pouring out their own blood, purify the sacred precincts.

It was impossible to look upon the vast num­ bers of the slain without horror; everywhere lay fragments of human bodies, and the very ground was covered with the blood of the slain. It was not alone the spectacle of headless bodies and muti­ lated limbs strewn in all directions that roused horror in all who looked upon them. Still more dreadful was it to gaze upon the victors them­ selves, dripping with blood from head to foot, an ominous sight which brought terror to all who met them. It is reported that within the Temple enclosure alone about ten thousand infidels per­ ished, in addition to those who lay slain every­ where throughout the city in the streets and squares, the number of whom was estimated as no less.

The rest of the soldiers roved through the city in search of wretched survivors who might be hiding in the narrow portals and byways to es­ cape death. These were dragged out into public

232 Part Two Th e Middle A ges

view and slain like sheep . Some formed into bands and broke into houses where they laid vi­ olent hands on heads of families, on their wives, children, and their entire households . These vic­ tims were either put to the sword or dashed headlong to the ground from some elevated place so that they perished miserably. Each ma­ rauder claimed as his own in perpetuity the par­ ticular house which he had entered , together with all it contained. For before the capture of the city the pilgrims had agreed that, after it had been taken by force, whatever each man might win for himself should be his forever by right of possession, without molestation. Consequently the pilgrims searched the city most carefully and boldly killed the citizens. They penetrated into the most retired and out-of-the-way places and broke open the most private apartments of the foe. At the entrance of each house, as it was taken, the victor hung up his shield and his arms , as a sign to all who approached not to pause there but to pass by that place as already in possession of another.. ..

When at last the city had been set in order in this way, arms were laid aside. Then , clad in fresh garments, with clean hands and bare feet, in hu­ mility and contrition, they began to make the rounds of the venerable places which the Saviour had deigned to sanctify and make glorious with His bodily presence . With tearful sighs and

heartfelt emotion they pressed kisses upon these revered spots. With especial veneration they ap­ proached the church of the Passion and Resutrec­ tion of the Lord. Here the leaders were met by the clergy and the faithful citizens of Jerusalem. These Christians who for so many years had borne the heavy yoke of undeserved bondage were eager to show their gratitude to the Redeemer for their restoration to liberty. Bearing in their hands crosses and relics of the saints, they led the way into the church to the accompaniment of hymns and sacred songs.

It was a pleasant sight and a source of spiri ­ tual joy to witness the pious devotion and deep fervor with which the pilgrims drew near to the holy places , the exultation of heart and happiness of spirit with which they kissed the memorials of the Lord 's sojourn upon earth. On all sides were tears , everywhere sighs, not such as grief and anxiety are wont to cause , but such as fervent devotion and the satisfaction of spiritual joy produce as an offering to the Lord. Not alone in the church but throughout all Jerusalem arose the voice of a people giv­ ing thanks unto the Lord until it seemed as if the sound must be borne to the very heavens . Verily, of them might it well be said, "T he voice of rejoicing and salva­ tion is in the tabernacles of the righteous [Ps . 118:15}. "

James of Vi try "THE REMISSION OF SINS AND THE REWARD OF ETERNAL LIFE"

Many nobles set off for the Holy Land seeking adventure and economic gain. But it is likely that a religious impulse was the principal motive for joining a crusader army. The following sermon by James of Vi try (1160/1170-1240) , a French bishop who was a propagandist for the Fifth Crusade and accompanied the crusading army, appeals to the nobles' hope for remission of sins and entrance into heaven.

[T}hose crusaders who prepare themselves for the service of God , truly confessed and contrite, are considered true martyrs while th ey are in the service of Christ, freed from venial and also mor­ tal sins,' from all the penitence enjoined upon them, absolved from the punishment for their sins in this world and the punishment of purga­ tory/ in the next , safe from the tortures of hell, in the glory and honour of being crowned in eternal beatitude.

The spouses and children are included in these benefits in as much as they contribute to ex­ penses. Bur [crusaders} can also greatly help their deceased parents who have left their goods to them, if [the crusaders} take the cross with the intention of helping [their parents}. If it is

lVenial sin : a m inor tr ansgr ession against God 's laws that does not deprive the soul of divine grace or salvat ion; mor­ tal sin: a deliberate and serious transgression of G od 's laws, such as murder, th at deprives the soul of salvation and leads to eternal damnation . 2P urg ato ry: a pla ce where the soul spends time paying for the person 's si ns before it can be admitted into heaven .

REVIEW QUESTIONS

Chapter 8 Th e High and Late M iddle A ges 2 3 3

po ssible to come to the aid of the dead by giving alms and doing other good works , what greater alms are there bur to offer oneself and one's be­ longings to God and pledge one 's soul to Christ, to leave behind one 's spouse, children, relatives and birthplace for the service of Christ alone, to expose oneself to dangers on land, dangers on sea , the dangers of thieves, the dangers of preda­ tors, the dangers of battles for the love of the Crucified ? Therefore, have no doubt at all that this pilgrimage affords not only you the remis­ sion of sins and the reward of eternal life , bur that whatever good you do on this journey on behalf of your spouses, children and parents, whether living or dead, will profit them greatly.

This is the full and plenary indulgence' that the pope concedes to you according to the keys that were given to him by God. This is like th e fountain open to the house of Davidf or washing away all sins and acquiring heavenly rewards.

3Plenary indulgence: the complete rem ission of venial sins incurred by the sinner; the remission of m ortal sins is de­ pendent further on G od 's g race.

1. Modern political propaganda frequently uses popular -fears, prejudices, moral idealism, and patriotic fervor to shape public opinion. Discuss the techniques used by Pope Urban II to create public support for the Crusade.

2. What types of people did Pope Urban II address and what' were his motives? 3. Why did William ofTyre believe that the massacre in Jerusalem was an act of

religious purification ? 4. Why do you think James of Vitry's sermon appealed to his listeners ?

4 Religious Dissent - Like many groups held together by common ideology, the medieval church wanted to protect its doctrines from novel, dissident, or erroneous interpreta­ tions. To ensure orthodoxy and competency, therefore, all preachers were li­ censed by the bishop; unlicensed preaching, especially by unschooled laymen, was forbidden. In the western church, heresy had not been a serious problem in the post-Roman period . But in the twelfth century, heretical movements at­ tracted significant numbers of supporters among both the clergy and laity and cut across frontiers and social classes.

234 Part Two The Middle A ges

Bernard Gui THE WALDENSIAN TEACHINGS

One major heretical movement was that of the Waldensians, or Poor Men of Lyons, founded about 1173 by Peter Waldo (d. 1217), a rich merchant of Lyons, France, who gave away his wealth to the poor and began to preach in villages in southeastern France. Neither a priest nor a theologian, Waldo had the Bible translated from Latin into the common language of the people and preached the gospel message without the consent of church authorities . Small groups of Waldo's converts soon were found in towns and villages throughout southeastern France, northern Italy, and Switzerland. Within less than a decade, the Waldensians had aroused the clergy's hostility and were condemned as heretics by Pope Lucius III at a council in Verona in 1184. Gradually, influenced by other heretical groups, the Waldensians adopted a more radical stance toward the medieval church. In the following reading from Manual of an Inquisitor, a fourteenth-century Dominican friar, Bernard Gui, describes the origin and the teachings of the Waldensians. The Waldensian criticisms of the church would be echoed in the writings of the leading Protestant reformers of the sixteenth century.

The sect and heresy of the Waldenses or Poor of and uneducated, wandered through villages , en­ Lyons began about the year of our Lord 1170. Its tered homes , preached in the squares and even moving spirit and founder was a certain citizen in churches, the men especially, and spread of Lyons named Waldes, or Waldens , from whom many errors everywhere. Moreover, when they his foi'lowers received their name. He was a rich were summoned by the archbishop of Lyons, man who, having given up all his property, re­ John of the Fair Hands , and by him forbidden solved to devote himself to poverty and to evan­ such audacity, they were not at all willing to gelical perfection, just as the apostles had done . obey, alleging as excuse for th eir madness that He had procured for himself translations of the "we ought to obey God rather than men," Who Gospels and some other books of the Bible in had commanded His apostles to "preach the vernacular French, also some texts from St. Au­ gospel to every creature." By virtue of a false gustine, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, and St. Gregory, profession of poverty and a feigned appear­ arranged topically, which he and his adherents ance of sanctity, they arrogated to themselves called "sentences." On frequently reading these what had been said to the apostles. Boldly de­ over among themselves, although very seldom claring that they were imitators and successors understanding them aright, they were carried of these apostles, they cast aspersions upon away by their emotions and, although they had prelates and clergy for abundant wealth and but little learning, they usurped the function of lives of luxury. the apostles by daring to preach "in the streets Thus , through presumptuously usurping the and the broad ways." office of preaching , they became teachers of er­

This roan Waldes, or Waldens, won over to a ror . After they had been warned to desist , they like presumption many people of both sexes, rendered themselves disobedient and contuma­ made men and women his accomplices , and sent cious , for which they were excommunicated and them our to preach as his disciples . They, men driven from that city and their native land . Fi­ and women alike, although they were stupid nally, indeed, because they remained obdurate,

.,

they were pronounced schismatics [rebels} at a certain council which was held at Rome .. . and were then condemned as heretics . And so, as they had grown in number on the earth, they scattered throughout that province and neigh­ boring areas and into the region of Lombardy [northern Italy}. Separated and cut off from the Church, when they mingled with other heretics and imbibed their errors, they combined with their own fantasies the errors and heresies of heretics of earlier days....

. . . Now, the principal heresy of the aforesaid Waldenses was and still continues to be con­ tempt of ecclesiastical authority. Then, having been excommunicated for this and given over to Satan, they were plunged by him into countless errors, and they combined with their own fan­ tasies the errors of heretics of an earlier day.

The foolish followers and impious teachers of this sect hold and teach that they are not subject to our lord pope, the Roman pontiff, or to other prelates of the Roman Church, for they declare that the Roman Church persecutes and censures them unjustly and unduly. Also, they declare positively that they cannot be excommunicated by the said Roman pontiff and prelates, to none of whom ought obedience be given should he enjoin or command the members and teachers of this sect to desert and abjure it-this despite the fact that it has been condemned as heretical by the Roman Church .

Also, they hold and teach that every oath , in or out of court, without exception or qualifica­ tion, has been forbidden by God as unlawful and sinful. .. .

Also, out of the same font of error, the afore­ said sect and heresy declares that any judicial process is forbidden by God and is, consequently, a sin and that it is contrary to God 's command for any judge, in any case or for any reason, to sentence a man to corporal punishment involv­ ing bloodshed , or to death. They seize on the words of the Holy Gospels-"Judge not that ye be not judged"; "T hou shalt not kill '"; and other sim ilar passages-without the prop er explana­ tion essential to th eir interpretation . This they

Chapter 8 T he Hi gh and Late Middle A ges 235

do without understanding the sense or accept­ ing the signification or explanation which the Holy Roman Church wisely perceives and trans­ mits to the faithful in accordance with the teaching of the Fathers [early Christian theolo­ gians}, the doctors , and the canonical decrees.

Also, as it strays from the way and the right path , this sect does not accept or consider valid, but despises, rejects, and damns the canonical decrees, the decretals [judgments} of the supreme pontiffs, the rules concerning observance of fasts and holy days, and the precepts of the Fathers .

Also, in a more pernicious error in respect of the sacrament of penance and the keys [pa­ pal powers to legislate} of the Church, these [Waldensians} hold, and teach that, just as the apostles had it from Christ, they have from God alone and from no other the power to hear confessions from men and women who wish to confess to them, to give absolution, and to im­ pose penance. And they do hear the confessions of such persons, they do give absolution [for­ giveness} and impose penance , although they are not priests or clerics ordained by any bishop of the Roman Church but are laymen and noth­ ing more. They do not claim to have any such power from the Roman Church , but rather dis­ claim it .. . .

Also, this sect and heresy ridicules the indul­ gences [remissions of punishments due to sin} which are published and granted by prelates of the Church, asserting that they are of no value whatever.

In regard to the sacrament of the Eucharist [communion, celebration of the Last Supper} they err, saying , not publicly but in private among themselves, that if the priest who cele­ brates or consecrates the Mass is a sinner, the bread and wine do not change into the body and blood of Christ in th e sacrament of the altar; and in their view anyone is a sinner who is not a member of their sect. Also, they say that any righteous person , even though he be a layman and not a cleric ordained by a Catholic bishop, can perform the consecrat ion of the body and blood of Christ, pro vided only th at he be a

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236 Part Two Th e Middle A ges

m ember of their sec t. T h is they app ly eve n to t o th eir sect. Thus th ey teach that eve ry hol y wo me n, w it h th e same proviso that th ey belon g pe rso n is a priest.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What was th e Walde nsian att itu de towa rd t he wealt h and th e temporal pow ers exercised by th e m edieval ch urch?

2. How d id th e W ald ensians d iffer from t he ort hodox chur ch on th e role of th e clerg y and th e ad m inistra tion of t he sacrame nts?

5 Medieval Learning: Synthesis of Reason ----........v r..--­

and Christian Faith

The twelfth century witnessed a r evived interest in classical learning and the founding of universities. Traditional theology was broadened b y the application of a new system of critical analysis, called sch olas ti cism . Scholastic thinkers as ­ sumed that some teachings of Christianity, w h ich they accepted as true b y faith , could also be demonstrated to be true b y r eas on. They sought to explain and clar­ ify theological doctrines by su b jecti ng them to logical analysis.

Peter Abelard INQUIRY INTO DIVERGENT VIEWS OF CHURCH FATHERS

Dialectics, a method of logical analysis, applied to the Bible and the writings of early Christian thinkers, was brilliantly taught by Peter Abelard (1079-11 42) in the cathedral school at Paris. In his book Sic et Non (Yes and No), Abelard listed some hundred and fifty questions on which the early church authorities had taken dif­ fering positions over the centuries . H e suggested that these issues could be resolved b y the careful application of the dialectical m ethod to the language of the texts.

Although he never intended to challeng e the Christian faith , Abelard raised, w it h his critical scrutiny, fears that the dialectical approach would undermine faith and foster heresy. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, a Cistercian m onk and m ystic, challenged the new methods of the Parisian professor and sought to silence him. In 1141 , Abelard was forced to quit his teaching post, and he retired to a m onastery, w he r e he died the following ye ar . D espite Bernard's apparent v ic tory , the new sc h olast ic rationalistic approach sw ep t the school s of Europe. In the fol ­ lo wing reading, the critical use of rational m ethods in te xtual analysis is de­ sc r ibed b y Abelard.

We must be careful not to be led astray by at­ tributing views to the (Church} Fathers which they did not hold . This may happen if a wrong author's name is given to a book or if a text is corrupt. For many works are falsely attributed to one of the Fathers to give them authority, and some passages, even in the Bible, are corrupt through the errors of copyists.... We must be equally careful to make sure that an opinion quoted from a Father was not withdrawn or cor­ rected by him in the light of later and better knowledge.. . . Again the passage in question may not give the Father's own opinion, but that of some other writer whom he is quoting . . ..

We must also make a thorough inquiry when different decisions are given on the same matter under canon (church} law. We must discover the underlying purpose of the opinion, whether it is meant ro grant an indulgence or exhort to some perfection. In this way we may clear up the apparent contradiction.... If the opinion is a definitive judgment, we must determine whether it is of general application or directed to a particular case. .. . The when and why of the order must also be considered because what is allowed at one time is often forbidden at an­ other, and what is often laid down as the strict

Chapter 8 Th e High and Late M iddle A ges 237

letter of the law may be sometimes moderated by a dispensation .. . .

Furthermore we cusromarily talk of things as they appear to our bodily senses and not as they are in actual fact. So judging by what we see we say it is a starry sky or it is not, and that the sun is hot or has no heat at all, when these things though variable in appearance are ever constant. Can we be surprised, then, that some matters have been stated by the Fathers as opinions rather than the truth? Then again many contro­ versies would be quickly settled if we could be I' on our guard against a particular word used in different senses by different authors....

A careful reader will employ all these ways of I reconciling contradictions in the writings of the i

Fathers. But if the contradictions are so glaring that they cannot be reconciled, then the rival authorities must be compared and the view that has the heaviest backing be adopted .. ..

By collecting contrasting divergent opinions I hope to provoke young readers ro push them­ selves to the limit in the search for truth, so that their wits may be sharpened by their investiga­ tion . It is by doubting that we come to inves­ tigate, and by investigating that we recognise the truth .

