There has been a link between spirituality and learning throughout the Middle Ages, from the first monastic schools, to the rise of the cathedral schools and finally with the development of universities. There are differences between monasticism and scholasticism but there are also movements where these two perspectives converge. In this paper I will provide an overview of monasticism and scholasticism during the medieval period, describing their differences and then going on to discuss two movements, the Dominicans and the Brethren of the Common Life, where spirituality and learning come together. Finally, I will conclude with reflecting on how spirituality might be fostered through learning today.
Monasticism and education
Following the fall of the Roman Empire in the West during the fifth century education and literacy fell into decline. There were regions, such as in Ireland, where literacy remained high, but for the most part there was not the economic surplus to support education and so literacy decreased.[1] St. Augustine of Hippo published the first three books of De doctrina christiana (On Christian Doctrine) in 397 in what would become the foundation of medieval education.[2] Writing primarily for clerics, although not to the exclusion of the educated laity, Augustine described ‘certain rules for the interpretation of Scripture’ that would help students when ‘opening such secrets to others’ (Doctr. chr., preface).[3] In the fourth book, published 426, he provided Christian preachers with instructions on how to convey the message.[4] Augustine rejected pagan writings as ‘hurtful’ and to be ‘condemned,’ in favour of ‘the wonderful sublimity and wonderful simplicity of the Scriptures,’ (Doctr. chr., 2:42).[5]
During the fifth and sixth centuries, as the ancient system of education disappeared, the monastic schools became established. St. Benedict (c.480–547), the founder of Benedictine monasticism, received the standard ancient education, liberalia studia, in Rome.[6] On his conversion, Benedict rejected his studies in favour of a life of solitude after he saw ‘his fellow students falling headlong into vice.’[7] Although not explicit in the Rule of Benedict, Jean Leclercq argues that the need for an education is presupposed as a monk would need to be able to read and write in order to practise lectio divina. Not all those entering the monastery would be literate therefore a school became a necessity. Cassiodorus (c.485–c.580) was unsuccessful in an attempt to establish a Christian school in Rome in about 535.[8] He eventually established a monastery at Vivarium in southern Italy which became ‘a prototype for Western monastic education.’[9] His Institutiones outlined how to study both Scripture and the liberal arts and was accompanied by a treatise On Grammar.[10] Boethius (c.480–c.524), known as the ‘father of scholasticism,’ who was a Roman Senator and layman, wrote text books on the seven liberal arts and logic that would become influential in the monastic and clerical schools.[11] Education during the Early Middle Ages thus transitioned from the ancient liberalia studia to the study of theology and the establishment of schools based in monasteries as well as monastic schools.[12]
Scholasticism, cathedral schools and universities
Monastic schools were primarily for those entering the monastery and were therefore little islands of learning.[13] Modest schools associated with cathedrals also developed from as early as 527 when at the Council of Toledo bishops were ordered to provide teachers for boys in their charge under the age of eighteen.[14] With increased urbanisation from the eleventh century onwards there was a need for greater levels of literacy in the general public due to greater social complexity. Many of the great cathedrals of Europe were built during this period and cathedral schools that were established around them, under the control of local bishops, grew in prominence.[15] The cathedral school of Notre-Dame in Paris was perhaps the preeminent of these centres of learning.[16] Scholastic theology dominated cathedral schools, also known as clerical schools, and continued to develop through the twelfth century.[17]
Scholasticism was a new method or approach to understanding faith (intellectus fidei).[18] The method sought to apply scientific and academic principles of study to the understanding of theology in contrast to the older monastic approach to learning.[19] Leclercq differentiates between the two approaches to learning by stating that monastic theology emphasised credo ut experiar (I believe in order to experience), whereas scholastic theology focussed on credo ut intelligam (I believe in order to understand.)[20] It is important to note, however, that the difference is in approach to learning and not necessarily in the ultimate goals or conclusions.[21] McGinn comments that the scholastics insisted their method ‘profited nothing unless it served to increase love of God and neighbo[u]r.’[22] Both monastic and cathedral schools studied the seven liberal arts as had earlier been affirmed by Augustine and Cassiodorus.[23] The masters at cathedral schools were also interested in the study of the sciences and exploring learning in a wider range of disciplines.[24] This included looking to the past to the broader knowledge of antiquity such as Aristotle.[25] Thus monasticism and scholasticism, although sharing common roots, had differences of approach to spirituality and learning. By the late twelfth century universities had started to be established and began to replace cathedral schools as centres of scholasticism.[26] Universitas means ‘a whole’ and could be applied to any trade group or guild and not only to education.[27] The universities in France and England were incorporations of masters, whereas Italian universities were associations of students.[28] The first universities were in Bologna, Paris and Oxford.[29] Universities saw rapid growth in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.[30]
Spirituality and learning
Having considered the development of learning in monastic and scholastic contexts and the differences between these perspectives I will now discuss two movements where the approaches converge. Firstly the Dominican Order in the thirteenth century and secondly the Brethren of the Common Life, a lay community in the fourteenth century.
