EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

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[Illustration: ROLAND AT RONCESVALLES
From a thirteenth-century window of stained glass in Chartres Cathedral.
At the right, Roland sounding his horn; at the left Roland endeavoring to
break his sword Durendal.]

THE ARTHURIAN ROMANCES

King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table were also important figures
in medieval legend. Arthur was said to have reigned in Britain early in
the sixth century and to have fought against the Anglo-Saxons. Whether he
ever lived or not we do not know. In the Arthurian romances this Celtic
king stands forth as the model knight, the ideal of noble chivalry. The
Norman conquerors of England carried the romances to France, and here,
where feudalism was so deeply rooted, they found a hearty welcome. Sir
Thomas Malory's _Morte d' Arthur_, one of the first books to be printed in
England, contains many of the narratives from which Tennyson, in his
_Idylls of the King_, and other modern poets have drawn their inspiration.

THE NIBELINGENLIED

The greatest epic composed in Germany during the Middle Ages is the
_Nibelungenlied_. The poem begins in Burgundy, where three kings hold
court at Worms, on the Rhine. Thither comes the hero, Siegfried, ruler of
the Netherlands. He had slain the mysterious Nibelungs and seized their
treasure, together with the magic cloud-cloak which rendered its wearer
invisible to human eyes. He had also killed a dragon and by bathing in its
blood had become invulnerable, except in one place where a linden leaf
touched his body. Siegfried marries Kriemhild, a beautiful Burgundian
princess, and with her lives most happily. But a curse attached to the
Nibelung treasure, and Siegfried's enemy, the "grim Hagen," treacherously
slays him by a spear thrust in the one spot where he could be hurt. Many
years afterwards Kriemhild marries Attila, king of the Huns, on condition
that he help her to vengeance. Hagen and his Burgundians are invited to
Hunland, where Kriemhild causes them all to be put to death. The name of
the poet who compiled and probably wrote much of the _Nibelungenlied_
remains unknown, but his work has a place among the classics of German
literature.

REYNARD THE FOX

No account of medieval literature ought to omit a reference to _Reynard
the Fox_. This is a long poem, first written in Latin, and then turned
into the chief languages of Europe. The characters are animals: Reynard,
cunning and audacious, who outwits all his foes; Chanticleer the cock;
Bruin the Bear; Isengrim the Wolf; and many others. But they are animals
in name only. We see them worship like Christians, go to Mass, ride on
horseback, debate in councils, and amuse themselves with hawking and
hunting. Satire often creeps in, as when the villainous Fox confesses his
sins to the Badger or vows that he will go to the Holy Land on a
pilgrimage. The special interest of this work lies in the fact that it
expressed the feelings of the common people, groaning under the oppression
of feudal lords.

THE ROBIN HOOD BALLADS

The same democratic spirit breathes in the old English ballads of the
outlaw Robin Hood. According to some accounts he flourished in the second
half of the twelfth century, when Henry II and Richard the Lion-hearted
reigned over England. Robin Hood, with his merry men, leads an adventurous
life in Sherwood Forest, engaging in feats of strength and hunting the
king's tall deer. Bishops, sheriffs, and gamekeepers are his only enemies.
For the common people he has the greatest pity, and robs the rich to endow
the poor. Courtesy, generosity, and love of fair play are some of the
characteristics which made him a popular hero. If King Arthur was the
ideal knight, Robin Hood was the ideal yeoman. The ballads about him were
sung by country folk for hundreds of years.

202. ROMANESQUE AND GOTHIC ARCHITECTURE; THE CATHEDRALS

TWO ARCHITECTURAL STYLES

The genius of the Middle Ages found its highest expression, not in books,
but in buildings. For several hundred years after the barbarian invasions
architecture had made little progress in western Europe, outside of Italy,
which was subject to Byzantine influence, [8] and Spain, which was a
center of Mohammedan culture. [9] Beginning about 800 A.D. came a revival,
and the adoption of an architectural style called Romanesque, because it
went back to Roman principles of construction. Romanesque architecture
arose in northern Italy and southern France and gradually spread to other
European countries. It was followed about 1100 A D. by the Gothic style of
architecture, which prevailed during the next four centuries.

