PROBLEMS IN MEDIEVAL H!STORIOGRAPHY:
A SELECTIVE STUDY

Thesis for the Degree cf M. A.

MECHKGAN STATE UNWERSITY

Wayne Mitcheil Biedsce
196:5

THESIS

 

   
    

LI BRA R Y
Michigan Sm.

University

ABSTRACT

Problems in Medieval Historiography: A Selective Study
by

Wayne M. Eledsoe

Up to the nineteenth century there prevailed a
certain point of view that colored every word written or
Spoken about the early Middle Ages. Essentially, this period
was viewed by the pre—nineteenth century writers as being a
“dark age" stigmatized by the triumph of Christianity and
barbarism. These writers saw coming with the fall of Rome
in 476, a dark shadow that was cast over Western EurOpe
leaving humanity to wander in ignorance and superstition
until the veil of darkness was finally rent by the Renais-
sance and Reformation of the fifteenth, sixteenth, and
seventeenth centuries.

This concept of the early Middle Ages as a "dark age“
received its original impetus from the writers of the
Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment periods. The
Spokesman of these movements condemned the Middle Ages on
the grounds that during this era men lost the ability to
understand the Greek and Latin classics, corrupted the
language, and sacrificed rational thinking for faith in the

supernatural. These writers were content to label the Middle

Wayne Mitchell Bledsoe

Ages as a “dark age" and to remove it from the pages of
history as being unworthy of consideration by future genera-
tions.

In reaction to those concepts which had been forced
upon the Middle Ages, there arose in the nineteenth century
a group of scholars who attempted to present the medieval'
period in a greater qualitative light. The leaders of the
Romanticist and Nationalist movements saw the Middle Ages not
as a period engulfed by darkness, but as an age possessing a
particular brilliance of its own. For the romanticists the
Middle Ages represented a period when men expressed them—
selves as they wanted. During this time the passions of men
were allowed to run free. This particular school of thought
could see a series of traits in medieval society that were
never felt by the pre—nineteenthcnntury writers. The
nationalist historians likewise viewed the Middle Ages as a
period of many positive attributes. Being concerned primarily
with the development of the national state, this school of
writers found in the Middle Ages the origin of these states.
They could see in this period primitive achievements which
were later to evolve into full—fledged statehood. Thus,
these scholars saw existing in the Middle Ages a series of
traits and values which led not to a condemnation of the
period but praise. This was an age when the future states
of EurOpe were being formulated and when man eXpressed himself

in a care free manner.

Wayne Mitchell Bledsoe

This conflictcf opinion which has been briefly
sketched here concerning the nature and importance of the
Middle Ages, is essentially the basic problem with which
this present work will deal. This problem will be approached
by offering a comparative study of those sources which have
been influential in shaping medieval thought over the past
three centuries. In essence, this work is not intended to
present a new or unique thesis concerning the Middle Ages,
but its value and usefulness lies within the fact that it
brings together and offers a synthesis of those theses which
have been essential in the development of Medieval history.

While the nineteenth century was responsible for
beginning the task of rediscovering the Middle Ages, which
the previous centuries had dismissed as useless, the greatest
adhievements in lighting this “dark age" have been made in
recent decades. With the increase in number and ability of
specialized scholars studying the various aSpects of the
classical and medieval civilizations, it is no longer possible
to support many of the views tenaciously accepted by pre-
nineteenth century scholars. For example, it is no longer
plausible to accept the belief that the beginning of the
Middle Ages was a “catastrophic“ event heralded by the triumph
of Christianity and barbarism. but rather, as modern research
has indicated, it was an evolutionary process with the dates
of its genesis varying with the consideration of each

particular institution. Along with the study of classical

Wayne Mitchell Bledsoe
and medieval institutions which resulted in the diSproval of
the catastrophic theses, went the invalidation of those
beliefs which held the Middle Ages to be a dark age contain-
ing little of value for the modern world. It is now generally
accepted from the work of modern medievalists that this was
a vital period best characterized as a period of incubation.
It was out of the chaos following the fall of Rome that there
emerged in the Western portion of the Roman Empire a dis-
tinctively different way of life from which the greater and
more enlightened Western European civilization was to emerge.
Just as modern research has pointed out, the true significance
of the Middle Ages is not that it marked the end of classical
civilization, but that it represented the beginning of a new
way of life that was later to blossom into the Western
European civilization. Thus, the major end sought by this
work is to prove by a comparative study of essential medieval
theses that the true significance of the Middle Ages is that
it served as the incubation period for Western European

civilization.

PROBLEMS IN MEDIEVAL HISTORICGRAPHY: A SELECTIVE STUDY

by

Wayne Mitchell Bledsoe

A THESIS

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

MASTERS OF ARTS

Department of History

1965

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

PREFACE 0.0....0.0.0.....OOOOOOOOO0.0000000000000000. ii

CHAPTER
I. The Beginning of the Middle Ages:
Catastrophic or Transitional? .,.......... 1
II. Political Transition (3rd-6th Centuries).... 23
III. Economic Transition (3rd-6th Centuries) .... 39
IV. Social Transition (3rd-6th Centuries) ...... 56
V. Cultural Transition (3rd-6th Centuries)..... 70
VI. The Merovingian and Carolingian Dynasties:
Progression or Retrogression? ............lOl
VII. The Rise of the Moslem Empire and Its

Significance .QOOOOOOOCDCOOOOOOQO00...... 136
mbICI‘USIOlq OCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO0.000.000.0000000000 152

BIBLIOGRPEPHICEKL ESSAY ooooooooooooooooooooo0.00....- 155

Preface

One of the greatest problems confronting any historian
is that of persuading his audience to view a particular
period of the past without preconceived notions. This is an
old story in the study of history and one that is as sad as
it is old. Probably no other period in history has been so
burdened with this task as has the Middle Ages. DeSpite the
efforts of medievalists in recent decades to undo the false
conceptions wrought by earlier scholars wearing glasses of
various colors, many educated persons still persist in accept-
ing those ideas and beliefs that are no longer tenable. For
this reason, one of the objectives of this work will be to
examine the past three centuries of medieval historiography
in an attempt to reconstruct some of these fallacious beliefs
and in the process illustrate the efforts of modern scholars
to combat them. Naturally to present a definitive study of
all the sources embodied in this vast span of years would be
an impossible task. Thus, of necessity, the present work
will deal with those sources which most adequately represent
their reSpective periods while at the same time illustrating
the development made in historiography.

Many of the historiographical problems that have

arisen over the centuries have been created by the conflicts

ii

of opinion concerning the beginning of the Middle Ages. Was
this a “catastrophic“ event hemalded by the onslaught of
Christianity, or was it an "evolutionary" process covering
over two centuries of decay and devastation within classical
civilization? Did the beginning of the Middle Ages mark the
introduction of a "dark age" that was for centuries to engulf
Western Europe, or was it the genesis of a new civilization
that was soon to surpass even the golden-age of Rome? So
significant have these two questions been in the development
of medieval historiography that a second objective of this
work will be to establish whether or not the beginning of the
Middle Ages was a catastrOphic event and if it was the
beginning of a "dark age“ containing little of value for the
modern mind. ‘

More Specifically, our task will involve a consider-
ation of when and under what circumstances the ancient world
came to an end in Western EurOpe and the medieval began. In
considering this problem, it will be necessary to examine the
various institutions of the ancient and medieval world in an
attempt to establish how and when the classical order became
medieval. The method by which this problem will be approached
is not intended to be a chronological history of the early
Middle Ages, but rather a comparative study of those sources
which have been essential in shaping medieval scholarship.

By employing such an approach as this not only will it be
possible to see the development being made by medievalists,
but also to clear away some of the acadenic debris that is no
longer tenable and serves only to obscure the study of

iii

Medieval history. This will enable us to accomplish the
last objective of this work, that of establishing the true
significance of the epoch making era, the early Middle Ages.
The process of research and writing always gives
rise to many unrepayable debts. I would eSpecially like to
acknowledge my indebtedness and eXpress my gratitude to
Professor Ridhard E. Sullivan for his professional guidance,
personal interest, and constant encouragenent which were so
essential in the preparation of this manuscript. Also,
Special recognition must go to my wife, Marilyn Joyce, whose

assistance and encouragement will always be unrepayable.

Wayne Mitchell Bledsoe

Michigan State University

July, 1965

iv

Chapter I
THE BEGINNING OF THE MIDDLE AGES:
CATASTROPHIC OR TRANSITIONAL?

Within the shadows which marked the waning of the
seventeenth century, the new seeds of science which had been
sown thnough the investigations of such men as Descartes and
Bacon, began to germinate and burst forth into full life in
the eighteenth century movement known as the “Enlightenment.“1
Being strongly influenced by these scientificarhievements the
scholars of this, the “Age of Reason“, began to apply those
experimental and inductive methods, by which science was
achieving its conquests, to such areas as ethics, politics,
religion, and economics. With the new sun of reason beaming
in the heavens of the rationalist, he would no longer accept
anything whidh could not be supported by the trestle of
rational thinking.

When this scientific concept of historical investiga-
tion is applied to the early Middle Ages, it is obvious that
the period which witnessed such events as the triumph of
Christianity and barbarism, will not be Spoken of in very

amiable terms. One of the personalities of this age whose

1J. B. Black, The Art of History, (New York, 1926)

p. 22.

2

writings contributed immensely to the darkening of the Middle
Ages was the master mind and founder of the Rationalist
school, the intrepid genius, Voltaire. Also listed among the
rationalist numbers is the prolific and polished historian

Edward Gibbon, whose Dggline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
S along with Voltaire's voluminous work mirrors most exquisitely
this buoyant faith in science and reason.

While most rationalist writers saturate their work
with the intellectual and philoSOphical problems in the
development of humanity, Gibbon's work could best be described
as a literary epic. Using the pristine or golden age of Rome
as an absolute standard2 against which all others are to be
judged, he saw flowing with the wave of barbarians which
engulfed Western Europe, the prOSpects of misery and desola-
tion which would plague Europe for the next thousand years.3
The country was exhausted by famine, pestilence, and war.

To view the irretrievable ruin of populous districts which
had once been adorned with flourishing cities, was a deplor-
able and painful sight.4

Although the material losses were greatly abhorred

by the inhabitants, their most excruciating loss was that of

2Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall
of the Roman EmpireI ed. J. B. Bury, 5th ed., Vol. I
(London, 1923), p. 78.

.BGibbon, IV, p. 55.

4Ibid.

3

personal liberty.5 Under the decaying rule of the
Merovingians personal servitude and slavery were not only
revived, but multiplied.6 Paralleling their loss of indivi-
dual liberty, the Romans found themselves exposed to the laws
of the barbarians, which in comparison to the Roman legal
code, revealed a colossal deficiency in humanity and justice.7
The empire had communicated to the barbarian its language,
law, and religion, only to find all in an unpalatable state
of degradation and its citizens in personal servitude.

Voltaire, who looked upon human history as having
been carried along chiefly by the clash of ideas and civiliza-
tions, is most adequately classified as an intellectual
historian. While it is a laudable task, in the eyes of
Voltaire, to record those ideas which advanced humanity or
rendered greater happiness, it is also reasonable to ignore
those whiCh serve only to burden the memory. Thus, if
silence is significant, Voltaire projects a most unique and
profound criticism of the early Middle.Ages. His treatment
of this period receives no stationary position in the chrono—
logical development of his history and that which can be
ascertained is only fragmentary and piecemeal until the reign

of Charlamagne when the story develOps a more concrete

sIbid., p. 56.

Ibid., p. 132.

7Ibid., p. 123.

form.
Voltaire's mode of approach to the barbarians appears

to be a twin to Gibbon's. With the onslaught of barbarians,

Western Europe was submerged in a state of profound devasta-

tion, inhumane poverty, and gross ignorance.9 The only

portrait which can be portrayed on the canvass of history

of this vagrant mass is one of beastly tribes standing in

10 These

dire need of being subdued by a civilized nation.
conquerors subsisted upon rapine and theft while about them
lay fallow vast regions of rich, fertile soil. They destroyed
and ravaged numerous cities while founding none to replace

them.11

In short, the barbarians brought ruin and decay to
all that they touched, while contributing nothing to the
development of humanity.

In common with all the rationalists of the period,
Gibbon and Voltaire disdained the triumph of Christianity
because, as they contended, it was a superstitious growth

fostered in a barbaric age and productive of fanaticism.

Gibbon sees Christianity as being the prime factor which

____.._

8Voltaire, The Works of Vgltaire, "General History“
(New York, 1901), XXIV. (Evidence of Voltaire's attitude con-
cerning the early Middle Ages can be seen in his chapter head-
ings as he passes from the fall of Rome to the age of
Charlamagne as if nothing of value occurred during the four
centuries that separated these two periods).

91bid., p. 6.

lllbid., p. 111.

5
brought chaos to the social, political and military institu-
tions of the empire, when they most desperately needed

12

orderly operations. With this weakening and undermining

of the greatest civilization previously known to mankind, he
could not avoid being antagonistic toward Christianity.l3
Yet he does pay tribute to its cohesive and sustaining powers,
once the secular empire had disintegrated. If the decline of
the Roman Empire was hastened by the triumph of Christianity,
the victorious religion broke the violence of the fall as it
mollified the ferocious temper of the conquerors and im-
parted unto them such virtues as justice and mercy.14
Voltaire's very articulate hostility for religion can
best be explained by his profound disapproval of what he
considered to be misbehaviour of the clergy. Christianity,
which evolved from very humble origins, had been subjected
to all manner of corruption, secretions and superstitions by
the ingenius and ambitious clergyman for their own selfish
ends. The results of such degrading behavior left the one
institution that was intended to be the great binding force
in the world as a prime source of devastation, destruction,

15

and death. These men had taken the newly formulated dogma

12Gibbon, IV, p. 163.

