1. 8.4 Learning and Culture Flourish

2. Medieval Universities Emerge The Church wanted better educated clergy members. Cathedral schools were developed to train clergy members. These schools were the 1 st universities. Universities focused on particular subjects, so students attended various schools to learn different subjects. Students woke up at 5 am, went to class until 10am, ate breakfast, and continued going to class until 5 pm. Women were not allowed to attend universities. Some females attended convents or private schools for girls Christine de Pisan pushed the belief that women could learn as well as men in her book The City of Ladies.

3. Europeans Acquire New Learning Muslim scholars translated Greek works into Arabic. Jewish and Christians scholars translated the Arabic into Latin. The information offered by these translations revolutionized learning in Europe. The use of reason to discover truth was a problem for Christians who accepted things by faith.  Christian scholars used scholasticism as a way to use reason to support Christian beliefs. St. Thomas Aquinas ‘ book Summa Theologica states that reason and faith exist simultaneously. Science made few breakthroughs due to conflict with Church teachings.  Europeans began using Arabic numerals (1,2,3…) instead of Roman numerals.

4. Medieval Literature Everyday language known as vernacular began to be used in writings.  The Song of Roland focuses on one of Charlemagne’s brave and honorable knights.  Rodrigo Diaz wrote about Christians and Muslims fighting in El Cid.  Dante Alighieri takes readers on an imaginary trip to hell and purgatory in Divine Comedy.  In Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, pilgrims travel to St. Thomas Becket’s tomb.

5. Romanesque Church Gothic Church

6. Architecture & Art Romanesque buildings looked “fortress-like”. A new style emerged called Gothic. The Gothic style used tall stained- glassed windows and stone supports called flying buttresses. Books included paintings and miniature designs known as illumination.