[Illustration: PLAN OF SALISBURY CATHEDRAL, ENGLAND
Note the double transepts.]

THE ROMANESQUE CHURCH

The church of the early Christians seems to have been modeled upon the
Roman basilica, with its arrangement of nave and aisles, its circular
arched recess (apse) at one end, and its flat, wooden ceiling supported by
columns. [10] The Romanesque church departed from the basilican plan by
the introduction of transepts, thus giving the building the form of a
Latin cross. A dome, which might be covered by a pointed roof, was
generally raised over the junction of the nave and transepts. At the same
time the apse was enlarged so as to form the choir, a place reserved for
the clergy.

[Illustration: REIMS CATHEDRAL
The cathedral of Notre Dame at Reims in northwestern France stands on the
site where Clovis was baptized by St Remi. Here most of the French kings
were consecrated with holy oil by the archbishops of Reims. Except the
west front, which was built in the fourteenth century, the cathedral was
completed by the end of the thirteenth century. The towers, 267 feet high,
were originally designed to reach 394 feet. The facade, with its three
arched portals exquisite rose window, and "gallery of the kings," is
justly celebrated. The cathedral--walls, roof, statues, and windows--has
been terribly damaged by the German bombardment during the late war.]

[Illustration: COLOGNE CATHEDRAL
The Cathedral, or Dom, one of the finest monuments of Gothic architecture
in Europe, was begun in the thirteenth century. The work of building
proceeded slowly and at the time of the Reformation it ceased altogether.
The structure was finally completed during the nineteenth century, and in
1880 AD it was opened in the presence of the emperor, William I. The
Cathedral, which is in the form of a cross, measures 480 feet in length
and 282 feet in breadth. Each of the towers reaches the height of 511
feet. The very numerous and richly-colored windows add greatly to the
imposing effect of the interior.]

VAULTING AND THE ROUND ARCH

The Romanesque church also differed from a basilica in the use of vaulting
to take the place of a flat ceiling. The old Romans had constructed their
vaulted roofs and domes in concrete, which forms a rigid mass and rests
securely upon the walls like the lid of a box. [11] Medieval architects,
however, built in stone, which exerts an outward thrust and tends to force
the walls apart. Consequently they found it necessary to make the walls
very thick and to strengthen them by piers, or buttresses, on the outside
of the edifice. It was also necessary to reduce the width of the vaulted
spaces. The vaulting, windows, and doorways had the form of the round
arch, that is, a semicircle, as in the ancient Roman monuments. [12]

THE GOTHIC STYLE

Gothic architecture arose in France in the country around Paris, at a time
when the French kingdom was taking the lead in European affairs. Later it
spread to England, Germany, the Netherlands, and even to southern Europe.
As an old chronicler wrote, "It was as if the whole world had thrown off
the rags of its ancient time, and had arrayed itself in the white robes of
the churches." The term Gothic was applied contemptuously to this
architectural style by writers of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries,
who regarded everything non-classical as barbarous. They believed it to be
an invention of the barbarian Goths, and so they called it Gothic. The
name has stuck, as bad names have a habit of doing, but nowadays every one
recognizes the greatness of this medieval art. The most beautiful
buildings of the Middle Ages are of Gothic architecture.

RIBBED VAULTING AND THE FLYING BUTTRESS

The Gothic style formed a natural development of the Romanesque style. The
architects of a Gothic church wished to retain the vaulted ceiling but at
the same time to do away with thick, solid walls, which had so little
window space as to leave the interior of the building dark gloomy. They
solved this problem, in the first place, by using a great number of stone
ribs, which gathered up the weight of the ceiling and rested on pillars.
Ribbed vaulting made possible higher ceilings, spanning wider areas, than
in Romanesque churches. [13] In the second place, the pillars supporting
the ribs were themselves connected by means of flying buttresses with
stout piers of masonry outside the walls of the church. [14] These walls,
relieved from the pressure of the ceiling, now became a mere screen to
keep out the weather. They could be built of light materials and opened up
with high, wide windows.