13Gibbon, III, p. 324.

14Gibbon, IV, pp. 79, so, 163.

15Voltaire, XXIV, pp. 85-87.

6
and used it as an instrument, supported by mysterious rites,
to control the minds of the ignorant. Under this influence
man lent himself to intolerance, persecution, burnings, and

16 As a result of

murders: all in the name of religion.
religion possessing man's mind with a capricious medley of
cunning and simplicity, of brutality and artifice, the early
Middle Ages is an era deeply scarred by decay, superstition
and ignorance.

In conclusion it follows logically that Voltaire and
Gibbon could not eXpress themselves temperately or as un-
interested Spectators on this subject and as a result the
positive side of these facts, strictly Speaking, were not
called to their attention. They failed to see the new prin-
ciples of life and energy imparted to the world by the bar-
barians, and particularly by the Church. In virtue of their
theme they could not do justice to the growth of the papal
monarchy and the ecclessiastical organization of Eunope,
which sprang from the ashes of this decadent world, becoming
in the course of centuries the nucleus of a new and more en—
lightened order. For Gibbon and Voltaire the course of
European history in the Middle Ages is a "trough“ in the
develOpment of humanity: it is truly a dark age.

As the eighteenth century passed away so did the

approach used by the Enlightenment scholars which presented

162mm. , p. 96.

7
the Middle Ages as a dark period in the Span of history. With
the beginning of the nineteenth century there arose in re-
action to the Enlightenment a school of thought known as the
“Romantic School,“ whose purpose it was to present the Middle
Ages in a much greater qualitative manner.l7 Being motivated
by a desire to trace the develOpment of the national state,
the romanticist viewed the Middle Ages as a period when man
eXpressed himself as he wanted. He let his passions express
themselves in a free manner. This particular school of
thought saw a series of traits and attributes existing in the
medieval man that were never realized by the writers of the
Enlightenment period.

Although the endeavors of this school were often
saturated with an emotional appeal aimed at combatting the
blighting theses of the eighteenth century, their work did
serve to illuminate some of the darkened corners of the
Middle Ages. Until the romanticist came to the front, the
Middle Ages were actually as a sealed book with such men as
Voltaire proclaiming, "the period deserves as little study as
the doing of wolves and bears,“ and Gibbon's contempt for
religion rendering him blind to the significance of the prin-

ciple objects which he passed in the course of his journey.18

l7Harry Elmer Barnes, A Historyyof Historical
Writing, (Norman 1938), p. 207.

18G. P. Gooch, History and Historiaps, (New‘York,
1913), p. 11.

8

A most adequate representative of the nineteenth
century philOSOphy is the sympathetic and patriotic expounder
of French history, Jules Midhelet. Looking at his work, Ehg
History of France, which is in itself a small library, we
see the barbarians whiCh embody the pages of his work are
presented in a much greater qualitative nature than the
repugnant picture of “the beast devouring the lamb“ painted
by the rationalists. “Can it not be said that in the
Germanic successes over the empire, this revealed not a
negative quality, but it illustrates that personal devotion
and submission to order which have in every age been

19

characteristic of these people.“- These qualities Simply

reveal the Sign of the eminently social, docile, and flex-
ible genius of the Germanic races.20

These first major invasions of the Empire in 39S A.D.
cannot accurately be described as a season of degradation,
because the barbarians had long been quartered in the prov-
inces of the empire and had absorbed much of their civilizing
attributes. The land which they took was that which had al-
ready been removed from cultivation, and it was not uncommon
for the invader to indemnify the landowners for his lost

21

land. It is true, as Michelet points out the warlike

ngules Michelet, History of France, I, (New York,
1951), p.78.

9
heirarchy which governed the behavior of the barbarians,
that this age stood below the civil order of past ages. How-
ever, this is not to suggest that this age can be dismissed
as a “dark age", contributing nothing to the develOpment of
humanity, as the rationalists would have it. As Michelet has
indicated in his work, it was during this period that the
foundation was established for those institutions that were
later to evolve into the much more enlightened age of the
National State.

During the early Middle Ages when the political,
social, and military institutions were floundering in the
state of stagnation, it was the Church which retrieved the
fallen reins of progression and guided the embryonic state

22 While the ”genius of the

to a more solid foundation.
barbarians,“ which is a phrase coined by the romanticists to
explain those early developments which they could in no
other way eXplain, was being transformed into a usable and
civil instrument, it was the Church which served as guardian
of the West and guided the develOpment into its most advant-
ageous form.23 Everything began to favor the absorption of
society by the Church. Romans and barbarians, slaves and
freemen, man and land, all flocked to her and took refuge in

24

her maternal bosom. When the Church began to suffer

 

22

Ibid., pp. 64, 65.
23Michelet, I, pp. 99, 100.
24

Ibid., p. 101.

10
ill-effects from her too frequent contact with the barbarian
world she was able to find refuge in the shelter of monasti-
cism. The monastery served as an asylum for the Church just
as the Church had served society, while western EurOpe was

25 The

forging her way through this period of transition.
Church had taught the barbarians to bow their nedks to the

yoke of civilization and Christianity. The early Middle Ages
is thus the foundation for a greater, more prosperous, and
more enlightened order which is to come.

As the nineteenth-century was drawing to a close,
scholars were still concerned with the develOpment of the
national state, but their mode of approach had been greatly
altered by develOpments in other areas of research. No
longer were they dominated by the emotional appeal of the
Romanticists, but were now motivated by a more scientific out-
look. With the appearance in 1894 of W. E. H. Lecky's,

History of Eurgpean Moralg, we see a conscientious effort being
made to apply the biological concepts of evolution to the
realm of social change. His writing is illustrative of the
cultural and historical implications of the evolutionary
notions.26 The major significance of Lecky's work is that it
represents one of the first efforts to broaden history by

penetrating behind the scenes of action.27

 

zslbid.

26Harry Elmer Barnes, A History of Historical
Writing (Norman, 1938), p. 332.

27G. P. Gooch, History and Historians,(New York, 1913),

p. 366.

11

Professor Lecky's entire thesis is based upon the
debatable hypothesis that moral standards are in a constant
state of progression.28 From the reign of Constantine, when
Christianity was first adopted as the accepted religion of
the Empire, it began to exert a powerful influence upon the
moral standards of the inhabitants whiCh eventually brought
about a series of changes resulting in the formation of
those institutions, such as feudalism, which served as the
direct forerunner of the national state. Although the Church
itself may have been corrupted during this process, it did
not hinder the evolution or moral development that was tak-
ing place within society.

The first stages of Leeky's evolutionary process sees
the Church project on the pages of history as a very
philantropic institution, imparting to its subjects a new
sense of the sanctity of life and deve10ping a much needed
concept of universal brotherhood.29 As long as the moral
life of the Empire had been directed by the teaChings of
pagan religions there existed no knowledge of the true value
of human life. Man had never ascertained from nature that
it was wrong to slay, without provocation, his fellowman,
as can be seen in the gladiatorial games of the day.
Christianity dogmatically asserted the sinfulness of

destroying human life for amusement and imparted to the

 

28James J. Auchmuty, Lecky, (London, 1945), p. 50.

29William Edward Hartpole Lecky, History of Eur0pean
Morals, (New York, 1894), p. 18.

12
Empire a moral standard higher than any which then existed

in the world.30

This new'moral code encouraged the subjects
of the Empire to develOp hOSpitals for the increasing number
of orphans: discouraged the common practice of infanticide:

and altered the severe penal code.31

With the increasing
strength of the Church within society there also arose a
more humane law regulating the treatment of slaves. Al—
though slavery was to persist until the fourteenth-century
the slave-master relation became more liberal when the
Churdh began to exercise its power of exclusion from com-
munion to tyrannical masters.

While this first stage of Christianity came to be
looked upon with adoration there soon arose a great ascetic
movement which eventually diverted the enthusiasm of the
Church into new channels. Emphasis was no longer placed
upon the virtue of charity, but now passed to the newly ac-
centuated Chastity. Although this was to curb the outward
works and material accomplishments of the Church, it did not
hinder the moral development.

As the ascetic movement was evolving through its
embryonic stages of development, that which was finally
accepted by the West, under the masterful influence of St.

Benedict, assumed a nature free of the hermetical deprivations

 

3OIbid., p. 20.

3lIbid., pp. 27—43.

l3

exercised in the East and as a result became more accept-
able to the EurOpeans who, for climatic reasons, were less
capable of performing sudh rigid ascetic feats.32

It was this institution which was to serve as the
sole center of civilization during the chaotic period of
the Germanic invasions in the fifth century. The monastery
assumed the social, political and intellectual functions of
the West.33

While the author believes it is possible to criticize
many of the policies of the Church during this period, such
as its inserting the fear of hell and demons into the mind
of EurOpe, at the same time the establishment of the monk
as the idol of society had a profound effect upon the moral
development of Europe. As men sought refuge in the monastic
haven their attitude toward such essential issues as labor
was greatly altered. No longer was this looked upon as a
task for slaves, but became a virtuous occupation for all
men. Also, the monastery was responsible for inserting in-
to society the virtues of passive obedience and humility
whiCh provided the foundation for the later acceptance of

feudalism. All of these develOpments arose out of the chaos

following the fall of Rome and were intimately related to

 

32Cuthbert Butler, Benedictine Monarchism, (London,
1962). Butler has a very interesting work which deals with
the evolution of the monastic movement and its effect upon
Western Europe.

33Lecky, p. 179.

14
the Church. It was in this manner that a particular atti-
tude was gradually acquired that assimilated with the
monarchical and aristocratic institution of feudalism,
whiCh later flourished because they correSponded with the
moral feeling of the time.

As these virtues of obedience and humility suffi-
ciently saturated the moral fibers of society, and as the
barbarian kings became more settled, the idol of society
was eventually changed from the monk to a royal sovereign
which can be illustrated, par excellence, by the reign of

Charlamagne.34

Although the institution of feudalism was

not yet fully develOped it was being formulated and with it
the foundation of Western Europe was being laid, primarily
as a result of the moral evolution which prepared the minds

of Europe for such a change.

Although the nineteenth-century writers were success
ful in lighting some of the darkened corners of the Middle
Ages, there still did not exist an adequate coverage of the
true significance of the period. The romanticists of the
nineteenth-century were primarily too emotional in their
efforts to counteract the biased attacks of the Enlighten-
ment to present an objective study of the age and the later
scholars of the century, while overcoming this passionate

approach and being more scientific in their study, were

 

34Ibid., p. 271.

lS

primarily concerned with the genesis of the national state,
therefore, leaving much of the early Middle Ages still un-
toudhed. Thus, we can see that up to the twentieth-century
there prevailed particular points of view that colored every
word that was spoken or written concerning the early Middle
Ages. The eighteenth—century scholars of the Enlightenment,
being motivated by their newly formulated "Age of Reason",
continued to present this vast Span of years as a dark age
deserving not one moment of study from their intellectually
brightened day. Then came the romanticists reaction to the
Enlightenment which served to present the Middle Ages in a
better light, but still did not adequately examine the period
as a whole. As the nationalist historians adopted a more
scientific approach and tried to weigh each period of
history equally, they were able to bring forth in a brief
period sufficient evidence to Show the Middle Ages were not
a dark age, however, even they were not as impartial as they
would liked to have been and as a result they became pri-
marily concerned with the origin of the national state
which led them to neglect the early Middle Age. We have
then, with the beginning of the twentieth-century, one seg-
ment of the Middle Ages, that period from the fall of Rome
to the Caroligian age, remaining in darkness.

Since Wbrld War I, many reputations have been made
by men who assumed the task of lighting this remaining dark
age, and it is with these scholars and their work that the

major part of this paper will be concerned.

16

To force re-examination of long established ways of
historical thinking requires both powerful and original
minds, and fortunately the twentieth-century possessed many
such men. But if there was any one man who upset the tran»
quility of the historians world, it was Henri Pirenne, the
celebrated national historian of Belgium. Breaking with the
encyclopedic character of past interpretation, which was
concerned primarily with the political and religious ques-
tions of the Middle Ages, Pirenne began to ask new questions
bringing new life to the nature of the past and in the pro-
cess yielding greater knowledge and leading to new under-
standing.

One of the essential problems which must be solved
in the course of our journey is that of the transition from
the ancient world to medieval civilization. The artificial
periodization of an Ancient world, the Middle Ages, and the
Modern times is no longer adequate for the historians task,
in that it denies the essential continuity of human eXperi-
ence. Prior to the twentieth-century it had become general-
ly accepted that the "Ancient world" and the "Middle Ages”
were easily distinguished the one from the other and that a
distinct break came in the fifth-century with the disappear-
ance of the Roman emperor in the West, the appearance of the

Germanic "barbarian“ kingdoms, and the triumph of Christianity.35

 

35Voltaire, The Works of Voltairg, "Annals of the Empire,“
pp. 7,8, Edward Gibbon, The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,
Vol. VII, p.308. "In these volumes, I have described the triumph
of barbarism and religion": Jules Michelet, History of France,
"The national language and religion...Slumbered under Roman
culture until the advent of Christianity," p. 62.