Saint Thomas Aquinas SUMMA THEOLOGICA

For most of the Middle Ages, religious thought was dominated by the influence of Saint Augustine (d. 430), the greatest of the Latin church fathers (see page 187). Augustine placed little value on the study of nature; for him, the City of Man (the world) was a sinful place from which people tried to escape in order to enter the City of God (heaven). Regarding God as the source of knowing, he held that rea­ son by itself was an inadequate guide to knowledge: without faith in revealed truth, there could be no understanding. An alternative approach to that of Au­ gustine was provided by Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), a friar of the Order of Preachers (Dominicans), who taught theology at Paris and later in Italy. Both Au­

!gustine and Aquinas believed that God was the source of all truth, that human nature was corrupted by the imprint of the original sin of Adam and Eve, and that God revealed himself through the Bible and in the person of Jesus Christ. But, in

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238 Part Tw o The Middle A ges

contrast to Augustine, Aquinas expressed great confidence in the power of rea­ son and favored applying it to investigate the natural world.

Aquinas held that as both faith and reason came from God, they were not in opposition to each other; properly understood, they supported each other. Be­ cause reason was no enemy of faith, it should not be feared. In addition to show­ ing renewed respect for reason, Aquinas-influenced by Aristotelian empiricism (the acquisition of knowledge of nature through experience)-valued knowledge of the natural world . He saw the natural and supernatural worlds not as irrecon­ cilable and hostile to each other, but as a continuous ascending hierarchy of di­ vinely created orders of being moving progressively toward the Supreme Being. In constructing a synthesis of Christianity and Aristotelianism, Aquinas gave re­ newed importance to the natural world, human reason, and the creative human spirit. Nevertheless, by holding that reason was subordinate to faith, he remained a typically medieval thinker.

In the opening reading from his most ambitious work, the Summa Theologica, Thomas Aquinas asserts that reason by itself is insufficient to lead human beings to salvation.

WHETHER, BESIDES THE vestigared by reason, there should be a sacred sci­ ence by way of revelation. PHILOSOPHICAL SCIENCES, ANY

FURTHER DOCTRINE IS REQUIRED? In the next selection, Aquinas uses the

categories of Aristotelian philosophy to It was necessary for man 's salvation that there demonstrate through natural reason God's should be a knowledge revealed by God, besides existence. the philosophical sciences investigated by human reason. First , because man is directed to God as to an end that surpasses the grasp of his reason....

WHETHER GOD EXISTS? But the end must first be known by men who are to direct their thoughts and actions to the end. The existence of God can be proved in five ways. Hence it was necessary for the salvation of man The first and more manifest way is the argu­ that certain truths which exceed human reason ment from motion. It is certain, and evident to should be made known to him by divine revela­ our senses, that in the world some things are in tion. Even as regards those truths about God motion. Now whatever is moved is moved by an­ which human reason can investigate, it was nec­ other, for nothing can be moved except it is in po­ essary that man be taught by a divine revelation. tentiality to that towards which it is moved ; For the truth about God, such as reason can know whereas a thing moves inasmuch as it is in act. For it, would only be known by a few, and that after a motion is nothing else than the reduction of long time, and with the admixture of many er­ something from potentiality to actuality. But rors; whereas man's whole salvation, which is in nothing can be reduced from potentiality to actu­ God, depends upon the knowledge of this truth. ality, except by something in a state of actuality. Therefore , in order that the salvation of men Thus that which is actually hot, as fire, makes might be brought about more fitly and more wood, which is potentially hot, to be actually hot, surely, it was necessary that they be taught divine and thereby moves and changes it. Now it is not truths by divine revelation. It was therefore nec­ possible that the same thing should be at once in essary that, besides the philosophical sciences in- actuality and potentiality in the same respect, but

only in different respects . For what is actually hot cannot simultaneously be potentially hot; but it is simultaneously potentially cold . It is therefore impossible that in the same respect and in the same way a thing should be both mover and moved , i.e., that it should move itself. Therefore , whatever is moved must be moved by another. If that by which it is moved be itself moved , then this also must needs be moved by another, and that by another again . But this cannot go on to in­ finity, because then there would be no first mover, and , consequently, no other mover, seeing that subsequent movers move only inasmuch as they are moved by the first mover; as the staff moves only because it is moved by the hand. Therefore it is necessary to arrive at a first mover, moved by no other; and this everyone understands to be God.

The second way is from the nature of efficient cause . In the world of sensible things we find there is an order of efficient causes . There is no case known (neither is it , indeed, possible) in which a thing is found to be the efficient cause of itself; for so it would be prior to itself, which is impossible. Now in efficient causes it is not pos­ sible to go on to infinity, because in all efficient causes following in order, the first is the cause of the intermediate cause , and the intermediate is the cause of the ultimate cause, whether the in­ termediate cause be several, or one only. Now to take away the cause is to take away the effect. Therefore, if there be no first cause among effi­ cient causes , there will be no ultimate, nor any intermediate, cause. But if in efficient causes it is possible to go on to infinity, there will be no first efficient cause , neither will there be an ulti­ mate effect, nor any intermediate efficient causes ; all of which is plainly false. Therefore it is necessary to admit a first efficient cause , to which everyone gives the name of God.

The third way is taken from possibility and necessity, and runs thus. We find in nature things that are possible to be and not to be, since they are found to be generated, and to be corrupted, and consequently, it is possible for them to be and not to be. But it is impossible for these always to exist, for that which can not-be at some time is not. Therefore, if everything can

Chapter 8 The High and Late Middle Ages 239

not-be, then at one time there was nothing in existence. Now if this were true, even now there would be nothing in existence, because that which does not exist begins to exist only through something already existing. Therefore , if at one time nothing was in existence, it would have been impossible for anything to have be­ gun to exist; and thus even now nothing would be in existence-which is absurd. Therefore, not all beings are merely poss ible , but there must exist something the existence of which is neces­ sary. But every necessary thing either has its ne­ cessity caused by another, or not. Now it is impossible to go on to infinity in necessary things which have their necessity caused by an­ other, as has been already proved in regard to ef­ ficient causes . Therefore we cannot but admit the existence of some being having of itself its own necessity, and not receiving it from another, but rather causing in others their necessity. This all men speak of as God.

The fourth way is taken from the graduation to be found in things . Among beings there are some more and some less good, true, noble, and the like. But more and less are predicated of different things according as they resemble in their differ­ ent ways something which is the maximum, as a thing is said to be hotter according as it more nearly resembles that which is hottest ; so that there is something which is truest, something best, something noblest, and , consequently, something which is most being, for those things that are greatest in truth are greatest in being .. . . Now the maximum in any genus is the cause of all in that genus, as fire, which is the maximum of heat, is the cause of all hot things.. .. There­ fore there must also be something which is to all beings the cause of their being, goodness , and every other perfection; and this we call God.

The fifth way is taken from the governance of the world . We see that things which lack knowl­ edge, such as natural bodies , act for an end, and this is evident from their acting always, or nearly always, in the same way, so as to obtain the best result. Hence it is plain that they achieve their end, not fortuitously, but designedly. Now what­ ever lacks knowledge cannot move towards an

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240 Pa rt T wo T he Middle A ges

end , unless it be directed by some being endowed being exists by wh om all natural things are di­

with knowledge and intelligence; as the arrow is rected ro their end ; and this being we call God . directed by the archer. Therefore som e intelligent

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What was Peter Abelard 's method of coping with textual problems ? Why did this method cause controversy?

2 . According to Thomas Aqu inas , when doe s a person require more th an reason to arrive at truth?

3. Show how Aquinas used both log ic and an empirical method to pro ve the exist ence of God.

6 Medieval Universities

The twelfth century witnessed a revival of classical learning and cultural crea­ tivity. Gothic cathedrals, an enduring testament to the creativeness of the relig­ ious spirit, were erected throughout Europe . Roman authors were again read and their s tyle imitated. Latin translations of Greek philosophical and scientific texts stimulated scholars; the reintroduction of the study of Roman law began to influ­ ence political theory and institutions. These were som e of the major changes that would leave a permanent mark on subsequent Western culture.

A significant achievement of this age was the emergence of universities. Aris­ ing spontaneously among teachers of the liberal arts and students of the higher studies of law, theology, and medicine, the universities gave more formal and lasting institutional structure to the more advanced levels of schooling. The me­ dieval universities were largely dedicated to educating young men for careers as lawyers, judges, teachers, diplomats, and administrators of both church and state. The educational foundation for such professional careers was the study of grammar, rhetoric, logic, mathematics, and theology.

Geoffrey Chaucer AN OXFORD CLERIC

In his masterpiece , The Canterbury Tales , English poet and diplomat Geoffrey Chaucer (c. 1340-1400) describes a typical student on pilgrimage to the shrine of Saint Thomas a Becket in Canterbury.

An Oxford Cleric, still a student though, But had a hollow look , a sob er sta re. One who had taken logi c lon g ago , The thread upon his overcoat was bare; W as there ; his horse was thinner than a rake , He had found no preferment [employment} in And he was not too fat , I undertak e, the ch ur ch

1, And he was too unworldly to make search For secular employment. By hi s bed He preferred having twenty books, in red And black, of Aristotle 's philosophy, To having fine clothes, fiddle, or psaltery [a

book of Psalms used for daily prayer]. Though a philosopher, as I have told, He had not found the stone for making gold.'

"T he philosopher's stone was th e name g iven to the mythical subs tance, searched for by alchem ists, th at would turn base m etal s into gold .

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Chapter 8 Th e High and L ate M iddle Ages 241

Whatever money from his friends he took He spent on learning or another book And prayed for them most earnestly, returning Thanks to them thus for paying for his learning . His only care was study, and indeed He never spoke a word more than was need, Formal at that, respectful in the extreme, Short, to the point, and lofty in this theme . The thought of moral virtue filled his speech And he would gladly learn, and gladly teach .

STUDENT LETTERS

The relationship between fathers and their sons enrolled at universities has not changed all that much since the Middle Ages, as the letters that follow demonstrate.

FATHERS TO SONS I

I have recently discovered that you live dissolutely and slothfully, preferring license to restraint and play to work and strumming a guitar while th e others are at their studies, whence it happens that you have read but one volume of law while your more industri­ ous companions have read several. Wherefore I have decided to exhort you herewith to repent utterly of your dissolute and careless ways, that you may no longer be called a waster and your shame m ay be turned to good repute.

II

I have learned-not from your master, although he ought not to hide such things from me, but from a certain trustworthy source-that you do not study in your room or act in the schools as a good student should , but play and wander about , disobedient to your master and indulging in sport and in certain other dishonorable practices whi ch I do not now care to explain by letter.

SONS TO FATHERS I

"W ell - beloved father, I have not a penny, nor can I get any save through you , for all things at the University are so dear: nor can I study in my Code or my Digest, for they are all tattered. Moreover, I owe ten crowns in dues to the Provost , and can find no man to lend them to me; I send you word of greetings and of money.

The Student hath need of many things if he will profit here; his father and his kin must needs supply him freely, that he be not compelled to pawn his books, but have ready money in his purse, with gowns and furs and decent clothing, or he will be damned for a beggar; wherefore, that men may not take me for a beast, I send you word of greetings and of money.

Wines are dear, and hostels , and other good things; I owe in every street , and am hard bested to free myself from such snares . Dear father, deign to help me! I fear to be excommunicated; already have I been cited, and there is not even a dry bone in my larder. If I find not th e money before this

242 Part Two The Middle A ges

feast of Easter, the church door will be shut in my face: wherefore grant my supplication, for I send you word of greetings and of money.

L'ENVOY

Well-beloved father, to ease my debts con­ tracted at the tavern, at the baker's, with the doctor and the bedells [a minor college official}, and to pay my subscriptions to the laundress and the barber, I send you word of greetings and of money."

II

Sing unto the Lord a new song, praise him with stringed instruments and organs, rejoice upon

the high-sounding cymbals, for your son has held a glorious disputation, which was attended by a great number of teachers and scholars. He answered all questions without a mistake, and no one could get the better of him or prevail against his arguments. Moreover he celebrated a famous banquet, at which both rich and poor were honoured as never before, and he has duly begun to give lectures which are already so pop­ ular that others' classrooms are deserted and his own are filled .

A Wandering Scholar "IN THE TAVERN LET ME DIE"

During the Middle Ages, errant students and idle clerks roamed the highways as free spirits, searching for adventure or at least for diversion. Some had given up their studies for lack of funds; others were restless or unable to secure the posi­ tion they desired. These vagabonds sometimes amused themselves by composing poetry that ridiculed clerics and sang the praises of wine, gambling, and women. The following poem was written in Latin by a poet known as the "Archpoeta," who lived in the twelfth century.

Down the highway broad I walk, It is most difficult indeed Like a youth in mind, Overcoming Nature, Implicate myself in vice, Keeping pure our mind and thought Virtue stays behind, Near a: girlish creature. Avid for the world 's delight Young like me, one can't observe More than for salvation, Rules that are unfeeling, Dead in soul, I care but for Can't ignore such shapes and curves Body's exultation. Tempting and appealing.

Prelate, you most circumspect , Who when into fire is pushed Grace I would entreat, Is by fire not scorched? It's a good death that I die , Whoso in Pavia 1 stayed Such a death is sweet, Has not been debauched, 0, my heart is wounded sore Where Dame Venus with a sign When a lass comes near it, If there's one I cannot touch, IPavia, a city in northern Italy, drew many students in the Her I rape in spirit. Middle Ages .

Gives young men a shake-up, Snares them with her luring eyes, With her tempting makeup?

Secondly I've been accused That I yield to gambling, Yet when gambling strips me bare, Then I can't go rambling, For outside I quake with cold While my heart glows white, In this state far better song, Finer verse I write.

Thirdly to the tavern I Must refer in turn, This I've spurned not in the past Nor will ever spurn, Till the holy angels come With a chant supernal, Singing masses for the dead­ Requiem eternal.

In the tavern let me die, That's my resolution, Bring me wine for lips so dry At life's dissolution. Joyfully the angel's choir Then will sing my glory: "Sit deus propicius Huic potatori.?"

Through the cup new light bursts up In my spirit's flare, Nectar stimulates my heart Etherward to fare. Wine that in the tavern flows Has a richer flavor Than the watered stuff our lord's Steward likes to savor.

Special gifts on every man Mother Nature lavished; I can never write a verse When by hunger ravished,

*May God be well-disposed to this toper [drunkard}.

Chapter 8 The High and Late Middle Ages 243

If I'm famished, one small boy Bests me in a trice, Thirst and hunger I detest Like my own demise.

Special gifts for every man Nature will produce, I, when I compose my verse, Vintage wine must use, All the best the cellar's casks Hold of these libations. Such a wine calls forth from me Copious conversations.

My verse has the quality Of the wine I sip, I can not do much until Food has passed my lip, What I write when starved and parched Is of lowest class, When I'm tight, with verse I make Ovid I surpass.?

As a poet ne'er can I Be appreciated Till my stomach has been well Filled with food and sated, When god Bacchus> gains my brain's Lofty citadel, Phoebus" rushes in to voice Many a miracle.

See, my own depravity I have now confessed, Disapproval of my sins Have my friends expressed. Not a single one of these His own sins confesses, Though he also likes the dice, Likes the world's excesses.

2Roman poet (43 B.C.-A.D. 17), author of the Metamorphoses, who was considered a master of metrical form. (Seepage 130.) 3Bacchus is an alternative name for Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstasy. 4Phoebus is another name for the Greek god Apollo, who represented male beauty and moral excellence.

244 Part Two The M iddle A ges

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. How do medieval students resemble their modern counterparts? How do they differ?

2. What virtues did Archpoeta find in his vices?

7 The Jews in the Middle Ages ~

Toward the end of the eleventh century, small communities of Jews were living in many of the larger towns of Christian Europe. Most of these Jews were de­ scended from Jewish inhabitants of the Roman Empire. Under the protection of the Roman law or of individual Germanic kings, they had managed to survive amid a sometimes hostile Christian population. But religious fanaticism un­ leashed by the call for the First Crusade undermined Christian-Jewish relations gravely. Bands of Crusaders began systematically to attack and massacre the Jew­ ish inhabitants of Rhineland towns. Thousands were killed-many because they refused to become converts to Christianity; their houses were looted and burned. Efforts by the bishops and civil authorities to protect their Jewish subjects were largely ineffective. Anti-Semitism became endemic in Latin Christendom.

