The Alchemical Transformation of the Middle Ages

On several occasions throughout its history, America has been illustrated as a “melting pot.” Popularized by the 1908 play of the same name, it describes the way in which a homogenous society develops, where different ethnic groups combine to become one. I considered saying the Middle Ages could be described as a melting pot for the Classical, Christian, and Germanic cultures and ideas, but as I delved more deeply, I began to visualize it as more like a flow chart; it is easy to see how some of the most important ideas of each culture feed into one another and through that process transform. Keeping in theme with the myth of the “melting pot” of America, however, these changes did not occur effortlessly. People and their institutions are not fluid, and do not meld together initially and with great ease. Synthesis only occurs after the ingredients have come to a boil.

Let us begin with Charlemagne. Charlemagne is a key figure in the melding of these three traditions, in that he is a Germanic warrior figure who became an important Christian leader, thus helping Christianity cement its transformation from a peaceful religion into powerful force to be reckoned with. In addition to his identity as a Christian, he held Classical ideas in high regard. It is due to his efforts in educational reform and the translation of classical texts that some eighty percent of the oldest classical Latin manuscripts survive in Carolingian copies (Fiero, 2006.). Another interesting ingredient from the Germanics that was duly incorporated into the Middle Ages was the system of feudalism. Feudal society, in which a lord owned land, had vassals, who are most popularly known today as knights, to fight for him and protect his property, and serfs, unfree peasants, to mind and maintain the land, had a huge impact on the artwork of the time, one of these aspects being literature. For one, it spurred the chivalric tales of Amadis of Gaul, stories of romance, honor, and knight-errantry, which were satirized in the incredible novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes some time later.

The hierarchy inspired by the feudal system no doubt influenced Christianity as well; the pope could well be viewed as the lord of the land (though his domain conveniently covered the kingdom of heaven as well), with the bishops as his vassals protecting his laws and carrying them out, while citizens may be seen as serfs: unfree and unable to obtain their own salvation without the assistance of the Church’s seven sacraments. Borrowing from Classical importance placed on drama, the Church began to conduct their own pageants and plays. Like Classical dramas, which often warned against the consequences of human folly, the Christian dramas did as well, though they had a very different take on the subject. In morality plays such as Everyman, they illustrated the Christian ideal that salvation is unobtainable by man, and that only through God’s grace was happiness achievable. Also as with the Classical tradition, a premium was placed on education. However, unlike Classical notions, faith, as per the Augustinian credo, was viewed to supercede reason (Fiero, 2006.). It is perhaps due to the abandonment of reason that the Middle Ages were referred to by the Renaissance thinker Petrarch as “the Dark Ages.”

The bonding of these various cultures had many benefits; it is through them that we have the advent of the illuminated manuscript, the monastery, the appearance of universities, and a revival of remarkable architecture, typically in the form of extravagant cathedrals. However, these improvements came at a price. The transformation from Christianity, a religion popularized by a pacifist, into the tenets by which men claimed territory not only resulted scores of deaths, but also sowed the seeds of dissent and disillusionment with and within the Church. The development of science and any knowledge based on empirical evidence and logic was severely stunted because it was, unfortunately, viewed as a threat. Human growth may be understood as both advanced and inhibited by the Middle Ages.

The effects of the amalgamation of Germanic, Christian, and Classical ideals may be considered both beneficent and maleficent. It is impossible to look at the cathedral of Notre Dame or read Dante’s Divine Commedia and not realize the incredible works that took place during this period. At the same time, the restriction upon free thought and will cannot be denied. However, it is also important to view the Middle Ages as the precursor to the Renaissance, as the age that made the Renaissance both necessary and possible. If we consider the Renaissance as a true age of rebirth, then we must consider the adage that the day is darkest before the dawn.

© 2007 Krystal Lyons

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