Part 16

Justinian next ordered the teaching of philosophy to be discontinued at Athens, and closed all the schools. The sciences were made to conform to Genesis, which was declared to be the only true account of the origin of nature; and the earth was declared to be flat, the sky spreading over it like a dome—or, in the words of St. Augustine, like a skin—in which all the bodies moved to give light to man. Lactantius declared the globular theory to be heretical. “Is it possible,” he said, “that man can be so absurd as to believe that the crops and the trees on the other side of the earth hang downwards, and that men have their feet higher than their heads? If you ask them how they defend these monstrosities, how things do not fall away from the earth on that side, they reply that the nature of things is such that heavy bodies tend towards the centre, like the spokes of a wheel, while light bodies, as clouds, smoke, fire, tend from the centre to the heavens on all sides. Now, I am really at a loss what to say of those who, when they have once gone wrong, steadily persevere in their folly, and defend one absurd opinion by another.” St. Augustine also said that “it is impossible there should be inhabitants on the opposite side of the earth, since no such race is recorded by Scripture among the descendants of Adam;” and again: “In the day of judgment men on the other side of a globe could not see the Lord descending through the air.” Thus perished all the grand work effected by the Ptolemies. Science was annihilated, progress arrested, and the dark ages had commenced, which lasted until the time of Luther and Copernicus, in the commencement of the sixteenth century. Throughout this long and dreary period the most cruel enormities were practised upon unoffending people; the Church became gorged with wealth; the clergy gave themselves up to all kinds of lust and debauchery; relics were sold, dispensations bartered; and no one’s property or person was safe. Progress was, however, only arrested for a time.

About the year 570 Mohammed was born in Arabia, and in 610 he declared to the world that he had been commissioned by the angel Gabriel to preach the unity of god. He appears to have been a very remarkable religious enthusiast, who believed himself in his divine mission, and was eminently successful in his arduous undertaking. Idolatry was quickly abolished among the Arabs, and replaced by the religion of Mohammed. On the death of the prophet his successors as vigorously pursued the course he had entered upon. Ali, the general of Khalif Omar’s army, in A.D. 637, captured Jerusalem and conquered Syria in the name of the one true god and his prophet Mohammed. The Khalif rode from Medina to Jerusalem upon a red camel, and, as he entered the conquered city, issued the following proclamation: “In the name of the most merciful God. From Omar Ebno’l Alchitâb to the inhabitants of Œlia. They shall be protected and secured, both in their lives and their fortunes; and their churches shall neither be pulled down nor made use of by any but themselves.” Sophronius, the chief Christian priest, having invited the conqueror to pray in a Christian church, received a polite refusal, Omar contenting himself with kneeling on the steps outside, so that his followers might not have any excuse for seizing the edifice or otherwise annoying the conquered Christians. The Khalif and his followers then pressed northwards, conquered the Roman Emperor Heraclius, sent a fleet to the Hellespont, defeated the Roman fleet, and laid siege to Constantinople, then called Byzantium. Egypt was next conquered, the remnants of the Serapion destroyed, and the whole of North Africa added to the dominions of the Khalif. Spain was then seized upon, and the entire country, as far north as the Loire, annexed to the growing empire. In 732 Charles Martel succeeded in stopping the Saracen foe at Poictiers and driving him back to Spain, thus relieving the anxiety of the Church, which was now becoming intense. In 846 a Mussulman fleet sailed up the Tiber, menaced Rome, and carried away St. Peter’s altar to Africa, the Christian empire being saved from further trouble only by the Mohammedan power being divided into three Khalifates.

