EARLY EUROPEAN HISTORY

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205. SCIENCE AND MAGIC

SCIENTIFIC INVENTIONS

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

ROGER BACON, ABOUT 1214-1294 A.D.

As representative of this scientific interest we may take the Englishman,
Roger Bacon. He studied at Paris, where his attainments secured for him
the title of the "Wonderful Doctor," and lectured at Oxford. At a period
when Aristotle's influence was unbounded, Bacon turned away from
scholastic philosophy to mathematics and the sciences. No great
discoveries were made by him, but it is interesting to read a passage in
one of his works where some modern inventions are distinctly foreseen. In
time, he wrote, ships will be moved without rowers, and carriages will be
propelled without animals to draw them. Machines for flying will also be
constructed, "wherein a man sits revolving some engine by which artificial
wings are made to beat the air like a flying bird." Even in Bacon's day it
would appear that men were trying to make steamboats, automobiles, and
aeroplanes.

[Illustration: ROGER BACON]

GUNPOWDER

The discovery of gunpowder, a compound of saltpeter, charcoal, and
sulphur, has often been attributed to Bacon, probably incorrectly. Bacon
and other men of his time seem to have been familiar with the composition
of gunpowder, but they regarded it as merely a sort of firework, producing
a sudden and brilliant flame. They little suspected that in a confined
space the expansive power of its gases could be used to hurl projectiles.
Gunpowder was occasionally manufactured during the fourteenth century, but
for a long time it made more noise than it did harm. Small brass cannon,
throwing stone balls, began at length to displace the medieval siege
weapons, and still later muskets took the place of the bow, the cross-bow,
and the pike. The revolution in the art of warfare introduced by gunpowder
had vast importance. It destroyed the usefulness of the castle and enabled
the peasant to fight the mailed knight on equal terms. Gunpowder,
accordingly, must be included among the forces which brought about the
downfall of feudalism.

CHEMISTRY AND ALCHEMY

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

ASTRONOMY AND ASTROLOGY

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

MEDIEVAL CREDULITY

Alchemy and astrology were not the only instances of medieval credulity.
The most improbable stories found ready acceptance. Roger Bacon, for
instance, thought that "flying dragons" still existed in Europe and that
eating their flesh lengthened human life. Works on natural history soberly
described the lizard-like salamander, which dwelt in fire, and the
phoenix, a bird which, after living for five hundred years, burned itself
to death and then rose again full grown from the ashes. Another fabulous
creature was the unicorn, with the head and body of a horse, the hind legs
of an antelope, the beard of a goat, and a long, sharp horn set in the
middle of the forehead. Various plants and minerals were also credited
with marvelous powers. Thus, the nasturtium, used as a liniment, would
keep one's hair from falling out, and the sapphire, when powdered and
mixed with milk, would heal ulcers and cure headache. Such quaint beliefs
linger to-day among uneducated people, even in civilized lands.

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

MAGICIANS

Magicians of every sort flourished in the Middle Ages. Oneiromancers [28]
took omens from dreams. Palmists read fortunes in the lines and
irregularities of the hand. Necromancers [29] professed to reveal the
future by pretended communications with departed spirits. Other magicians
made talismans or lucky objects to be worn on the person, mirrors in which
the images of the dead or the absent were reflected, and various powders
which, when mixed with food or drink, would inspire hatred or affection in
the one consuming them. Indeed, it would be easy to draw up a long list of
the devices by which practitioners of magic made a living at the expense
of the ignorant and the superstitious.

206. POPULAR SUPERSTITIONS

FOLK TALES

Many medieval superstitions are preserved in folk tales, or "fairy
stories." Every child now reads these tales in books, but until the
nineteenth century very few of them had been collected and written down.
[30] They lived on the lips of the people, being told by mothers and
nurses to children and by young and old about the firesides during the
long winter evenings. Story-telling formed one of the chief amusements of
the Middle Ages.