THE POINTED ARCH

Ribbed vaulting and the flying buttress are the distinctive features of
Gothic architecture. A third feature, noteworthy but not so important, is
the use of the pointed arch. It was not Christian in origin, for it had
long been known to the Arabs in the East and the Moslem conquerors of
Sicily. [15] The semicircular or round arch can be only half as high as it
is wide, but the pointed arch may vary greatly in its proportions. The use
of this device enabled the Gothic builder to bridge over different widths
at any required height. It is also lighter and more graceful than the
round arch. [16]

[Illustration: CROSS SECTION OF AMIENS CATHEDRAL
A, vaulting; B, ribs; C, flying buttresses; D, buttresses; E, low windows;
F, clerestory.]

GOTHIC ORNAMENT

The labors of the Gothic architect were admirably seconded by those of
other artists. The sculptor cut figures of men, animals, and plants in the
utmost profusion. The painter covered vacant wall spaces with brilliant
mosaics and frescoes. The wood-carver made exquisite choir stalls,
pulpits, altars, and screens. Master workmen filled the stone tracery of
the windows with stained glass unequaled in coloring by the finest modern
work. Some rigorous churchmen like St. Bernard condemned the expense of
these magnificent cathedrals, but most men found in their beauty an
additional reason to praise God.

[Illustration: GARGOYLES ON THE CATHEDRAL OF NOTRE DAME, PARIS
Strange grotesque figures and faces of stone used as ornaments of Gothic
buildings and as spouts to carry off rain water. They represent beasts,
demons, and other creations of medieval fancy.]

THE CATHEDRAL AS A RELIGIOUS EDIFICE

The Gothic cathedral, in fact, perfectly expressed the religious spirit of
the Middle Ages. For its erection kings and nobles offered costly gifts.
The common people, when they had no money to give, contributed their
labor, each man doing what he could to carry upward the walls and towers
and to perfect every part of God's dwelling. The interior of such a
cathedral, with its vast nave rising in swelling arches to the vaulted
roof, its clustered columns, its glowing windows, and infinite variety of
ornamentation, forms the most awe-inspiring sanctuary ever raised by man.
It is a prayer, a hymn, a sermon in stone.

THE SECULAR GOTHIC

Gothic architecture, though at first confined to churches, came to be used
for other buildings. Among the monuments of the secular Gothic are
beautiful town halls, guild halls, markets, and charming private houses.
[17] But the cathedral remained the best expression of the Gothic style.

203. EDUCATION; THE UNIVERSITIES

COMMON SCHOOLS

Not less important than the Gothic cathedrals for the understanding of
medieval civilization were the universities. They grew out of the monastic
and cathedral schools where boys were trained to become monks or priests.
Such schools had been created or restored by Charlemagne. [18] The
teaching, which lay entirely in the hands of the clergy, was elementary in
character. Pupils learned enough Latin grammar to read religious books, if
not always to understand them, and enough music to follow the services of
the Church. They also studied arithmetic by means of the awkward Roman
notation, received a smattering of astronomy, and sometimes gained a
little knowledge of such subjects as geography, law, and philosophy.
Besides these monastic and cathedral schools, others were maintained by
the guilds. Boys who had no regular schooling often received instruction
from the parish priest of the village or town. Illiteracy was common
enough in medieval times, but the mass of the people were by no means
entirely uneducated.

RISE OF UNIVERSITIES

Between 1150 and 1500 A.D. at least eighty universities were established
in western Europe. Some speedily became extinct, but there are still about
fifty European institutions of learning which started in the Middle Ages.
The earliest universities did not look to the state or to some princely
benefactor for their foundation. They arose, as it were, spontaneously. In
the eleventh and twelfth centuries Europe felt the thrill of a great
intellectual revival. It was stimulated by intercourse with the highly
cultivated Arabs in Spain, Sicily, and the East, and with the Greek
scholars of Constantinople during the crusades. The desire for instruction
became so general that the common schools could not satisfy it. Other
schools were then opened in the cities and to them flocked eager learners
from every quarter.