17
This “catastrOphic“ interpretation became the textbook

point of view and, with some qualification, a controlling
assumption of scholars as well.

From Pirenne's investigations, a radically different
concept emerged to the forefront. AdOpting what could
rightfully be classified as a “modified" catastrOphic thesis,
he concluded that the Roman world — economically, culturally,
and even in essence politically — continued in all parti—
culars through the centuries of the German invasions. It
was rather the impact of Islam in the seventh and eighth-
centuries which, by destroying the unity of the Mediterranean,
ended the Roman world and led to a strikingly different ’
civilization in the Carolingian age.36 We can see the
critical era in the Pirenne thesis was no longer the fifth-
century Germanic invasion, but the seventh and eighth-
centuries which witnessed the triumphant entry of the sons
of the Arabian desert, which brought an end to the heretofore
classical unity.

‘ However, the catastrOphic thesis had already been
seriously challenged before the appearance of M. Pirenne's
Mohammed and Charlamagpe by the distinguished Austrian
scholar, Alfons Dopsch, in his classic, The Economic and
Social Foundations of European Civilization, which appeared

in 1923-24. Professor DOpsch holds that the famous "fall"

 

36Henri Pirenne, Medieval Cities, (Garden City, 1926),
p.27: Mohammed and Charlamagngy (New York, 1939), p. 293.

 

18
of the Roman Empire in the West was by no means the catas-
trophic overthrow of an advanced civilization by the primi-
tive German barbarians. On the contrary, medieval civiliza—
tion descends in an orderly evolutionary fashion from that
of the late Roman Empire. In fact, the Roman world was won
by the Germans gradually from within, by a peaceful penetra-
tion which went on for centuries during which they absorbed
its culture and even, to a considerable extent, took over

37 “Rome did not fall in 476: it fell

"38

its administration.
asleep without any convulsion.
The attitude of the Germans to Roman organization,
as conquerors after the fall of Roman rule, was conservative
in their own interest, and they continued to develOp their
ridh inheritance. Thus, Dopsch's emphasis is upon the
“continuity“ of this civilization and not disruption of
those institutions which the Germans had so richly inherited.
Additional weight was added to the growing accep-
tance of a “transitional thesis”, as opposed to the long
accepted catastrOphic view, with the publication in 1927,
of Ferdinand Lot's, The End of the Ancient world and th§_

Beginning of the Middle Ages. While Pirenne saw no major

37Alfons Dopsch, Economic and Social Foundations of
Egropean CivilizatiogL (New York, 1937), p. 386.

 

8
3 Ibid., p. 386.

19
break in the dike of classical civilization until the
seventh and eighth-centuries, and Dopsch not even then,
Ferdinand Lot. digresses to the second-century in citing the
critical period of the Empire's existence. It was not ex-
ternal forces which brought Roman civilization to its knees,
it was above all an internal disease that undermined it and
brought "the dissolution of all its vital forces," which
condemned it to death.39 Within the second-century there
were fatal maladies which reached their zenith during the
third-century and in the process heralded the entrance of the
Middle Ages. While the details of these maladies which
plagued the Empire will not be discussed until later
chapters, it is evident that Lot would essentially argue
that the Germanic invasions did not represent an epoch mak-
ing episode in that the transition from ancient to medieval
civilization was in the making before the barbarians ex—
posed themselves as a serious threat. The noted Catholic
historian, Christopher Dawson, places such Significance
upon these internal maladies plaguing Rome as to suggest
antiquity would have eXperienced the same end had the
barbarians never appeared on the scene.40

Still another attempt was made to bridge the great

gulf whidh separates the ancient and medieval worlds by

 

39Ferdinand Lot, The End of the Ancient world and
the Beginning of the Middle AggsL (New York, 1931), p.84.

4OChristOpher Dawson, The Making_of EurOpe (New
York, 1932), p. 84.

20
H. St. L. B. Moss in his work, The Birth of the Middle Ages,
which appeared in 1935. While we have already seen various
dates ranging from the third to the eighth century as the
beginning of the Middle Ages, and each having its justifica-
tion according to the importance attached to a particular
aspect of European civilization, Professor Moss cites the
year 395 A.D. as having as good as claim as any to be regarded
in this light, for the death of Theodosius the Great in this
year occurred at a moment most critical for EurOpe. For
the past three years Theodosius had ruled supreme over
Roman territory. Henceforth, there is to be a separation
of East and West coupled with a gradual dismemberment of
the Western provinces. One change, however, of greater
importance than any other for the future of Europe, was
introduced by Constantine, when the Christian Church was
admitted to share in the government of the State. Only
under Theodosius does the Roman Empire finally cease to hold
the balance between Christian and Pagan. For this reason,
if for no other, 395 can be accepted as the beginning of
the Middle Ages in that it herald the founding of the
Christian State.

Of the more recent scholarship, William C. Bark's
ggigin of the Medieval World serves as an adequate represent-
ative. Bark sets no Specific dates for the end of the
ancient world and the beginning of the Middle Ages, but
does believe the critical period to have been the civil

strife of the third century. Although there were extensive

21

efforts at recovery from those internal problems, by the
end of the fourthrcentury the Middle Ages had begun. The
collapse of the West as a centrally administrated part of
the Roman Empire took place before the great barbaric
victories. "The Western Empire ceased to exist when it
proved incapable of resisting small bands of barbaric tribes—
men.”41

No date is given for this event because it was an
evolution, reaching its culmination at different times with
different institutions. The final breakdown simply
represents the end of an experiment which had failed and
this left the way Open for a new eXperiment possessing new
creative force.42

While it is reserved for the remaining chapters of
this work to discuss the details and examine the variations
of these twentieth century theses, it is obvious from the
"variety" of dates given for the beginning of the Middle
Ages that the loosely constructed catastrophic thesis is no
longer plausible as a starting point for the Middle Ages.
It is a matter now, not of one date but many dates, each
involving the development of a particular phase of medieval
civilization. No longer can the scholar be content to ex—

amine only the political and religious institutions, as did

many of the eighteenth and nineteenth—century writers, but

 

41William Carroll Bark, Origins of the Medieval
world, (Stanford, 1958). p. 66.

421bid., p. 39.

22

now his sights must be broadened to include the economic,
social and cultural transitions as well.

“Half a century ago, George Burton Adams, then the
Dean of American Medievalists, ... observed that the history
of Europe... had been so minutely investigated that on all
important questions in this field there is now a nearly or
quite general consensus of Opinion among scholars."43
Fortunately, however, the consensus has been proven to be
not so general by the extensive Specialized research of
twentieth-century scholars. Leaving behind the biased
judgments of the eighteenth-century and the emotional
appeals of the nineteenth we turn now to a closer examina-

tion of the modern day research as a whole, in an effort to

reconstruct a more adequate picture of the early Middle Ages.

43Ih1d., p. 5.

Chapter II

POLITICAL TRANSITION (3rd-6th Centuries)

As the hands of time moved into the midnight hour of
the second century the little eddies which warned of the
coming ebb were already swelling within the Roman Empire.

The winds of civil strife which were brewing during this
period burst forth with hurricane force upon the third

century leaving the Mediterranean edifice trembling in chaos.
To quell the numerous internal upheavals that plagued the
Empire at this time required leadership possessing the

wisdom of a Solomon and the strength of a Sampson, yet the
Empire was forced to settle for the relatively lesser geniuses,
Diocletian and Constantine.

While it has posed a problem for scholars to be dog-
matically certain as to how far the reorganization of the
Empire was due to Diocletian and how far to Constantine, it
has been equally difficult to fathom the degree of success
eXperienced by the reforms of these geniuses. Was the
colossal edifice of classical civilization re-established
upon a foundation sufficient to weather such events as the
barbaric invasions of the fourth and fifth centuries, or was
it essentially a New Empire, ready to succumb with the

slightest agitation? Did the reformers reincarnate the

23

24
robust and happy days of Augustus or was it merely a
temporary lease on life prolonging the inevitable destiny of
a withering age? The answers to these, and other similar
problems, have been essential in molding the conflicting
views concerning the formation and character of the early
Middle Ages.

Viewing the political reform through the sympathetic
eyes of Henri Pirenne we see the Empire as a mythical
marathon runner who after receiving the proverbial second
wind thrusts forward with renewed vigor and strength, de-
throning not only the besetting internal maladies, but
possessing sufficient stamina to outdistance any external
threats posed by the pressing barbarians. The appearance
of this uncivilized mass ofrumanity in the provinces of the
Empire created no real problem for Pirenne because he was
convinced that the invaders desired not to destroy the
Mediterranean unity, but only to gain a Spot in the brilliant
sun of classical civilization. It was not the Germanic
invasion that effected the great rupture between Antiquity
and the Middle Ages, but the rapid and uneXpected advance
of Islam in the seventh and eighth centuries.1 The Germanic
kings who established themselves within the Latin portion
of the Empire did not possess the power of a true sovereignty,
but were merely generals of the Roman army honoring the true

supremacy of the Emperor.2 The entire Imperial administration

 

lHenri Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlamagne (New York,
1939), p. 2847 Medieval Cities (Garden City, 1925), p.27.

2

 

Ibid., p. 46.

25
was maintained. The Vandals in Africa were careful in the
heat of their venture to retain the well established Roman
institutions. The face of Spain and Gaul bore no marks of
disfigurement as a result of the invasions and certainly
'the Goths brought no change in their reSpective areas.3

What has appeared to some students to denote a
decisive alteration in the status quo, namely the Germanic
invasions of the fourth and fifth centuries, long before the
birth of the PrOphet, Pirenne considers to be only a super-
ficial political novelty. Nothing was Changed by the
Germans, who admired Roman institutions and wished to pre-
serve that to which they had fallen heir.

They did not introduce a new form of government.
Politically, they did no worse than to replace the old uni-
fied Roman State with a plurality of states.4 In this analysis
Pirenne seems to have proceededon the assumption that if
the Germans wrought no change, then no change took place.

This proviso is fundamental for on it depends the validity
of his thesis. Simply because the Germans desired no change
is not sufficient evidence to claim that no changes occurred.
As we shall see later, profound alterations in the status

quo had already taken place before the Germans appeared on

the scene.

31bid., p. 49.

Ibid., p. 125.

 

26

Closely akin to the Pirenne thesis, in many reSpects,
is the general conclusion reached by the Austrian scholar
Alfons Dopsch. His thesis supports not only the belief of
a continuation of the established order following the
migration of the Germans, but that things continued with
vast improvement. By employing all the latest archeological
findings, Professor DOpsch is convinced that the Germans
did not behave as enemies of Roman culture, on the con-
trary, they preserved and deve10ped it. The conquest of
Rome took place on different lines from the conquest of
other states in political history. “The Germans did not
overrun and destroy it in a savage onslaught, and then
build their primitive culture on its ruins. The Roman
world was won from within, by a peaceful penetration which
went on for centuries. during which time they absorbed its
culture and even, to a considerable extent, took over its

"5

administration. DOpsch believes the Germans did not

destroy Roman civilization, but had restored and magnified
the fame of Rome by means of Germanic strength.6

The political organization, whiCh was now determined
by the new rulers, was not a radical change which occurred

instantaneously, but was the culmination of a process which

had been in the makings since the first migrations. The

SAlfons DOpsch, The Economic and Social Foundations
of European Civilization (New York, 1931), p.386.

6Ibid.

27

old tribal existence which had so long served as the
political entity of the Germans was changed considerably
and had been forced into a unity which was crystalized into
a tribal constitution after the final settlement. This
amalgamation of various smaller tribes into greater units
was brought about by the numerous wars encountered with the
Romans, and as a result created a tribal kingship possess-
ing a much larger following and at the same time concentrated,
greater political powers within the hands of the king.7

As the prowess of these militant kings increased and
they obtained still larger followings by virtue of their
conquests of smaller tribes, the ultimate end was the
transition to a single monarchy. Following their final
settlement a monarChical form of constitution was introduced
as the accepted order.8 Although that which arose was not
an absolute monarchy, there was a change in the traditional
democratic institutions. The authority which had formerly
been vested in the peOple, in the assembly of free men,
passed to the monarch and the system was decisively influ-
enced by him.

Actually, as Dopsch sees it, this German institution
was more acceptable to the Romans than their own corrupt
order, in that many Romans left their possessions and

position to seek refuge among the Germans. Thus, the

 

7Ibid., p. 184.

81bid., p. 187.

28

abolition of Roman political sway was only a step in the
long process of change, the readjustment, so to speak, “of
a firm whose old name has for long ceased to describe the
actual head of the business.“9

It would appear from the two theses already examined
that the political status of the ancient world was un-
affected by the flood of barbarians that swept over EurOpe
in the fourth century. However, this emphasis on the
"continuity" of the political order, which has been somewhat
exaggerated by Pirenne and Dopsch, becomes more valid as we
turn our attention to the work of the noted French
historian, Ferdinand Lot. Professor Lot returns our
attention once more to the civil chaos which had its begin-
ning in the second half of the second century. With his
emphasis being upon the internal maladies which plagued the
Empire, he is rather dubious concerning the degree of suc-
cess experienced by Diocletian and Constantine in curing
those economic, social and political sores. Granted, the
political genius of these two men was capable of restoring
a temporary vitality and stability to the Empire, but
nothing could st0p this internal degradation which con—
tinued with increased propulsion in the fourth and fifth
centuries. Diocletian and Constantine were able to cover

the outward signs of the disease, but the malignancy which

 

91bid., p. 386.

