Category: History - Medieval/Middle Ages

The Thirteenth, Greatest of Centuries

Deeds and men of a marvellous period. Evolution and man. No intellectual development in historical period. The wonderful medieval pre-renaissance. Our Gothic ancestors. Education for the classes and masses. Universities, cathedrals, arts, and crafts. Origins in art. Supreme li...

Chapters

26. CHAPTER XXVI

This is the most interesting phase for our generation. Hanseatic League and obscurity of its origin. League of Lombard cities and effect of crusades. Importance of Hansa. Enforc...

32. Chapter XII.: "No scutage nor aid shall be imposed in our kingdom,

unless by common counsel of our kingdom, except for ransoming our person, for making our eldest son a knight, and for once marrying our eldest daughter; and for these there shal...

27. Volume II. of Periods of European Literature, Edited by George

"It will be more convenient to postpone to a later chapter of this volume a consideration of the exact way in which Latin sacred poetry affected the prosody of the vernacular; b...

28. Chapter I.: "In the first place we have granted to God, and by this

our present charter confirmed for us and our heirs for ever, that the English Church shall be free, and shall have her rights entire, and her liberties inviolate; and we will th...

30. Chapter VIII.: "Let no widow be compelled to marry, so long as she

prefers to live without a husband; provided always that she gives security not to marry without our consent, if she holds of us, or without the consent of the lord of whom she h...

31. Chapter XII. has been the subject of more discussion perhaps than any

[Footnote 29: Magna Carta, a Commentary on the Great Charter of King John, with an Historical Introduction by William Sharp McKechnie, M.D., LL.B., D. Phil. Glasgow, James Macle...

20. CHAPTER XX

Women of the century worthy of the great period. St. Clare of Assisi's place in history. Happiness. The supper at the Portiuncula. Peace, in the cloister and woman's influence....

3. CHAPTER III

Education of the Middle Ages usually ridiculed. Ignorance of critics. Scholastics laughed at by those only who know them, but at second hand. "Logic, ethics and metaphysics owe...

6. CHAPTER VI

The Gothic Cathedrals, the stone books of medieval arts. St. Hugh of Lincoln. Wealth of meaning in the Cathedrals. Their power to please. Gothic architecture everywhere, but no...

13. CHAPTER XIII

A generation and the books it reads. Reynard the Fox, the Golden Legend, and the Romance of the Rose. "Reynard the most profoundly humorous book ever written." Powers of the aut...

5. CHAPTER V

Medieval universities and additions to knowledge. Original work done, their best apology. Extensive writings of professors. Enthusiasm of students who copied their books. Post-g...

19. CHAPTER XIX

Dante not a solitary phenomenon. A Troubadour. His minor poems and prose works. His wonderful Sonnets. The growth of appreciation for him. Italian art, great as it kept nearer t...

9. CHAPTER IX

Monastic regulations for collecting and lending books. Library rules. Circulating libraries. The Abbey of St. Victor, the Sorbonne, St. Germain des Prés, and Notre Dame. Fines f...

12. CHAPTER XII

Greatest poetic bequest of the period. Place of rhyme in Latin. Latin hymns the first native poetry in the language. Influence of their charm of rhyme and rhythm on the developi...

16. CHAPTER XVI

The Renaissance, so-called. Before the Renaissance. Gothic architecture and art. Francis the father of the real Renaissance. {xxii} Matthew Arnold and "the poor little man of Go...

21. CHAPTER XXI

Charity occupied a co-ordinate place to education. Pope Innocent III. organized both. His foundations of the City hospitals of the world, the Santo Spirito at Rome the model. Ri...

18. CHAPTER XVIII

The greatest of rulers. His relations as a son, as a husband, as a father. His passion for justice. Interest in education, in books, in the encyclopedia. Tribute of Voltaire. Gu...

7. CHAPTER VII

Solution of problems of social unrest. Blessed is the man who has found his work. Merrie England. The workman's pleasure in his work. Influence of the Church in the arts and cra...

25. CHAPTER XXV

Geography's wonderful development. Modern problems, Thibet explored, Lhasa entered. This perhaps the greatest triumph of the century. Marco Polo's travels. Former mistrust now u...

10. CHAPTER X

Literature equal to accomplishment in other lines. Architecture and literature, and the expression of national feelings. National epics of three western-most nations informed wi...

4. CHAPTER IV

Largest universities of all time. More students to the population than at any time since. Discussion as to the numbers in attendance. Comparative average ages of students. How s...

14. CHAPTER XIV

Prose of the century as great as the poetry. Medieval Latin unappreciated but eminently expressive. The prose style, simple, direct and nicely accurate. Saintsbury's opinion as...

24. CHAPTER XXIV

Origins in popular self-government. Representation in the governing body. German free cities. Swiss declaration of independence. Christian socialism and "the three eights." Satu...

8. CHAPTER VIII

Rise of painting. Franciscans and Dominicans, patrons of art. St. Francis' return to nature, the incentive of art. Cimabue's Madonna. Gaddi. Guido, Ugolino and Duccio of Siena....

17. CHAPTER XVII

The nobility and education. Studies at Cologne and Paris. The distinguished faculty of Paris in his time. _Summa Contra Gentiles_. Pope Leo XIII. and Aquinas' teaching. Foundati...

15. CHAPTER XV

St. Francis and the first nativity play. Earlier mystery plays. Chester cycle. Humorous passages introduced. Complete bible story represented. Actors' wages and costumes. Innoce...

23. CHAPTER XXIII

Legal origins in other countries besides England. Montalembert and France. St. Louis and the enforcement of law. Fehmic courts of Germany and our vigilance committees. Andrew II...

29. Chapter VII.: "A widow, after the death of her husband, shall

forthwith and without difficulty have her marriage portion and inheritance; nor shall she give anything for her dower or for her marriage portion, or for the inheritance which s...

22. CHAPTER XXII

Legal origins most surprising feature of the century. Significance of Magna Charta. Excerpts that show its character. The church, widows and orphans, common pleas, international...

1. CHAPTER I

Deeds and men of a marvellous period. Evolution and man. No intellectual development in historical period. The wonderful medieval pre-renaissance. Our Gothic ancestors. Educatio...

11. CHAPTER XI

A great century of song. The high character of women, as represented in these songs. Nature-poetry, and love. Walter Von der Vogelweide, Hartman Von Aue, Wolfram Von Eschenbach,...

2. CHAPTER II

Origins of universities. Triumph of invention. Character unchanged ever since. University evolution, Salerno, Bologna, Paris, Oxford, Cambridge, Italian, French and Spanish Univ...