FAIRIES

The fairies who appear so commonly in folk tales are known by different
names. They are bogies, brownies, goblins, pixies, kobolds (in Germany),
trolls (in Denmark), and so on. The Celts, especially, had a lively faith
in fairies, and it was from Wales, Scotland, and Ireland that many stories
about them became current in Europe after the tenth century. Some students
have explained the belief in fairies as due to memories of an ancient
pygmy people dwelling in underground homes. But most of these supernatural
beings seem to be the descendants of the spirits and demons which in
savage fancy haunt the world.

CHARACTERISTICS OF FAIRIES

A comparison of European folk tales shows that fairies have certain
characteristics in common. They live in palaces underneath the ground,
from which they emerge at twilight to dance in mystic circles. They are
ruled by kings and queens and are possessed of great wealth. Though
usually invisible, they may sometimes be seen, especially by people who
have the faculty of perceiving spirits. To mortals the fairies are
generally hostile, leading wanderers astray, often blighting crops and
cattle, and shooting arrows which carry disease and death. They are
constantly on the watch to carry off human beings to their realm. A
prisoner must be released at the end of a certain time, unless he tastes
fairy food, in which event he can never return. Children in cradles are
frequently snatched away by the fairies, who leave, instead, imps of their
own called "changelings." A changeling may always be recognized by its
peevishness and backwardness in learning to walk and speak. If well
treated, the fairies will sometimes show their gratitude by bestowing on
their favorites health, wealth, and long life. Lucky the child who can
count on a "fairy god-mother."

GIANTS AND OGRES

Stories of giants are common in folk tales. Giants are often represented
as not only big but also stupid, and as easily overcome by keen-witted
human foes like "Jack the Giant-killer." It may be that traditions of pre-
historic peoples have sometimes given birth to legends of giants. Another
source of stories concerning them has been the discovery of huge fossil
bones, such as those of the mammoth or mastodon, which were formerly
supposed to be bones of gigantic men. The ogres, who sometimes figure in
folk tales, are giants with a taste for human flesh. They recall the
cannibals of the savage world.

WEREWOLVES

Werewolves were persons who, by natural gift or magic art, were thought to
have the power of turning themselves for a time into wild beasts
(generally wolves or bears). In this animal shape they ravaged flocks and
devoured young children. A werewolf was said to sleep only two nights in
the month and to spend the rest of the time roaming the woods and fields.
Trials of persons accused of being werewolves were held in France as late
as the end of the sixteenth century. Even now the belief is found in out-
of-the-way parts of Europe.

THE EVIL EYE

Another medieval superstition was that of the evil eye. According to this
belief, certain persons could bewitch, injure, and kill by a glance.
Children and domestic animals were thought to be particularly susceptible
to the effects of "fascination." In order to guard against it charms of
various sorts, including texts from the Bible, were carried about. The
belief in the evil eye came into Europe from pagan antiquity. It survived
the Middle Ages and lingers yet among uneducated people.

WITCHCRAFT

The superstitions relating to werewolves and the evil eye are particular
forms of the belief in witchcraft, or "black magic." The Middle Ages could
not escape this delusion, which was firmly held by the Greeks and Romans
and other ancient peoples. Witchcraft had, indeed, a prehistoric origin
and the belief in it still prevails in savage society.

[Illustration: THE WITCHES' SABBATH.]

FEATURES OF EUROPEAN WITCHCRAFT

Witches and wizards were supposed to have sold themselves to the Devil,
receiving in return the power to work magic. They could change themselves
or others into animals, they had charms against the hurt of weapons, they
could raise storms and destroy crops, and they could convey thorns, pins,
and other objects into their victims' bodies, thus causing sickness and
death. At night they rode on broomsticks through the air and assembled in
some lonely place for feasts, dances, and wild revels. At these "Witches'
Sabbaths," as they were called, the Devil himself attended and taught his
followers their diabolic arts. There were various tests for the discovery
of witches and wizards, the most usual being the ordeal by water. [31]

WITCHCRAFT PERSECUTIONS

The numerous trials and executions for witchcraft form a dark page in
history. Thousands of harmless old men and women were put to death on the
charge of being leagued with the Devil. Even the most intelligent and
humane people believed in the reality of witchcraft and found a
justification for its punishment in the Scriptural command, "Thou shalt
not suffer a witch to live." [32] The witch epidemic which broke out in
America during the seventeenth century, reaching its height at Salem,
Massachusetts, was simply a reflection of the European fear and hatred of
witches.