PETER ABELARD 1079-1142 A.D.

How easily a university might grow up about the personality of some
eminent teacher is shown by the career of Abelard. The eldest son of a
noble family in Brittany, Abelard would naturally have entered upon a
military career, but he chose instead the life of a scholar and the
contests of debate. When still a young man he came to Paris and attended
the lectures given by a master of the cathedral school of Notre Dame.
Before long he had overcome his instructor in discussion, thus
establishing his own reputation. At the early age of twenty-two Abelard
himself set up as a lecturer. Few teachers have ever attracted so large
and so devoted a following. His lecture room under the shadow of the great
cathedral was filled with a crowd of youths and men drawn from all
countries.

UNIVERSITY OF PARIS

The fame of Abelard led to an increase of masters and students at Paris
and so paved the way for the establishment of the university there, later
in the twelfth century. Paris soon became such a center of learning,
particularly in theology and philosophy, that a medieval writer referred
to it as "the mill where the world's corn is ground, and the hearth where
its bread is baked." The university of Paris, in the time of its greatest
prosperity, had over five thousand students. It furnished the model for
the English university of Oxford, as well as for the learned institutions
of Scotland, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany.

UNIVERSITY OF BOLOGNA

The institutions of learning in southern Europe were modeled, more or
less, upon the university of Bologna. At this Italian city, in the middle
of the twelfth century, a celebrated teacher named Irnerius gathered about
him thousands of pupils for the study of the Justinian code. [19] The
university developed out of his law school. Bologna was the center from
which the Roman system of jurisprudence made its way into France, Germany,
and other Continental countries. From Bologna, also, came the monk
Gratian, who drew up the accepted text-book of canon law, as followed in
all Church courts. [20] What Roman law was to the Empire canon law was to
the Papacy.

UNIVERSITY ORGANIZATION

The word "university" [21] meant at first simply a union or association.
In the Middle Ages all artisans were organized in guilds, [22] and when
masters and pupils associated themselves for teaching and study they
naturally copied the guild form. This was the more necessary since the
student body included so many foreigners, who found protection against
annoyances only as members of a guild.

DEGREES

Like a craft guild a university consisted of masters (the professors), who
had the right to teach, and students, both elementary and advanced, who
corresponded to apprentices and journeymen. After several years of study a
student who had passed part of his examination became a "bachelor of arts"
and might teach certain elementary subjects to those beneath him. Upon the
completion of the full course--usually six years in length--the bachelor
took his final examinations and, if he passed them, received the coveted
degree of "master of arts." But as is the case to-day, many who attended
the universities never took a degree at all.

THE TEACHERS

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

THE STUDENTS

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

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

COLLEGES

The members of a university usually lived in a number of colleges. These
seem to have been at first little more than lodging-houses, where poor
students were cared for at the expense of some benefactor. In time,
however, as the colleges increased in wealth, through the gifts made to
them, they became centers of instruction under the direction of masters.
At Oxford and Cambridge, where the collegiate system has been retained to
the present time, each college has its separate buildings and enjoys the
privilege of self-government.

FACULTIES

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

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

204. SCHOLASTICISM

THEOLOGICAL STUDY

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

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

ABELARD AND FREEDOM OF THOUGHT

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

STUDY OF ARISTOTLE

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

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

There were many famous scholastics, or "schoolmen," but easily the
foremost among them was the Italian monk, Thomas Aquinas. He taught at
Paris, Cologne, Rome, and Bologna, and became so celebrated for learning
as to be known as the "Angelic Doctor." Though Aquinas died at an early
age, he left behind him no less than eighteen folio volumes. His _Summa
Theologiae_ ("Compendium of Theology"), as the name indicates, gathered up
all that the Middle Ages believed of the relations between God and man.
The Roman Church has placed him among her saints and still recommends the
study of his writings as the foundation of all sound theology.

THE SCHOLASTIC METHOD

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