A. The Dominicans (Order of Preachers)
The Order of Preachers was founded by a Spanish priest St. Dominic de Guzman (1170–1221) under the authority of Pope Honorius III in 1216.[31] The members of the order became known as Dominicans and in England as black friars, due to the black cloak which they wore over their white habits.[32] Dominic was concerned with the rise of heresy among the laity in southern France such as the heretical beliefs promoted by the Cathars.[33] The order was formed in order to train preachers, mainly priests, who would instruct the laity in Christian doctrine.[34] In contrast to earlier monastic communities, Dominican priories were located in the main university cities of Western Europe and enlisted some of the most intelligent men of the time.[35] The standard of education in the order was so highly regarded that members who wished to attend university were exempted from reading a first degree and were permitted to progress immediately to a higher degree.[36] The Dominicans were devoted to the vita apostolica (apostolic life) through the learned preaching of faith and morals.[37] The emphasis that they showed to academic study brought together the earlier monastic way of learning with the scholastic approach. Dominicans were a mendicant order, refusing endowments and relying solely on almsgiving by the people to whom they preached.[38] Dominic believed that the reason the laity were attracted to heresy was because of the poverty of the heretical preachers which was in marked contrast to the wealth of the church.[39]
Dominic’s successor, Jordan of Saxony (c.1190–1237), was a prolific writer of letters and known for his biography of his predecessor, The Libellus of Jordan of Saxony, which is also a history of the formation of the order.[40] An example of Jordan’s preaching was recorded in a report of a sermon he gave in Oxford at Martinmas in 1229. The sermon serves to illustrate the new kind of preaching that was being practiced by the Dominican order.[41] It was given in the presence of many prelates, high-ranking clergymen, who were masters in Oxford, teaching and supported by the communities, but not providing them with pastoral care in return.[42] This practice, although common at the time, was not approved of by many, including the Dominicans, as it was contrary to their teaching on poverty and the vita apostolica. In the sermon, Jordan compared St. Martin of Tours (316–397), a highly regarded cleric whose humility was in contrast to the wealth of his peers and whose feast was being celebrated, with the figure of Simon the high priest as recorded in the apocryphal book of Sirach.[43] The sermon was an unambiguous message to his audience that they should also lead a life of humility and provide pastoral care for the people. Jordan thus demonstrated the combination of monastic spirituality together with academic learning.
