HISTORY of the STUDY of THEOLOGY [Pt
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HISTOEY OF THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY BY CHARLES AUGUSTUS gRIGGS D.D., D.LITT. Prepared for Publication by his Daughter EMILIE GRACE BRIGGS, B.D. VOL. II. NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1916 Published igt6 All rights reserved CONTENTS PART I THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE AGES CHAP. PA01 I. THE STUDY OF THEOLOOT IN THE NINTH AND TENTH .1 CENTURIES ...... 1 II. THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY IN THE ELEVENTH AND TWELFTH CENTURIES . .17 III. THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF THE UNIVERSITIES IN THE TWELFTH AND THIRTEENTH CENTURIES . 40 IV. THE DECLINE OF SCHOLASTICISM IN THE FOURTEENTH AND FIFTEENTH CENTURIES . .61 PART II THE MODERN AGE L THE REVIVAL OF LEARNING . .82 IL THE REFORMATION ..... 105 III. THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY IN THE SEVENTEENTH AND EIGHTEENTH CENTURIES .... 143 IV. THB STUDY OF THEOLOGY IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ...... 184 BIBLIOGRAPHY ...... 213 INDEX ....... 219 PART I THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY IN THE MIDDLE AGES CHAPTER I THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY IN THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES 1. A palace school was established by the Franks for the training of princes and nobles ; when Charlemagne ap pointed Alcuin as its superintendent, it rapidly became a great centre of learning. The palace school was founded by one of the pre decessors of Charlemagne for the training of the sons of princes and nobles. As a court school it moved about with the monarch from place to place. Charlemagne himself was trained there.1 He had some knowledge of Greek as well as Latin, and studied with the grammarian, Peter of Pisa ; possibly also with Paul the Deacon (t 797), a Benedictine monk and noted Lombard scholar, who taught Greek at his court for a time, and afterwards wrote a history of the Lombards. The school of the palace was reorganised by Alcuin, . and became celebrated during the eight years of his superintendence. His classes were frequented by Charlemagne himself, the members of his family and 1 Vide Maitre, Les jtcoles Spiscopales d monastiques, pp. 34 seq. 2 HISTORY OF THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY [pt. L many of his courtiers. The emperor sought a reform in education, and states this purpose in the introduc tion to the Book of Homilies, revised at his order by Paul the Deacon : ' Desirous as we are of improving the condition of the ohurches, we impose upon ourselves the task of reviving, with the utmost zeal, the study of letters, well-nigh extinguished through the neglect of our ancestors. We charge all our subjects, as far as they may be able, to cultivate the liberal arts, and we set them the example.' In the year 787 Charlemagne issued the famous capitulary addressed to all the bishops and abbots in his realm : ' During past years we have often received letters from different monasteries informing us that at their sacred services the brethren offered up prayers on our behalf ; and we have observed that the thoughts contained in these letters, though in themselves most just, were expressed in uncouth language, and while pious devo tion dictated the sentiments, the unlettered tongue was unable to express them aright. Hence there has arisen in our minds the fear lest, if the skill to write rightly were thus lacking, so too would the power of rightly comprehending the sacred Scrip tures be far less than was fitting ; and we all know that though verbal errors be dangerous, errors of the understanding are yet more so. We exhort you, therefore, not only not to neglect the study of letters, but to apply yourselves thereto with persever ance and with that humility which is well pleasing to God ; so that you may be able to penetrate with greater ease and cer tainty the mysteries of the Holy Scriptures. For as these con tain images, tropes, and similar figures, it is impossible to doubt that the reader will arrive far more readily at the spiritual sense according as he is the better instructed in learning. Therefore, let there be chosen for this work men who are both able and willing to learn, and also desirous of instructing others ; and let thera apply themselves to the work with a zeal equalling the earnestness with which we recommend it to them.' 1 Alcuin was the chief assistant of Charlemagne in the work of educational reform. According to the Monk of i Vide Mullinger, The Schools o/Oharlet the Great. 1877, pp. 98 ch. l] THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES 3 St. Gall, ' his teaching bore such fruit among the Gauls and Franks that they approached the ancient Romans and Athenians in learning.' 