29

had worked its way into the Spiritual fibers of classical
life could not be removed by the most skillful political
surgeon.lo

One of the key problems which must be considered in
this transition from Ancient to Medieval civilization, as
we have encountered already in the works of DOpsch and
Pirenne, is the persistence of Roman political institutions
in the West after the settlement of the Germans. Essentially,
Lot would agree that those institutions to which the intruders
had fallen heir continued to function with some degree of
efficiency throughout the fifth and sixth centuries. The
Visigoths, who were masters of Spain and two-thirds of Gaul,
were no more than federates to the Empire, serving often

quite admirably in the Roman service.11

Although King

Euric (468) repudiated the theoretical sovereignty of the
Emperor, there still,existed recognition of the Roman Empire.
For example, one hundred years after the death of Euric,
Visigothic coins still bore the name of the Emperor.12
Furthermore, documents of the council continued to be dated
in the Roman fashion with the name of the council in place.
Also, the Roman financial administration continued with its

defects and the legislation was entirely Roman.

1OFerdinand Lot, The End of the Ancient World and
the Beginning of the Middle Age (New York, 1931) p. 60.

11Ibid., p. 243.

lzIbid., p. 245.

30
This sustenance of their political inheritance can
be seen among other German tribes as well as with the Goths.
The Burgundians were long conscious of their dependence in
relation to the imperial government and constantly turned

13 It

to the Emperor for their appointment of Roman titles.
is also known that the Franks were often on the best of
terms with the imperial government in Constantinople. Even
those Frankish kings who were opposed to the sovereignty of
the Emperor were not capable of becoming completely independ-
ent of the imperialtentaclea. Of all the Germanic tribes,
the Vandals in Africa were probably the most hostile to
imperial control, but even they were careful to maintain
nany of the well established institutions of the Romans, such
as their economic system.14

Thus, while it can be said that Lot essentially
agrees with the “continuity" of the German's rich inherit-
ance, this statement must be made with reservation. It is
true they continued in many reSpects to carry on the trend
of events, but the critical point is that whidh they had in-
herited had already eXperienced radical alterations before
they received it.

Beginning with the civil chaos in the second half of
the second century, it is evident that the political organi-

zation of Rome was experiencing profound changes. As a

 

131bid., p. 246.

14Ihid., p. 248.

31
measure of SXpediency a permanent dictatorship was entrusted
to the first citizen of the state, the Emperor,for the
renedying of the social and political upheavals which
threatened the existence of the Roman Republic.ls Although
the imperial magistracy did not aim at substituting a
monarchy for the republic, this was what ultimately trans—
pired.

It is precisely at the end of the second century
that one can see an event taking place which reveals the
true nature of the Roman Empire. With the assassination of
the Emperor Alexander Severus and of his mother, we see in
full light without concealment, the fundamental vice of
Rome.16 The Roman Empire, deSpite its appearance of bril-
liance, has no constitution. It rests on forCe alone, on
brute force let loose by the lowest appetites. The true
wielder of power in Rome was not the Emperor nor the Senate.
but the army which proceeded to make and destroy possessors

of the purple at will.17

It is not possible here to re-

trace the history of the so-called period of the thirty
tyrants: nevertheless, political upheavals continued to

mount and by the end of the third-century had nearly shattered

the Roman world to fragments. It was the appearance of

 

Ibid., p. 6.

16Ibid., p. 8.

l7ChristOpher Dawson, The Makigg of Europg (New York,
1932), pp. 34, 35. This work presents a conclusion concern-
ing the political maladies of Rome that is very similar to
Lot's.

32
Diocletian upon the front that marked the return to a
relatively stable position and prevented the Empire from
succumbing at thfisearly date. Thus, we can see by the time
the Germans effected their encroachment of the imperial soil,
the Empire was already dying. “like an old man eXpiring from
decay.“

Still another thesis put forth concerning the
beginning of the Middle Ages is that of H. St. L. B. Moss
which stresses the death of Theodosius in 395 A.D. as the
epoch making moment. At the death of Theodosius, the
Empire was divided between his two sons, Arcadius, aged
eighteen, inheriting the Eastern portion, and Honorius, aged
eleven, the Western. This diviSion in itself did not mark
a new event. The power had been divided before this time
and there were certain differences long existing between the
Western provinces whose culture and city-life were largely
the creation of Rome, and the Eastern district which still
retained the Hellenistic traidition.18 It was, however,
from this time that the East and West began to drift apart
until they were no longer reconcilable.

Yet, it is important to note that in the eyes of the
fourth century contemporaries, the Empire was still one and
indivisible. This continuity was recognized by the

barbarians themselves and some of their leaders genuinely

 

18H. St. L. B. Moss, The Birth of the Middle Ages
(Oxford, 1935) p. 14.

33
supported it.19 Long after 476 A.D., the date most text-
books record as the fall of Rome, the years were still
dated by the names of the two consuls, one in Rome, the
other in Constantinople: and imperial legislation was still
enacted in the name of both Emperors.

Professor Moss sees the stream of political events
in the fifth and sixth centuries following two separate
channels. Those areas outside of Italy were in a more
rapid state of monarchical development than those within
Italy. In areas such as Spain and Gaul the Roman senate
had dwindled into a municipal council.20 From the third
century crisis onward, the course of political events with-
in the Empire was marked by the desire for stability and
this was secured by a resolute fixing and simplifying of all
the elements of administration.21 The Empire had to be
saved at the expense of the public and this led to the
develOpment of a monarchy exercising strong efforts to turn
the whole organism into a standardized machine for produc-
ing money and necessities. Some small degree of stability
may have been adhieved, but as we shall see later in the

social effects of this critical period, it left the Empire

idle and lifeless.

 

19Ibid., p. 15.

201bid., p. 24.

211bid., p. 65.

34

Following the invasions monarchy still existed, but
it was not of the Roman variety. The German kings were
first and foremost military leaders and their success on
the battlefield had increased their power immensely.
Professor Moss agrees with Dopsch on this point, but he
does not see the brilliance in it which blinds DOpsch. The
German monarchy, which was being formulated along the fringe
of the Empire, stood in contrast to that which had existed
under Diocletian and Constantine. The assembly of free
men which had continued to exist among the Germans under
the late Roman Emperors, gave way under the Germanic kings
to a new nobility of service gathered around the king in the
form of seneschals, marshalls, constables, and other posi-
tions of civil and military authority. When compared to
the Roman hierarChy of officials this system was very
primitive.22

The Italian kingdom of Theodoric stood apart from
those of the other German rulers, for here was employed
extensive efforts to preserve Roman civilization.23
Theodoric ruled over the Roman population of Italy as the
Emperor's vice regent. There were no coins struck in his

name and his laws were merely “edicts“ applicable only to

the Italian provinces. Here the Roman civil service remained

22Ibid., p. 65.

23Ihid., p. 66.

35
intact: and at the courts there were no seneschals or
marshalls, but practorion prefects. The senate continued
to sit and was honored by Theodoric. Thus, we can conclude
from this important analysis that the political transition
did not occur at the same pace in all the Empire, but
varied in different localities.

The monarchy, to which reference has already been
made several time, is one of the more significant issues by
which we can measure the degree of political continuity
eXperienced in the transition from Antiquity to the Middle
Ages.

The change from a "magistracy" to a “monarchy", which
received its impetus under Diocletian, was first sketched
by Edward Gibbon in 1778. The picture which he presented
of the political transition possessed a mechanical rigidity
which gave it the false appearance of being the creation of
a theorist.24 The constitutional reforms of Diocletian
were not the results of g priori Speculation of a political
theorist, but came about simply as a force of circumstance.

On the day following Diocletian's ascension to the
throne (284), he realized that he would be no more success—
ful in combatting the power of the army and retaining the
reins of government within his own hands than his predec-

essors had been, unless certain changes were invoked. It was

 

24Edward Gibbon, The History_of the Decline and Fall
9f the Roman Empigg, II, p. 385.

36
only too obvious that in the future the Empire could no
longer be directed by a single ruler.25 Wisdom suggested
that Diocletian meet the situation half way and provide
himself with a colleague who was neither a rival nor an
enemy. Diocletian's attention was gained by the commander-
in-arms, Maximian, to whom he was already bound by a close
tie of friendship. Maximian, albeit unlettered and rude,
was a superior military figure and consented to being the
hands for the brain which was precisely what Diocletian was
seeking.

Even this measure proved to be insufficient. The
attacks of the Persians in Asia, and the Germans in EurOpe
were too much for the two "Augusti." Thus, in 293,
Diocletian went a step further in the division of power
with the two Emperors taking a lieutenant who received the
actual sovereignty, but with the title of “Caesar" which
left them in subordination to his Augustus. The supreme
power was divided, but there was no dismemberment of the
Empire: legislative and administrative unity remained
theoretically in the hands of the two “Augusti”, but
actually it was exercised undivided by Diocletian who re-
mained the mainSpring of the mechanism. Thus, what existed

actually was an embryonic court with Diocletian at the head.26

25Ferdinand Lot, p. 13.

26Ibid., p. 14.

37

The task of transforming the Empire from a magistracy
to a monarchy which was undertaken by Diocletian, was con-
tinued by Constantine and his successors.27 The palace and
the court became the center of the State and the Empire was
wholly contained therein. The old organs of sovereignty
were no more than a shadow. The senate, stripped of its
prerogatives, was a mere ruin. Although the senate did
remain as a social class, more so in the East than in the
West, the government became a court government with all its
pettiness.

William Carroll Bark agrees that Diocletian and
Constantine were powerful administrators and reformers, but
"their methods in an extremely complicated situation call-
ing for extraordinary insight, finesse, and encouragement
of individual talent were imperceptive, clumsy and Oppres-
Sive.“28 DOpsch and Pirenne may Speak of “continuity“ of
the political inheritance of the Germanic tribes, as do
Lot and Moss with Specific reservations, but the emphasis
which the first two place upon this rich inheritance is mis-
leading in that what actually remained was only fool's gold.
By the end of the sixth century, the ambitious monardhical
regimes were little more than facades hiding a wide variety

of grave political 1113.29 There may have remained some

 

27Ibid., p. 86.

28William Carroll Bark, Origins of the Medieval WCrld
(Stanford, 1958) p. 42.

29Richard E. Sullivan, Heirs of the Roman Empire
(Ithaca, 1960) p. 39.

38
similitude of the old imperial order in the use of Roman
administration and the recognition of the supremacy of the

Emperor, but does this mean the Empire was saved? If so,

it was only in the striking phrase of Rostovtzeff, as a

“30

vast prison for scores of millions of men. It is only

when we turn to the economic, social, and cultural condi-

tions of the third through the sixth centuries that this

phrase attains fuller meaning.

 

30M. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History
of the Roman Empire, lst ed., (Oxford, 1926) p. 478 (The
second edition of this work which appeared in 1957 is in two
volumns and contains many additional notes.)

Chapter III

ECONOMIC TRANSITION (3rd—6th Centuries)

Although it has required a legion of scholars work-
ing in many areas to rent the shroud of ignorance which so
long enrapped the early Middle Ages, few of them deserve
more credit than those who undertook the arduous task of
reconstructing the edifice of late Roman and early Medieval
economic institutions. While their fields of source material
often appeared barren, the final harvest was plenteous, in
that much was accomplished toward breaking, or at least
changing, the entire concept of a "Middle Age."

Just as the cultivation of any virgin field of
research is often subject to a stunted yield as a result of
the scholar's biases and misconceptions, the original Spade
work in the economic institution of antiquity proved to be
no exception. Many of the pioneenson this frontier, such
as Henri Pirenne, were led astray as a result of their being
blinded by the past brilliance of classical civilization.
They could not conceive of a civilization possessing the
grandeur which the Romans had once possessed, falling into
a state of internal decay and succumbing so early in life.
As a result of their blindness, they created a picture of

late Roman and early Medieval economic institutions as

39

40
possessing a vitality and stability Which actually did not
exist. Although the errors of these early pathfinders are
in our own age evident, as we shall see, it would be more
than a minor misdemeanor to dismiss this original work as
being futile, in that it was the labors of these men which
served as the vital catalyst which solidified future
interpretations.

Viewing, once more, the posthumously published work
of Henri Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlamagne, we see the
author exercising the same exuberant verbosity in stressing
the economic continuity of classical civilization through-
out this so-called “dark age", as he exercised in stressing
the political continuity. He persistently maintains that
while the appearance of the Germans may have initiated a
brief reign of chaos, the calm returned after the tempest
leaving the Mediterranean unity as it had existed prior to
the invasions.l The author erroneously sees numerous
utterances in the work of Gregory of Tours as indications
that the economic unity of the Mediterranean continued to
exist until the seventh and eighth centuries when the
“mare nostra“ finally became a Moslem lake.

Through the colored glasses of Pirenne this thesis
of an economic continuity can easily be validated by a close
scrutiny of the primary sources concerning the commercial

__

lHenri Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlamagne, (New York,
1939), p. 75.

