133 Arts and Sciences
Learning Objective
- Write about the scientific and artistic advancements of the High Middle Ages and how these advancements were influenced by certain technological advancements and changes in thinking
Key Points
- After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Middle Ages was a time of little scientific and artistic advancement until the renaissance of the 12th century, when increased contact with the Islamic world and Byzantium revived the arts.
- William of Ockham insisted that the world of reason and the world of faith had to be kept apart, and this new approach liberated scientific speculation from the dogmatic restraints of Aristotelian science, paving the way for new approaches.
- After the renaissance of the 12th century, medieval Europe saw a radical change in the rate of new inventions, innovations in the ways of managing traditional means of production, and economic growth.
- The period saw major technological advances, including the adoption of gunpowder, the invention of vertical windmills, spectacles, and mechanical clocks, and greatly improved water mills, building techniques (Gothic architecture, medieval castles), and agriculture in general (three-field crop rotation).
- In northern European countries, Gothic architecture remained the norm, and the Gothic cathedral was further embellished. In Italy, architecture took on a new form, inspired by classical ideals.
- The most important development of late medieval literature was the ascendancy of the vernacular languages.
Terms
Euclid
A Greek mathematician (~300 BCE), often referred to as the “Father of Geometry.” His Elements is one of the most influential works in the history of mathematics.
Gutenberg
German blacksmith, goldsmith, printer, and publisher who introduced printing to Europe. His invention of mechanical movable type printing started the Printing Revolution and is widely regarded as the most important event of the modern period.
Nicolaus Copernicus
A Renaissance mathematician and astronomer (1473–1543) who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe that placed the Sun, rather than Earth, at the center.
the Reconquista
Period of approximately 781 years in the history of the Iberian Peninsula, from after the Islamic conquest in 711-718 to the fall of Granada, the last Islamic state on the peninsula, in 1492.
Thomistic
The philosophical school that arose as a legacy of the work and thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225–1274), philosopher, theologian, and Doctor of the Church.
Hellenic
From Ancient Greek; Hellenikos, “of or relating to Greece or Greeks.”
vernacular
The native language or native dialect of a specific population, especially as distinguished from a literary, national, or standard variety of the language, such as Latin.
Overview
The renaissance of the 12th century was a period of many changes at the outset of the High Middle Ages. It included social, political, and economic transformations, and an intellectual revitalization of Western Europ