UNLUCKY DAYS

The Middle Ages inherited from antiquity the observance of unlucky days.
They went under the name of "Egyptian days," so called because it was held
that on one of them the plagues had been sent to devastate the land of
Egypt and on another Pharaoh and his host had been swallowed up in the Red
Sea. At least twenty-four days in the year were regarded as very unlucky.
At such times one ought not to buy and sell, to build a house, to plant a
field, to travel or, in fact, to undertake anything at all important.
After the sixteenth century the belief in unlucky days declined, but there
still exists a prejudice against fishermen starting out to fish, or seamen
to take a voyage, or landsmen a journey, or domestic servants to enter a
new place, on a Friday.

207. POPULAR AMUSEMENTS AND FESTIVALS

INDOOR GAMES

It is pleasant to turn from the superstitions of the Middle Ages to the
games, sports, and festivals which helped to make life agreeable alike for
rich and poor, for nobles and peasants. Some indoor games are of eastern
origin. Thus chess, with which European peoples seem to have become
acquainted as early as the tenth century [33] arose in India as a war
game. On each side a king and his general, with chariots, cavalry,
elephants, and infantry, met in battle array. These survive in the rooks,
knights, bishops, and pawns of the modern game. Checkers is a sort of
simplified chess, in which the pieces are all pawns, till they get across
the board and become kings. Playing cards are another Oriental invention.
They were introduced into Europe in the fourteenth century, either by the
Arabs or the gypsies. Their first use seems to have been for telling
fortunes.

[Illustration: CHESS PIECES OF CHARLEMAGNE
Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. The figures are carved in ivory.]

OUTDOOR GAMES

Many outdoor games are derived from those played in medieval times. How
one kind of game may become the parent of many others is seen in the case
of the ball-play. The ancients tossed and caught balls as children do now.
They also had a game in which each side tried to secure the ball and throw
it over the adversary's goal line. This game lasted on into the Middle
Ages, and from it football has descended. The ancients seem never to have
used a stick or bat in their ball-play. The Persians, however, began to
play ball on horseback, using a long mallet for the purpose, and
introduced their new sport throughout Asia. Under the Tibetan name of
_pulu_ ("ball") it found its way into Europe. When once the mallet had
been invented for use on horseback, it could be easily used on foot, and
so polo gave rise to the various games in which balls are hit with bats,
including tennis, hockey, golf, cricket, and croquet.

BAITING

The difference between our ideas of what constitutes "sport" and those of
our ancestors is shown by the popularity of baiting. In the twelfth
century bulls, bears, and even horses were baited. Cock-fighting formed
another common amusement. It was not till the nineteenth century that an
English society for the prevention of cruelty to animals succeeded in
getting a law passed which forbade these cruel sports. Most other European
countries have now followed England's example.

FESTIVALS

No account of life in the Middle Ages can well omit some reference to the
celebration of festivals. For the peasant and artisan they provided relief
from physical exertion, and for all classes of society the pageants,
processions, sports, feasts, and merry-makings which accompanied them
furnished welcome diversion. Medieval festivals included not only those of
the Christian Year, [34] but also others which had come down from pre-
Christian times.

[Illustration: BEAR BAITING.
From the Luttrell Psalter.]

