HUM 120 Study Guide 12 The High Middle Ages

1. What is feudalism, and how does it relate to chivalry?

Feudalism is a military and politcail sytem based on personal loyality and kinship. This feudalism system arouse a conde of conduct called chihivalry. Chicalry was a warrior code that imspried the vassal to honror his lord and to respect his peers. Chivalry was the code of conduct for knight's at the time when the Fuedal System (medieval Europe) operated

2. Describe the relationship between the Church and the secular world. What does the textbook mean when it describes the High Middle Ages as “The Age of Synthesis?”

during the Middle Ages, even the illiterate masses would know by heart every character among the Hebrew patriarchs, all the gospel stories, as well as a number of more current morality tales with a strong religious message. Thus Christianity provided the preeminent meme that loosely held together the disparate cultural influences from the Classical world and from the budding natural sciences and philosophies. Indeed, every large town or city had its Gothic cathedral, whose spires topped the skyline as a manifest symbol of the towering social and cultural role of Christianity in blending the secular and the sacred. For these reasons, the late Medieval era has been called “The Age of Synthesis.”

The High Middle Ages are often referred to as the age of synthesis because of the attempt to bring secular and spiritual culture and life together in one unified form

3. What were the leading philosophical ideas of this period and who were the main proponents of these theories?

Much of this was directly influenced by the newly translated materials that were coming out of Baghdad during this period.  Philosophers such as Aristotle who had been lost to western audiences were suddenly back on the scene. The Greek philosopher whose works became the heart of Scholasticism was Aristotle. Scholasticism’s primary goal was to Bring Aristotle’s ideas into accord with Christian doctrine

Just as Augustine put a Christian spin on Plato's ideas, Thomas Aquinas would do the same thing with Aristotle. During this period there was a raging debate about the relationship between reason and faith. Abelard began the whole argument by distinguishing between faith and reason, and the debate intensified from there.

Aquinas utilized Aristotle's empirical method to argue that God essentially gives humans two paths to truth: faith and reason. Like Aristotle, Aquinas believes that humans can trust their senses to interpret the world around them and that our senses provide us with reason and knowledge. Unfortunately, according to Aquinas, there are some matters that cannot be analyzed or solved by reason alone; reason has its limits, and when our senses cannot help us, we must rely on faith.

4. What styles of literature dominated the Romanesque and Gothic periods?

During the Romanesque period, the styles of literature that dominated are monastic and feudal wrintgi that perpetuales thte feudal nad monastic values of the Early Middle Ages. During the Gothic period, the two styles of literature that dominated are vernacular and courtly writing which introduces urban and courtly themes while moving away from the world of the monasteries.

5. What are the defining characteristics of Romanesque and Gothic churches?

The Romanque church architects ncorporate "Roman" designs in their own works such as revived such basic Roman elements as the basilica plan and employed rounded arches, vaulted ceilings, and columns for both support and decoration. The Gothic churches want to create a space that represents God's presence. This is achieved through many architectural innovations such as the ribbed vault, the pointed arch and flying buttresses.

6. Pope Gregory originated the style of "gregorian chant," the basis for medieval church music, allegedly after being inspired by the cooing of a dove he believed was sent to him by God.  Although gregorian chant remained the basis for most spiritual music, how did music develop and change in the High Middle Ages?