Synopses & Reviews
At the beginning of the twelfth century a group of scholars, mainly centred on Paris and Bologna, began an enterprise of unprecedented scope. Their intention was to produce a once-and-for-all body of knowledge that would be as perfect as humanity's fallen state permits, and which would provide a view of God, nature, and human conduct, promoting order in this world and blessedness in the next.
Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europereconsiders this enterprise, and its long-term effects on European History. It describes the creative intellectual impulse that brought it into being and sustained it for two centuries, and shows how it was able to bring into existence a systematic body of knowledge of the natural and supernatural worlds, including the whole area of human relations, which together embraced all areas of possible truth and defined the conduct required of all members of western Christendom.
The whole work will be in three volumes. This first is concerned with the beginnings, in the years between 1060 and 1160, when the main lines of scholastic thought were laid down and its agenda established. It examines the intellectual principles of enquiry and the sources used in developing the whole field of assured knowledge. It seeks to provide an understanding of the new outlook on the world, the supernatural and an organized Christian society, and to show why this proved so powerful and so attractive to the time. The book explores the social, intellectual, and political developments that provided the conditions to create the new system in the great schools of learning in France and Italy, and the rewards that attracted experts who could both administer the system and make it known and acceptable to the generality of people whose lives were affected by it.
Elegantly written, enlivened with wit and vivid anecdote, Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europewill be a work of seminal importance for the understanding of the civilization of the Middle Ages, and of the evolution of modern European societies.
Review
"Here the 'practical, intellectual and spiritual aspects' of twelfth-century history are discussed by a historian whose knowledge of the period and mastery of the art of writing are almost without equal."
History Today "The combination of synthesis with fresh and vivid work on detail is one of Southern's particular gifts ...The proportions of the book will fit harmoniously into the overarching structure outlined at the start of the book, but this volume can also stand just as well on its own - already a classic." Reviews in History
"The recovery of scholasticism therefore calls for two qualities: technical expertise, and lucidity of thought and expression. No historian combines these qualities more conspicuously than R.W. Southern." Times Literary Supplement
"This book is more than a synthesis of a life's work on twelfth-century Western culture by Britain's greatest medievalist - it is the most important book in recent decades on the twelfth-century renaissance and its significance. This is a book to be treasured and reflected upon for years to come." Norman F. Cantor, New York University
"That such a sweeping vision is expressed so lucidly, while simultaneously conveying the human details and experience of the period with a combination of sensitivity and scholarly rigour, justifies the description by its first reviewers: 'masterpiece.'" Journal of Ecclesiastical History
Synopsis
The whole work will be in three volumes . This first volume explores the social, intellectual, and political conditions behind the establishment of the new system in the great schools of learning in France and Italy, and the rewards that attracted experts who could both administer the system and make it known and acceptable to the generality of people whose lives were affected by it.
Synopsis
to produce a definitive body of knowledge that would be as perfect as humanity's fallen state permits, and which would provide a view of God, nature, and human conduct, promoting order in this world and blessedness in the next.
Synopsis
‘This is the most important book in recent decades on the twelfth-century renaissance and its significance.’
—Norman F. Cantor, New York Univeristy
‘The book is a model of how to combine forceful argument with elegant presentation, and is going to be an important vehicle for conveying an understanding of medieval thought and the Christian enterprise.’
—Theology
‘Because it is so clear and accessible, it is just what teachers of medieval culture (whether in Europe or America) have been looking for. But Richard Southern is intending much more here than a superb student text. [This] is a book for everyone interested in the origins of modern western culture and the history of knowledge.’
—Michael Clanchy, University College, London
At the beginning of the twelfth century a group of scholars began an enterprise of unprecedented scope. Their intention was to produce a definitive body of knowledge that would be as perfect as humanity’s fallen state permits, and which would provide a view of God, nature, and human conduct, promoting order in this world and blessedness in the next. Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe reconsiders this enterprise, and its long-term effects on European History.
The whole work will be in three volumes. This first is concerned with the beginnings, in the years between 1060 and 1160, when the main lines of scholastic thought were laid down and its agenda established. The book explores the social, intellectual, and political conditions behind the establishment of the new system in the great schools of learning in France and Italy, and the rewards that attracted experts who could both administer the system and make it known and acceptable to the generality of people whose lives were affected by it. Scholastic Humanism and the Unification of Europe will be a work of seminal importance for the understanding of the civilization of the Middle Ages, and of the evolution of modern European societies.
About the Author
R. W. SOUTHERN was a Fellow of the British Academy and an Honorary Fellow of Balliol, Exeter, and St John’s Colleges, Oxford, and of Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge. His publications include: The Making of the Middle Ages (1953), Medieval Humanism (1970), and St. Anselm, A Portrait in a Landscape (1900).
Table of Contents
Preface.
List of Maps and Plates.
Abbreviations and Short Titles.
Two Preliminary Maps.
Introduction.
Part I: Aims, Methods, and Environment.
1. Scholastic Humanism.
2. Chartrian Humanism: A Romantic Misconception.
3. The Sovereign Textbook of the Schools: the Bible.
4. Social and Political Roots of Scholastic Thought.
5. The Men and their Rewards.
6. The Scholastic Metropolis of Northern Europe.
Part II: Turning Doctrine into Law.
7. The Outlook in Northern Europe.
8. The Outlook in Northern Italy.
9. The Integration of Doctrine and Law: Gratian.
Index.