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Medieval Culture 1

Cultural Advances

Jimmy Rollins

Humanities 201

Thomas University

Dr. Carl Barton

According to Cunningham and Reich, the middle ages were well thought out by many as a time period of ignorance, with people confined to their own surroundings, as to where few advancements that took place (p.274). The return of education and advancements that came after the -middle Ages was called the renaissance. The thinking of the people changed, and religion did not rule their lives anymore. Advancements in all points of view of life improved tremendously. The church was not some of the people center of life, and some even lost interest. People became less reliable on the church and could think and follow ideals on their own. But, the church was rapidly changing during this time period also, because religion was focused on wealth and money. Benedict and Benedictine practice shaped and formed the rules, practices and codes of monastic life, known as the "Rule of St. Benedict"(p.280). The lifestyle of Benedictine motto is “Pray and work.” (p.280). The religion was for men and women the same.

Charlemagne was illiterate for much of his life. He hired learned men to read out loud to him at dinner, dispensing with the usual medieval floorshow of jester, bard, and musicians. He studied three of the classic seven liberal arts: grammar, rhetoric, and mathematics. He learned to speak Latin and some in addition to his native Frankish. According to Cunningham and Reich, Charlemagne did not to learn to write, but he respected anything that had to do with learning and promoted literacy in others (p.278). Under his patronage, the court at Aachen took the first steps out of the Dark Ages into the middle Ages, a little flutter of learning known as the Carolingian Renaissance. He gathered a group of the scholars and teachers who had kept the flame of literacy alive in Europe after the fall of Rome. Charlemagne first intentions were to have a system that only educated the young (p.278). He reformed the palace school at Aachen and founded monastery schools throughout the empire with the intention of creating a literate ministry (p.279).

This Ottonian Art “The Annunciation to the Shepherds” (Fig. 9.21 p.298) is the announcement by the angel Gabriel to the Virgin Mary of her birth of Christ (p.298).

The Old English epic poem Beowulf is a debatable poem. The poem is a battle of good and evil and good will always triumph over evil. The poem explores his heroism in two separate phases—youth and age—and through three separate and increasingly difficult conflicts—with Grendel, Grendel’s mother, and the dragon. Although we can view these three encounters as expressions of the heroic code, there is perhaps a clearer division between Beowulf’s youthful heroism as an unfettered warrior and his mature heroism as a reliable king. The fight with Grendel is a good example of good and evil. He defeated the dragon, but lost his own life in doing so (p.284). Because of the themes and characters in the poem, Beowulf is a timeless classic that will never lose popularity.

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