According to the Koran, the earth was a square plane, on the edges of which rested the heavenly vault, divided into seven stories, in the topmost of which dwelt god in his omnipotence. This theory, however, was quickly given up by the learned Saracens, Al-Mamun declaring it to be unscientific, and asserting that the earth was globular, with a circumference of about 24,000 miles, which was not far wrong. In 661 the Khalif Moawyah encouraged this new teaching, and ordered the writings of the Greek philosophers to be translated into Arabic. In 753 the Khalif Almansar recommended the study of astronomy, medicine, and law at Bagdad; and his grandson, Haroum-al-Raschid, ordered that every mosque should have a school attached to it, and established a large library at Bagdad for the use of learned men. The sciences of chemistry and geometry were revived, and algebra invented by the Saracens. At Cairo the Fatimist Library became the wonder of the world; and the great library of the Spanish Khalifs had 600,000 vols., its catalogue alone occupying 44 vols. Gibbon tells us that they “diffused the taste and the rewards of science from Samarcand and Bokhara to Fez and Cordova, and that the vizier of a sultan consecrated a sum of two hundred thousand pieces of gold to the foundation of a college at Bagdad, which he endowed with an annual revenue of fifteen thousand dinars.” The first medical college in Europe was founded by the Saracens at Salerno in Italy, and the first astronomical observatory was erected by them at Seville in Spain. The streets in Spain were lighted, baths were erected, and total abstinence universally practised. Thus we see that, while the power of the Church was gradually steeping central Europe in darkness, ignorance, and wretchedness, progress was on the march again in Western Asia, Africa, and Spain. During this period, however, there were not wanting in Europe bold men who attempted a revival of philosophy; but these were quickly suppressed by the Church. In A.D. 800 there appeared a man in Britain called John Erigena, who, having read Aristotle’s works, adopted his views and attempted to reconcile them with the Christian religion. There were also many Christian divines who had crossed the Mediterranean to study philosophy secretly from Mohammedan doctors. Erigena declared that every living thing evolved from something that had previously lived; that each particular life-form was but a part of general existence or mundane soul; and that all life must be eventually re-absorbed in deity. The Church became infuriated and alarmed at this heretical barbarian, who taught the pernicious doctrines of emanation and absorption, and steps were immediately taken to suppress him.

During the period of quiet which followed a certain priest of Thuringia, Bernhardt by name, created a great sensation in central Europe by declaring that the end of the world was fast approaching; that the prophecy contained in the twentieth chapter of Revelation would be fulfilled on December 31st, in the year 1000—or possibly immediately before that time—when the devil would be unbound; and that unutterable calamity or annihilation would come upon the world. The clergy quickly followed suit, and as the fearful day approached every church and cloister in Europe resounded with the frantic appeals of the monks and priests for their flocks to prepare for the awful doom. Europe was turned upside down; business was suspended; kings, princes, senators, nobles, and peasants all alike left their occupations to seek refuge in some holy sanctuary against the coming event. As the dread moment approached there was not a church or convent in Europe that was not crowded to suffocation, the people imagining that, if they were found at the last moment in some consecrated place, their chances of being saved would be better. Hundreds and thousands of these poor wretches never had opportunity of obtaining the coveted shelter, having been bereft of their reason under the awful excitement of the hour. Amid prayer, faintings, hysterical screaming, and chanting of choirs—priests, monarchs, and beggars all huddled together anyhow—the clock struck twelve, and dead silence prevailed. Gradually the people roused themselves from their stupor to find themselves the victims of a cruel hoax. Strange to say, not any attempt was made to punish those who had produced such a melancholy state of things. Kings and nobles had endowed monasteries and churches with lands and wealth, which they believed would soon be of so little use to them, and became suddenly penitent, assuming the monk’s shirt of hair, and otherwise showing evidence of their piety and humility. William of the Long Sword, Duke of Normandy, Hugh Duke of Burgundy, Hugh Count of Arles, the Emperor Henry II., all renounced their wealth and position to become monks. Nobles had left lands and castles to the Church, the deeds being drawn up by monks and witnessed by prelates and sovereigns, as though no day of reckoning was at hand, the form being invariably as follows: “Seeing that the end of the world is now approaching, and that every day accumulates fresh miseries, I, Baron —— (or King ——), for the good of my soul, give to the monastery of ——,” etc. The Church, which before was poor, now became gorged with wealth, and the ignorance and credulity of the people secured the treasures to the now powerful prelates.