41

activity of the day. He became extremely dogmatic in refer-
ence to the flourishing commercial movement which he saw
existing between the Eastern and Western portions of the
Mediterranean. Although the emminent British scholar,
Norman H. Baynes, has since suggested that the economic
unity of the Mediterranean was shattered in the fifth
century by the Vandal pirate fleet in Africa, Pirenne dis-
missed these piracies of the barbarians as only a hindrance
to the trade whidh continued to move as actively as ever.2

In support of this extensive commercial activity
which Pirenne sees existing, great emphasis is placed upon
the large number of Oriental merchants that were present
within the West during the fifth and sixth centuries. With
the chief commercial agents of the day being the Syrians
from the East, the author sees the redundant references to
their presence as being proof of a commercial activity.
Had there not been a considerable profit rendered during
this period the appearance of the Syrians within the records
of the West would have vanished much sooner than they did.
Yet, Southern Gaul leaves evidence of large number of these
Oriental merchants whose business it was to tranSport mer-

chandise from the East to the West: and in addition to

 

2Norman H. Baynes, "The Decline of Roman Power in
Western Europe,“ The Journal 9f Roman StudiesL XXXIII (1943),
p.29-35. Archibald Lewis, Naval Power and Trade in the
Mediterranean A. D. 500-1000, (Princeton, 1951), p.19:
believes Baynes exaggerates the power of the Vandal fleet.

42

those who traveled to and fro there was also a large number
who established permanent residence within Gaul.3

Further proof of a commercial continuity during the
post-invasion period is the large number of luxuries that
were to be found in the West. Frequent reference is made
by Gregory of Tours to the numerous ivory carvings, decorative
liturgical tunics, oriental curtains, and silks which existed
in the West and could have had as their origins no other
place than the Eastern Mediterranean. Also, there was a
prodigious amount of table luxuries which must have proceeded
from the East. The wines of Syria could be found in large
quantities and the bitter herbs of Egypt were imported for
ascetic consumption during the Lenten season. But most
important was the extensive Spice trade that existed.4
M. Pirenne thinks it would be impossible to exaggerate the
significance of Oriental Spices in the West, in that they
continued after the Germanic invasions, as before them, to
form an important constituent of the everyday diet. Spices
were to be found on practically every table in the West.

While the material already mentioned was essential
in Pirenne's effort to support his economic thesis, one of

the most vital points was the amount of gold that existed

in the West after the invasion. If there was such an

 

3Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlamagne, p. 82.

4Ibid., p. 89.

43
extensive commercial activity it would demand an equally
extensive amount of gold to have been present. Here
Pirenne did not falter as he saw the Germanic kings, quite
successfully, employing the imperial economic system. The
abundance of gold whidh Pirenne saw flowing in the West at
this time could not be described by even his lucrative
storehouse of adjectives.

The Roman gold “solidus,” which had been adjusted
by Constantine, continued to serve as the monetary unit
throughout the Empire. This monetary system, with which the
Germans had long been acquainted while serving the Empire,
was preserved after their final triumph as the accepted
financial standard. Nothing attributes more clearly the
persistence of the economic unity of the West during the
fifth and sixth centuries than this retention of the Roman
monetary system.5 The economic standards of the barbarians
were those of Rome and no alterations were made until the
introduction of the silver monometallism during the
Carolinian period. For Pirenne, there is no doubt that the
economic unity of Rome continued with all its Splendor into
the post-invasion period.

Alfons Dopsch is another who maintains it is impos-
sible to represent the post-invasion period as one when

free commerce was restricted. The Germans, after peacefully

51bid., p. 107.

44
penetrating the Empire, did not upset the existing order of
trade, but actually served as a stimulant to it. The
Gothic kings looked very favorably upon commercial activity
and in the course of events even passed significant legis-
lation which resulted in increased activity.6 The Germans
had long been in contact with Roman economic organizations
and had deve10ped considerable knowledge of its functions
whidh permitted a continuation of these activities after
their final settlement.

In regards to the large number of Oriental merchants
living in the Western Mediterranean and their transporting
from the East suCh products as silks, Spices, paper and
rare wines, it is wrong to suppose that ttade in this early
period of the Middle Ages was carried on exclusively, or
even mainly, by foreigners, and that the trade was limited
to luxuries.7 The monasteries were not at this early date
self-sufficient and yet they were capable of supplying their
needs by purChasing such items as cloth and grain in the
local market place and these are certainly not luxury items.
Also, much of this trade was being carried on by the local
population in addition to the efforts of the Syrians. Even
the clergy can be seen engaging in extensive trade, under
assumed names, in an effort to reap some of the lucrative

rewards. The German participation in commercial activities

 

gAlfons Dopsch, The Economic and Social Foundations
f European Ciyilization (New York, 1937), pp.340—41.

7Ibid., p. 344.

45
should not be difficult to accept, says Professor Dopsch,
because archaeological findings have proved that trade had
been going on between Rome and the Germans since the third
century, whidh gave them a considerable background in
economic dealings.8 This long established trade did not
cease with the fall of Rome, but just assumed a new partner.
Thus, the migration of the Germans into the Empire had not
created economic chaos, but actually made new connections
which in return created increased commercial activity.9

Migrations have always brought mankind closer to-
gether and has often brought different civilizations into
touch so that gulfs were bridged and cultures could be
transmitted one to the other. The migration of the Germans
proved to be just such an event in that it eventually
stimulated the economic life of the Mediterranean which
continued to flourish until the ninth century.

Returning once more to the evidence produced by
Dopsch's grave-diggings and other archaeological endeavors,
he concludes that evidence has been sufficient to support
the belief of a continuous employment of the Roman coinage
by the Germans after the invasions. The coins whidh have
been discovered illustrate that the Germans were familiar

10

with the Roman currency and wanted to preserve it. The lack

 

8
Ibid., pp. 347-48.

91bid., p. 348.

lOIbid., p. 359.

46
(of German coins during the early invasion period does not
rnean they were incapable of producing their own, but
iactually indicates there was such a great abundance of
.Roman coins that the Germans had no need of minting new.
lNhen they did commence striking their own coins, which em-
ibodied the effigy of the Emperor, they were so genuinely
produced that it is difficult to distinguish them from the
Roman.11 According to D0psch, this is sufficient evidence
to support the belief that the Germans actually possessed
sufficient knowledge and craftsmanship to continue the
imperial economic order.

While Pirenne and DOpsch are in general agreement
concerning the continuity of the established economic order
during the fifth and Sixth centuries, this does not mean
they are necessarily correct in their conclusion. Pirenne
exhibits a unique ability to take the arrival of a few ships
in the West, of which we are not even certain they came
directly from the East, and construct a flourishing trade:
while at the same time Professor Dopsch can make a mint out
of the appearance of a few coins. William C. Bark may not
have been too far wrong when he concluded that these men had
not only the ability to make bricks without straw, but at

times they didn't even need clay.12 In order that a more

 

Ibid., p. 359.

12William C. Bark, Origins of the Medieval World.

(Stanford, 1958), p. 13.

47

accurate account may be formulated of the late Roman and
early medieval economic conditions, it will be necessary to
turn now to the crisis of the third century and view its
effect upon the economic institutions.

In the words of Ferdinand Lot, "It is an established
fact that the Roman world underwent a serious economic up-
heaval . . . from the second half of the second century on-

wards. “1 3

With the advancement of the third century, this
decline, which expressed itself most vividly in a debasement
of the coinage, became more and more marked. The once
stable imperial weight of the coins has now become extremely
irregular and their make abominable. The portion of the
base metal had risen to an astonishing 98.5 percent, with
the silver coins becoming no more than a piece of copper or
lead dipped in silver wash.l4 While Diocletian and
Constantine were able to restore a sound coinage of the
silver products, the gold “solidus,” which was the basis of
their economy, was already becoming rare. In Spite of the
measures to curb the economic maladies, unmistakable signs
made it clear that ancient society was in a state of economic

retrogression with the monetary economy yielding more and

more to a natural economy.

13Ferdinand Lot, The End of the Ancient Werld and the
Eeginning_of the Middle AqesL (New York, 1931), p. 55. H.
St. L.B. Moss, The Birth of the Middle Ages 395—814,(Oxford,
1935), p. 8 and Robert Latouche, The Birth of the Western
Economy (New York, 1961).p. 3, also agrees that the Empire
eXperienced profound economic upheavals during this period.

 

léLot, p. 56; William Carroll Bark, p. 51.

48

Thus far there has been no mention of a natural
economy because with all the gold whidh Pirenne and DOpsch
saw existing within the West, they would have dismissed as
ignorance any attempt to see the slightest degree of a
natural economy prevailing within the Empire. iowever, the
verdict of recent scholarship would not coincide with the
conclusions of these two historians. By the end of the
third and the beginning of the fourth centuries, the Roman
state had started the practice of receiving the land tax
most often in kind and to these receipts in kind corresponded

salaries in kind.15

This is not meant to assert that a
complete change from pay in money to pay in kind took place
in the third century. There was by no means a thorough
replacement of gold economy by a natural economy. It is
best qualified as being a partial natural economy. As
Professor M. Rostovtzeff has pointed out, there were wide
variations of conditions within the Empire, and what went
on in one part at any given time did not, of necessity, go
on in all.16 Evidence of this can be seen in the Eastern
portion of the Empire as this segment of the ancient world

was able to restore a relatively stable economy while the

West passed into greater poverty.

 

15Lot, The End of the Ancient world, p. 57: Bark,
Origins of the Medieval WOrldL p. 53: Moss, The Birth of
the Middle Ages, p. 9.

16Rostovtzeff, “The Decay of the Ancient world and
Its Economic Explanation.“ Economic Historical Review, II,

(1929-1930). pp. 200—201.

49
As a result of these profound economic upheavals
whiCh infested the ancient world, society became very dis-
illusioned, indebted, and insecure with their present
stations in life. As the very capable French scholar ,

Robert Latouche, has pointed out in his work, The Birth of

 

Western Economyy the problems of the second and third
centuries became so devastating in the fourth and fifth
centuries that they were highlighted by an extensive exodus
to the large estates.17 Many individuals sought security
by placing themselves into the hands of men more powerful
in order that they might gain their guardianship and pro-
tection.18 The residents of the city left their declining
and insecure positions to seek refuge on the large estates.
The small, free farmers, that were numerous at this time,
became so indebted and unable to meet the demands of the
fisc that they also relinquished their status as freemen to
gain protection from their more powerful neighbor, the
large landlord.

With the eclipse of city life the rural economy
assumed a position of greatest importance in the survival
of the medieval world. As we shall see in the next chapter,
so significant was the agrarian class that the government

was impelled to take action which would ensure the continued

services of this economic entity. More important, however,

 

17Robert Latouche, p. 21.

lBIbid., p. 23.

50

than the economic aSpects of the large estates, was that
they represented one of the few institutions that was capable
of existing amidst an otherwise Chaotic world. This system
which brought together former slaves now freemen, small
landowners weighed down with debts, barbarians, and the
discontented elements of city life, was so successful that
it was later to be adOpted by the Germanic aristocracy and
in the process became one of the moulding attributes of the
new Western world.19

Additional repercussions set in motion by these
economic upheavals can be seen in the deterioration of the
military order. With the absence of specie entailing the
disappearance of pay, the costly Roman anmy was soon replaced
by barbarian trOOps using their won weapons, fighting under
their own chiefs, and receiving land as payment for their
services. Professor Lot is correct in his conclusion that,
"the inevitable consequences of a system which allows services
rendered to be rewarded by means of salaries in kind or the
distribution of land...is the emergence of the so—called
feudal system."20

We are now faced with a problem of highest importance.

How can we eXplain the fact that the Roman world,;economically

prOSperous.at the end of the Republiczperiod and during the

 

lgIbid., p. 19.

20Latouche, p. 123.

51
first two centuries of the Empire, was now irreparably
ruined? As Professor Lot eXplainS it, the population had
been steadily decreasing in number and their buying power
was very poor.21 The man of antiquity had few needs. Their
food was simple as was the clothing which they required.
Thus, with the frugality and simplicity in whidh man lived
there was little Opportunity for the develOpment of industry.22
Even the rich lived off the products of their own estates
and their greatest need was in luxuries, which involved
only a fragment of society and was absolutely inadequate to
create or maintain a thriving industry.

While it is true that commerce held on infinitely
more important positions in antiquity and the Middle Ages
than did industry, even this never reached any tremendous
volume in the West. Producing little the Roman world had
little to sell, and as William C. Bark has stated, this un-
favorable balance of trade created a constant drain on the

23

Western economy. After the transference of the capital

from West to East in 330 A.D., the center of world trade
had moved with it and from this time on Constantinople

grows at the expense of Rome.24

 

21Arthur, E. R. Boak, Manppwer Shortage and the Fall
of the Empire, (Ann Arbor, 1955). Moses I. Finley, “Manpower
Shortage,“ The Journal of Roman Studies, XLVIII (1958), p.
156-164, taEES Opposition to the significance which Boak
places on the manpower shortage and states this is not the
key to the decline of the Empire.

 

22Lot, p. 73.

23Bark, p. 47.

24Moss. D. 16.

