CULTURE OF THE HIGH MIDDLE AGES
During the eleventh and twelfth centuries, Europe witnessed a surge in
architectural innovations and an intellectual revival. The development of ribbed vaults,
pointed arches, and flying buttresses allowed the building of expansive, beautiful
cathedrals. The innovative design became known as the Gothic style. An intellectual
revival gave rise to Europe’s first universities.
Architecture
The eleventh and twelfth centuries witnessed an explosion of building in
medieval Europe, especially building of churches. The cathedrals of the eleventh and
twelfth centuries were built in the Romanesque style. Romanesque churches were
normally built in the basilica shape used in the construction of churches in the late
Roman Empire. Basilicas were rectangular buildings with flat wooden roofs.
Romanesque builders replaced the basilica’s flat wooden roof with a long, round stone
arched vault (called a barrel vault) or with a cross vault, in which two barrel vaults
intersected. The builder used the cross vault to create a church plan in the shape of a
cross. Barrel and cross vaults were considered more beautiful than flat roofs. Because
stone roofs were extremely heavy, Romanesque churches required massive pillars
and walls to hold them up. This left little space for windows, so Romanesque churches
were dark on the inside. With massive walls and pillars, these churches resembled
fortresses. A new style, called Gothic, appeared in the twelfth century and was brought
to perfection in the thirteenth. The Gothic cathedral remains one of the greatest artistic
triumphs of the High Middle Ages. Two basic innovations made Gothic cathedrals
possible. One innovation was the replacement of the round barrel vault of
Romanesque churches with a combination of ribbed vaults and pointed arches. This
change enabled builders to make Gothic churches higher than Romanesque
churches. The use of pointed arches and ribbed vaults also creates an impression of
upward movement, as if the building is reaching to God.
Another technical innovation was the flying buttress—a heavy, arched support of
stone built onto the outside of the walls. Flying buttresses made it possible to distribute
the weight of the church’s vaulted ceilings outward and down. This eliminated the
heavy walls needed in Romanesque churches to hold the weight of the massive barrel
vaults. Gothic cathedrals were built, then, with relatively thin walls. Since they were
not supporting great weight, these walls could be filled with stained glass windows.
These windows depict both religious scenes and scenes from daily life. The colored
glass windows create a play of light inside the cathedral that varies with the sun at
different times of the day. Natural light was believed to be a symbol of the divine light
of God. The Gothic cathedral, with its towers soaring toward Heaven, bears witness
to an age when most people believed in a spiritual world.
Universities
The university of today, with faculty, students, and degrees, was a product of the
High Middle Ages. The word university comes from the Latin word universitas,
meaning “corporation” or “guild.” The first European university appeared in Bologna
(buh• LOH•nyuh), Italy. Students, men only, came from all over Europe to learn law
from the great teacher Irnerius. The University of Paris was the first university in
northern Europe. In the late 1300s, many students and masters (teachers) left Paris
St. Thomas Aquinas 1225?–1274 Medieval Theologian Just before Thomas’s birth, a
village holy man predicted to his mother, “so great will be his learning and sanctity that
in his day no one will be found to equal him.” By the end of his life, this prophecy had
been fulfilled. He entered the religious life at an early age and spent many years in
study and meditation. Over time he became one of the greatest intellectuals the
Catholic Church ever produced. He left a body of more than sixty scholarly works on
a wide variety of subjects, chiefly Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine. Thomas
was once asked what he considered the greatest gift he had ever received. He replied,
“I think that of having understood whatever I have read.” What were the chief subjects
of St. Thomas’s writings? and started their own university at Oxford, England. Kings,
popes, and princes thought it honorable to found universities. By 1500, Europe had 80
universities. Students began by studying the liberal arts—grammar, rhetoric, logic,
arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. Teachers lectured by reading from a basic
text and then adding their explanations. To get a degree, students took oral
examinations after studying four to six years. A student could earn a bachelor of arts
and later a master of arts. A student could earn a doctor’s degree in law, medicine, or
theology in about ten more years. The most highly regarded subject was theology—
the study of religion and God. Those with doctor’s degrees were officially able to teach
but could pursue other careers.
The study of theology was strongly influenced by a philosophical and theological
system known as scholasticism. Scholasticism tried to reconcile faith and reason—to
show that what was accepted on faith was in harmony with what could be learned
through reason and experience. Its chief task was to harmonize Christian teachings
with the works of the Greek philosophers. The philosopher Aristotle reached his
conclusions by rational thought, not by faith, and his ideas sometimes contradicted
Church teachings. In the 1200s, Saint Thomas Aquinas (uh•KWY•nuhs) made the
most famous attempt to reconcile Aristotle with the doctrines of Christianity. Thomas
Aquinas is best known for his Summa Theologica (summa was a summary of all
knowledge on a given subject). His masterpiece was organized according to the logical
method of scholarly investigation. Aquinas first posed a question such as, “Does God
exist?” He then cited sources that offered opposing opinions before reconciling them
and coming to his own conclusions. He believed that truths arrived at through reason
could not conflict with truths arrived at through faith. Reason, unaided by faith, could
uncover truths about the physical universe but not spiritual truths.
Vernacular Literature
Latin was the universal language of medieval civilization. Used in the Church and
schools, Latin enabled learned people to communicate anywhere in Europe. However,
in the twelfth century, much new literature was being written in the vernacular—the
language of everyday speech in a particular region, such as Spanish, French, English,
or German. A new market for vernacular literature appeared in the twelfth century
when educated laypeople (religious people who were not clergy) at courts and in the
cities took an interest in new sources of entertainment. Perhaps the most popular
vernacular literature of the twelfth century was troubadour poetry, which was chiefly
the product of nobles and knights. This poetry told of the love of a knight for a lady,
who inspires him to become a braver knight and a better poet. A good example is from
the noble Jaufré Rudel, who cherished a dream woman from afar. He feared that he
would never meet her, but would always love her.
Another type of vernacular literature was known as the chanson de geste, or
heroic epic. The earliest and finest example of such literature is the Song of Roland,
which appeared around 1100 and was written in French. The chief events described
in heroic epic poems are battles and political contests. The epic world is one of combat,
in which knights fight courageously for their kings and lords. Women play only a small
role or no role at all in heroic epic poems.
