Medieval History

A class I really enjoy teaching rolls around again this fall--History of the Medieval Era.
In this class, I spend much of the semester attempting to disprove Francesco Petrarch's characterization of the Middle Ages as "one thousand years of gothic gloom." Petrarch managed to set the tone for History books by labeling this era "the Dark Ages." Oh, dear. He was so very wrong.

The Medieval Era witnessed some of Europe's most profound intellectual and spiritual leaps. The University as we know it came into existence (the Universities of Paris and Bologna were among the first). Early Medieval scholars such as Boethius, Cassiodorus and Isidore of Seville composed their own works which rivaled those of the much-touted Ancient Greek philosophers.

Christianity continued to spread, not only amongst the population but also into intellectual circles. The result was the marvelous approach to learning called "scholasticism." The scholastics, notably Peter Abelard and St. Thomas Aquinas, believed that faith and science were naturally compatible. They knew that learning was a gift of God, and rather than marginalizing God and His Son, they praised Them! The faith of these men was the beginning of their wisdom.

Certainly, there were bleak periods within this thousand-year era; however, don't be misled by Petrarch's short-sided summation.

I look forward to teaching this class for many reasons. I love Scholasticism and the students love our study of the Templars (and the Templars were everyone's favorite topic well before Hollywood took its shot at telling their story).