52

In spite of the valid warnings of Professors Norman
H. Baynes and M. Rostovtzeff, too little emphasis is still
placed upon the role Of the East concerning the economic
life of the late Empire. It is only by looking at the East
that the decline of the West can best be understood. What
‘was saved out of the wreckage of the third century and the
reforms Of the fourth? Certainly not the Empire Of
Augustus. What was salvaged was a new Opportunity for the
Eastern Empire, and it is a mistake to consider that the
complete Empire of classical times continued intact. The
old Roman Empire gave up the ghost in the rigors, eXpedients,
and compulsions that brought new life for the East. The
East had experienced economic recovery but the West was
quite otherwise. The East curbed those tendencies that ran
free in the West.

AS we have already seen in the writings of Pirenne
and DOpsch, the Western economy, if not closely examined,
will tend to give a false impression Of robustness which it
actually did not possess. Certainly there was gold remain-
ing in the West through the sixth century, but how extensive
was it and how long did it remain there? It is certain that
a good deal of it had already found its way back to the

25 It is well known that

East from whence it came.
Constantinople escaped capture from the barbarians time

after time by bribing the would-be attackers with gold,

 

25Bark, p. 48.

53
vflnereas the West had to go through such difficulties without
tfllis advantage.26 The East did not hesitate to sacrifice
tile West, nor Rome itself, as can be seen with the Visigoths
annd again with the Huns, in an effort to protect herself.
(The meaning is clear: the East could afford to buy protec-
‘tion with money: the poorer West could not and therefore
laad to suffer the fate the East escaped.

The West, no longer self-sustaining and an active
partner, was in the process Of being gleaned: its provinces
'were being plundered, its cities destroyed or abandoned.

The trade of the West had fallen into the hands of the
Oriental merchants, primarily the Syrians andJews.27 It

is true, as Pirenne stated, that these Eastern merchants did
prosper or they would not have remained in the West, but
this was made possible, primarily, by the supply of gold
that was arriving periodically in the West as tribute money
to the Merovingian kings from the Eastern Emperors. This
gave the West an appearance Of prOSperity which it actually
did not possess. From the Eastern point Of view these
merchants were bold, capable businessmen, able to make
money even under the unproductive, adverse conditions in the
West. From the Western point Of View they were foreigners,

(1

hated because of their wealth and Byzantine connections.20

26Ibid., p. 48.

27Lot, p. 81.

28Bark, p. 50.

54

Professor Latouche is correct when he concludes that
the presence of these Syrian merdhants in the West was not
to suggest prOSperity, but decline. It was the deteriora-
tion Of commercial activity resulting from the great in—
vasions that Spread over Gaul and Italy which brought these
eastern traders with hope of making a substantial profit
from the bundle of wares they had brought with them. More-
over, the goods in which they dealt were not always reSpect-
able with slaves being the most profitable Of their wares.29
Contrary to what DOpsch may believe, the Germans were too
primitive in their economic manners to bring order out of
the chaos and this presented tremendous Opportunity for
the foreign merchants.3O

Also, as Professor Norman Baynes has pointed out,
even the presence of these merchants in the West does not
necessarily indicate that a coastal trade existed. The
term "merchant“ has been eXpanded by modern day economic
historians to include more than was originally intended.
Many Of these persons who bore the title "merchant“ were in-
volved primarily with local trade. This is by no means to
indicate that they were in communication with the East nor

that their numbers were being replenished by new arrivals.‘51

 

29Latouche, p. 123.

30Ibid. ,p. 123

31Norman Baynes, ”The Decline of the Roman Power in
Western EurOpe. Some Modern Explanations," The Journal of
Roman Studies, XXXIII (1943), pp. 310-316.

55
'There is actually little to suggest that there was any
tremendous commercial activity existing during the post-
invasion period.

By the end of the sixth century, it is inconceivable
to think that the barbarians continued an extensive
economic program, for there was little to continue. It
znust be added, however, that there were efforts to use those
economic institutions which did remain. There is evidence
to support the fact that they continued to collect the in-
direct tax, such as tolls, but at the same time, were in-
capable Of collecting the direct tax which would have been
their greatest source of revenue. It is now evident that
by no stretch Of the imagination can it be maintained that
a brilliant economy existed. Trade was stagnant, the coinage
was debased, gold was rapidly being drained from the West,
mines were depleted, and a partial natural economy was pre-
vailing. Any accurate statement concerning the continuity
of an economy order following the invasions must, Of
necessity, include these grave reservations.

In conclusion, we can see that the actual beginning
of the Middle Ages economically was not a catastrophic
break, but rather a gradual transition which permitted the
Germans to retain a small degree of the classical economic
order. Had the Germans been further removed from the stages
of barbarism than they were, they may be could have

salvaged more. But as we shall see, the events following the

sixth century became even more deplorable than before.

Chapter IV

SOCIAL TRANSITION (3rd-6th Centuries)

In Spite of the rigorous reform efforts of Diocletian
and Constantine, the tide of social life within the Empire
had descended to a level of rigidity and lifelessness.

That there was no political life goes without saying, but
there was scarcely any municipal life either. Theprodigious
expense of maintaining the Empire continued to mount while
the ability Of the populous to meet such an expense con-
tinually dwindled. The demands of the fisc had become most
unbearable. The position of the Empire could be likened

to that Of a ruined landlord who tries to live with the
same degree of public diSplay after the cessation Of his
prosperity as he did before. With the growing strength of
the barbarians and the inability of the State to OOpe with
them, society lived with the constant threat of invasion.
Not only had the Empire lost all power Of conquest, but was
rapidly losing even its capacity for assimilating the
barbarians. With these conditions surrounding them the
oppressed public became so ill at ease at their present
position in life that exhaustive efforts were being made to
flee it. Peasants were leaving the country, workmen

abandoned their trade, and the decurion fled the municipal

57

senate.1

Haunted by the memory of the anarchy which had so
nearly shattered the Empire in the third century by renewed
threats of disorder, by the stirring of the barbarian hordes
just beyond its ill-defended frontier, the government in
the fourth century could see but one means of securing the
Empire, which was vacilating amidst instability, and that
was to be invoked at the expense of the public. It was
during this low tide of social life that the government had
recourse to the deSperate measures of forcing men to remain
in their economic status, regardless of the hardships which
it inflicted, in an effort to preserve production, public
service, and tax income.2 Efficacious steps were taken to
eliminate every possible outlet through which escape could
be made. The daily watchword became, “Everyone at his post,
or Roman civilization would perish.“ Thus, with this
immobilizing philOSOphy dominant, the whole organism of
society was soon transformed into a blighting standardized
machine, destroying in the process the last remains of the
already waning public Spirit.

The method that we are describing by which various
elements Of society became bound to their stations was the
institution enforced by Diocletian known as the Caste System.
Although this institution was by no means novel at this time,

1FerdinandiLot, The End of the Ancient WOrld and the
Beginning of the Middle Ages, (New York) 1931, p. 100.

2William Carroll Bark, Origins of the Medieval World,
(Stanford, 1958), p. 47, 48.

58

as the ancient monarchies of Asia and Egypt had long used it
to tie the peasants to the soil, it was now being expanded
to include practically every phase of life.3

In their efforts to save the Empire, the emperors
sought to embrace everyone that was essential to the continu-
ation of the classicaltradition. The first group to be
affected by this regimentation was naturally those public
servants whose fidelity to the state was most urgently
needed.4

with much Of the trouble existing within the Empire
during the third and fourth centuries Springing from the
economic upheavals and the continual diminishment of Specie,
the b‘tate owned and Operated mines became one of the earliest
institutions to be regimented. with hOpe to curb these
economic maladies, employment in the imperial mines conse-
quently became regimented and eventually even hereditary.
For who would have accepted voluntarily a life so horrible
as that of an ancient miner?

Following a similar course the vast number of artisans
who were needed to maintain the splendor of Rome, with their
production of essential domestic utensils and other more

decorative handicraft, were also affected by these saving

efforts of the emperors, as their stations in life became

 

3’erdinand Lot, p. 108.

41bid., p. 101.

59

bound by a life sentence which was to pass from father to
son. The son of a craftsman was required to marry the
daughter of a fellow craftsman in an imperial attempt to
perpetuate this institution, and if any artisan even con-
templated escape from his position in society he was readily
subjected to adverse treatment.5

As the regimentation Of society continually gained
in momentum, a comparable fate was soon to befall all civil
servants. The armourers and smiths of the imperial factory
were bound to their stations. Cartwrights, veterinary
surgeons, weavers, and all posts of significance became
frozen in organized “colleges," subject to a military type
regulation and discipline. Those charged with the tranSport—
ation of taxes, which were now'being paid largely in kind,
and with the preparation of these receipts for public usage,
were also bound socially. The maintenance of buildings and
even the gladiatorial games became tightly regulated insti—
tutions.6 Theatrical personnel and charioteers were for-
bidden to leave the cities and even became subject to the
obligation of fixed residence. It was only through such
means as this that the State was assured of the continual
service of its personnel.

Unfortunately, this system did not remain as a chain

to bind civil servants alone, but was eventually eXpanded

 

Ibid.

Ibid., p. 103.

60

to include other phases of life as well. For example, the
imperial military organization was touched by this caste
system. Roman citizens had long ceased to do military duty
and the reSponsibility Of recruiting new man power had be-
come the task of the large landlords. Every lord was re-
quired to provide at least one or more recruits from amongst
the so-called free men living on his estate.7 Once these
men were enlisted they were required to take an oath of
allegiance which bound then to service, leaving their posi-
tion unaltered, until their strength was exhausted which
usually involved over twenty years of military duty. The
soldiers were permitted to enter a contract of marriage,but
the children of such a union was to be the prOperty Of the
army. It is neither surprising nor difficult to understand
that the value of an army whose function had fallen to the
bonds Of strict servitude soon became a disgrace and their
achievements eanperatingly poor. Antiquity would have no
doubt tumbled much earlier had it not adopted the practice
of filling its ranks with barbarians.8

As we have already seen, by the close of the third
century, it was no longer plausible for the Empire to attempt
to survive from the rapidly diminishing fruits Of commerce

and industry. Thus, the basis of survival passed into the

7Ibid., p. 105.

Ibid., p. 106.

 

61

hands of peasants.9 With this class now occupying such a
strategic position within the life Of the Empire it became
necessary to coerce them in an effort to stabilize their
production. Having become the new life line of classical
civilization, the station of the coloni, or free farmer,
was rapidly regimentized, placing them within the same
strata of social organization as their contemporaries.lo

During the early history Of Rome, which witnessed
the transformation from a Republic to an Empire, agricultural
production never posed a real problem, as the labor force of
the Empire was being steadily replenished by the slaves
tw<en in conquest. However, as the period of Roman
development drew to a close the captured labor supply began
to diminish, making it necessary for the large landowners
to develOp a new method of production. The system which
was then adOpted was characterized by a division of the
large estates into two sections with the lord retaining one
portion and leasing the other to tenants. The portion that
was retained by the owners was by far the lesser Of the two,
being composed primarily of his dwelling, a small area Of
arable land, and most Of the forest and meadow region. The
other portion, which was largely arable, was given to the
tenants in return for a small sum of money and usually a
tenth of his yield. While there were requirements placed

upon the coloni, they were not strenuous and most important,

 

9H. St. L. B. Moss, The Birth of the Middle Ages,
(Oxford, 1935), p.26.

loBark, p. 56.

62

their station within society remained free.

By the end of the fourth century, the State had come
to View the colonate as a vital necessity for the survival
of society. With this view in mind the position of the
coloni rapidly evolved from a free tenant to a position of
life employment followed by a hereditary status or serfdom.ll
As Professor Moss has described it, “their personal free—
dom was curtailed... and if they even contemplated flight,

"12

they were to be bound in fetters. The statement of

Rostovtzeff of the Empire remaining as a vast prison for
millions of men now seems apt indeed.13

City life within the Empire soon proved to be no ex-
ception as it too was destined to experience the same end
which had bound the rest of society. With the decline of
the economic status of antiquity, many of the important Old
families were left impverished. Preferring the peace and
possibility of recovery which the countryside had to offer,
many of then were fleeing the ruinous city life to seek
recluse in their rural dwellings.

By a curious irony of circumstances, the state,
which bound the colonus to the land and forbade him to
leave it, kept the imperial agents (curiales), in the town

and preventedthén from escaping into the country.14 During

 

llLot, p. 111.

2
1 Moss, p. 26.

13M. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic Histopy of

the Roman Empire (Oxford, 1926) p.478.

l4Robert Latouche, The Birth of Western Econogy (New
York, 1961), p.20.

63

the heyday of the ‘gpx Romana, the collection of taxes had

 

been assured by groups of publicans to whom it brought in
enormous profits. From the end of the second century, hows
ever, volunteers could no longer be found for the task,
since the tax was coming in slowly or not at all, and tax—
farming had ceased to be a source of gain: it had even be-
come a crushing burden. From that time Onward the task of
the curiales became an onerous one. The large landowners,
for example, not only refused to COOperate with the ppgiglpp,
but often armed their retainers to drive away the would-be
tax collector. This, along with the numerous bad harvests,
tended to ruin the curiales in that they were forced to
make-up any deficiencies out of their own finances.ls The
result Of this was that those offices Of honor, once eager—
ly solicited by influential citizens, were no longer sought
after. As was pointed out in Chapter Three, those on whom
this Office devolved fled from the towns seeking refuge in
the country.

