Journey through the thousand-year period when Christianity shaped Western civilization. From the preservation of classical learning in monasteries to the rise of universities and the synthesis of faith and reason in scholasticism.
Integration Insight
The quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy) undergirds Dante's ordered cosmos and scholastic thought. Mathematics becomes the language of divine order, while philosophy serves as the handmaiden of theology.
**Monastic Preservation**: Benedictine monasteries copied and preserved Greek and Roman texts through the Dark Ages
**Islamic Golden Age**: Arab scholars transmitted Greek philosophy and developed algebra, preserving knowledge lost in the West
**Rise of Universities**: Bologna, Paris, Oxford emerged as centers of learning based on the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy)
**Scholastic Method**: Systematic theology using Aristotelian logic to harmonize faith and reason
**Gothic Architecture**: Mathematical precision in cathedral construction expressed theological vision of divine order
**Feudal Social Order**: Hierarchical society with clear roles: those who pray, those who fight, those who work
**Christendom Unity**: Shared Christian worldview unified diverse kingdoms under papal authority
Key Thinkers & Philosophers
Explore the foundational beliefs and highest goals of the great minds who shaped this era
Foundation
Providence governs all; fortune's wheel; philosophy as consolation
Highest Goal
Happiness through contemplation of eternal truth; understanding divine order
Key Works
- Consolation of Philosophy
Foundation
God is beyond being; creation is theophany (divine self-manifestation)
Highest Goal
Return to God through contemplation; deification
Foundation
'Faith seeking understanding'; God as that than which nothing greater can be conceived
Highest Goal
Rational demonstration of faith; understanding God's nature
Key Works
- Proslogion (Ontological Argument)
- Cur Deus Homo
Foundation
Reason and dialectic essential to faith; ethics of intention
Highest Goal
Truth through questioning; reconciliation of authorities
Key Works
- Sic et Non
- Ethics
Foundation
Faith and reason compatible; Aristotelian metaphysics; five ways to prove God
Highest Goal
Beatific vision; natural law ethics; synthesis of faith and reason
Key Works
- Summa Theologica
- Summa Contra Gentiles
Foundation
Univocity of being; will over intellect; haecceity (thisness)
Highest Goal
Love of God through will; individual particularity
Foundation
Nominalism; Ockham's Razor (simplicity); divine omnipotence and freedom
Highest Goal
Faith separate from reason; empirical knowledge
Foundation
Divine order; journey from sin through purgation to beatific vision
Highest Goal
Union with God through love; understanding cosmic order
Key Works
- Divine Comedy
- De Monarchia