B. The Brethren of the Common Life
The intellectually gifted Geert Groote (1340–1385) of Deventer in the Netherlands founded a movement known as the Devotio Moderna (New Spirituality) in an attempt to enable lay people to live a life of holiness, following a common rule of life but without taking vows.[44] These single-sex lay communities were know as the Brethren of the Common Life and were spread throughout northern Europe. They advocated a spirituality that was derived from monastic tradition but which could be practised by the laity.[45] The movement became highly influential in the late medieval period. One of its notable members was Thomas à Kempis (c.1380–1471), who wrote The Imitation of Christ.[46] Groote studied natural, moral and speculative sciences and possibly theology at the University of Paris from his mid-teens, becoming a master by 1358.[47] Despite his scholastic background and talent, in about 1374 he decided to reject the patronage and position he could have achieved following an academic career as he considered them to be ‘tainted with self-interest.’[48] Instead he chose a life of devotion in service and honour to God. Groote was a critic of the way the scholastic method had developed with regards to the study of theology, considering those who studied it as ‘carnal.’[49] This echoed the earlier debates from the previous century between monastics and scholastics over the proper method for learning. Like the Dominicans before them, the spirituality of Devotio Moderna was a move to study faith and meditate on it in order to live the vita apostolica.[50] Groote instructed the community to avoid study of the liberal arts, science or theology if the aim was fame or gain, but instead only to study these subjects if the desire was to honour God.[51] He said, ‘It is the highest of all learning to know that one knows nothing.’[52] Groote clearly did not reject all learning, rather he emphasised the motive for learning above the practice of it. The Brethren of the Common Life therefore continued the move towards integrating spirituality with learning.
Spirituality and learning today
I now turn to the question of how might spirituality be fostered through study today? At the heart of this question is the importance of being able to practise what you teach. An example of somewhere that I believe does this is the Taizé community in the Burgundy region of France. It is an ecumenical monastic community that was formed by Roger Schütz, the son of a Lutheran pastor, at the end of the Second World War. During the war, Schütz moved to the village of Taizé in order to help Jews and Christians who were fleeing German occupation and afterwards helped German prisoners in a similar manner.[53] Following the war Brother Roger returned to Taizé and the community was established in 1948.[54] The community welcomes thousands of mainly young people throughout the year to share in the common life, joining the brothers in prayer three times a day and learning from the brothers through the teaching of theology and meditating on the word in silence and in small group discussion. The community also works in several poor areas around the world, including India and South America. I have been to Taizé many times and have always been stuck by their simplicity of life and their deep devotion to God and the study of Scripture. Worshipping teaching communities like Taizé provide the possibility for believers to say credo ut intelligam et experiar (I believe in order to understand and experience).
Conclusion
At the start of the Middle Ages the education system in Western Europe was in decline following the fall of the Roman Empire in the fifth century. Christian thinkers like Augustine and Cassiodorus promoted the study of the liberal arts within Christian communities and monastics schools became islands of learning for those who were entering holy orders. Bishops also began to establish cathedral schools and it was in these contexts that scholasticism began to develop, which would ultimately lead to the establishment of universities. There were differences in the method of learning between monasticism and scholasticism, with the former favouring study through the experience of spirituality and the latter focussed on applying scientific and academic methods of study. The two approaches did however have the same aim which was to honour God through learning. These approaches converged in a number of movements including the Dominicans in the thirteenth century and the Brethren of the Common Life in the fourteenth century. Both of these movements serve to demonstrate that it is possible to engage in spirituality through learning.
Bibliography
Augustine. “On Christian Doctrine.” Christian Classics Ethereal Library n.d.. <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/doctrine.html> (15 November 2015).
Gonzalez Balado, J. L. The Story of Taizé. London: Mowbray, 1988.
Hamilton, Bernard. Religion in the Medieval West. London: Edward Arnold, 2003.
Jordan of Saxony. Beati Iordanis de Saxonia. Translated by Steven Watts. Cheltenham: Westminster Theological Centre, 2015.
Leclercq, Jean. The Love of Learning and Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture. Translated by Catharine Misrahi. New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 2007.
McGinn, Bernard. The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism – 1200-1350. New York, NY: Crossroad, 1998.
—. The Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the Great through the 12th Century. New York, NY: Crossroad, 1994.
“Converts in the Middle Ages.” Pages 11-44 in Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life: The Devotio Moderna and the World of the Later Middle Ages. By John H. van Engen. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008.
van Engen, John H., trans. Devotio Moderna: Basic Writings. Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1988.