From the fourth century onwards rigorous measures,
occupying several sections of the Theodosian Code, were be—
ing taken to slow down the exodus, to tie down the unfortu—

nate curiales and prevent them from leaving the towns and

moving their possessions to the country. By this particular

15Moss, p. 29.

64
method of compulsion both the curiales and their descendents
were forced to stay on in the cities and to continue to hold
these Offices which were certain to bring ruination to them
in the future.16

The decay of industry and commerce since the end of
the third century had contributed immensely to the rising
significance of the large landed prOprietors. In the fourth
and fifth centuries Roman society could best be described
as agrarian, with land remaining as the only stable source
of wealth. These large landlords had become the monarchs
of the countryside.

Within the same wave which brought this rising import—
ance of the land, we find also the power Of the patronage
system expressing itself. The large landowners were acquir-
ing, or claiming by force, individual rights which soon
withdrew them from the authority Of the magistrates. We
have already made note of the problem which arose concern-
ing the collectors Of the imperial tax and the power which
the landed aristocracy wielded concerning this issue. The
lords also began to turn their estates into asylums where
they received runaway slaves, the curiales who wanted to
escape the burdens of city life, and anyone who had need or

reason to escape the pressures of society.17 The large

 

l6Latouche, p. 22.

7
1'Lot, pp. 128, 129.

65

landowner came not only to command the coloni, but also
any free man who lived in or around his estate. Under this
system of power, in which the lords became judge and jury
in the lives of their captives, most of the middle class
was absorbed by their powerful tentacles. Exerting the
patronage system to its limits, the landlords were capable
of acquiring not only forced labor, but even small armies
which in the end gave them sufficient strength to challenge
the power of the State.18

With the regimentation Of society and the growth Of
the aristocracy, most Of the small landowners lost all that
they possessed and naturally society would no longer have
any interest in the maintenance of the Roman jurisdiction

which had ruined them.19

The Roman pOpulous had been forced
not only to give up their homes and possessions, but even
worse, their privileges as free men. They had lost their
place and rank within society. Being divided into two un-
equal groups, with the middle class being primarily dis-
placed, society has already become medieval. We are wit—
nessing here the develOpment of a new society emerging from

the ruin Of classical civilization. Call it feudal as does

Professor Lot, or only agrarian, as does Bark, but it is

 

lBBark, p. 80.

l91-4633, p. 28: 'Bark, p. 80: Lot, p. 186.

66
certainly destined for a full-fledged feudalism in the
future.

What we have been viewing here as a great social
change, namely the destruction Of the middle class, the
acquisitions of many small landholders by the great prOpri-
etors, and the resulting vast increase in the power of the
landed aristocracy, was the basic feature Of the transition
from late Roman to medieval society. This was a change from
a more advanced, yet no longer workable imperial regime,
to the simpler, but more practical, regime of the landed
aristocracy.

The significance Of this-change, as Professor Bark
has pointed out, could easily be misconstrued if not closely
examined. There was feudalism existing in many areas of
the West, such as in Spain and Gaul, but it was nOt suffi-
ciently organized at this early date to be called a "system"20
"The common social denominator was not feudalism, but the
simpler agrarian state Of society which resulted from the
fall of Rome and the destruction Of the middle class.“21
In conclusion we can say that while Professors Lot, Bark

and Moss differ in their degree Of emphasis placed upon the

state of society at this time, with Professor Lot stressing

 

2OEark, p. 87.

ZlIbid.

67
more the feudal aSpect than either Bark or Moss, in essence
they would all agree that it was the decline of Rome that
brought this particular society into being, and feudalism,
far from being the cause, was but one of the results of its
eXperiments.

Without going into a repetitious account of the
Pirenne thesis we can see that essentially he persiSts in
his same error when he concludes, "there is proof the
society, after the invasions, was precisely what it had been

before them."22

As the above material has already adequat-
ely illustrated and proved, there was little of classical
society left to continue. Pirenne is correct in one sense
with his stressing the continuity of social conditions

after the Germanic invasion, in that it actually made little
difference to the colonus that his master was now a barbarian
and a foreigner. The Significant point, as we have seen,

is that poverty and loss of freedom had already engulfed
society before the barbarians effected their triumph.
Pirenne's failure to see this has led him to over-emphasize
the ability of the Germans in maintaining classical
civilization as well as in over stating the significance of
the Arab invasions of the seventh and eighth centuries. As

has been already suggested, these fallacies render the

Pirenne thesis of little value to medieval students today.

 

22Henri Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlamagne, (New York,
1939), p. 88.

68

Professor DOpsch, equally as persistent as Pirenne,
continues to dogmatically assert that the Germanic victory
in the West served as a catalyst to stimulate the existing
social order. To DOpsch the post-invasion period represents
a great improvement in the social order Of the Empire.23
The stone of social and economic depression which rested
upon the populous was removed and a political stability was
instituted for the benefit of the masses. The enslavement
of free men, which prevailed during the Germanic infiltra-
tion, was brought to an end. The new government of the
Germans began to enact legislation directed at the protection
of the free man and curtailed the action of the landed
aristocracy.24 Both the Ostrogoths and the Visigoths
passed legislation to protect society from the fetters of
the landowners.25

Such a picture of society as the one projected by
Dopsch and Pirenne, tends to present the barbarians as be—
ing more Roman than the Romans themselves, with their remedy
for the profound social ills. This misleading implication

which Dopsch and Pirenne Offer is fostered in the prodigious

misconception of the degree of culture which the Germans

 

23Alfons Dopsch, The Economic and Social Foundation

of European Civilization, (New York, 1937), p. 387.

24Ibid., p. 297.

252bid., p. 227.

69

abumorbed while serving the Empire. It is doubtful that the
bnxrbarians actually possessed any extreme degree Of cultural
aurtainment or they would have been more successful in their
Exilitical endeavors. As Professor Richard E. Sullivan has
5n: accurately stated in his, Heirs Of the Roman Empire, the
tafforts of the German rulers to establish their kingdoms on
'the models of the Roman government ended in ignominious

failure because they were tOO little removed from barbarism

to make such a transition.26 “The ambitious monarchical

regimes Of the Sixth century were little more than facades
'hiding a wide variety Of grave political ills."27

From the evidence that has been presented, it is more
probable that the conclusion of Professor Lot which main—
tains, “there was no charge in the social conditions, the
large prOprietors, masters of the soil, dominated society,"
is closer to the actual historical happenings than Dopsch's
story of a tremendous social improvement. Although the
social conditions at the end of the sixth century appear
to be in an unpalatable state Of chaos, it is out Of these
conditions that society is soon to settle upon a concrete

basis from which the edifice Of Western EurOpean society

can be formed.

 

26Richard E. Sullivan, Heirs of the Roman Empire,

(Ithaca, 1960), pp. 38, 39.

27Ibid., p. 39.

Chapter V

CULTURAL TRANSITION (3rd-6th Centuries)

While the negative aSpects of the early Middle Ages
have received voluminous attention in the historical writings
of past scholars, the positive side of this period has been
sorely neglected. Although modern research has done much
to remedy this evil, the intellectual damage inflicted by
this repetitious neglect can easily be seen in the vast
number of educated persons who still fallaciously conceive
of the Middle Ages as a period Of darkness containing
little Of value for the modern mind. It is true, as we
have seen in the preceding chapters, that the early Middle
Ages was a period which witnessed tremendous decay. The
highly developed social, political and economic order of
classical civilization was gaSping for its last breath and
the pristine age of Rome was a part Of yesterday. But these
negative attributes Of decay and corruption should not be
interpreted as being representative of the only significance
of the Middle Ages. In addition to these changes which
stress the ending of the Old order of life, there were also
much more important developments taking place which marked
the beginning Of something new and quite original which was
soon to be eXpressed in all of man's thoughts, feelings,

and outward behaviour. Thus, the primary thesis of this

70

71

cfiuipter, and essentially of the work as a whole, is that
sonnething new, distinct and in many reSpects original,
knagan to SXpress itself in the Western EurOpean portion of
tlme Empire and the elements Of this development are clearly
(listinguishable by the sixth century. This something new
\dnich we shall attempt to reproduce can best be described
as a newvay of life, the beginning of a Western European
civilization.

For several generations the historiography Of medi—

eval culture was dominated by two conventional schools of

I

thought. The first school, which has rightfully been

labeled as "the saving school,“ maintains that the culture
of Europe was the same as that Of Rome. They interpret the
years 400-1000 A.D., as a period when the classical elements
of culture were being preserved. Throughout this age of
disaster they saw intellectual giants who were instrumental
in salvaging classical culture from the threats of extinction.
These particular scholars see the first haven or safety com—
ing in the fourth century when the classical tradition
passed into the hands of certain Church Fathers. Although
these Fathers, such as SS. Augustine, Jerome, and Ambrose,
were men of the Church, they were also classical scholars.

The work of St. Augustine was saturated with classical style

1For muCh of the material presented in this chapter,

I am greatly indebted to a series Of lectures presented by
Professor Richard E. Sullivan at Michigan State University
during the winter of 1963.

72

and wording. St. Jerome revealed in his Latin Vulgate a
literary style which was definitely classical while St.
Ambrose was strongly influenced by the classical ethical
concepts which he conveyed in his work.2

In addition to the valuable material retained by the
Church Fathers, there were also other geniuses engaged in
this saving work as well. Donatus was a grammarian who set
down valuable grammatical rules for the future in addition
to preserving the work of some Of the real classical scholars,
such as Cicero, which later served as texts to keep alive

3 Boethius also receives a near sacred

the Latin vocabulary.
position in the eyes of the “saving school" as he is attri-
buted both with keeping alive the philOSOphical manner of
thinking in a difficult age and with contributing valuable
translations of Plato and Aristotle.4 Another of those
heroes was Cassiodorus who in compiling a reading program
for clergymen in his Institutes contributed what was later
to become an important guide to the classical authorities.5

Isadore Of Seville, a Spaniard, also contributed with his

dictionary composed Of a conglomeration of classical knowledge.

 

2Sullivan, "COnventional Views," Midhigan State
University (January 8, 1965).

31bid.

4nnd.

51bid.

73
This saving of the classical tradition continued to be
pushed along on the Western fringe of the Empire by the
monks in England and Ireland who were capable classical
scholars. The work of such men as these continued to mush-
room until it reached its zenith during the Carolingian
renaissance where all that was going to be saved was brought
together under the Carolingians and this served as the raw
material out of which Western Europe was to be shaped.

What this first school of thought is trying to estab-
lish is that in two places along the fringe Of the Empire,
Southern EurOpe and the British Isles, there were men who
appreciated the classical past and exerted strenuous efforts
to preserve it.6 The conclusion Of this first conventional
school would then be that the medieval mind of Western
Europe was the outgrowth Of what was saved from the classi-
cal world and was marked by little that was original.

The second conventional school of thought can best be
classified as the “barbarization school" with their emphasis
being placed upon the deterioration of classical culture.
This thesis starts with the third century where its adherents
see the classical tradition undergoing a profound debasement
brought about by the introduction of a foreign element into

the mainstream Of classical life.7 This foreign element,

 

61bid.

7Tenney, Frank, "Race Mixture in the Roman Empire,"
Amepican Historical Review, XXI (1915-1916), 689-708.

74
which had its origin in the East, brought with it irrational

religious practices that were detrimental to the classical
culture. When this mode of thought became dominant, it
began to eat away at the rational thinking of antiquity
with decay being the ultimate result. To this school of
thought, the Patristic Age represented not renewed life for
classical culture, but a debasement. The triumph Of
Christianity and the barbarians marked the end Of the class-
ical tradition as can readily be seen in the bastardized
language that prevailed. They cite such references as the
low Latin writings of Gregory of Tours to support their
thesis Of a barbarization Of the cultural standards Of anti-
quity.8 This particular chain Of thought which emphasizes
the termination Of classical culture portrays the early
Middle Ages as possessing no culture while in its embryonic
stages. They would conclude that Western Europe had to re-
construct its own culture out of the same ruins which had
buried the classical tradition.

There is probably some truth in both of these views,
but neither are adequate for the actual conditions that pre-
vailed. The saving thesis makes too much out of the con—
tinuing of the classical traditiOn while slighting the
significance Of the Church, and the barbarization thesis is
inaccurate in that it creates a picture of Medieval EurOpe

completely void of any culturfl.life. AS we shall see the

8Sullivan, “Conventional Views,“ Michigan State
University (January 11, 1965).

75
actual culture that developed in EurOpe following the fall
of Rome was essentially new and original, marking an epoch—
making event in the course of history.

In order that we may see the true significance of
this new way of life that was being formulated in the West,
it is necessary to go back to the Hellenistic period and
examine the formation Of the classical culture in an attempt
to better accentuate the contrast between the ancient and
medieval traditions. That element which marked the
classical tradition, above all others, was the belief
borrowed from the Greek cosmologists which maintained, in
general, that it was within man's power to produce a perfect
social order in this life. This philOSOphy came into being
following a careful examining of the natural order of the
universe which revealed to the Greek scholars there was a
perfection about nature which suggested to them that man was
capable of duplicating this orderly procedure in his own
human world.9 This concept of perfection was eminent in the
writings of Plato which maintained there was a connection
between the things of this world and perfection. While that
which you may see may not be perfect, it has the potential

10

of perfection. Aristotle added to this growing belief

when he concluded that it was within man's rational powers

9Sullivan, “Crisis in Classical Culture," (January
13, 1965).

loIbid.