Albert of Aix-la-Chapelle MASSACRE OF THE JEWS OF MAINZ

In this reading, Albert, a twelfth-century priest of the city of Aix-la-Chapelle, describes the massacre ofJews (1096) at the beginning of the First Crusade.

At the beginning of summer in the same year in of the Lord, or by some error of mind, they rose in which Peter [the Hermit} and Gottschalk,' after a spirit of cruelty against the Jewish people scat­ collecting an army, had set out , there assembled in tered throughout these cities and slaughtered like fashion a large and innumerable host of Chris­ them without mercy, especially in the Kingdom tians from diverse kingdoms and lands; namely, of Lorraine.i asserting it to be the beginning of from the realms of France, England, Flanders, and their expedition and their duty against the ene­ Lorraine. . .. I know not whether by a judgment mies of the Christian faith . This slaughter ofJews

was done first by citizens of Cologne .3 These

lA brilliant propa gand ist , Peter the Hermit raised a large army of poor and sparsely armed Frenchmen, who 2Lorraine, a duchy in the western part of the Holy Roman marched to Cologne to begin a Crusade to the Holy Land. Empire, is now part of France . Most of them were killed by Turkish forces after crossing 3Colog ne (K6In), founded by the Romans in the first into Asia Minor. Gottschalk was a German priest who cent u ry A.D., was the largest city in the Rhine Valley, a cen­ gathered a band of undisciplined soldiers to join the First ter of com merce, industry , and learning . Its politically Crusade . His forces were killed by Hungarians defending powerful archbishop was a prince of the Holy Roman their families and property from these Crusaders. Empire.

Chapter 8 The High and Late Middle A ges 245 !

1

I suddenly fell upon a small band of Jews and se­ verely wounded and killed many; they destroyed the houses and synagogues of the Jews and di­ vided among themselves a very large amount of money. When the Jews saw this cruelty, about two hundred in the silence of the night began flight by boat to Neuss. The pilgrims and crusaders discov­ ered them, and after taking away all their posses­ sions, inflicted on them similar slaughter, leaving not even one alive.

Not long after this, they started upon their journey, as they had vowed, and arrived in a great multitude at the city of Mainz . There Count Emico, a nobleman, a very mighty man in this region, was awaiting, with a large band of Teutons [German soldiers], the arrival of the pilgrims who were coming thither from diverse lands by the King's highway.

The Jews of this city, knowing of the slaugh­ ter of their brethren, and that they themselves could not escape the hands of so many, fled in hope of safety to Bishop Rothard . They put an infinite treasure in his guard and trust, hav­ ing much faith in his protection, because he was Bishop of the city. Then that excellent Bishop of the city cautiously set aside the incredible amount of money received from them. He placed the Jews in the very spacious hall of his own house, away from the sight of

Count Emico and his followers, that they might remain safe and sound in a very secure and strong place.

But Emico and the rest of his band held a council and, after sunrise, attacked the Jews in the hall with arrows and lances . Breaking the bolts and doors, they killed the Jews, about seven hundred in number, who in vain resisted the force and attack of so many thousands. They killed the women, also, and with their swords pierced tender children of whatever age and sex . The Jews, seeing that their Christian enemies were attacking them and their children, and that they were sparing no age, likewise fell upon one another, brother, children, wives, and sis­ ters, and thus they perished at each other's hands. Horrible to say, mothers cut the throats of nursing children wi th knives and stabbed others, preferring them to perish thus by their own hands rather than to be killed by the weapons of the uncircumcised.

From this cruel slaughter of the Jews a few escaped; and a few because of fear, rather than because of love of the Christian faith, were baptized. With very great spoils taken from these people, Count Emico, Clarebold, Thomas, and all that intolerable company of men and women then continued on their way to Jerusalem.

I

I ,

A DECREE BY POPE INNOCENT III

Regarding the Jews as wicked because they refused to accept Christ, the church wanted them to live in humiliation. However, the church did at times seek to protect them from violence.

The Fourth Lateran Council, which was organized by Innocent III (1198­ 1216), the most powerful of medieval popes, barred Jews from public office and required them to wear a distinguishing badge on their clothing, a sign of their degradation. Yet Innocent, as the following passage indicates, also cautioned against harming Jews. The passage, however, reveals some of the torments faced by Jews.

... We decree that no Christian shall use vio­ if a Jew, of his own accord, because of a change in lence to compel the Jews to accept baptism . But his faith, shall have taken refuge with Christians,

246 Part Two The Middle A ges

after his wish has been made known, he may be made a Christian without any opposition . For anyone who has not of his own will sought Christ­ ian baptism cannot have the true Christian faith. No Christian shall do the Jews any per­ sonal injury, except in executing the judgments of a judge, or deprive them of their possessions, or change the rights and privileges which they have been accustomed to have. During the cele­

bration of their festivals, no one shall disturb them by beating them with clubs or by throwing stones at them. No one shall compel them to ren­ der any services except those which they have been accustomed to render. And to prevent the baseness and avarice of wicked men we forbid anyone to de­ face or damage their cemeteries or to extort money from them by threatening to exhume the bodies of their dead .. ..

THE LIBEL OF RITUAL MURDER

Despite efforts by some popes to protect Jews, outbreaks of violence toward them persisted and bizarre myths about them emerged, often fomented by the clergy. Jews were seen as agents of Satan conspiring to destroy Christendom and as sorcerers employing black magic against Christians. Perhaps the most absurd (and dangerous) charge against the Jewish people was the accusation of ritual murder-that the Jews, requiring Christian blood for the Passover service , sacri­ ficed a Christian child. Despite the vehement denials of Jews and the protests of some enlightened Christian leaders, hundreds of such libelous accusations were made, resulting in the torture, trials, murder, and expulsion of many Jews. Alle­ gations of ritual murder and accompanying trials persisted into the twentieth century, to the consternation and anger of enlightened people who regarded the charge as so much nonsense, a lingering medieval fabrication and superstition.

In the next passage, an English chronicler reports on the death of one young Harold of Gloucester purported to be murdered by Jews in 1168.

... [The eight-year-old} boy Harold, who is we found that anything was betrayed by any buried in the Church of St. Peter the Apostle, Jew. But a little while after when the whole con­ at Gloucester ... , is said to have been carried vent of monks of Gloucester and almost all the away secretly by Jews , in the opinion of many, * citizens of that city, and innumerable persons on Feb. 21, and by them hidden till March 16 . coming to the spectacle, saw the wounds of the On that night, on the sixth of the preceding dead body, scars of fire, the thorns fixed on his feast, the Jews of all England coming together as head, and liquid wax poured into the eyes and if to circumcise a certain boy, pretend deceit­ face, and touched it with the diligent examina­ fully that they are about to celebrate the feast tion of their hands, those tortures were believed [Passover} appointed by law in such case, and or guessed to have been inflicted on him in that deceiving the citizens of Gloucester with that manner. It was clear that they had made him a fraud, they tortured the lad placed before them glorious martyr to Christ, being slain without with immense tortures. It is true no Christian sin, and having bound his feet with his own gir­ was present, or saw or heard the deed, nor have dle, threw him into the river Severn . (The body

is taken to St. Peter's Church, and there per­ ' Even th e chronicler puts it doubly doubtfully . forms miracles .)

Chapter 8 Th e High and Late M iddle A ges 24 7

Maimonides JEWISH LEARNING

Medieval Jews, despite frequent persecution, carried on a rich cultural and intel­ lectuallife based on their ancestral religion. The foremost Jewish scholar of the Middle Ages was Moses ben Maimon, also called by the Greek name Maimonides 0135-1204), who was born in Cordoba, Spain, then under Muslim rule. After his family emigrated from Spain, Maimonides went to Egypt, where he became physician to the sultan. During his lifetime, Maimonides achieved fame as a philosopher, theologian, mathematician, and physician; he was recognized as the leading Jewish sage of his day, and his writings were respected by Christian and Muslim thinkers as well. Like Christian scholastics and Muslim philosophers, Maimonides tried to harmonize faith with reason, to reconcile the Hebrew Scrip­ tures and the Talmud (Jewish biblical commentary) with Greek philosophy. In his writings on ethical themes, Maimonides demonstrated piety, wisdom, and hu­ manity . In the following passages, he discusses education and charity.

EDUCATION transmitted from mouth of man to mouth of man, even from the mouth of Moses our Master

Every man in Israel [every Jew] is obliged [the biblical Moses].

to study the Torah, I whether he be poor or rich, Until what age in life is one obliged to study

whether he be physically healthy or ailing, the Torah ? Even until the day of one 's demise;

whether he be in full vigor of youth or of great for it is said: "And lest they depart from thy

age and weakened vitality ; even if he be depen­ heart all the days of thy life " (Deut, 4.9) . For ­

dent upon alms for his livelihood , or going sooth, as long as one will not occupy himself

around from door to door begging his daily with study he forgets what he did study.

bread, yea, even he who has a wife and children One is obligated to divide his time of study

to support is obliged to have an appointed time by three ; one third for the study of Holy Writ ,

for the study of the Torah, both during the day one third for the study of the Oral Torah [the in­

and at night, for it is said : "But thou shalt med­ terpretations of the Torah] , and one third for

itate therein day and night " (Joshua, 1.8). thinking and reflecting so th at he may under­

Some of the great scholars in Israel were hew­ stand the end of a thing from its beginning, and

ers of wood, some of them drawers of water, and deduct one matter from another, and compare

some of them blind : nevertheless they engaged one matter to another. .. .

themselves in the study of the Torah by day and When a master gave a lesson which the disci­

by night. Moreover, they are included among ples did not understand, he should not get an­

those who translated the tradition as it was gry at them and be moody, but go over it again and repeat it even many times , until they will

"The Torah refers to th e first five books of the Hebrew understand the depth of the tre atise. Likewise, a Scriptures, which the Jews bel ieved were written by Moses. disciple shall not say, I understood , and he did In time , Torah also acq ui red a broader meaning th at en­

not understand; but he should repeat and ask com passed the entire H ebrew Scriptures and the var ious commenta ries. even many times. If the master angers at him

248 Part Two Th e M iddle A ges

and becomes mood y, he ma y say to him : "Mas­ ter, it is Torah, and I need instruction, but my mind is short of understanding! "

A di sciple shall not feel ashamed before his fellows who m astered the su b ject the first or the second t ime, whereas he did not grasp it until after hearing it m any times, for if he will be ashamed of such a thing , he will find himself coming in and g oing out of the ... [school} without any instructions at all . The sages, there­ fore, said: "he who is bashful cannot be in­ structed and he who is in an angry mood cannot instruct ." . ..

Even as a man is under command to honor his father and fear him, so is he obli ged to honor his master, but fear him yet more than hi s father; his fath er brought him to life upon this world but his m aster who taught him w isdom , brings him to life in the world to come . . . .

Care for the poor is ingrained in the Jewi sh traditi on. Rabbis gav e the hi ghest valu e to assistance, g iv en in secret, that helps a poor person to become self-supporting. M ai­ monides drew upon this rabbini cal tradition in hi s di scussion of charity.

CHARITY

The law of the Torah commanded us to practise tsedakah, 2 support the needy and help them fi­ nancially. The command in connect ion with this duty occur s in various expressions ; e.g., "T hou shalt surel y op en thy hand unto him " (D eu t. xv. 8 ), "Thou shalt uphold him ; as a stranger and a settler shall he live with thee " (Lev. xxv. 3 5). The intention in these passages is identical , viz., that we should console the poor man and support him to the extent of suf­ ficiency. . ..

There are eight degrees in alms-giving, one hi gher than the other: Supreme above all is to

ZThe term tsedakah is der ived from tsedek (rig hteo usness) ; it denotes showing ki ndn ess to ot hers.

give assist ance to a co-relig ionist who has fallen on evil times by pre senting him with a gift or loan , or ent ering into a partnership with him, or procuring him work, thereby helping him to become self-supporting .

Inferior to this is gi ving charity to the poor in such a way that the gi ver and recipient are un­ known to each other. This is, indeed , the perfor­ mance of a com m andm ent from disinterested m oti ves; and it is exemplified by the Instituti on of the Ch amber of th e Silent which existed in th e Ternpl e.> where the righteous secretl y de­ posited th eir alm s and the respectable poor were secretly assisted .*

Next in order is the don ation of money to the charitable fund of the Community, to which no contribution should be made without the donors feelin g confident that the administration is honest, prudent and capable of proper man­ agement .

Below thi s degree is the in stance where the don or is aware to whom he is giving the alms but the recipient is un aware from whom he re­ ceived them ; as, e.g. , the g reat Sages who used to go about secretly throwing money through the doors of the poor. This is quite a proper cours e to adopt and a great virtue wh ere the ad­ mini strators of a charitable fund are not acting fairly.

Inferior to this degree is the case where the recipi ent knows the identity of the donor, but not vice versa; as, e.g ., the great Sages who used to tie su m s of money in linen bundles and throw them behind their backs for poor m en to pi ck up, so that they should not feel shame.

The next four degrees in their ord er are : the man who gives money to the poor before he is asked ; the man who gives money to the poor af­ ter he is asked ; the man who gives less than he should , but does it with g ood grace ; and lastly, he who g ives grudgingly.

3T he Te mp le to wh ich Maim oni des refers was th e Temple in J eru salem , dest royed by th e Rom ans in A.D . 7 0 . *T his syste m of charit y was adopted by J ews in several Palest inian and Babylon ian cit ies.

Chapter 8 The High and Late Middle Ages 249

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. What were the apparent motives of those who attacked the Jews at Cologne and elsewhere at the time of the First Crusade?

2. What harassments and abuses were Jews likely to suffer in late medieval society? 3. What was the attitude of the papacy toward Jews? 4. Why were Christians prone to. believe the absurd myth that Jews committed ritual murder? 5. Discuss the roles of scholarship, education, and charity in Jewish medieval culture.

8 Troubadour Love Songs ~~

In the late twelfth century, new kinds of poetry with a distinctive set of themes began to be created at ,the castles and courts in France, Italy, Spain, and Germany. The poets were themselves knights or noblewomen who composed their poems to be sung or read aloud for the entertainment of fellow feudal nobles. The sub­ ject was always that of the love between man and woman.

The original inspiration for the new troubadour poetry was probably the Arab poetry of Spain and Sicily, where the theme of courtly love was developed earlier. What was revolutionary in later European poetry was its treatment of the relation­ ship between men and .wornen. The troubadours reversed the traditional view of men assuperior and women as inferior and dependent in their relationships. They introduced what is called "courtly love," a love relationship in which the woman is the superior and dominant figure, the man inferior and dependent. The male courts the lady, paying homage to her beauty and virtue. He suffers humiliation and frustration at her will and expresses the erotic tensions that consume him.

LOVE AS JOYOUS, PAINFUL, AND HUMOROUS

The following p<?ems were all composed by southern French 'troubadours. In the first selection a poet sings the praises of his beloved.

I wandered through a garden, 'twas Such kisses blossom on her lip, such filled with flowers the rarest, love illumines her eye-

And of all these brilliant blossoms Oh, never was there neath the stars a I culled the very fairest; man so blest as I!

So fine its shape, so sweet its scent, its I gaze, I thrill with joy, I weep, in song ;"l;:,,\it

hues so richly blent, my feelings flow- That heaven, I'm sure, created it itself A song of hope, delight, desire, with

to represent. passion all aglow- My lady is so charming, my lady is so A fervent song, a pleading song, a song

meek, in every line- Such tenderness is in her smile, such Of thanks and praise to her who lists no

beauty in her cheek; other songs but mine.

250 Part Two Th e Middle A ges

Oh, hear me sweet! Oh, kiss me sweet! Oh, clasp me tenderly!

Thy beauties many, many touch, but none that love like me .

The following two poems tell of a lover 's fail­ ure to win the affections of his beloved.

Now that the air is fresher and the world turned green, I shall sing once more of the one I love and desire, but we are so far apart that I cannot go and witness how my words might please her.

And nothing can console me but death, for evil tongues (may God curse them) have made us par~. And alas, I so desired her that now I moan and cry half mad with grief.

I sing of her, yet her beauty is greater than I can tell , with her fresh color, lovely eyes, and white skin, untanned and untainted by -rouge. She is so pure and noble that no one can speak ill of her.

But above all, one must praise, it seems to me , her truthfulness , her manners and her gracious speech , for she never would betray a friend ; and I was mad to believe what I heard tell of her and thus cause her to be angry.

I never intended to complain; and even now, if she so desires, she could bring me happiness by granting what I seek. I cannot go on like this much longer, for since she's been so far away I've scarcely slept or eaten .