1 But the journeys of the court Alcuin found irksome, and in 790 he withdrew from the palace school. In the following years he took an important part in the theological discussions with the Adoptionists. Although never advanced beyond the order of deacons, he was given a seat in the Council of Frankfort (794), in view of his great reputation for learn ing 1 in the doctrines of the Church.' He took a leading part in the deliberations of that body, which was com posed of representative bishops from all parts of the West, was presided over by papal legates, and took decisive action against Adoptionism and image worship. Five years later, at the Council of Aachen, Alcuin had what he himself calls ' a great disputation ' with a leader of the Adoptionists, Felix of Urgel, and won from him a public confession of error. In 796 Alcuin was appointed abbot of the celebrated monastery of St. Martin at Tours, and there he laboured until his death. He was a great teacher rather than a man of learning, and his Oram- matica gives his views on education. While chiefly a grammarian, he made his influence felt all along the range of scholarship, and wrote text-books on grammar, rhetoric, arithmetic, astronomy and the other liberal arts, some of which have been lost. The Monk of St. Gall declares that his familiarity with the Scriptures ' in their whole extent ' was beyond that of all the other scholars of his time. He revised the text of the Vulgate, and wrote commentaries on various parts of the Bible, in cluding Genesis, the Psalms, the Song of Songs, John's Gospel and the Hebrews. He made great use of the Fathers, and subordinated the literal to the allegorical sense. His works on theology include contributions to 1 Vide Thatcher and M'Neal, Source Book for Mediaval History, p. 52. 4 HISTORY OF THE STUDY OF THEOLOGY fra. t dogmatics, ethics, liturgies, and hagiography. His treatise on the Trinity ' contains the germs of the later scholastic theology.' 1 Three hundred of his letters are extant, and also hymns, epigrams and other forms of verse. Two years after the retirement of Alcuin from the school of the palace, the headship was given to Clement of Ireland, who came to the court of Charlemagne from an Irish monastery in company with Dungal, another noted scholar. Clement continued in charge of the school under the son of Charlemagne, Louis the Pious. A monk of St. Gall writes in the ninth century : ' Two Scots from Ireland lighted with British merchants on the coast of Gaul, men learned without compare as well in secular as in sacred writing. (Charlemagne) enjoined the one named Clement to abide in Gaul ; to whom he entrusted youths of the most noble, middle and lowest ranks, in goodly number. The other he despatched into Italy, and appointed him the monastery of St. Austin beside the Ticinian city, that there such as were willing to learn might gather unto him.' * In 804, the year of Alcuin's death, Charlemagne opened at Osnabrvick a school for training in the Greek language and literature, which was influential in pro moting higher education among the clergy. 2. Alcuin revived the monastic school of Tours, and his great pupil Rabanus Maurus carried his principles and methods into Germany. The pupils of Rabanus, teaching in various monasteries in Northern and Western Europe, greatly enhanced theological education. Under the care of Alcuin the monastery of Tours became a great centre of scholarship. To his monks were distributed ' the honey of the sacred writings,' ' the wine of ancient learning,' and ' the apples of grammatical subtlety.' * Students flocked to him from all parts, and l Vide Hahn, 'Alcuin,' in New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia. • Poole, History of Medieval Thought, pp. 16 seq. t Vide Mullinger, /Schools of Charles the Great, pp. 112 seq. ch. l] THE NINTH AND TENTH CENTURIES 5 the Anglo-Saxons came in such numbers that a native monk is said to have cried : ' They swarm hither like bees to their hive.' Alcuin introduced a reform in the Scriptorium, saying : ' Better than the digging of vines is the penning of books.' His school became noted for the clearness of its script, and the Caroline Minuscule was ' accepted as the standard in the imperial schools.' 1 The greatest scholar among the pupils of Alcuin at Tours was Eabanus Maurus (f 856), Primus Germanice Prceceptor. He was born at Mainz in 776, and was trained in the liberal arts and theology in the monasteries of Fulda and Tours. He became a favourite of Alcuin, who gave him the surname of Maurus, the chief assistant of Benedict, implying thereby that he regarded Rabanus as his own chief successor, which indeed he became. In the year that Alcuin died Rabanus returned to Fulda. He became its most famous teacher, attracting students from all parts. Princes and nobles were trained in his school, as well as monks and clerics, and no applicant was rejected on the ground of poverty.