SEASONAL FESTIVALS

Many festivals not of Christian origin were derived from the ceremonies
with which the heathen peoples of Europe had been accustomed to mark the
changes of the seasons. Thus, April Fool's Day formed a relic of
festivities held at the vernal equinox. May Day, another festival of
spring, honored the spirits of trees and of all budding vegetation. The
persons who acted as May kings and May queens represented these spirits.
According to the original custom a new May tree was cut down in the forest
every year, but later a permanent May pole was set up on the village
common. On Midsummer Eve (June 23), which marked the summer solstice, came
the fire festival, when people built bonfires and leaped over them, walked
in procession with torches round the fields, and rolled burning wheels
down the hillsides. These curious rites may have been once connected with
sun worship. Hallow Eve, so called from being the eve of All Saints' Day
(November 1), also seems to have been a survival of a heathen celebration.
On this night witches and fairies were supposed to assemble. Hallow Eve
does not appear to have been a season for pranks and jokes, as is its
present degenerate form. Even the festival of Christmas, coming at the
winter solstice, kept some heathen features, such as the use of mistletoe
with which Celtic priests once decked the altars of their gods. The
Christmas tree, however, is not a relic of heathenism. It seems to have
come into use as late as the seventeenth century.

THE MORRIS DANCE

Young and old took part in the dances which accompanied village festivals.
Very popular in medieval England was the Morris dance. The name, a
corruption of Moorish, refers to its origin in Spain. The Morris dance was
especially associated with May Day and was danced round a May pole to a
lively and capering step. The performers represented Robin Hood, Maid
Marian, his wife, Tom the Piper, and other traditional characters. On
their garments they wore bells tuned to different notes, so as to sound in
harmony.

MUMMING

Mumming had a particular association with Christmas. Mummers were bands of
men and women who disguised themselves in masks and skins of animals and
then serenaded people outside their houses. Oftentimes the mummers acted
out little plays in which Father Christmas, Old King Cole, and St. George
were familiar figures.

[Illustration: MUMMERS
From a manuscript now in the Bodleian Library, Oxford. It was written and
illuminated in the reign of Edward III.]

MIRACLE PLAYS

Besides these village amusements, many plays of a religious character came
into vogue during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The earliest were
the miracle plays. They presented in dramatic form scenes from the Bible
and stories of the saints or martyrs. The actors at first were priests,
and the stage was the church itself or the churchyard. This religious
setting did not prevent the introduction of clowns and buffoons. After a
time the miracle play passed from the clergy to the guilds. All the guilds
of a town usually gave an exhibition once a year. Each guild presented a
single scene in the story. An exhibition might last for several days and
have as many as fifty scenes, beginning at Creation and ending with
Doomsday. [35]

[Illustration: A MIRACLE PLAY AT COVENTRY, ENGLAND
The rude platform on wheels which served as a stage, was drawn by
apprentices to the market place. Each guild had its own stage.]

MORALITY PLAYS

The miracle plays were followed by the "moralities." They dealt with the
struggle between good and evil, rather than with theology. Characters such
as Charity, Faith, Prudence, Riches, Confession, and Death appeared and
enacted a story intended to teach moral lessons. [36] Out of the rude
"morality" and its predecessor, the miracle play, has grown the drama of
modern times.

208. MANNERS AND CUSTOMS

DWELLINGS

A previous chapter (Chapter XVIII.) described some features of domestic
life in castle and village during the age of feudalism. In England, where
the Norman kings discouraged castle building, the manor house formed the
ordinary residence of the nobility. Even in Continental Europe many
castles were gradually made over into manor houses after the cessation of
feudal warfare. A manor house, however, was only less bare and
inconvenient than a castle. It was still poorly lighted, ill-ventilated,
and in winter scarcely warmed by the open wood fires. Among the
improvements of the fourteenth century were the building of a fireplace at
one or both ends of the manor hall, instead of in the center, and the
substitution of glass windows for wooden shutters or oiled paper.

[Illustration: MANOR HOUSE IN SHROPSHIRE, ENGLAND
Built in the twelfth century.]

FURNITURE

People in the Middle Ages, even the well-to-do, got along with little
furniture. The great hall of a manor house contained a long dining table,
with benches used at meals, and a few stools. The family beds often
occupied curtained recesses in the walls, but guests might have to sleep
on the floor of the manor hall. Servants often slept in the stables. Few
persons could afford rugs to cover the floor; the poor had to put up with
rushes. Utensils were not numerous, and articles of glass and silver were
practically unknown, except in the houses of the rich. Entries in wills
show the high value set upon a single spoon.