Love is sweet to look upon but bitter upon parting ;

one day it makes you weep and another skip and dance, for now I know that the more one enters love's service, the more fickle it becomes .

Messenger, go with Godspeed and bring this to my lady, for I cannot stay here much longer and live, or be cured elsewhere, unless I have her next to me, naked , to kiss and embrace within a curtained room.

I said my heart was like to break, And that my soul was cast ,

By passion 's tide, just like a wreck Disabled by the blast.

I swore an oath that what I felt Was like to turn my head;

I sighed-such sighs!-and then I knelt, But not a word she said!

I preached of Grace in moving strain; I told her she was fair;

I whispered what renown she 'd gain, By listening to my prayer.

I spoke of needle and of pole, And other things I'd read;

But unto all my rigmarole- Why not a word she said!

I prayed her then my love to test, To send me near or far-

I'd squelch the dragon in his den , I'd yoke him to my car.

I'd risk for her, as faithful knight, My eyes, or limbs , or head ,

Being quite prepared to fool or fight­ But not a word she said!

I argued that, if poor in cash, Yet I was rich in mind;

Of rivals vowed to make a hash , When such I chanced to find.

I knit my brows, I clenched my hand, I tried to wake her dread;

Chapter 8 Th e H igh and Lat e Middle A ges 251

In quiet wise, you 'll understand­ But not a word she said!

Troubadours could also be playful. Some­ times they mocked wom en who labored too hard to preserve a youthful beauty .

That creature so splendid is but an old jade ; Of ointment and padding her beauty is made; Unpainted if you had the hap to behold her, You 'd find her all wrinkles from forehead to

shoulder.

What a shame for a woman who has lost all her g race

To waste thus her time in bedaubing her face!

To neglect her poor soul I am sure is not right of her,

REVIEW QUESTION

For a body that's going to corruption in spite of her .

Sometimes they even mocked this obsession with rom ance.

You say the moon is all aglow, The nightingale a-singing­

I'd rather watch the red wine flow, And hear the goblets ringing .

You say 't is sweet to hear the gale Creep sighing through the willows­

I'd rather hear a merry tale, 'M id a group of jolly fellows!

You say 'tis sweet the stars to view Upon the waters gleaming­

I'd rather see, 'twixt me and you And the post, my supper steaming.

1. What do these troubadours' love songs reveal about the tradition of courtly love ?

9 The Status of Women in Medieval Society -~

The precise status of a woman in medieval society differed immensely depending on the time, the place, and her class. The majority of women managed families and households, often taking part in farmwork or other crafts connected with the family livelihood. However, their legal rights, social standing, and power were in­ ferior to those of adult males in their own families. During the High Middle Ages, the Christian church increasingly supported a patriarchal structure of authority in church and civil society that left women effectively under the domination of males, clerical and lay. Although clerical teachings tended to demean women, several church doctrines also recognized the inherent dignity of a woman. The church regarded marriage as a sacrament, considered adultery a sin, and sub­ jected men and women to the same moral standards. Neither sex had any special advantage in attaining salvation.

Despite legal, social, and economic handicaps imposed upon them by males, some women successfully assumed positions of power and achievement. A few ruled kingdoms and principalities or headed convents and religious orders.

252 Part T wo Th e M iddle A ges

Others organized guilds; founded nunneries; practiced various crafts; served as teachers, physicians, and midwives; and operated small businesses . Some showed talent as poets, dramatists, and artists.

Jacopone da Todi PRAISE OF THE VIRGIN MARY "0 THOU MOTHER, FOUNT OF LOVE"

The ambivalence that medieval men, particularly intellectuals, expressed to­ ward women arose from several sources. First, medieval authors, who highly esteemed the writings of the ancient Greeks and Romans, were influenced by the hostility of classical authors toward women who did not accept their posi­ tion as subordinate and inferior to men. Classical writers maintained that women were less intelligent, more carnal, and more devious than men. Second, prejudice against women was fostered by the clerical insistence that celibacy was superior to marriage (because the former made it possible to escape the distractions of the flesh and family life and concentrate on spiritual matters). Third, the Christian view of men and women as equals in the sight of God was obscured by certain scriptural texts, such as Saint Paul's "Let your women keep silence in the churches: for it is not permitted unto them to speak" (1 Cor. 14:34); and "Wives, submit yourselves unto your own husbands, as unto the Lord" (Eph. 5:22) . This negative view of women was symbolized by the Old Tes­ tament portrait of Eve as the archetypal temptress who led Adam to sin . One me­ dieval writer expressed it this way: "Between Adam and God in paradise there was but one woman and she had no rest until she had succeeded in banishing her husband from the garden of delights and in condemning Christ to the torments of the cross. "

Countering this negative image was the New Testament picture of Mary, whose acceptance of her role as the mother of ] esus made salvation possible for all people . The highest expression of devotion to the Virgin Mary was reached in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries with the growing notion that Mary was pre­ served from original sin and remained free of sin throughout her life. Moreover, medieval Christians believed that Mary, by devoting her entire life to her son in his work of redemption, cooperated with him in his ministry. Therefore , as the mother of God she was able to intercede with her son on behalf of individual Christians. The numerous artistic depictions of Mary as the Mother of God and the Queen of Heaven, as well as the multitude of churches named after the Vir­ gin, are evidence of the popular piety that the cult of Mary generated throughout the Middle Ages.

The following poem by Italian religious poet]acopone da Todi (l230?-1306) is a tribute to the Virgin Mary.

At the Cross her station keeping Stood the mournful mother weeping,

Close to J esus to the last; Through her heart , His sorrow sharing,

All His bitter anguish bearing , Now at length the sword had passed.

o how sad and sore distressed Was that mother highly blest

Of the sole-begotten One! Christ above in torment hangs : She beneath Him holds the pangs Of her dying glorious Son .

Is there one who would not weep Whelmed in miseries so deep

Christ's dear mother to behold? Can the human heart refrain From partaking in her pain,

In that mother's pain untold?

Bruised, derided, cursed, defiled, She held her tender Child

All with bloody scourges rent; For the sins of His own nation , Saw Him hang in desol ation,

Till His spirit forth he sent.

o thou mother, fount of love, Touch my spirit from above ,

Make my heart with thine accord ! Make me feel as thou hast felt ; Make my soul to glow and melt

With the love of Christ my Lord.

Chapter 8 T he H igh and Late Middle A ges 25 3

Holy mother, pierce me through! In my heart each wound renew

Of my Saviour crucified; Let me share with thee His pain, Who for all my sins was slain,

Who for me in torments died.

Let me mingle tears with thee, Mourning Him who mourned for me,

All the days that I may live; By the Cross with thee to stay,

I'

There with thee to weep and pray, Is all I ask of thee to give .

Virgin of all virgins blest! Listen to my fond request:

Let me share thy grief divine ; Let me, to my latest breath, In my body bear the death

Of that dying Son of thine.

Wounded with His every wound, Steep my soul till it hath swooned

In His very blood away; Be to me, 0 virgin, nigh , Lest in flames I burn and die

In His awful judgment day :

Christ, when Thou shalt call me hence, Be Thy mother my defence,

Be Thy cross my victory While my body here decays , May my soul Thy goodness praise,

Safe in paradise with Thee.

Christine de Pisan THE CITY OF LADIES

In the Late Middle Ages (or early Renaissance), a remarkable woman took up the task of defending women from their many male detractors. Christine de Pisan (1364-1429?) was born in Venice but moved with her parents to Paris, where her father was court physician and astrologer. She married a court notary when she was fifteen, had three children, and was left a widow and penniless ten years later. She decided to use her unusually good education to become a professional writer, an unheard-of occupation for a woman at that time. She won the patron­ age and friendship of noble ladies at the French royal court and produced many

254 Part Two The Middle Ages

poems and books, including a biography of King Charles V and several polemical attacks upon the poets who slandered womankind. The most famous of these is The City of Ladies , written in 1405. In it Christine de Pisan questioned three alle­ gorical figures-Reason, Rectitude, and Justice-about the lies and slanders of males concerning the virtues and achievements of women. The book is really a history of famous women and their accomplishments in many fields of endeav­ our. In the following passages, she challenged the traditional medieval attitude toward women. In questioning Lady Reason about the alleged inferiority of women to men, de Pisan cleverly changed the subject to that of virtue, proclaim­ ing the equality of the sexes in attaining it.

"M y lady [Lady Reason), according to what I understand from you, woman is a most noble creature. But even so, Cicero [Roman states­ man] says that a man should never serve any woman and that he who does so debases him­ self, for no man should ever serve anyone lower than him."

She replied, "The man or the woman in whom resides greater virtue is the higher; nei­ ther the loftiness nor the lowliness of a person lies in the body according to the sex, but in the perfection of conduct and virtues. And surely he is happy who serves the Virgin [Mary, the mother ofJesus], who is above all the angels."

"My lady, one of the Catosl-c-who was such a great orator-said, nevertheless, that if this world were without women, we would converse with the gods."

She replied, "You can now see the foolishness of the man who is considered wise, because, thanks to a woman, man reigns with God. And if anyone would say that man was banished be­ cause of Lady Eve, I tell you that he gained more through [the Virgin] Mary than he lost through Eve when humanity was conjoined to the God­ head.s which would never have taken place if Eve's misdeed [eating the forbidden fruit] had not occurred. Thus man and woman should be glad for this sin, through which such an honor has come about . For as low as human nature fell through this creature woman, was human na­

'Several Roman statesmen bore the name Cato . Cato the Censor (234-149 B.C. ) was a vigorous critic of women . 2T his clause refers to the Christian belief that God became a human being in the person of Jesus Christ.

ture lifted higher by this same creature. And as for conversing with the gods , as this Cato has said , if there had been no woman, he spoke truer than he knew, for he was a pagan, and among those of this belief, gods were thought to reside in Hell as well as in Heaven, that is, the devils whom they called the gods of Hell-so that it is no lie that these gods would have conversed with men, if Mary had not lived."

In this next passage, de Pisan discusses the slander that women are not as intelligent as men .

". .. But please enlighten me again, whether it has ever pleased this God, who has bestowed so many favors on women, to honor the femi­ nine sex with the privilege of the virtue of high understanding and great learning, and whether women ever have a clever enough mind for this . I wish very much to know this because men maintain that the mind of women can learn only a little."

She [Lady Reason] answered, "My daughter, since I told you before, you know quite well that the opposite of their opinion is true, and to show you this even more clearly, I will give you proof through examples. I tell you again-and don't doubt the contrary-if it were customary to send daughters to school like sons, and if they were then taught the nat­ ural sciences, they would learn as thoroughly and understand the subtleties of all the arts and sciences as well as sons. And by chance there happen to be such women, for, as I

touched on before, just as women have more delicate bodies than men, weaker and less able to perform many tasks, so do they have minds that are freer and sharper whenever they apply themselves."

"My lady, what are you saying ? With all due respect, could you dwell longer on this point , please , Certainly men would never admit this answer is true, unless it is explained more plainly, for they believe that one normally sees that men know more than women do. "

She answered, "Do you know why women know less?"

"Not unless you tell me, my lady." "W it hout the slightest doubt, it is because they

are not involved in many different things, but stay at home, where it is enough for them to run the household, and there is nothing which so instructs a reasonable creature as the exercise and experi­ ence of many different things. "

"My lady, since they have minds skilled in conceptualizing and learning, just like men, why don 't women learn more ?"

She replied, "Because, my daughter, the pub­ licdoes not require them to get involved in the affairs which men are commissioned to execute, just as I told you before. It is enough for women to perform the usual duties to which they are or­ dained. As for judging from experience, since one sees that women usually know less than men, that therefore their capacity for understanding is less, look at men who farm the flatlands or who live in the mountains . You will find thatinmany countries they seem completely savage because they are so simple-minded. All the same, there is no doubt that Nature provided them with the qualities of body and mind found in the wisest and most learned men . . . ."

Next, Christine de Pisan argues in favor of giving young women the same opportunities for learning as men .

Following these remarks , I, Christine, spoke, "My lady, I realize that women have accom-

Chapter 8 T he High and Late M iddle A ges 255

plished many good th ings and that even if evil women have done evil, it seems to me , neverthe­ less, that the benefits accrued and still accruing because of good women-particularly the wise and literary ones and those educated in the nat ­ ural sciences whom I mentioned above--out­ weigh the evil. Therefore, I am amazed by the opinion of some men who claim that they do not want their daughters , wives, or kinswomen to be educated because their mores would be ruined as a result. "

She responded, "Here you can clearly see that not all opinions of men are based on reason and that these men are wrong. For it must not be presumed that mores necessarily grow worse from knowing the moral sciences , which teach the virtues, indeed, there is not the slightest doubt that moral education amends and enno­ bles them. How could anyone think or believe that whoever follows good teaching or doctrine is the worse for it? Such an opinion cannot be expressed or maintained. I do not mean that it would be good for a man or a woman to study the art of divination or those fields of learning which are forbidden-for the holy Church did not remove them from common use without good reason-but it should not be believed that women are the worse for knowing what is good .. . .

"... To speak of more recent times, with­ out searching for examples in ancient history, Giovanni Andrea, a solemn law professor in Bologna [Italy] not quite sixty years ago, was not of the opinion that it was bad for women to be educated. He had a fair and good daughter, named Novella, who was educated in the law to such an advanced degree that when he was occupied by some task and not at leisure to present his lectures to his students, he would send Novella, his daughter, in his place to lecture to the students from his chair. And to prevent her beauty from distracting the con­ centration of her audience, she had a little cur­ tain drawn in front of her. In this manner she could on occasion supplement and lighten her father's occupation...."

j .

256 Part Two Th e Middle A ges

A Merchant of Paris ON LOVE AND MARRIAGE

It is difficult to generalize about so intimate a relationship as marriage. It is too intensely individual, and marital love is seldom captured by words that are not either trite or highly poetic in character. But in the late fourteenth century (c. 1393), a merchant of Paris, a man of mature years and experience, tried to put in words for his fifteen-year-old child bride some practical advice as to what a good wife should be and should do for her loving husband. The young lady was of higher social status than her husband, and he clearly expected that she would marry again after his death. His instructions were for her eyes only, but the man­ uscript survived in at least three copies. Discovered and published in French in 1846, it offers a rare look at the marital values and expectations of a wealthy, pious, and practical businessman living in one of the largest and most cosmo­ politan cities of late medieval Europe.

WHEN TWO GOOD AND HONEST creatures; moderately loving and intimate with your good and nearest kinsfolk and your hus­PEOPLE ARE MARRIED band's kinsfolk ; very distant with all other

I believe that when two good and honest people men ; and entirely aloof from conceited and are married, all other affections, except their idle young men who have more expenses than love for each other, are withdrawn, annulled, income , and who, without property or good and forgotten. It seems to me that when they are lineage, go dancing; and also distant from together they look at each other more than they courtiers of very great lords . Moreover, have look at others, they come together and embrace nothing to do with men and women who are each other, and they would rather talk and com­ said to lead corrupt, amorous, or dissolute municate with each other than with anyone else . lives . When they are separated, they think of each Concerning what I have said about being very other and say in their hearts: "T his is what I will loving to your husband, it is certainly true that do, this is what I will say, this is what I will ask ever y man ought to love and cherish his wife, him when I see him again ." All their special and every woman should love and cherish her pleasures, greatest desires, and perfect joys are in husband: for he is her beginning. I can prove pleasing and obeying each other. But if they this, for it is found in the second chapter of the don 't love one another, they have no more than a first book of the Bible, called Genesis . .. . routine sense of duty and respect for each other, Do not think that someone else will hide which is not enough between many couples . for you that which you yourself have not been

able to conceal. Be secretive and discreet with everyone except your husband . For youBE VERY LOVING AND INTIMATE should conceal nothing from him, but tell him

WITH YOUR HUSBAND everything, and he should also tell you every­

You ought to be very loving and int imate with thing . . .. You two, man and woman, ought your husband , more than with all other living to be as one, and at all times and in all places

the one should act on the other's advice . This is how good and wise people act and ought to act . . . .

HOW GOOD WIVES ACT TOWARD THEIR HUSBANDS, AND GOOD HUSBANDS TOWARD THEIR WIVES, WHEN THEY GO ASTRAY

Husbands ought to hide and conceal the follies of their wives and lovingly protect them from future mistakes , as did an honorable man of Venice.