Verger, Jacques. “Cathedral Schools.” Pages 121-122 in Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia. Edited by Thomas Glick, Steven J. Livesey and Faith Wallis. New York, NY; Abingdon: Routledge, 2005.
Watts, Steven. TH6937 Christianity in the Medieval West Lecture Notes. Cheltenham: Westminster Theological Centre, 2015.
[1] Steven Watts, TH6937 Christianity in the Medieval West (Cheltenham: Westminster Theological Centre, 2015), Session 19, Slide 1.
[2] Bernard McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism: Gregory the Great through the 12th Century (New York, NY: Crossroad, 1994), 24; Augustine, “On Christian Doctrine,” Christian Classics Ethereal Library, n.d., <http://www.ccel.org/ccel/augustine/doctrine.html> (15 November 2015).
[3] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 24; Augustine, “On Christian Doctrine”.
[4] Augustine, “On Christian Doctrine”; McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 24.
[5] Augustine, “On Christian Doctrine”.
[6] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 25; Jean Leclercq, The Love of Learning and Desire for God: A Study of Monastic Culture (New York, NY: Fordham University Press, 2007), 12.
[7] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 25.
[8] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 25.
[9] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 25.
[10] Leclercq, The Love of Learning and Desire for God, 19.
[11] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 25-6.
[12] Leclercq, The Love of Learning and Desire for God, 20.
[13] Leclercq, The Love of Learning and Desire for God, 194.
[14] Jacques Verger, “Cathedral Schools,” in Medieval Science, Technology, and Medicine: An Encyclopedia (ed. Thomas Glick, Steven J. Livesey and Faith Wallis; New York, NY; Abingdon: Routledge, 2005), 121.
[15] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 367.
[16] Verger, “Cathedral Schools,” 121.
[17] Leclercq, The Love of Learning and Desire for God, 195.
[18] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 367.
[19] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 367.
[20] Leclercq, The Love of Learning and Desire for God, 212; McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 367.
[21] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 367.
[22] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 368.
[23] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 368.
[24] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 369.
[25] McGinn, The Growth of Mysticism, 369.
[26] Verger, “Cathedral Schools,” 121.
[27] Watts, TH6937 Christianity in the Medieval West, Session 19, Slide 4.
[28] Watts, TH6937 Christianity in the Medieval West, Session 19, Slide 4.
[29] Verger, “Cathedral Schools,” 122.
[30] Watts, TH6937 Christianity in the Medieval West, Session 19, Slide 4.
[31] Bernard Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West (London: Edward Arnold, 2003), 47.
[32] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 47.
[33] Bernard McGinn, The Flowering of Mysticism: Men and Women in the New Mysticism – 1200-1350 (New York, NY: Crossroad, 1998), 35.
[34] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 47.
[35] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 47.
[36] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 40.
[37] McGinn, The Flowering of Mysticism, 295.
[38] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 47.
[39] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 48.
[40] McGinn, The Flowering of Mysticism, 295.
[41] Jordan of Saxony, Beati Iordanis de Saxonia (tr. Steven Watts; Cheltenham: Westminster Theological Centre, 2015), 1.
[42] Jordan of Saxony, Beati Iordanis de Saxonia, 1.
[43] Jordan of Saxony, Beati Iordanis de Saxonia, 3.
[44] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 113.
[45] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 113.
[46] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 113.
[47] John H. van Engen, “Converts in the Middle Ages,” in Sisters and Brothers of the Common Life: The Devotio Moderna and the World of the Later Middle Ages (Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2008), 11.
[48] van Engen, “Converts in the Middle Ages,” 12.
[49] van Engen, “Converts in the Middle Ages,” 12.
[50] Hamilton, Religion in the Medieval West, 113.
[51] John H. van Engen, Devotio Moderna: Basic Writings (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 1988), 68.
[52] van Engen, Devotio Moderna, 76.
[53] J. L. Gonzalez Balado, The Story of Taizé (London: Mowbray, 1988), 21.
[54] Gonzalez Balado, The Story of Taizé, 24.
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