During this period of excitement and terror the number of pilgrimages to the Holy Land had enormously increased, so much so that the Saracen masters of Jerusalem, with the view of putting a stop to the now troublesome and inconvenient influx of Christians to the Holy City, commenced to persecute the pilgrims, thus creating a very great ill-feeling against themselves throughout Europe. Peter the Hermit, a monk of Amiens, took up the cause of his ill-treated brethren, and forthwith commenced to preach a holy war against the Saracens of Syria, Pope Urban II. and his priests promising absolution from all sin to those who took up arms against the Infidel. A vast multitude of rabble from all parts of Europe soon started on their march to the Holy Land, being divided into three large armies, one led by Walter the Penniless, another by Peter the Hermit, and the third by Gottschalk, a monk. The armies gave themselves up to unheard-of iniquities, spreading poverty and misery on all sides in their march, braining all who refused to give up their provisions and property to them, and, at last, arriving in Constantinople footsore and diseased, having left two-thirds of their comrades to die of starvation on the road. Crossing over into Syria, they met the Saracen foe, who quickly put an end to their sufferings by annihilating the whole lot. Seven other Crusades followed, one composed altogether of children, who, the priests declared, were to be the inheritors of the Holy Land, it being now apparent that full-grown men were too sinful to conquer the Infidel. The army of children was accordingly shipped off to destroy the Saracen foe, but never reached Palestine, the boys having been sold as slaves, and the girls drafted into Turkish harems. When, at last, Acre surrendered to the Crusaders under Richard Cœur de Lion, the leniency displayed by the Khalif Omar in his capture of Jerusalem in 637 was repaid by 2,700 Saracen hostages being brutally beheaded outside the city walls for the sport of the Christian soldiers. All this time Europe was in a constant state of agitation and alarm, which was further intensified by the revival in 1180 of the doctrines of John Erigena by the Saracen philosopher Averroes, who boldly preached them in Spain, making converts in all directions, among whom was the great Jewish writer, Maimonides, who had been held by the Jews in the highest esteem, and considered second only in wisdom to Moses.

Under the tolerant and liberal rule of the Saracens Averroism made great progress in Spain, where Mohammedans, Christians, and Jews were permitted to live peaceably together, and where philosophical theories were openly and fearlessly taught; but a day of reckoning was at hand. On the death of the Caliph Hakem, Almansor usurped the throne, and, in order to secure his position, entered into a secret treaty with the orthodox section of the Mohammedans, thus establishing a Church and State party of enormous power, which culminated in the expulsion of Averroes from Spain and the suppression of the study of philosophy. Thus were crushed again philosophy and progress in 1198. The Christians of Italy, Germany, and France followed suit, ordering all Averroists to be seized and punished, and shortly afterwards extending the order also to Jews and Mohammedans. From the accession of Almansor dates the downfall of the Mohammedan power in Spain and the commencement of the fearful persecutions of Infidels by the Christian Church, which has left such a dark blot upon the pages of European history.

The Saracen power in Europe was annihilated by Ferdinand and Isabella, and the Inquisition established by Pope Innocent IV. in 1243. For two hundred years it seemed as though philosophy and progress were indeed dead, so relentlessly did the Church persecute all heretics and denounce all scientific studies. But an occurrence took place in 1440 which completely turned the tide of events. In that year the art of printing was introduced into Europe by the Venetians, who had learnt it from the Chinese; and in 1469 it was carried to France, and from thence to all the great cities of the continent. At first the Church paid little heed to the innovation; but it soon became apparent that a dangerous medium had been introduced for intercommunication of the people and their governments, which must lessen the need and importance of a religious medium. Books were only allowed to be published under the supervision of the ecclesiastical authority, and heavy penalties inflicted upon all who attempted to circulate any heretical works. The writings of Averroes, Maimonides, and other heretics, were ordered to be burnt, the doctrines taught by them being declared blasphemous and subversive of all good government. The leading and most learned Jews and Mohammedans in Spain and Southern France were avowed Averroists, and did not shrink from preaching their doctrines in the public thoroughfares; and the infection was extending so rapidly that the Church feared that a great calamity would overtake the orthodox faith unless some steps were taken to put a stop to the heresy. The Inquisition, which had been found so effective in silencing heretics in France, was now utilised for dealing with the Jews and Moors. A cry was made in Castile by the orthodox Christians for the establishment of the Inquisition in Spain, which was immediately taken up by all haters of progress; and so great was the influence brought to bear by the Dominican monk and arch-fiend, Torquemada, upon the Queen Isabella that the Pope was petitioned for a bull, which was issued in 1478, for the detection and suppression of heresy in Spain. The Christian monster, Torquemada, proved himself a worthy agent of the Inquisition, burning at the stake in eighteen years about 10,220 persons of both sexes. Dispensations from the operation of the Inquisition were sold by the Pope to such as could afford to purchase them; and in 1492 all unbaptised Jews, old or young, were ordered by Torquemada to leave Spain within four months, and to leave behind them all those effects they could not sell in the meantime. These poor wretches swarmed in the roads in their thousands, rending the air with their piteous cries, the Christian Spaniards being forbidden to render assistance under penalty of torture. The consequence was that hundreds and thousands of men, women, and children died by the wayside from hunger, thirst, and fatigue. In 1502 a further order was issued at Seville for the Spaniards to drive out of their country every Infidel they could hear of, no matter what the nationality might be. The Moors were particularly indicated in the document, one clause stating that it was justifiable to kill Mohammedans on account of their shameless infidelity. The consequence was that, in a marvellously short space of time, there was not a Mohammedan to be found on the European side of the Straits of Gibraltar. In spite of the precautions made use of by the Christians for the prevention of the study of philosophy and the acquirement of knowledge, the news of the discovery of America by Columbus, in 1492, very soon found its way all over Europe, producing the most intense sensation, for the discovery came as a terrific blow to the Church and its inspired Bible. To make matters worse, in 1522 Magellan sailed completely round the world, thus demonstrating conclusively that the earth was a globe.