In that city there was a married couple with three children. As the wife lay on her deathbed , she confessed, among other things , that one of the children was not her husband 's. The confes­ sor at length told her that he would seek advice about how to counsel her and rerum. This con­ fessor went to the doctor who was looking after her and asked the nature of her illness. The doc­ tor said that she would not be able to recover from it. Then the confessor went to her and told her that he didn't see how God would give her salvation unless she begged her husband for for­ giveness for the wrong she had done him. She summoned her husband; had everyone removed from the room except her mother and her con­ fessor, who placed her, and held her, on .her knees on the bed: and before her husband, with folded hands , humbly begged pardon for having sinned in the law of his marriage and having had one of her children with another man . She would have said more, but her husband cried out: "Stop ! Stop! Stop! Don't say anything else." Then he kissed her and pardoned her, saying: "Say no more. Don't tell me or anyone else which of your children it is; for I want to love each as much as the other-so equally that you will not be blamed during your lifetime or after your death . For through your blame, I will be dis­ honored, and because of it , your children, and others through them-that is, our relations­ will receive vile and everlasting reproach. There­ fore, don't say anything. I don't want to know any more. So that no one can ever say that I do

Chapter 8 T he High and Late M iddle A ges 25 7

wrong by the other two , whichever it is, I will give him in my lifetime what would com e to him under our laws of succession ."

So, dear sister, you see that the wise man bent his heart to save his wife's reputation , which would affect his children . This shows you what wise men and women ought to do for each other to save their honor.

CHERISH YOUR HUSBAND'S PERSON CAREFULLY

Dear sister, if you have another husband after me, be aware that you must take very good care of his person. For generally when a woman has lost her first husband and marriage, it is hard for her , depending on her social status, to find a second who is to her liking, and she remains forsaken and helpless for a long time, and even more so when she loses the second. Therefore, cherish your husband 's person carefully.

I entreat you to keep his linen clean, for this is up to you. Because the care of outside affairs is men's work, a husband must look after these things, and go and come , run here and there in rain , wind, snow, and hail-sometimes wet, sometimes dry, sometimes sweating, other times shivering, badly fed, badly housed, badly shod, badly bedded-and nothing harms him because he is cheered by the anticipation of the care his wife will take of him on his return-s-of the pleasures, joys, and comforts she will pro­ vide, or have provided for him in her presence: to have his shoes off before a good fire, to have his feet washed, to have clean shoes and hose, to be well fed, provided with good drink, well served, well honored , well bedded in white sheets and white nightcaps, well covered with good furs, and comforted with other joys and amusements, intimacies, affections , and secrets about which I am silent. And on the next day fresh linen and garments.

Indeed , dear sister, these favors cause a man to love and desire the rerum home and the sight of his good wife, and to be reserved with others. And so I advise you to comfort your second hus­

258 Part Two Th e Middle A ges

band on all his homecomings, and persevere bewitch a man than by gIvmg him what in this . pleases him .

Also keep peace with him. Remember the Therefore, dear sister, I pray you to bewitch country proverb that says there are three things and bewitch again the husband whom you that drive a good man from his home: a house will have, preserve him from a badly covered wi th a bad roof, a smoking chimney, and a house and a smoky chimney, and be not quarrel­ quarrelsome woman . Dear sister, I beg you, in some with him, but be sweet , amiable, and order ro preserve your husband's love and good peaceful. Mind that in winter he has a good will, be loving, amiable, and sweet with fire without smoke , and that he is well couched him.... By my soul! I believe doing good is and covered between your breasts, and there be­ the only enchantment , and one can no better witch him.

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. How does Jacopone da Todi's poem present a positive image of women through its depiction of Mary?

2. Evaluate the arguments used by Christine de Pisan in her defense of women . 3. What is the merchant's attitude toward women in general and marriage in particular? 4. Whichof the merchant's instructions to his wife do you consider most valuable in

a good marriage?

10 Sexual Nonconformity: Satan's Lures ~

The clergy sought to impose uniform sexual standards throughout Christendom. They regarded sexual practices that were not intended for procreation, including homosexuality and masturbation, as violations of natural law and God's will and as Satan's temptations that lead to eternal damnation.

Robert of Flamborough PROHIBITION OF SEXUAL SINS l

The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) decreed that it was necessary for a Christian to go to confession at least once a year. Not doing so could be interpreted as a sign of heresy, which the church might investigate. This requirement gave the clergy tremendous control over the moral outlook of Christians throughout Europe. The following "interview" was a creation of Robert of Flamborough, an English schoolman or scholar who heard confessions of clerics studying at the University of Paris in the early thirteenth century; it was designed as a model to be used by confessors. Although not an actual interview, it does reveal the sexual standards the clergy aspired to uphold and the sexual behavior they sought to suppress.

lThe brackets and the note s with in th e document were in­ serted by Michael Goodrich , the editor of the volume from which this select ion was tak en.

1 Have you been lustful ? The following things pertain to lust: extravagance, shamelessness, licentiousness , impudence, hesitation, flattery, allurements, voluptuousness, dissoluteness, fee­ bleness, scurrility, and coitus . Extravagance is clear; likewise shamelessness . Hesitation is when a man acts without confidence. Flattery is when a man flatters others and accepts flattery from others . Allurements are clear. Voluptuousnes is when a man follows his longings, his desires. Dissoluteness may be found in gestures, words, deeds and attire. Feebleness is clear. Scurrility is when a man acts like a clown . Concerning all these things, do you ask pardon , etc.?

Priest: Those things which you otherwise do, do with confidence . .. and patiently . .. and firmly ... and with perseverance ... and with a relaxed mind . .. .

There remains coitus [intercourse}, which is lust in the strict sense of the word. Have you ever been polluted with lust ?

PENITENT: Many times . PRIEST: Ever against nature? PENITENT: Many times. PRIEST: Ever with a man? PENITENT: Many times . PRIEST: With clerics or laymen? PENITENT: With both clerics and laymen. PRIEST: Married or single laymen? PENITENT: Both. PRIEST: With how many married persons ? PENITENT: I don 't know . PRIEST: You therefore don't know how often ? PENITENT: Correct . PRIEST: Let's try to find out what we can. How

long were you with those persons? PENITENT: For seven years. PRIEST: In what [priestly} order ? PENITENT: In the priesthood for two years, in the

diaconate for two years, in the sub-diaconare for two years, and as an acolyte for a year. I sinned with single persons , but I don 't know how many or how often.

PRIEST: Did you sin with clerics? PENITENT: I sinned with both secular clergy and

religious [monastic clergy}.

Chapter 8 Th e H igh and Late Middle A ges 259

PRIEST: Tell me with how many secular and how many religious clergy, in which order you and they were in when you sinned together, and whether they possessed the office of archdeacon, dean, abbot , or bishop . Did you ever introduce some innocent person to that sin ? Tell me how many and what order you were then in.

He may afterward be asked whether he ever sinned any more against nature , if he had anyone "in an extraordinary way." If he should ask in what "ext raord inary way," I won 't answer him; he 'll see for himself. I never mention anything to him from which he might derive some reason to sin, but only speak in a general way about things which everyone knows are sins . I painfully wrench a confession of masturbation out of him and like­ wise from a woman, but the method of getting this out should not be written down . Just as I asked a man whether he has done anything against nature, so I ask a woman, and in fact about every kind of fornication. Second, I inquire about adultery, then about every kind of fornica­ tion; afterward I ask about incest in this way:

Did you approach your female cousins? Say how often and how they were related to you. Afterward I inquire as above. D id you approach two females related to you by blood? Say how many times and how they are related, and afterward as above. You had how many [such female relatives} after your male relatives [had them} ? Say how they [the males} are related to you, and afterward as above.

Did you approach a nun or another comersai' Say to which order they belonged, and afterward as above .

Did you ever deflower a virgin? Did you ap­ proach your godmother (commater) ? Your aunt? Your daughter? Your father 's daughter ? Your godfather's daughter? A woman during menstru­ ation? An infidel, Jew, Gentile , heretic? Say how many times and how much . A woman in child­ birth? A woman who has not been purifiedr ' You should inquire about all of this as above.

lA woman who has tak en a vow. 2Forty days after childbirth .

260 Pa rt T wo Th e Middle A ges

Did you approach a pregnant woman ? I ask this because many little children are weakened in this way, crippled and oppressed. If som eon e is oppressed by your having sexual relati ons you should in m y opinion never serve as a minister in any order or be promoted without papal dis­ pensation. During menstruation or child b irt h many lepers , ep ilep t ics, and children with evil characteristics are conceived .

Have you committed forni cation in a holy pl ace or on a holy day ? Ask where and how often this has happened, in wh at order, with whom and what kind of fornication it was . If you have for­ nicated in a holy place like a ch urch which has been consecrated or a cemetery, the place itself is reconciled by a simple priest in a private capac ­ it y, or solemnly by a bishop. It is reconciled by a simple priest in a privat e capacity if the crime is hidden, and solemnly by a bishop if the crime becomes known . For this purpose a special office and special masses are held . The simple priest

ought to walk around th e pl ace and sprinkle water which has been bl essed in a dedi cat ed ch ur ch, singing seven Psalms and a litany. It is reconciled as for homicide, for whatever kind of fornication, if blood was shed there during a quarrel, (but} as if for theft according to som e .

Did you approach prostitutes ? You should be afraid lest she be your cousi n or related by mar­ riage, or vowed to enter reli gion , or because one of your relatives had had her, or for som e other reason .

Did you procure her not for yours elf? Say how often.... From the aforesaid inquiries you should know well enough what is to be investi­ g ated . Have you ever soli cited another person through someone else? Inquire as above .

Were you ever "infamous" due to fornication ? Something was said above conc erning infamy. Did you ever fail to confess and approach the al­ tar without contrition afte r forni cation or in ha­ tr ed or with a desire to sin ? . ..

Peter Damian CONDEMNATION OF HOMOSEXUALITY

In the following selection, Peter Damian 0007-1072), a prominent cleric, de­ nounces homosexuality and holds that clergy who engage in this behavior are un­ able to carry out their spiritual duties and should be dismissed from their positions .

XVI A Deserving Condemnation of Abominable Shamefulness

Truly, this vice is never to be compared with any other vice because it surpasses th e enorm it y of all vices. Indeed, this vice is the death of bodies , the d estruction of souls. It pollutes the flesh , it extin­ g uishes the light of the mind . It evict s the Holy Spirit from the temple of the human heart; it in­ troduces the devil who incites to lust. It casts into error; it com p letely removes th e truth from the mind th at has been decei ved . It pr epares snares for th ose entering ; it shuts up thos e wh o fall into th e p it so they cannot get out. It ope ns hell; it

closes th e door of heaven . It makes a citizen of the heavenl y J erusalem into an heir of infernal Baby­ lon . It makes of the star of heaven th e stubble of eternal fire; it cuts off a member of the Church and casts it into the consu m ing fire of boiling Gehenna (Hell}. This vice tries to overturn th e walls of th e heavenl y homeland and is busy re­ pairing th e renew ed bulwarks of Sodom. For it is this whi ch viol at es sobriety, kills modesty, st ran­ g les chast ity, and butchers irreparable virginity with th e dag g er of unclean contagion. It defiles everything , sta ins everyt hing , pollutes every­ thing . And as for it self, it permits nothing pure, nothing clean, nothing other than filth . . .. "

I

This vice casts men from the choir of the ec­ clesiastical community and compels them to pray with the possessed and with those who work for the devil. It separates the soul from God ro join it with devils. This most pestilen­ tial queen of the sodomists makes the followers of her tyrannical laws filthy to men and hateful to God . She commands to join in evil wars against God . ... She humiliates in church, con­ demns in law, defiles in secret, shames in public, gnaws the conscience as though with worms, sears the flesh as though with fire... . A person who himself participates in a sinful act ought not to be a judge of the crime in confession as long as he hesitates in any way to confess that he has sinned himself by joining in the sin of an­ other. . .. The miserable flesh burns with the heat of lust... . In fact, after this most poisonous serpent once sinks its fangs into the unhappy soul, sense is snatched away, memory is borne off, the sharpness of the mind is obscured. It becomes unmindful of God and even forgetful of itself. This plague undermines the foundation of faith, weakens the strength of hope, destroys the bond of charity; it takes away justice, sub­ verts fortitude , banishes temperance, blunts the keenness of ptudence.

And what more should I say since it expels the whole host of the virtues from the chamber of the human heart and introduces every bar­ barous vice as if the bolts of the doors were pulled out . . . .

Indeed, whomever this most atrocious beast once seizes upon with bloodthirsty jaws, it re­ strains with its bonds from every form of good work and immediately unleashes him down the steep descent of the most evil depravity. In fact, when one has fallen into this abyss of extreme tuin he becomes an exile from the heavenly homeland, separated from the body of Christ, confounded by the authority of the whole Church, condemned by the judgment of all the holy

REVIEW QUESTION

Chapter 8 Th e H igh and Lat e M iddle A ges 261

fathers. He is despised among men on earth and rejected from the community of heavenly citi­ zens . . . . Burdened with the weight of the crime, he cannot arise nor conceal his evil for long in the hiding-place of ignorance. He can­ not rejoice here while he lives nor can he hope there when he dies, since he is compelled to bear the disgrace of human derision now and after­ wards the torment of eternal damnation .

XIX The Service of an Unworthy Priest Is the Ruin of the People

o guilty, carnal men, why do you desire the height of ecclesiastical dignity with so much burning ambition? Why is it that you try with such desire to ensnare the people of God in the bonds of your own ruin? Is it not enough for you to throw yourselves down the steep cliffs of out­ rageous crime without having to involve others in the peril of your own ruin? . . .

Or how can anyone who does not know whether he himself is pleasing to God ask God for forgiveness for others ? . ..

Therefore, the person who is still bound by earthly desires should beware lest, by more gravely igniting the anger of the strict Judge , he become the author of the ruin of his subordi­ nates while he takes pleasure in his exalted posi­ tion. So, if culpable vice still rules over him, a person should prudently take stock of himself before he dares to assume the position of the sac­ erdotal office, lest one who is perverted by his own crime should desire to become the interces­ sor for the faults of others . Be careful, be careful, and be afraid of igniting inextinguishably God's fury towards you; fear lest you provoke more sharply by your very prayers the one you offend openly by acting evilly. Intent on your own ruin, beware of becoming responsible for the ruin of another.

, , -' !

1. What do these documents tell you about medieval sexual standards and practices ?

262 Part Two The Middle A ges

I I Medieval Contributions to the Tradition__.mo-­ of Liberty

In several ways the Middle Ages contributed to the development of liberty in the Western world. Townsmen organized themselves into revolutionary associations called communes to demand freedom from the domination of feudal lords . They successfully won personal liberties, the end of feudal labor services and arbitrary tax levies, and a system of municipal self-government. Another development cru­ cial to the tradition of liberty was the resistance of lords to kings who attempted to interfere with the lords' customary rights. These actions helped to establish the tradition that kings were not above the law and could not rule arbitrarily or ab­ solutely. There is a direct link between modern parliaments and medieval repre­ sentative institutions, particularly in the case of the English Parliament.

By justifying resistance to tyrannical authority, medieval theologians made a significant contribution to the growth ofliberty. They held that a monarch's pow­ ers were limited by God's laws and by what was for the common good of Christ­ ian people. Some argued that a monarch who ignored or violated the laws and liberties of the people or the church became a tyrant and forfeited his right to be ruler. Such rulers could be, and some in fact were, deposed.

] ohn of Salisbury POLICRATICUS A DEFENSE OF TYRANNICIDE

One prelate who opposed the rule of tyrants was an Englishman, John of Salisbury (c. 1115-1180), who became bishop of Chartres, France, in 1176. He composed a statesman's handbook, Policraticus, explicitly defending the assassi­ nation of tyrants. Paraphrasing the Roman statesman Cicero, John held that it was right, lawful, and just to slay a tyrant.

... A tyrant , then, as the philosophers have de­ fury of the lion or undermined by the wiles of scribed him, is one who oppresses the people by the serpent . In whatever way this comes to the rulership based upon force, while he who pass, it is plain that it is the grace of God rules in accordance with the laws is a prince. which is being assailed and that it is God him­ Law is the gift of God, the model of equity, a self who in a sense is challenged to battle. The standard of justice, a likeness of the divine will, prince fights for the laws and the liberty of the the guardian of well-being, a bond of union people; the tyrant thinks nothing done unless he and solidarity between peoples , a rule defining brings the laws to nought and reduces the peo­ duties, a barrier against the vices and the de­ ple to slavery. Hence the prince is a kind of like­ stroyer thereof, a punishment of violence and ness of divinity; and the tyrant, on the contrary, all wrong -doing . The law is assailed by force or a likeness of the boldness of the Adversary by fraud, and, as it were, either wrecked by the [the devil] , even of the wickedness of Lu ci­

fer.... The prince, as the likeness of the Deity, is to be loved, worshipped and cherished; the tyrant, the likeness of wickedness, is generally to be even killed. The origin of tyranny is iniquity,

Chapter 8 The Hi gh and Late Middle A ges 263

and springing from a poisonous root, it is a tree which grows and sprouts into a baleful pestilent growth, and to which the axe must by all means be laid.