[Illustration: INTERIOR OF AN ENGLISH MANOR HOUSE
Shows the great hall of a manor house at Penshurst, Kent. The screen with
the minstrels' gallery over it is seen at the end of the hall, and in the
center, the brazier for fire. Built about 1340 A.D.]

COSTUME

The pictures in old manuscripts give us a good idea of medieval dress.
Naturally it varied with time and place, and according to the social
position of the wearer. Sometimes laws were passed, without much result,
to regulate the quality, shape, and cost of the costumes to be worn by
different orders of society. The moralists of the age were shocked, then
as now, when tightly fitting garments, which showed the outlines of the
body, became fashionable. The inconvenience of putting them on led to the
use of buttons and buttonholes. Women's headdresses were often of
extraordinary height and shape. Not less remarkable were the pointed shoes
worn by men. The points finally got so long that they hindered walking,
unless tied by a ribbon to the knees.

[Illustration: COSTUMES OF LADIES DURING THE LATER MIDDLE AGES]

BEARDS

The medieval noble of the twelfth century as a rule went clean shaven. To
wear a beard was regarded as a sign of effeminacy in a man. The Bayeux
Tapestry, [37] for instance, shows the Normans mostly clean-shaven, while
the English wear only moustaches. The introduction of long beards seems to
have been due to contact with the East during the crusading period.

BATHS AND BATHING

Regular bathing was not by any means neglected during the later Middle
Ages. In the country districts river, lake, or pool met the needs of
people used to outdoor life. The hot air and vapor baths of the Byzantines
were adopted by the Moslems and later, through the Moors and crusaders,
were made known to western Europe. After the beginning of the thirteenth
century few large cities lacked public bathing places.

FOOD

Medieval cookbooks show that people of means had all sorts of elaborate
and expensive dishes. Dinner at a nobleman's house might include as many
as ten or twelve courses, mostly meats and game. Such things as hedgehogs,
peacocks, sparrows, and porpoises, which would hardly tempt the modern
palate, were relished. Much use was made of spices in preparing meats and
gravies, and also for flavoring wines. Over-eating was a common vice in
the Middle Ages, but the open-air life and constant exercise enabled men
and women to digest the huge quantities of food they consumed.

TABLE ETIQUETTE

People in medieval times had no knives or forks and consequently ate with
their fingers. Daggers also were employed to convey food to the mouth.
Forks date from the end of the thirteenth century, but were adopted only
slowly. As late as the sixteenth century German preachers condemned their
use, for, said they, the Lord would not have given us fingers if he had
wanted us to rely on forks. Napkins were another table convenience unknown
in the Middle Ages.

DRINKING

In the absence of tea and coffee, ale and beer formed the drink of the
common people. The upper classes regaled themselves on costly wines.
Drunkenness was as common and as little reprobated as gluttony. The
monotony of life in medieval Europe, when the nobles had little to do but
hunt and fight, may partly account for the prevailing inebriety. But
doubtless in large measure it was a Teutonic characteristic. The Northmen
were hard drinkers, and of the ancient Germans a Roman writer states that
"to pass an entire day and night in drinking disgraces no one." [38] This
habit of intoxication survived in medieval Germany, and the Anglo-Saxons
and Danes introduced it into England.

CENTRAL PERIOD OF THE MIDDLE AGES

Our survey of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries has now shown us that
these two hundred years deserve to be called the central period of the
Middle Ages. When the Arabs had brought the culture of the Orient to Spain
and Sicily, when the Northmen after their wonderful expansion had settled
down in Normandy, England, and other countries, and when the peoples of
western Europe, whether as peaceful pilgrims or as warlike crusaders, had
visited Constantinople and the Holy Land, men's minds received a wonderful
stimulus. The intellectual life of Europe was "speeded up," and the way
was prepared for the even more rapid advance of knowledge in the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, as the Middle Ages passed into modern
times.