Chapter Summary
In the early thirteenth century, Peter Abelard wrote, "It is by doubting that we come to investigate, and by investigating that we recognize the truth." It is a thoroughly modern statement because one can easily recognize its spirit- the spirit of doubt and of investigation. The fact that it was written in the thirteenth century, in midst of the Age of Faith, may strike us as odd. It should not; Abelard makes the straightforward argument, as would Aquinas, that reason and faith are but two roads to a single truth. This is the essence of medieval Scholasticism. New ideas appeared in new contexts as Europe left behind the uncertainties stemming from the barbarian invasions. In terms of intellectual might and cultural growth, Europe seemed to be moving forward.
These profound intellectual and cultural changes did not proceed without conflict. The Church faced its first direct assault. Holy Roman emperors and popes alike engaged in a violent battle for supremacy. Who ought to control the clergy-pope or king? The solution was found through a compromise at the Concordat of Worms (1122), where a distinction was drawn between religion and politics. While the Church gained a temporary (temporal, perhaps) victory at Worms, the laity began to wonder if the clergy were really living up to their ideals. Many people yearned for something more from their faith, and the clergy seemed to be delivering far less. Such an awareness was made more apparent thanks to urbanization, which contributed to spiritualism, on the one hand, and heresy, on the other. The Church reacted against the latter by calling on the services of the Dominicans, instituting the Inquisition, and by calling a crusade. In the case of spiritualism, there was monastic reform and the Cult of the Virgin Mary. The Church used all of this to its advantage to contain heresy, but something else was at work that made the work of the Church even more difficult.
It was during the High Middle Ages that the university emerged in order to expand upon the limited capacities of cathedral schools. These universities-Bologna and Paris were the earliest-were fashioned as corporations or guilds. The modern understanding of the liberal arts as well as our contemporary degree system (B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.) has its origins in the medieval university. Student life could be difficult since there were no real textbooks to speak of and "education" required abstract analysis and disputation. Matters were further complicated for students because they were nearly always strangers in university towns. One thing that really changed the focus of the medieval university was the rediscovery of the texts of Aristotle, as Aquinas would remind us.
The twelfth century was perhaps the most important in terms of intellectual change, so much that historians often speak of the Renaissance of the twelfth century. John of Salisbury was aware of that when he mentioned Bernard's claim that "we are standing on the shoulders of giants."