MAGNA CARTA

Feudal nobles sought to limit the arbitrary powers of kings by compelling them to issue written charters of liberties. These earliest constitutions spelled out the rights of subjects and the obligations of rulers. In 1215 King]ohn of England (1199-1216) was compelled to recognize the liberties of his vassals, the clergy, and the towns in the Great Charter (Magna Carta). The king and his agents were forbidden to act arbitrarily, and the king swore to govern by due process of law. Similar written constitutions checking the powers of kings and princes were achieved in other parts of Europe.

The Magna Carta asserted the feudal rights of the subjects of a monarch who allegedly tried to rule by personal will rather than by law. Though many of its de­ tailed clauses subsequently lost their significance, three notions embedded in the Magna Carta became rooted in English constitutional tradition: that the king can­ not levy a tax without the consent of his feudal council (later Parliament); that no one may be imprisoned or otherwise damaged except through due process of law and trial by jury of his (or her) peers; and that the king himself is subject to the law, arid if he violates the rights of his subjects, he may be legally disobeyed and deposed. Significant portions of the document follow.

1. In the first place [1, John,] have granted realm, unless it is for the ransom of our person, to God and by this our present Charter have the knighting of our eldest son or the first mar­ confirmed, for us and our heirs in perpetuity, riage of our eldest daughter; and for these only a that the English church shall be free, and shall reasonable aid is to be levied. Aids from the city have its rights undiminished and its liberties of London are to be treated likewise. unimpaired .. .. We have also granted to all the 13 . And the ci ty of London is to have all its free men of our realm for ourselves and our heirs ancient liberties and free customs both by land for ever, all the liberties written below, to have and water. Furthermore, we will and grant that and hold, them and their heirs from us and our all other cities, boroughs, towns and ports shall heirs.... have all their liberties and free customs.

12. No scutage ' or aid- is to be levied in our 14. And to obtain the common counsel of the realm except by the common counsel of our realm for the assessment of an aid (except in the

three cases aforesaid) or a scutage, we will have archbishops, bishops, abbots, earls and greater

IScurage was a tax paid by knights to the king of England , their feudal overlord, in place of performing actual military barons> summoned individually by our letters; service . In the absence of danger of war, the levying of scu­ and we shall also have summoned generally tage was considered an abuse of the king 's authority . 2Aid, in this sense, was any obligation, usually financial, due from a vassal to his lord . The word was later used to in­ 3Barons were vassals holding fiefs directly from the king ; dicate a tax on income or property paid by his subjects to earls C'counrs" in other lands) were nobles who managed the English king . counties or shire s.

264 Part Two The Middle A ges

through our sheriffs and bailiffs" all those who hold of us in chief [hold a fief from the king], with at least forty days' notice, and at a fixed place; and in all letters of summons we will state the reason for the summons. And when the sum­ mons has thus been made, the business shall go forward on the day arranged according to the counsel of those present, even if not all those summoned have come .. ..

20. A free man shall not be amerced [fined] for a trivial offence, except in accordance with the degree of the offence; and for a serious of­ fence he shall be amerced according to its grav­ ity, saving his livelihood; and a merchant likewise, saving his merchandise; in the same way a villein [serf} shall be amerced saving his wainage.> if they fall into our mercy . And none of the aforesaid amercements shall be imposed except by the testimony of reputable men of the neighbourhood.

21. Earls and barons shall not be amerced ex­ cept by their peers and only in accordance with the nature of the offence....

4T he sher iff was a royal official respons ibl e for th e carrying out of laws in a shire or county; bailiffs were his assist ants . 5Wai nage (or gainage) is a collecti ve term meaning farmin g cools and implements, including such things as wagon s (wain s).

REVIEW QUESTIONS

38. Henceforth no bailiff shall put anyone on trial by his own unsupported allegation, with­ out bringing credible witnesses to the charge.

39 . No free man shall be taken or impris­ oned or disseised [dispossessed] or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined, nor will we go or send against him, except by the lawful judge­ ment of his peers or by the law of the land.

40 . To no one will we sell, to no one will we deny or delay right or justice.

4 1. All merchants are to be safe and secure in leaving and entering England, and in staying and travelling in England, both by land and by water, to buy and sell free from all maletotes [unjust taxes] by the ancient and rightful cus­ toms, except, in time of war, such as come from an enemy country. And if such are found in our land at the outbreak of war they shall be detained without damage to their persons or goods, until we or our chief justiciar [legal offi­ cial] know how the merchants of our land are treated in the enemy country; and if ours are safe there, the others shall be safe in our land.

4 2. Henceforth anyone, saving his allegiance due to us, may leave our realm and return safe and secure by land and water, save for a short period in time of war on account of the general interest of the realm and excepting those imprisoned and outlawed according to the law of the land, and na­ tives of an enemy country, and merchants, who shall be treated as aforesaid.. . .

1. How does John of Salisbury distinguish a legitimate king from a tyrant? 2. Compare John of Salisbury 's view of tyranny with Thomas Jefferson 's use of the

term (see page 410) . 3. In the selected passages of the Magna Carta, what specific liberties were

guaranteed by the king to his subjects? 4 . Why is this document considered a landmark in Engl ish history ?

Chapter 8 T he H igh and Late M iddle A ges 265

12 The Fourteenth Century: An Age of Adversity --~

During the Late Middle Ages, roughly the fourteenth and early fifteenth cen­ turies, medieval civilization was in decline. The fourteenth century, an age of adversity, was marked by crop failures, famine, population decline, plagues, stag­ nating production, unemployment, inflation, devastating warfare, and aban­ doned villages. Violent rebellions by the poor of the towns and countryside were ruthlessly suppressed by the upper classes. The century witnessed flights into mysticism, outbreaks of mass hysteria, and massacres of Jews; it was an age of pessimism and general insecurity. The papacy declined in power, heresy prolifer­ ated, and the synthesis of faith and reason, erected by Christian thinkers during the High Middle Ages, began to disintegrate. These developments were signs that the stable and coherent civilization of the thirteenth century was drawing to a close.

Jean de Venette THE BLACK DEATH

Until the fourteenth century, the population of Europe had increased steadily from its low point in the centuries immediately following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West. Particularly from the eleventh century on, landlords tried to raise their income by bringing new land into cultivation. By improving farming technology, building dikes, draining marshland, and clearing forests, European peasants produced much more food, which permitted more people to survive and multiply. That advance in population tapered off by the early fourteenth cen­ tuty due to many crop failures and wars, which wasted the countryside and led to economic stagnation. But the greatest catastrophe began in the fall of 1347, when sailors returning to Sicily from eastern Mediterranean ports brought with them a new disease, bubonic plague. Within the next three years , from one-quarter to one-third of the population of Europe died from what became known, because of some of its symptoms, as the Black Death . Most who caught the plague died, though some survi'ved. No one knew its cause or cure. We now know that the bacteria were transmitted by fleas from infected rats . The unsanitary living con­ ditions of medieval towns and low standards of personal cleanliness helped to spread the disease. The people were so terrified by the incomprehensible pattern of the disease's progress that superstition, hysteria, and breakdown of civility were common.

The progress of the plague as it made its way through Europe and speculation on its causes, the terrible toll of victims, and various moral responses to the crisis are described in the following reading from the chronicle of Jean de Venette (c. 1308-c. 1368), a French friar who lived through the events described.

266 Part Two The Middle A ges

In A.D. 1348, the people of France and of al­ most the whole world were struck by a blow other than war. For in addition to the famine which I described in the beginning and to the wars which I described in the course of this narrative, pestilence and its attendant tribula­ tions appeared again in various parts of the world .. .. All this year and the next, the mor­ tality of men and women, of the young even more than of the old, in Paris and in the king­ dom of France , and also, it is said, in other parts of the world, was so great that it was al­ most impossible to bury the dead . People lay ill little more than two or three days and died suddenly, as it were in full health. He who was well one day was dead the next and being car­ ried to his grave . Swellings appeared suddenly in the armpit or in the groin-in many cases both-and they were infallible signs of death . This sickness or pestilence was called an epi­ demic by the doctors . Nothing like the great numbers who died in the years 1348 and 1349 has been heard of or seen or read of in times past. This plague and disease came from yma ­ ginatione or association and contagion, for if a well man visited the sick he only rarely evaded the risk of death. Wherefore in many towns timid priests withdrew, leaving the exercise of their ministry to such of the religious as were more daring. In many places not two out of twenty remained alive . So high was the mor­ tality at the Horel-Dieu (an early hospital} in Paris that for a long time, more than five hundred dead were carried daily with great devotion in carts to the cemetery of the Holy Innocents in Paris for burial. A very great num­ ber of the saintly sisters of the Horel-Dieu who, not fearing to die, nursed the sick in all sweetness and humility, with no thought of honor, a number too often renewed by death, rest in peace with Christ, as we may piously believe .

This plague, it is said, began among the un­ believers (Muslims], came to Italy, and then crossing the Alps reached Avignon (site of the papacy in th at period], where it attacked several cardinals and took from them their whole house­ hold. Then it spread, unforeseen, to France, through Gascony (now part of the south of

France] and Spain, little by little , from town to town , from village to village, from house to house, and finally from person to person. It even crossed over to Germany, though it was not so bad there as with us. During the epidemic, God of His accustomed goodness deigned to grant this g race, that however suddenly men died , al­ most all awaited death joyfully. Nor was there anyone who died without confessing his sins and receiving the holy viaticum (the Eucharistic bread given to the sick or dying]. ...

Some said that this pestilence was caused by infection of the air and waters, since there was at this time no famine nor lack of food supplies, but on the contrary great abundance . As a result of this theory of infected water and air as the source of the plague the Jews were suddenly and violently charged with infecting wells and water and corrupting the air. The whole world rose up against them cruelly on this account . In Ger ­ many and other parts of the world where Jews lived , they were massacred and slaughtered by Christians , and many thousands were burned everywhere , indiscriminately. The unshaken , if fatuous , constancy of the (jewish] men and their wives was remarkable. For mothers hurled their children first into the fire that they might not be baptized and then leaped in after them to burn with their husbands and children. It is said that many bad Christians were found who in a like manner put poison into wells. But in truth, such poisonings , granted that they actually were per­ petrated, could not have caused so great a plague nor have infected so many people . There were other causes; for example, the will of God and the corrupt humors and evil inherent in air and earth. Perhaps the poisonings, if they actuall y took place in some localities, reenforced these causes. The plague lasted in France for the greater part of the years 1348 and 1349 and then ceased. Many country villages and many houses in good towns remained empty and deserted. Many houses, including som e splendid dwell ­ ings, very soon fell into ruins. Even in Paris sev­ eral houses were thus ruined , though fewer here than elsewhere.

After the cessation of the epidemic , pestilence, or plague, the men and women who survived mar­

ried each other. There was no sterility among the women , but on the contrary fertility beyond the ordinary. Pregnant women were seen on every side.... But woe is me! the world was not changed for the better but for the worse by this re­ newal of population. For men were more avari­ cious and grasping than before, even though they had far greater possessions. They were more cov­ etous and disturbed each other more frequently with suits, brawls, disputes, and pleas . Nor by the mortality resulting from this terrible plague in­ flicted by God was peace between kings and lords established. On the contrary, the enemies of the king of France and of the Church were stronger and wickeder than before and stirred up wars on sea and on land . Greater evils than before [swarmed] everywhere in the world . And this fact was very remarkable. Although there was an abundance of all goods, yet everything was twice as dear, whether it were utensils, victuals, or mer­ chandise, hired helpers or peasants and serfs, ex­ cept for some hereditary domains which remained abundantly stocked with everything. Charity be­ gan to cool, and iniquity with ignorance and sin to abound, for few could be found in the good towns and castles who knew how or were willing to instruct children in the rudiments of grammar.

Jean de Venette vividly describes one of the more bizarre reactions to the terrible plague, the sudden appearance of the Flag­ ellants. Marching like pilgrims across the countryside, the Flagellants were a group of laymen and laywomen who sought divine pardon for their sins by preaching repen­ tance to others and scourging themselves in a quasi-liturgical ceremony in local churches or marketplaces. The movement foreshad­ owed events in which moral, social, and economic discontent would increasingly manifest itself in the form of religiously justi­ fied popular uprisings against civil and cleri­ cal authorities.

In the year 1349, while the plague was still active and spreading from town to town, men in Germany, Flanders, Hainaut [east of Flanders], and Lorraine uprose and began a new sect on

Chapter 8 Th e High and Late Middle A ges 267

their own authority. Stripped to the waist , they gathered in large groups and bands and marched in procession through the crossroads and squares of cities and good towns. There they formed cir­ cles and beat upon their backs with weighted scourges, rejoicing as they did so in loud voices and singing hymns suitable to their rite and newly composed for it. Thus for thirty-three days they marched through many towns doing their penance and affording a great spectacle to

I.

the wondering people. They flogged their shoul­ ders and arms with scourges tipped with iron points so zealously as to draw blood . But they did not come to Paris nor to any part of France, for they were forbidden to do so by the king of France, who did not want them. He acted on the advice of the masters of theology of the Univer­ sity of Paris, who said that this new sect had been formed contrary to the will of God, to the rites of Holy Mother Church, and to the salvation of all their souls. That indeed this was and is true ap­ peared shortly. For Pope Clement VI was fully informed concerning this fatuous new rite by the masters of Paris through emissaries reverently sent to him and, on the grounds that it had been damnably formed, contrary to law, he forbade the Flagellants under threat of anathema [ex­ communication] to practise in the future the public penance which they had so presumptu­ ously undertaken. His prohibition was just, for the Flagellants, supported by certain fatuous priests and monks, were enunciating doctrines and opinions which were beyond measure evil, erroneous, and fallacious . For example, they said that their blood thus drawn by the scourge and poured out was mingled with the blood of Christ. Their many errors showed how little they knew of the Catholic faith. Wherefore, as they had begun fatuously of themselves and not of God, so in a short time they were reduced to nothing. On being warned, they desisted and humbly received absolution and penance at the hands of their prelates as the pope's representa­ tives. Many honorable women and devout ma­ trons, it must be added, had done this penance with scourges, marching and singing through towns and churches like the men, but after a lit­ tle like the others they desisted .

I t I Ir r

268 Part Two Th e Middle A ges

Sir]ohn Froissart THE PEASANT REVOLT OF 1381

In 1381, a rebellion of peasants and poor artisans in England threatened the political power of the ruling class. The rebellion, which was crushed and whose leaders were betrayed and executed, revealed the massive discontent of the lower classes and the specter of social upheaval that hovered over late medieval society. The following account of the rebellion is by Sir John Froissart (c. 1337-c. 1410), a French historian and poet who chronicled the Hundred Years' War between France and England, which wreaked havoc in the countries concerned.

