History 400 Medieval Science, Technology and Magic

The Name of the Rose Paper

Please write a 5-7 page paper evaluating how ’s novel, The Name of the Rose, helps us to understand medieval attitudes towards reason and not-reason, knowledge and learning, God and the Devil, the natural and the supernatural. How does this fit in with the readings that we have done so far in the class? A good paper will move back and forth between the artificial scenario created by Umberto Eco and the texts we have read thus far.

Background1

Ubertino de Casale, Bernardo Gui, Michael of Cesena, and Fra Dolcino (leader of "Dolcinite" heretics prosecuted by Bernardo Gui) are all genuine historical figures who acted pretty much in the way Eco describes in his book. William of Baskerville, Adso, and Jorge, on the other hand, are all imaginary figures. It is not important that you know who "was real" and who is imaginary. All you really need to know is that the background political events as Eco sketches them really did take place, and that the religious and intellectual issues raised here are very much grounded in some kind of historical reality.

The Apocalyptic theme:

At the beginning of the book (set in the year 1327), a series of murders at an Italian abbey is thought to be connected to events predicted in the Book of Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse, the final book of the Christian Bible. This is important not only because of the way it sets up the theme of superstition vs. reason, but also because apocalypticism (belief that the end is really near) was central to the religious/historical context of thirteenth- and fourteenth century Europe.

During the course of the thirteenth century, the apocalyptic teachings of a twelfth- century Calabrian , (1132-1202), gained widespread acceptance in and beyond. In brief, Joachim divided the history of the Church into three distinct ages corresponding to the persons of the Trinity: that of the Father (from the covenant with Abraham to the passion of Jesus Christ), that of the Son (after Christ, in which mankind lives under the grace of the New Testament, or Covenant), and that of the Spirit (which is yet to come and which will be lived in the freedom of the Holy Spirit). Joachim calculated that the final age would begin in the year 1260, though his teachings continued to be important even after that date passed without any obvious cataclysm.

The beginning of the age of the Spirit was to be marked by the emergence of new religious orders who would help convert the entire world to true Christianity and usher in a new Spiritual Church. Not only were many of the heretics referred to in The Name of the Rose radical Joachites (fervent believers in the

1 Courtesy of Prof. Deeana Klepper, Boston University. immediate/imminent arrival of Joachim©ˆs final age), but the entire Franciscan order was heavily under the influence of Joachimism. Under this Joachite scheme, the present was historicized, and Francis became both Moses and Christ as well as the "angel of the sixth seal" of Revelation, the herald of the final age, the apocalyptic figure par excellence. The Joachite Spirituals "knew" that a battle between the forces of Christ (them) and antichrist (their opponents within the Church) was afoot, and interpreted political events according to this scheme.

The Three Religious Orders:

Eco presents Bernardo Gui as a counterpoint to Brother William, one epitomizing medieval superstition against the other’s representation of emerging rationality. Jorge represents yet a third alternative to the Franciscan and Dominican face off between Bernardo and William--traditional monasticism. You might want to pay attention to distinctions drawn between the orders, particularly in regard to their attitudes towards learning and knowledge. However, please keep in mind the fictional nature of the book: it would be misguided to think that all Dominicans thought like Bernardo, or all like William.