- Otto I The Great: Otto I was the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. He was considered to be one of the most powerful European rulers. His name goes down in the history for establishing a strong state of Germany. Under his reign, papal politics saw significant advances, making his rule the true beginning of the Holy Roman Empire.
- Cluniac movement: was one of the most important movements of the medieval ages. Founded at the French Monastery of Cluny in 910, it was a movement aimed at the reformation of the Catholic churches. People adopted the old monastic ways of living, shifting their focus on spiritual things, away from themselves. Gradually the idea spread across whole Europe and inspired the construction of many new monasteries, making Cluny the center of monastic revival and the first internationally recognized monastic organization.
- Lateen Sail: It was one of the most common sail rig designs in the nautical Europe, which allowed the sailing in the wind. It was Europeans who took the design from the ancient societies and developed it further, prior to which it consisted of square shaped rigs making it difficult to sail close to the wind.
- Averroes: aka Ibn Rushd, is a one of those historical tall figures, who had equal influence in the Arab Islamic school of philosophy as well as the West-European philosophy. In the Arab world, he played a key role in defending Greek philosophy against the onslaughts of modern Arab theologians and the revival of Aristotelian philosophy. His works during the medieval ages became the foundation for the modern day philosophy.
- Aristotelian Philosophy: The philosophical works of Aristotle were hidden from the world for a long time. However, once they started to get translated, his thoughts ended up becoming a key component of civilization to an extent unimaginable. The jargons that he used in his works are still followed. His works ranged in the numerous fields of politics, science, medicine, ethics and philosophy and laid the foundation stone for the modern day practices.
Philosophy during the medieval times saw most of its development in the period between the decline of the classic pagan culture and the Renaissance. Christian ideology in the early medieval tended to be mystical and influential, relying solely on the doctrine of Plato, and was less open to the reason and the logical argument. Much of Aristotle’s work was lesser known in the West during this period. It was only after the fifteenth century that the humanists decided to devote considerable time and energy into making Aristotelian texts clear and precise. With this began a new philosophical tradition, called Aristotelianism. By the eleventh century, this school of philosophy had found its place in the Arabic tradition, developed by Jews, Syrians, Turks, Persians, and Arabs. By the next century came the Latin translations of Aristotle’s works, which introduced him to the medieval Europe, and thus began the revival of intellect in Europe.
When his work opened up to the rest of the Europe, it began to make significant impacts. Works of Aristotle have made an incredible contribution to the jargons used to express the philosophical concepts, problems, and experiences. Philosophical concepts of Aristotelianism define a methodology, which defines a critical and logical approach to the understanding of the currently existing doctrines, and emphasizes on knowledge, which can be acquired naturally via the senses of the body and the exercise of reason. His work on metaphysics went on to place the human beings at the center of the realm of existence. He developed the earlier works of Socrates and Plato in a more logical and down-to-earthly manner. He was the first one to create a comprehensive system of philosophy, which was based around ethics, metaphysics, logic, aesthetics, politics, epistemology, and science. He rejected the ideas of rationalism and idealism, which were popularized by Plato, and in turn, advocated the more logical virtues of practical knowledge and wisdom. His ideas went on to become the foundation of much of the modern work in the varied fields of science, medicine, politics, and ethics and philosophy.
The time when Aristotelian philosophy was developing, Islamic philosophy was developing simultaneously in the neighboring part of the world. However, there existed many differences between the two, and Aristotelian philosophy has said to begin to pose this intellectual challenge to the widely believed philosophical beliefs. Among the many differences between the two, are the questions of eternity, the nature of being, and a practical real-world distinction between essence and existence. Aristotelian ethics were based on the morality of virtue and principles. This created a conflict with the Islamic philosophers, raising important issues regarding the understanding the nature of the universe, specially its origination. Aristotle’s works argued that the world is eternal, which is in direct contradiction with the preaching of the Qur’an that the world was created by God out of nothing. Aristotle’s work on logic seemed to threaten the significance of Arabic language, in which Prophet Muhammad received the Qur’an from God.
In middle ages, the Greek thought began to penetrate the world of Jewish philosophers. Although, a Jewish philosopher Maimonides highly regarded Aristotle’s thoughts, other medieval Jewish philosophers were highly critical of Aristotelianism. They opposed the Aristotelian philosophy and scorned the notion that Aristotle had anything to teach the Jews. Unwilling to grant any kind of originality to Aristotelian school of philosophy, Jewish legends were created to make Aristotle a visitor to have visited Jerusalem, where he met with Jewish sages and became their pupil. This created an impression that Greek philosophy is nothing but Jewish at its foundation.
Works Cited
Cantor, Norman. "Otto I The Great". In The Civilization of the Middle Ages. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993.
Cantor, Norman. "Aristotelian Philosophy". In The Civilization of the Middle Ages. New York: Harper Perennial, 1993.