While these conferences [of English nobles} were going forward there happened great com­ motions among the lower orders in England, by which that country was nearly ruined . In order that this disastrous rebellion may serve as an example to mankind, I will speak of all that was done from the information I had at the time. It is customary in England, as well as in several other countries, for the nobility to have great privileges over the commonality; that is to say, the lower orders are bound by law to plough the lands of the gentry, to harvest their grain, to carry it home to the barn, to thrash and winnow it; they are also bound to harvest and carry home the hay. All these services the prelates and gentlemen exact of their inferiors; and in the counties of Kent, Essex, Sussex, and Bedford, these services are more oppressive than in other parts of the kingdom. In conse­ quence of this the evil[ly} disposed in these districts began to murmur, saying, that in the beginning of the world there were no slaves, and that no one ought to be treated as such, unless he had committed treason against his lord, as Lucifer had done against God; but they had done no such thing, for they were neither angels nor spirits, but men formed after the same likeness as these lords who treated them as beasts. This they would bear no longer; they were determined to be free, and if they laboured or did any work, they would be paid for it. A crazy priest in the county of Kent, called

John Ball, who for his absurd preaching had thrice been confined in prison by the Arch­ bishop of Canterbury, was greatly instrumental in exciting these rebellious ideas. Every Sunday after mass, as the people were coming out of church , this John Ball was accustomed to assemble a crowd around him in the market­ place and preach to them. On such occasions he would say, "My good friends, matters cannot go on well in England until all things shall be in common; when there shall be neither vassals nor lords; when the lords shall be no more mas­ ters than ourselves. How ill they behave to us! for what reason do they thus hold us in bondage? Are we not all descended from the same parents, Adam and Eve? And what can they show, or what reason can they give, why they should be more masters than ourselves? They are clothed in velvet and rich stuffs, or­ namented with ermine and other furs, while we are forced to wear poor clothing. They have wines, spices, and fine bread, while we have only rye and the refuse of the straw; and when we drink, it must be water. They have hand­ some seats and manors, while we must brave the wind and rain in our labours in the field; and it is by our labour they have wherewith to support their pomp. We are called slaves, and if we do not perform our service we are beaten, and we have no sovereign to whom we can complain or who would be willing to hear us. Let us go to the king and remonstrate with

..~

him; he is young, and from him we may ob­ tain a favourable answer, and if not we must ourselves seek ro amend our condition ." With such language as this did John Ball harangue the people of his village every Sunday after mass. The archbishop, on being informed of it, had him arrested and imprisoned for two or three months by way of punishment; but the moment he was out of prison, he returned ro his former course. Many in the city of London envious of the rich and noble, having heard of John Ball 's preaching, said among themselves that the country was badly governed, and that the nobility had seized upon all the gold and silver. These wicked Londoners, therefore, be­ gan to assemble in parties, and to show signs of rebellion; they also invited all those who held like opinions in the adjoining counties to come to London; telling them that they would find the town open to them and the commonalty of the same way of thinking as themselves, and that they would so press the king, that there should no longer be a slave in England .

By this means the men of Kent, Essex, Sus­ sex, Bedford, and the adjoining counties, in number about 60,000, were brought to London, under command of Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, and John Ball . This Wat Tyler, who was chief of the three, had been a tiler of houses-a bad man and a great enemy to the nobility.. ..

With regard to the common people of Lon­ don, numbers entertained these rebellious opin­ ions, and on assembling at the bridge asked of the guards, "Why will you refuse admittance to these honest men? they are our friends, and what they are doing is for our good." So urgent were they, that it was found necessary to open the gates, when crowds rushed in and took pos­ session of those shops which seemed best stocked with provisions; indeed, wherever they went, meat and drink were placed before them, and nothing was refused in the hope of appeas­ ing them . Their leaders, John Ball, Jack Straw, and Wat Tyler, then marched through London, attended by more than 20,000 men, to the palace of the Savoy, which is a handsome build-

Chapter 8 Th e H igh and Late M iddle A ges 269

ing belonging to the Duke of Lancaster [the kings uncle], situated on the banks of the Thames on the road to Westminster: here they immediately killed the porters, pushed into the house, and set it on fire. Not content with this outrage, they went to the house of the Knight­ hospitalers of Rhodes, dedicated to St. John of Mount Carmel, which they burnt together with their church and hospital.

After this they paraded the streets, and killed every Fleming [citizen of Flanders] they could find, whether in house, church, or hos­ pital : they broke open several houses of the Lombards [Italian bankers] , taking whatever money they could lay their hands upon. They murdered a rich citizen, by name Richard Lyon, to whom Wat Tyler had formerly been servant in France, but having once beaten him, the [scoundrel] had never forgotten it; and when he had carried his men to his house, he ordered his head to be cut off, placed upon a pike, and car­ ried through the streets of London . Thus did these wicked people act, and on this Thursday they did much damage to the city of London. To­ wards evening they fixed their quarters in a square, called St . Catherine's, before the Tower, declaring that they would not depart until they had obtained from the king every thing they wanted-until the Chancellor [chief financial of­ ficer] of England had accounted to them, and shown how the great sums which were raised had been expended. Considering the mischief which the mob had already done, you may easily imag­ ine how miserable, at this time , was the situation of the king and those who were with him . ...

.. . Now observe how fortunately matters turned out, for had these scoundrels succeeded in their intentions, all the nobility of England would have been destroyed; and after such suc­ cess as this the people of other nations would have rebelled also, taking example from those of Ghent and Flanders, who at the time were in actual rebellion against their lord; the Par­ isians indeed the same year acted in a somewhat similar manner; upwards of 20,000 of them armed themselves with leaden maces and caused a rebellion....

.:. .;0'

270 Part Two Th e Middle A ges

John Wycliffe CONCERNING THE POPE'S POWER

A threat to papal power and to the medieval ideal of a universal Christian com­ munity guided by the church came from radical reformers, who questioned the function and authority of the entire church hierarchy. These heretics in the Late Middle Ages were forerunners of the Protestant Reformation.

A principal dissenter was the Englishman John Wycliffe (c. 1320-1384). By stressing a personal relationship between the individual and God and by claiming that the Bible itself, rather than church teachings, is the ultimate Christian au­ thority, Wycliffe challenged the fundamental position of the medieval church: that the avenue to salvation passed through the church alone. He denounced the wealth of the higher clergy and sought a return to the spiritual purity and mater­ ial poverty of the early church. To Wycliffe, the wealthy, elaborately organized hi­ erarchy of the church was unnecessary and wrong. The splendidly dressed and propertied bishops had no resemblance to the simple people who first followed Christ. Indeed, these worldly bishops, headed by a princely and tyrannical pope, were really anti-Christians, the "fiends of Hell." Wycliffe wanted the state to con­ fiscate church property and the clergy to embrace poverty. By denying that priests changed the bread and wine of communion into the substance of the body and blood of Christ, Wycliffe rejected the special powers of the clergy.

The church deprived the Lollards-an order of poor priests that spread Wycliffe's teachings--of their priestly functions. In the early fifteenth century, some of Wycliffe's followers were burned at the stake.

In the following selection from a pamphlet concerning the pope, Wycliffe con­ trasts the pope unfavorably with Jesus. The text, originally written in Middle English, was rendered into Modern English by Alfred J. Andrea. The explanatory notes are Andrea's.

Christ was a very poor man from His birth to on earth, and he makes lords kiss his feet, 3 His death and forswore worldly riches and beg­ whereas Christ washed His apostles ' feet. Christ ging ;' in accord with the state of primal inno­ was a most unpretentious man in life, deeds, and cence.s but Antichrist, in contrast to this, from words. People say that this pope is not like the time that he is made pope to the time of his Christ in this way, for whereas Christ went on death, covets worldly wealth and tries in many foot to cities and little towns alike, they say this shrewd ways to gain riches. Christ was a most pope desires to live in a castle in a grand man­ meek man and urged that we learn from Him, ner. Whereas Christ came to]ohn the Baptist to but people say that the pope is the proudest man be baptized by him, the pope summons people

to come to him wherever he might be, yea, as though Christ Himself, and not the pope, had

lApparently, an oblique attack on the mendicant friars , summoned them to Him. Christ embraced who claimed to follow a life of Apostolic Poverty in imita­ tion of J esus and his apostles. Wycliffe desp ised the friars. 2T he presumed innocence of Adam and Eve before the Fall. 3A long -standing tr ad ition.

young and poor in token of his humility; people say that the pope desires to embrace worldly prestige and not g ood people for the sake of God, lest he dishonor himself. Christ was busy preaching the Gospel, and not for worldly pres­ tige or for profit; people say that the pope allows this, but he would gladly make laws to which he gives more prestige and sanction than Christ's law. Christ so loved His flock that He laid down his life for them and suffered sharp pain and death in order to bring them to bliss . People say that the pope so loves the prestige of this world that he grants people absolution that guarantees a straight path to Heaven- so that they might perform acts that redound to his honor. And so this foolishiness could be the cause of the death, in body and soul, of many thousands of people. And how does he follow Christ in this way?

4A reference ro the Roman Church's indulgences, wh ich had become increasingly system ized and popular during the twelfth and thirteenth centuri es (see page 3 12).

Chapter 8 Th e H igh and Late Middle A ges 271

Christ was so patient and suffered wrongs so well that He prayed for His enemies and taught His apostles not to take vengeance . People say that the pope of Rome wishes to be avenged in every way, by killing and by damning and by other painful means that he devises. Christ taught people to live well by the example of His own life and by His words, for He did what He taught and taught in a manner that was conso­ nant with His actions. People say that the pope acts contrary to this. His life is not an example of how other people should live, for no one should live like him, inasmuch as he acts in a manner that accords to his high state. In every '1

l deed and word , Christ sought the glory of God and suffered many assaults on His manhood for this goal ; people say that the pope, to the con­ trary, seeks his own glory in every way, yea, even if it means the loss of the worship of God. And so he manufactures many groundless gabblings .

If these and similar accusations are true of the pope of Rome, he is the very Antichrist and not Christ's vicar on earth .

Marsilius of Padua ATTACK ON THE WORLDLY POWER OF THE CHURCH

The fourteenth century brought a new crisis in church-state relations. King Philip the Fair (1285-1314) tried to raise revenues for the French government by taxing the property and income of the clergy without papal consent, efforts that were resisted by Pope Boniface VIII (1294-1303). When Boniface threatened to excom­ municate all who cooperated in such tax collection, the king cut off all papal rev­ enue from France. The struggle continued throughout Boniface's pontificate, ending in an attack in 1303 by French agents on the papal residence in Anagni, Italy, during which the aged pope was physically assaulted. The bitter struggle called forth a series of responses from both sides describing their respective posi­ tions on the proper relationship between state and church. Papal theorists, of course, emphasized the superiority of the spiritual power of the church over the temporal power of the state, and insisted that it was the duty of earthly authority to aid the church in the performance of its spiritual duties .

In The Defender of the Peace, Marsilius of Padua (c. 1275-1342) made a radical break with traditional medieval political thought. Marsilius argued that Christ never intended that his Apostles or their successors, the bishops, should exercise

272 Part Two Th e Middle Ages

temporal power. Political life operated according to its own principles and re­ quired no guidance from a higher authority; therefore, he said that the state should not be made to conform to standards formulated by the church. For Mar­ silius, the church was solely a spiritual institution; it possessed no temporal power, and the clergy were not above the laws of the state. Pope John XXII branded him a heretic for publishing this work, and Marsilius was forced to seek the protection of the German prince, Louis of Bavaria. In the following passage, Marsilius outlines the relationship between church and state established by Christ.

. . . I shall first show, that Christ himself came into the world not to dominate men, nor to judge them by (temporal) judgment . . . nor to wield temporal rule, but rather to be subject as regards the status of the present life; and moreover, that he wanted to and did exclude himself, his apos­ tles and disciples, and their successors, the bish­ ops and priests, from all such coercive authority or worldly rule , both by his example and by his words of counselor command. I shall also show that the leading apostles, as Christ's true imita­ tors, did this same thing and taught their succes­ sors to do likewise; and moreover, that both Christ and the apostles wanted to be and were continuously subject in property and in person to the coercive jurisdiction of secular rulers, and that they taught and commanded all others, to whom they preached or wrote the law of truth, to do likewise, under pain of eternal damnation. Then I shall write a chapter on the power or au­ thority of the keys which Christ gave to the apos­ tles and their successors in office, bishops and priests, so that it may be clear what is the nature, quality, and extent of such power, both of the Ro­ man bishop and of the others. For ignorance on this point has hitherto been and still is the source of many questions and damnable controversies among the Christian faithful, as was mentioned in the first chapter of this discourse .

And so in pursuit of these aims we wish to show that Christ, in his purposes or intentions, words, and deeds, wished to exclude and did ex­ clude himself and the apostles from every office of rulership, contentious jurisdiction, government, or coercive judgment in this world. This is first shown clearly beyond any doubt by the passage in the eighteenth chapter of the gospel of John. For

when Christ was brought before Pontius Pilate, vicar of the Roman ruler in Judea, and accused of having called himself king of the Jews, Pontius asked him whether he had said this, or whether he did call himself a king, and Christ's reply in­ cluded these words, among others : "My kingdom is not of this world," that is, I have not come to reign by temporal rule or dominion, in the way in which worldly kings reign. And proof of this was given by Christ himself through an evident sign when he said: "If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would certainly fight, that I should not be delivered to the Jews, " as if to argue as follows: If I had come into this world to reign by worldly or coercive rule, I would have minis­ ters for this rule, namely, men to fight and to coerce transgressors, as the other kings have; but I do not have such ministers, as you can clearly see....

. . . It now remains to show that not only did Christ himself refuse rulership or coercive judg­ ment in this world, whereby he furnished an ex­ ample for his apostles and disciples and their successors to do likewise, but also he taught by words and showed by example that all men, both priests and non-priests, should be subject in property and in person to the coercive judgment of the rulers of this world. By his word and exam­ ple, then, Christ showed this first with respect to property, by what is written in the twenty-second chapter of Matthew. For when the Jews asked him: "Tell us therefore, what dost thou think? Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? " Christ, after looking at the coin and its inscription, replied: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's." .. . So, then, we ought to be subject to

Chapter 8 T he H igh and Late M iddl e A ges 2 7 3

Caesar in all things, so lon g only as they are not rious poverty which Christ had introduced and contrary to piety, that is, to divine worship or established in the church.. .. And again, pride commandment . Therefore, Christ wanted us to and ambition for secular rule , invading their be subject in property to the secular ruler.. . . minds, expelled therefrom that supreme humility

Like Christ and the apostles , then, the Ro­ which Christ had enjoined and com m anded the man bishops and priests and the whole clerg y ch ur ch or whole priesthood to maintain . of Rome and the other provinces used to live This, then , as we have said, is and was the under the coercive g overn m ent of those who primary source of the present strife and dis­ were the rulers by authority of the human leg­ co rd between the emperors and the Roman islator. But later on , certain Roman bishops p ontiffs, since the controversies over the divine succumbed to the persuasion and in citation of law and over the heresies of certain rulers that ruler of this world, that first parent of ar­ have died out entirely. For the Roman bishops rogance and presumption , that inculcator of all wrongl y wish to p ossess excessive temporal vices, the devil ; and they were led , or rather g ood s, and refuse to be subject to the laws and misled, to a path foreign to that of Christ and the ed ict s of the rul ers or the human legislator, apostles. For cupidity and avari ce, invading thei r thereby opposing the example and teaching of minds, exp elled therefrom that supreme m erito- Christ and the ap ostl es....

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. In the absence of any scientifi c knowled ge about th e nature and causes of the bubonic pl ague , how did th e populace react to the mysterious spread of the disease?

2. In the chronicler 's opinion , what were some of th e long-term moral , social , and economic con sequences of the plague ?

3. What specific grievances motivated upri sin gs in England in the late fourteenth century ?

4 . What p olitical principles were invoked by the leaders of the rebellion of 1381 to justify their demands and actions ?

5. Wh y was John Wycliffe critical of the church ? Why did th e churc h regard hi s te aching s as a serious threat to it s mission?

6. What argum ents did Marsilius use to st rip the church of its practice of holding or claiming temporal political aut horit y?

7. In Marsilius ' opin ion, who or what was to bl ame for the church 's claim to exercise temporal political au t horit y?

13 The Medieval World-View

The modern world is linked in many ways to the Middle Ages. European cities, the middle class, the state system, English common law, representative institu­ tions, universities-all had their origins in the Middle Ages. Despite these ele­ ments of continuity, the characteristic outlook of medieval people is markedly different from that of people today. Whereas science and secularism shape the modern point of view, religion was the foundation of the Middle Ages. Christian beliefs as formulated by the church made life and death purposeful and intelligible.

274 Part Two The Middle A ges

Medieval thinkers drew a sharp distinction between a higher, spiritual world and a lower, material world. God, the creator of the universe and the source of moral values, dwelled in the higher celestial world, an abode of perfection. The universe was organized as a hierarchy with God at the summit and hell at the other extremity. Earth, composed of base matter, stood just above hell. By believ­ ing in Christ and adhering to God's commandments as taught by the church, peo­ ple could overcome their sinful nature and ascend to God's world. Sinners, on the other hand, would descend to hell, a fearful place the existence of which me­ dieval people never doubted.

Scholastic philosophy, which sought to demonstrate through reason the truth of Christian doctrines, and the Gothic cathedral, which seemed to soar from the material world to heaven, were two great expressions of the medieval mind. A third was The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, the greatest literary figure of the Middle Ages.

