The Middle Ages

Charlemagne’s (742-781) accomplishments: Ruled a feudal society Crowned emperor of the Roman Empire by Pope Leo III Received keys to church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem from the caliph of Baghdad Stabilized currency Led a literary and liturgical revival Founded the Palace School Made Gregorian chant obligatory in all churches in his domain

Accomplishments of Charlemagne’s right-hand man, Alcuin of York: Developed the two courses of the medieval curriculum to spread literacy throughout Charlemagne’s kingdom: the trivium (grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic) and the quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy) Revised the Christian liturgical books Made a standard sacramentary Developed a system of schools throughout the Frankish kingdom Imposed the Rule of St. Benedict on all monasteries

Everyman Medieval morality play

A Medieval Book Cover Carved in Ivory Note the highly symbolic arrangement of the figures. What do they all mean?

Cover panels for the Dagulf Psalter A medieval book of psalms The covers are carved in ivory

Gospel Book of Charlemagne

Illuminated interior page from the Dagulf Psalter Note the use of calligraphy and the enlarged first letter

Inside a Romanesque Cathedral (St. Sernin, Toulouse) Note the quality of the light and the unadorned interiors (this picture is illuminated by a camera flash) (there is no dome in the cathedral, and it is supported by barrel arches, so there are not many windows as in a Byzantine church)

Because Romanesque churches are so dark inside most sculpture is located on the outside of structure.

Illiterate worshippers would learn the Bible by ‘reading’ sculptures above church doorways. What do they learn here?

Later church reformers did not like sculptures like these on the outside of their cathedrals. Why not?

Paris: center of western civilization in the 13th century The annual trade fair of Paris was famous throughout the Western world and beyond Paris is where gothic architecture was developed Paris saw the rise of the educational method known as “scholasticism” Paris is home to the world’s first university

The Essence of the Gothic Cathedral: The pointed arch and The flying buttress Using these technologies, huge stained glass windows could be created, filling the cathedral with light

The Abbey of St. Denis is the first Gothic Cathedral. It was built around 1140. Note the pointed arches, which lift the ceiling to new heights

Amiens Cathedral Verticality and Light

Inside Chartres It is luminous. Note how the mosaics of Byzantine cathedrals have been replaced with stained glass windows to create a similarly spiritual --although qualitatively different--light inside. This is quite different from the huge but dark Romanesque cathedrals the early middle ages.

Chartres Cathedral Gothic Style Lots of stained glass windows

The cathedrals of the High Middle Ages are a part of life from birth to death Served vital social and economic functions in medieval society Site of baptism, communion, marriage, and funeral Housed school Provided social services (hospitals, poor relief, orphanage, etc.) Provided legal services (religious courts) Cathedral bell noted time for the town Church calendar organized work schedule for the year Building a cathedral is, by far, the most expensive undertaking a town can assume Cathedrals serve as pilgrimage sites for pilgrims eager to see holy relics housed there. Huge trade fairs were run out of the cathedral Their construction and maintenance employed members of the town guilds

The winemaking guild helped pay for Chartres Cathedral so they got their own stained glass window in return.

A rosette window and the “mysticism of light” Abbot Suger, who pioneered the use of stained glass in cathedrals, had a Neo-Platonic theory that justified its use: all of creation exists under the category of light; as light becomes more pure, one gets closer to pure light, which is God. To quote Suger: “Bright is that which is brightly coupled with the bright, and the bright is the noble edifice which is pervaded by the new light”

The stained glass windows contain many meanings and were meant to be read like the Bible. Thus stained glass windows were called the Bible of the Poor What is to be read here?

Interpreting Stained Glass The window honors the Virgin to whom one prays in time of need The Virgin is also depicted as the seat of wisdom And the fact that Mary is depicted in glass is a moral example as well: Christ was born to a virgin, passing through her as light passes through glass

Like Romanesque Cathedrals, the outside of Gothic Cathedrals are read as well. Gargoyles and other beastly sculptures signifying evil adorn the outside of Gothic Cathedrals. They are on top of the Cathedral because they are trying to flee the sacred precincts of the church.

The Birth of the University the University originates as a guild of masters (professors) promulgated the scholastic method of inquiry, based on classical Greek dialectics of Aristotle. Scholasticism is a method of generating questions and answers about the meaning of texts such as the Bible. The goal of scholasticism is to compile comprehensive collections of answers to any questions that may arise about a subject. the University was necessary to educate a new managerial class for the new cities of Europe: lawyers, clerks, administrators