Matters appeared to be going wrong with the Church, in spite of the recent bloody triumphs of the Inquisition; and the clergy and laity were not slow to notice the turn events were taking. Martin Luther, a young Augustinian monk, in particular, took advantage of the unsettled state of the mind of Europe to make a furious onslaught against the Pope and the Church. Having been told by Cajetan that he must “believe that one single drop of Christ’s blood is sufficient to redeem the whole human race, and the remaining quantity that was shed in the garden and on the cross was left as a legacy to the Pope, to be a treasure from which indulgences were to be drawn,” this young priest declared he never would accept such a doctrine, and commenced forthwith to preach openly against the sale of indulgences, declaring that the Church must stand or fall on the Bible, which taught no such doctrine. The orthodox clergy, on the contrary, declared that the Bible derived its authority from the Church, and not the Church from the Bible, and demanded that Luther should be arrested for heresy. In 1520 the Pope excommunicated the bold monk, who, in return, defiantly burnt the Papal bull, for which he was ordered to appear before the Imperial Diet at Worms, when he deliberately refused to retract. The views of the reformer quickly spread through Switzerland and Germany, Pope Leo thundering forth his anathemas upon all who joined the dangerous movement, until, at length, after many bloody wars and horrible massacres, such as the slaughter of the Huguenots, etc., the Reformation was firmly established, and the Bible became, to the Reformed Church, the only guide to morals and duty. At first, the Pope sullenly submitted to what appeared to be the inevitable; but soon it became apparent that, in order to keep any authority at all over the people, some plan would have to be adopted to curtail the growing influence of the Reformed Church. Accordingly, Pope Paul III., in 1540, established the Society of Jesus, the members of which order were sent abroad all over Europe for the purpose of secretly undermining the influence of the Reformers. Three years afterwards, as if to counteract the evil designs of the Jesuits, there appeared on the scene the celebrated work of Copernicus, which was destined for ever to demolish the geocentric theory of Ptolemy, and to establish the heliocentric philosophy, which taught that the sun was the centre of our system, and that all the planets, including our earth, revolved in regular order round it, and which, of course, called forth a volley of abuse from the Vatican, the theory being declared heretical and its author anathematised. The effect of all this was to cause quite a revolution in thought among the learned of Europe, which gave rise to another schism in the Church, departure being this time from the ranks of the Reformers.

Arianism was once more revived by a number of people, who maintained that the doctrine of the Trinity was un-Scriptural, and that Jesus was but a man like themselves, though endowed with great authority from god. The orthodox and reformed Churches both alike were alarmed at this turn of events, and co-operated to suppress the new heresy, denouncing all philosophical studies, and branding the Unitarians as Infidels. The upshot was that Servetus was burnt to death at the stake by the order of the Trinitarian Calvin, and a check was thereby given to the propagation of the Arian doctrines. It is satisfactory to note that a Unitarian College now stands upon the very spot where Servetus was murdered.

Again progress was arrested, and this time it seemed as though a mortal blow had been dealt at all acquirement of knowledge, for shortly afterwards, in 1559, Pope Paul IV. established the Congregation of the Index Expurgatorius for the purpose of examining all books and manuscripts intended for publication, and of deciding whether the people should read them. The usual counterpoise, however, quickly made its appearance, proving once more that progress cannot be arrested for long.