Lothario dei Segni (Pope Innocent III) ON THE MISERY OF THE HUMAN CONDITION

At the center of medieval belief was the image of a perfect God and a wretched and sinful human being. God had given Adam and Eve freedom to choose; rebel­ lious and presumptuous, they had.used their freedom to disobey God. In doing so, they made evil an irrtrinsicpart ofthe human personality. But God, who had not stopped loving human beings, showed them the way out of sin. God became man and died so that human beings might be saved. Men and women were weak, ego­ centric, and sinful. With' God's grace they could overcome their sinful nature and gain salvation; without grace they were utterly helpless . A classic expression of this pessimistic view of human nature was written in the late twelfth century by an Italian canon lawyer, Lothario dei Segni (c. 1160-1216), who was later elected pope in 1198, taking the name Innocent III. His On the Misery of the Human Con­ dition was enormously popular and inspired numerous rhetorical writings on the same theme as late as the seventeenth century. Scattered excerpts follow.

• For sure man was formed out of earth, con­ sin. He was born to toil, dread, and trouble; ceived in guilt, born to punishment. What he and more wretched still, was born only to die. does is depraved and illicit, is shameful and im­ He commits depraved acts by which he offends proper, vain and unprofitable. He will become God, his neighbor, and himself; shameful acts fuel for the eternal fires, food for worms, a mass by which he defiles his name, his person, and of rottenness. his conscience; and vain acts by which he ig­

I shall try to make my explanation clearer nores all things important, useful, and neces­ and my treatment fuller. Man was formed of sary. He will become fuel for those fires which dust , slime, and ashes; what is even more vile, are forever hot and burn forever bright; food of the filthiest seed . He was conceived from the for the worm which forever nibbles and di­ itch of the flesh, in the heat of passion and the gests; a mass of rottenness which will forever stench of lust, and worse yet, with the stain of stink and reek .

• A bird is born to fly; man is born to toil. All his days are full of toil and hardship, and at night his mind has no rest .

• How much anxiety tortures mortals! They suffer all kinds of cares, are burdened with worry, tremble and shrink with fears and terrors , are weighted down with sorrow. Their nervous­ ness makes them depressed, and their depression makes them nervous . Rich or poor, master or slave, married or single, good and bad alike-all suffer worldly torments and are tormented by worldly vexations.

• For sudden sorrow always follows worldly joy: what begins in gaiety ends in grief. Worldly happiness is besprinkled indeed with much bitterness.

• Then, suddenly, when least expected, misfor­ tune strikes, a calamity befalls us, disease attacks ; or death, which no one can escape, carries us off.

• Men strive especially for three things: riches, pleasures, and honors. Riches lead to im­ morality, pleasures to shame, and honors to vanity.

• But suppose a man is lifted up high, sup­ pose he is raised to the very peak. At once his cares grow heavy, his worries mount up, he eats less and cannot sleep . And so nature is cor­ rupted, his spirit weakened, his sleep disturbed, his appetite lost; his strength is diminished, he loses weight . Exhausting himself, he scarcely

Chapter 8 The Hi gh and Late Middle Ages 275

lives half a lifetime and ends his wretched days with a more wretched death. ; 1

• Almost the whole life of mortals is full of mortal sin, so that one can scarcely find anyone who does not go astray, does not return to his own vomit and rot in his own dung . Instead they "are glad when they have done evil and rejoice in most wicked things." "Being filled with all iniq­ uity, malice , fornication, avarice, wickedness, full of envy, murders, contention, deceit, evil, being whisperers, detractors, hateful to God, irreverent, proud, haughty, plotters of evil, dis­ obedient to parents, foolish, dissolute, with­ out affection, without fidelity, without mercy." This world is full of such and worse; it abounds in heretics and schismatics [Christians who re­ ject the authority of the pope), traitors and tyrants, simonists [buyers or sellers of spiritual offices or sacred items) and hypocrites; the am­ bitious and the covetous, robbers and brigands, violent men, extortionists, usurers, forgers ; the impious and sacreligious, the betrayers and liars, the flatterers and deceivers; gossips, tricksters, gluttons, drunkards; adulterers, incestuous men, deviates, and the dirty-minded; the lazy, the careless, the vain, the prodigal, the impetuous, the irascible, the impatient and inconstant; poi­ soners, fortune tellers, perjurers, cursers; men who are presumptuous and arrogant , unbeliev­ ing and desperate; and finally those ensnared in all vices together.

THE VANITY OF THIS WORLD

The following poem, written in Latin by an unknown thirteenth-century author, expresses the medieval rejection of earthly pursuits and preoccupation with the world to come.

Why does the world war for glory that 's vain? All its successes wax only to wane; Quickly its triumphs are frittered away, Like vessels the potter casts out of frail clay.

As well trust to letters imprinted in ice As trust the frail world with its treacherous de-

VICe,

Its prizes a fraud and its values all wrong;

Who would put faith in its promise for long?

Rather in hardship's uncertain distress Trust than in this world's unhappy success; With dreams and with shadows it leads men

astray, A cheat in our work and a cheat at our play.

~ I

276 Part Two The Middle Ages

Where now is Samson's invincible arm, And where is Jonathan's sweet-natured charm? Once-famous Solomon, where now is he Or the fair Absolom, so good to see ?'

Whither is Caesar the great Emperor fled , Or Croesus whose show on his table was spr ead ? Cicero's eloquence now is in vain.? Where's Aristotle's magnificent brain?

All those great nobl emen, all those past days, All kings ' achi evements and all prelates ' praise , All the world's princes in all their array- In the flash of an eye comes the end of the play.

1In the Old Te st am ent , Sam son was the warrior hero of the Israel ites ; Jonathan was th e son of King Saul and the lovin g friend of David; Solomon was the king of Israel, famous for his wisdom; and Abs alom was the most beloved son of Dav id . 2Croesus was a king of ancient Lydia renowned for his wealth . For Cicero, see page 108 .

Short is the season of all eart hly fame ; Man 's shadow, m an 's pleasure, they both are the

same, And the prizes eternal he gives in exchange For the pleasure that leads to a land that is

strange .

Food for the worms, dust and ashes, 0 why, Bubble on water, be lifted so high? Do good unto all men as long as ye may ; Ye know not your life will last after to-day.

This pride of the flesh which so dearly ye prize, Like the flower of the grass (says the Scripture),

it dies , Or as the dry leaf which the wind whirls away, Man's life is swept out from the light of the

day.

Call not your own what one day ye may lose; The world will take back all it gives you to use . Let your hearts be in heaven, your thoughts in

the skies; Happy is he who the world can despise.

Dante Alighieri THE DIVINE COMEDY

Dante Alighieri was a poet, political philosopher, soldier, and politician. Born in 1265 in Florence, Italy, he died in exile in 1321. His greatest work, The Divine Comedy, was composed of one hundred cantos (individual poems) and written not in Latin, the language of learning, but in the Tuscan Italian dialect of the common people. The poem is an elaborate allegory in which each character and event can be understood on two or more levels-for example, a literal description of the levels of hell and Dante's (and every Christian's) struggle to overcome a flawed human nature and to ward off worldly sin. Dante, representing all human beings, is guided through the afterworlds: hell (inferno), purgatory, and heaven (paradise). The Roman poet Virgil conducts him through hell and purgatory; Beatrice, his long-dead beloved, leads him through heaven to the point where he sees God in all his glory.

In the descent through the nine concentric circles of hell, Virgil describes the na­ ture and significance of each region through which they pass . In each section of hell, sinners are punished in proportion to their earthly sins. Over the entrance gate to hell, Dante reads these words:

THRO UGH ME YO U GO IN TO TH E CITY OF

G RIEF,

THRO UGH ME YOU GO IN TO T HE PAIN TH AT

IS ETE RN AL,

THRO UGH ME YOU GO AMO NG PEO PLE LOST.

J USTICE MOV ED MY EXALTE D CREATO R ;

TH E DI VIN E POW ER MADE ME,

TH E SUPREME WISDOM, AND T HE PRIMAL

LO VE.

BEFORE ME ALL CREAT ED THINGS WER E

ETERNAL,

AND ETERNAL I WILL LAST. ABANDON EVERY HOPE, YOU WHO ENT ER

H ERE.

Dante descends from the first circle to the sec­ ond circle, where he finds the souls of those who had been guilty of sins of the flesh.

Now I begin to hear the sad not es of pain, now I have come to where loud cries beat upon my ears.

I have reached a place mute of all light which roars like the sea in a tempest when beaten by conflicting winds .

The infernal storm which never stops drives the spirit in its blast; whirling and beating, it torments them .

When they come in front of the landslide , they utter laments, moans , and shrieks ; there they curse the Divine Power.

I learned that to such a torment carnal sinners are condemned who subject their reason to desire.

And, as starlings are borne by their win gs in the cold season , in a broad and dense flock , so that blast carries the evil spirits.

Here, there, up, and down, it blows them; no hope ever comforts them of rest or even of less pain .

And as cranes go chanting their lays, making a long line of themselves in the air ,

Chapter 8 Th e Hi gh and Late Middle A ges 277

so I saw coming, uttering laments , shades borne by that strife of winds.

Finally the two poets reach the ninth and lowest circle, a frozen wa steland reserved for Satan and traitors .

'\' ' 1'

\ '

". . . look ahead, " my master [Virgil) said , "and try to discern him. "

As, when a thick mist covers the land or when night darkens our hemisphere, a windmill, turning, appears from afar,

so now I seemed to see such a structure; then because of the wind , I drew back behind my guide , for there was no other

protection.

Already-and with fear I put it into verse­ I was where the shades are covered in the ice and show through like bits of straw in glass.

Some were lying, some standing erect, some on their heads, others on their feet , still others like a bow bent face to toes.

When we had gone so far ahead that my master was pleased to show me the creature (Lucifer)! that once had been so

fair,

he stood from in front of me, and made me stop, saying, "Behold, Disl- Here is the place where you must arm yourself with courage. "

How faint and frozen I then became, do not ask, Reader, for I do not wr ite it down, since all words would be inadequate.

I did not die and did not stay alive : think now for yourself, if you have the wit, how I became , without life or death.

'Lu cifer (light-bringer) was an archange l who led a rebel­ lion against God and was cast into hell for punishment. He was identified with Satan , 2D is was another nam e for Pluto or Hades, the go d of the d ead and rul er of th e und erworld .

..

278 Part Two The Middle Ages

The emperor of the dolorous realm from mid-breast protruded from the ice, and I compare better in size

with the giants than they do with his arms. Consider how big the whole must be, proportioned as it is to such a part.

If he were once as handsome as he is ugly now, and still presumed to lift his hand against his

Maker, all affliction must indeed come from him .

Oh, how great a marvel appeared to me when I saw three faces on his head! The one in front (hatred) was fiery red;

the two others which were joined to it over the middle of each shoulder were fused together at the top .

The right one (impotence) seemed between white and yellow;

the left (ignorance) was in color like those who come from where the Nile rises.

Under each two great wings spread of a size fitting to such a bird; I have never seen such sails on the sea.

They had no feathers, and seemed like those of a bat, and they flapped, so that three blasts came from them.

Thence all Cocytus> was frozen . With six eyes he wept, and over his three

chins he let tears drip and bloody foam.

In each mouth he chewed a sinner with his teeth in the manner of a hemp brake," so that he kept three in pain.

To the one in front the biting was nothing compared to the scratching, for at times, his back was stripped of skin .

"The soul up there with the greatest punishment,"

"T he Cocytus , a river in wesrern Greece, was alleged to lead to the underworld . 4A hemp brake was a tool used to break up hemp fibers so that they could be made into rope.

said my master, "is Judas Iscariot .> His head is inside the mourh, and he kicks with his legs.

Of the other two whose heads are down, the one hanging from the black face is Brurus.v see how he twists and says nothing .

The other who seems so heavy set is Cassius." But night is rising again now, and it is time to leave, for we have seen all."

Dante and Beatrice make the ascent to the highest heaven, the Empyrean, which is lo­ cated beyond Saturn, the last of the seven planets, beyond the circle of stars that en­ closes the planets, and above the Primum Mobile-the outermost sphere revolving around the earth. Here at the summit of the universe is a realm of pure light that radiates truth, goodness, and happiness, where God is found. Dante is permitted to look at God, but words cannot describe "the glory of Him who moves us all."

For my sight, growing pure, penetrated ever deeper into the rays of the Light [God] which is true in Itself.

From then on my vision was greater than our speech which fails at such a sight, just as memory is overcome by the excess.

As one who in a dream sees clearly, and the feeling impressed remains afterward, although nothing else comes back to mind,

so am I; for my vision disappears almost wholly, and yet the sweetness caused by it is still distilled within my heart .

Thus, in sunlight, the snow melts away; thus the sayings of the Sibyl [a Roman

oracle], written on light leaves, were lost in the wind.

5Judas Iscariot was the disciple who betrayed Jesus to the authorities . 6Brurus, a first-century Roman statesman, conspired to murder Julius Caesar. "Cassius , another Roman statesman, was a co-conspirator with Brutus.

L

o Supreme Light that risest so high above mortal concepts, give back to my

mind a little of what Thou didst appear,

and make my ton gue strong, so that it may leave to future peoples at least a spark of Thy glory!

For, by returning to my memory and by sounding a little in these verses more of Thy victory will be conceived.

By the keenness of the liv ing ray I endured I believe I would have been dazed if my eyes had turned away from it;

and I remember that I was bolder because of that to sustain the view until my sight attained the Infinite Worth

[God}.

o abundant grace through which I presumed to fix my eyes on the Eternal Light so long that I consumed my vision on it!

In its depths I saw contained , bound with love

in one volume, what is scattered on leaves throughout the world-

substances (things) and accidents (qualities) and their modes

as if fused together in such a way that what I speak of is a single light.

The universal form (principle) of this unity I believe I saw, because more abundantly in saying this I feel that I rejoice.

One moment obscures more for me than twenty-five centuries

have clouded since the adventure which made Neptune [the sea god]

wonder at the shadow of the Argo (the first shipj.f

8The Argo, in Greek legend s, was th e shi p in whi ch th e hero Ja son and hi s compa nions sailed in search of th e Golden Fleece. A Greek poet , Apoll onius of Rh odes, wrot e an epic poem, the Argonaut ica, about it in th e mid -third century B.C.

Chapter 8 T he Hi gh and Late M iddle A ges 279

Thus my m ind with rapt attention ga zed fixedly, motionless and attentive, continually enflamed by it s very gazing .

In that light we become such that we can never consent to turn from it for another sight ,

inasmuch as the good which is the object of the will is all in it , and outside of it whatever is perfect there is defective .

Now my speech, even for what I remember, will be shorter than that of an infant who still bathes his tongue at the breast.

Not that more than a single semblance was in the living light I gazed upon (for it is always as it was before),

but in my vision which gained strength as I looked the single appearance, through a 'chang e in me , was transformed .

Within the deep and clear subsistence of the great light three circles of three colors and of one dimension (the Trinity) appeared to

me ,

and one (the Son) seemed reflected from the other (the Father)

as Iris by Iris, ? and the third (the Holy Spirit)

seemed fire emanating equally from both.

, 0 how poor our speech is and how feeble for my conception! Compared to what I saw to say its power is "little" is to say too

much .

o Eternal Light (Father), abiding in Thyself alone,

Thou (Son) alone understanding Thyself, and Thou (Holy Spirit)

understood only by Thee, Thou dost love and smile!

The circle which appeared in Thee as a reflected light (the Son) when contemplated a while

9Iris, goddess of the rainbow , was the messenger of the gods .

2 8 0 Part T wo T he M iddle A ges

seemed d epicted with our image within but my own wings w ere not enough for itself that-

and of its own (the Circle's) color, except that my mind was illuminated by a so that my eyes were wholly fixed on it. flash

(of Grace) through which its wish was Like the g eom eter who strives

realized . to square the circle and cannot find by thinking the principle he needs For the great im agination here power

failed ; I was at that new sight . I wanted to see

but alread y my desire and will (in harmony) how the (human) image was conformed

were turning like a wheel moved evenly to the (divine) circle and has a place in it,

by th e Love which turns the sun and the other stars .

REVIEW QUESTIONS

1. Compare Innocent Ill 's view of th e human condition w ith th at of ancient Greeks such as Homer, Pindar , and Sophocles. What com fort did each offer for the tragi c nature of the human cond ition?

2. Why does the aut hor of "T he Vanity of This World " assert that "happ y is he who the world can despise"?

3. How did D ant e conceive the nature of evil and the moral ordering of specific sins ? 4. Write an essay on the medieval view of the human condition and its relation to the

idea of G od . Cite at least two sources from your reading to illustrate your viewpoint .