 

76

to duplicate the system of nature. Man could inaugurate
perfection by simply employing these tools of logic which
he possessed. Aristotle taught man to believe that per-
fection was within his graSp.ll

From the work of these early Greek philOSOphers we
have the foundation of the concept which emphasizes the
perfectibility of man. This belief, as we have seen, is
based upon the perfection which the Greeks saw existing
within nature. Efforts to effect this concept were intro—
duced by the Greeks although they were never able to experi-
ence ultimate success. Their formation of the Greek city—
state was an attempt to create a perfect political order
through which man could reach complete perfection. Every
phase Of the Greek life was soon dominated by this concept
as we can see in the Greek drama which was written to
stress the superhuman strength Of man and their architecture
which was designed to perfect proportion. However, the
Greeks were so busy deriving new areas of life in which this
philOSOphy could be applied that they were never able to
reap the final rewards of their work.

It was not until the victorious Romans adOpted this
Hellenic philosophy that it finally reached its full impli-
cations. The Romans, who were busily engaged in the build-

ing Of the Empire, soon achieved a tremendous knowledge of

the Hellenic philosophy and this, coupled with their

llIbid.

77

repeated military victories, suggested to the Romans that
they were destined to reach this ultimate perfection. The
writings Of Livy and Virgil emphasized the ideal of perf—
ection and brought society into a realization that such a
goal was truly within their graSp.12

Although the Roman culture was based upon the same
concept of perfection as the Greeks, the Romans were more
successful in effecting their ends. An emperor was soon
set up as a kind Of philosopher king whose task it was to
establish perfect peace and harmony. They believed they
could bring this perfection to the world and in the process
raise their peOple to a new level of morality. The perfect
culture was now being formulated and they called it the

Pax Romana .13 With the reign Of Augustus we enter into

 

the golden age of classical civilization. It was an age so
enlightened, advanced, and saturated with positive attri-
butes such as justice and freedom that most Romans were con-
vinced that they had established the perfect world order.
However, as much as the intellectual wanted to

believe that he had created the perfect world order, the
Obvious fact was that there was no perfection. From this
point Of view Rome was actually a failure. Here was the so-
called perfect world, but it was still possible for a person

such as Nero to get control of the government. This led

 

78
many Romans to deSpair. Tacitus, the historian, speaks of
the perfect order with grave trouble prevailing round about
it. The Empire was still plagued by wars as the barbarian
hammered away at its borders. The Roman senate was not what
it was expected to be as corruption was often the order of
the day.14 To the twentieth century man this does not
sound sufficient to condemn the Empire because we see such
corruption and chaos daily, but to the Roman anticipating
perfection, this was disillusionment. This marks the begin—
ning Of the decline of the Roman Empire. Here they had
created the perfect society and it would not work. They had
exerted their intellectual faculties to the ultimate limits
in an attempt to effect this scientific perfection only to
find it would not work. Wars continued, corruption pre—
vailed, and emperors laCked the individual ability to meet
the tasks required of them. The result of this disillusion—
ment was the fall of Rome.

In the second and third centuries B.C., man began to
ask questions of a very important nature. With disorder the
prevailing condition of the day, man began to doubt if he
was as rational as the Greeks had once claimed. We can see
at this time man's disillusionment with the power of reason
as he tries to find comfort and security in the supernatural.
There was a tremendous rise of philOSOphical mysticism with

. . 15
trying to escape reality in a union with the Spiritual world.

l4Sullivan (January 15, 1965).

15Ibid.

 

79
Some, such as the Epicureans turned to material pleasures
for comfort while others, like the Stoics began to accept
whatever was with no worry. Many peOple,unable to find
comfort or security in these philOSOphies turned to
mysticism and mystery religions. Others sought refuge in
the study of astrology, but all represent. a flight from
the power of human reason. As men began to abandon this
particular world view, they began to seek a new set of
beliefs to direct their life and this they found in Christian-
ity. It was here in this age, which some men have found
convenient to label as the "Age of Faith,“ that we find the
basis for the new way of life that is to serve as the basis
for Western EurOpean Civilization.

While the significance of this cultural transition
has been given a more accurate presentation among present
day sdholars this has not always been the case. Evidence
of this is readily visible as our attention is commanded
once more by the writings of certain twentieth century
scholars which will reveal to us not only the historigraphical
trend concerning European culture, but also those character-
istics which so brilliantly distinguish it from the class-
ical tradition.

Beginning once more with the classic of Henri
Pirenne, Mohammed and Charlamagne, we see that he readily
admits there was a decline in the classical science, arts
and letters, following the third century. He then proceeds

with a brief sketch of the intellectual conditions through

80
the fifth and sixth century in an attempt to prove that
essentially the classical tradition continued to prevail.
In a vain attempt to support this thesis of a cultural
continuity, Pirenne recalls the names Of Theodric's two

16 With two

chief ministers, Boethius and Cassiodorus.
short barren paragraphs given to these extraordinarily influ-
ential men, Pirenne tries deSperately to use these brief
references as prOps for his thesis. by presenting the
secular side Of these two men as representatives of the con-
tinuation Of the ancient school Of rhetoric, he seeks to
dismiss the true significance which Christianity possessed

17 of Christianity,

within their lives and the Empire.
Pirenne says it is true it was accepted into the Empire,
but it was only with a few ascetics and intellectuals that
its hold was really complete. In the main, society was
still predominantly secular.

It is extremely misleading to say nothing of the role
which Cassiodorus and Boethius played in the theological
controversies Of the day. None would have ever suspected
from Pirenne's writing that boethius has rightfully been
labeled, "the first of the scholastics." Pirenne's work
says nothing of the decadent state Of classical rhetoric
and literature, nor Of the bitter struggle against the pro-
fane classical tradition in which the church Fathers of the

Patristic Age were so involved. It is definitely a mistake

l7lbidop p0 120.

81
to use Boethius and Cassiodorus as prOps for the view that
society was still secular and essentially unchanged.

Further attempts are also made by Pirenne to support
his thesis of a continuity Of classical culture by stress-
ingthe continuity of classical art and defending the use Of
lowlLatin as not a decline, but rather maintaining the
debasement was brought about by the Church in an effort to
enlist literature as part of man's daily prcedures.18
Pirenne is here guilty Of taking the one major institution,
the Church, that was engaged in the formation Of a newvay of
life and making it into an agent for the preservation Of
Rome. Pirenne's stressing of the continuity of classial
order has rendered him blind to the major cultural develop-
ments in the early Middle Ages. This persistency in trying
to support the thesis of a continuation of classical civil-
ization has seriously impaired most of the academic value
Of Pirenne's work.

While in the past we have been able to follow the
work of Ferdinand Lot as one of our most accurate and
authoritative sources on the early Middle Ages, when we turn
to the problem Of cultural transition his work must be
studied with the greatest of caution. The reason for this
word of caution can be found in the fact that Professor Lot
dismisses the work of the Church as a vital cultural force

in the develOpment of the Middle Ages. Just as Pirenne was

18Ibid., p. 129.

82
guilty of being too closely allied with the "saving SChool"
of cultural interpretation, Lot follows too closely in the
fallacies of the second conventional school, in that, he
sees all culture, of any worth, coming to an end with the
fall of Rome. While classical culture had been centered
around the bond between science and philosophy, this bond
was ruptured during the transition from ancient to medieval
culture and this proved to be detrimental in the quality of

literature produced in the Middle Ages.19

Although in the
course Of the fourth century, philosophy assumed a new
'partner, in the form of theology, Professor Lot maintains
the literature produced from this union was extremely in-
ferior to that produced during antiquity. The major fallacy
in this judgment lies in the fact that Lot failed to see
the Change which had been effected in the medieval mind.

No longer was society concerned with the rational, scienti-
fic approaCh to life, which had been so important to the
ancient world, but the subject matter of greatest interest
to the medieval mind revolved about theological problems,
such as man's relation to God. The fact that the subject
matter had changed from the classical scientific approach

to the medieval theological concern, does not mean the minds

considering the material were inferior to those of antiquity

 

19Ferdinand Lot, The End of the Ancient World and
the Beginning Of the Middle Agp (New York, 1931), p.158.

83
as Professor Lot would suggest. Lot's failure to see the
significance of theology to the medieval man has rendered
him blind to the important role played by the Church in the
shaping of Western.Europe. For this reason, it is necessary
that the student seek other sources than Lot concerning
the cultural development of Western Europe.

Although Ferdinand Lot's work does have its fallacies,
it is not necessary to disregard it in total. For example,
after referring to Lot's work concerning the quality of
classical art following theiburth century, it would be
impossible to maintain, as Pirenne does, that the ancient
style continued to function uncontaminated by outside im—
purities. AS Lot illustrated, the greatest of the Roman
arts, architecture, had already fallen into the mainstream
of decay by the reign Of Diocletian. The Roman genius which
had long been evident in their highly skillful anddbcor-
ative triumphal archs, public baths, and amphitheatres was
no longer visible. They began to sacrifice skill for grandeur
as can be seen in the colossal edifices constructed during
the reign of Diocletian and Constantine whiCh were erected
with coarse material swamped in mortar rather than the fine
stones deftly prepared in earlier periods.20

The fine arts also began to decay. After the second

century art lost its qualities and taste with exceeding Speed.

 

2°Ihid., p. 136.

84
This is evident from the inferior work accomplished in the
plastic arts. The status that was being raised in this
period lost all representational value in that only the
heads presented individual features, but the gestures and
details were all identical.21 From the reign of Constantine
on there is little of worth being produced within the
Empire. Even of Constantine himself, we do not have one
reliable portrait as a result of the decline in the plastic
arts.

The decorative arts were eXperiencing tremendous
change during the third century also. Lot has described
what happened to the decorative arts during this period as a
recrudescence Of the Oriental influence. This Oriental in-
fluence was expressing itself in the colorful ornamentations
and style which was now finding acceptance in the West dur-
ingthis period. Evidence of this can be seen in the change
from the long accepted laurel as the ceremonial head-dress
of the Emperors to a jeweled crown COpied from the models
of the Persian kings. The monarch's raiment became covered
with a constellation Of precious stones and the throne be-
came adorned with the colorful goldsmith work.22

While Professor Lot has capably illustrated the decad-

ence of classical culture during the later Roman Empire, if

21Ibid., p. 137.

22Ibid., p. 141.

85

we were to accept his thesis completely we would have to
dismiss the affects Of Christianity as a cultural force dur-
ing this period. It is true classical culture was coming to
an end, but it is a major error to leave a vacuum in its
place. There was a new cultural order being formulated
during the early Middle Ages that was to shape the West,
but to see it we must now direct our attention to sources
other than Pirenne and Lot.

Moving from the work Of Lot which has medieval
culture existing in a realm of darkness, we turn to the writ-
ing of Christopher Dawson, who recognizes the significance
of the Church during the fourth and fifth centuries, but
does so by exaggerating the relationship between the Church
and the classical tradition. According to Dawson, if EurOpe
owes its political existence to the late Roman Empire and
its Spiritual unity to the Catholic Church, "it is indebted
for its culture to a third factor, the classical tradition.“23
Professor Dawson believes it is indeed difficult for us to
realize the extent Of our debt, for the classical tradition
has become so much a part of Western culture that we are no
longer fully conscious of its influence on our mind. It
survived the fall of Rome and remained through the Middle

ages as the integral part of the intellectual heritage of the

 

23Christopher Dawson, The Making of Europp (New York,
1932), p. 58.

86
Christian Church and it arose with renewed strength to become
the inSpiration and model for the new European literature.24
"It is almost impossible," says Dawson, "to overrate the
cumulative influence of so ancient and continumnstradition.“
Professor Dawson's support for this belief of a
union between Christianity and the classical tradition goes
something like this. Classical education was rapidly dif-
fused throughout the Empire with most of the cities becoming
the centers of intense educational activity. The rhetorical
ideal of education became dominant and the rhetorician soon

became the idol of society.25

In the fourth century, how-
ever, the supremacy Of the classical tradition seemed greatly
threatened by the victory of the new religion. The Church
acknowledged no debt to the classical tradition. The
Christians had their own classic--the Christian Scripture--
which was so fundamentally different in form and Spirit
from the pagan literature that there was, at first, no room
for mutual comprehension. Nevertheless, there was going on
a process by which the Church was preparing for the reception
of the classical tradition.26
What Dawson is referring to at this point is that

period in the fourth and fifth century known as the Patristic

 

 

87

Age. By this time most literary activity had fallen into
the hands of the Church Fathers such as SS. Augustine,
Ambrose, and Jerome. According to Dawson, as early as the
second century, educated converts such as Justin Martyr
were beginning to address the cultivated public in their
own language and were trying to Show that the doctrine of
Christianity was in harmony with the rational ideas of
ancient philosophy. Dawson sees as a result of this program
a far reaching synthesis of Christianity and Hellenistic
thought, or as we have previously mentioned, a bond between
theology and philosophy. The Fathers of the fourth century
were essentially Christian rhetoricians who shared the
culture and tradition of their pagan rivals, but represented
the instrument of a new Spiritual force. Only three centur-
ies earlier Tacitus had pointed out that rhetoric had be-
come an empty vessel because it no longer fulfilled a vital
function in public life. ”Greek oratory like a fire needs
fuel to feed it...Christianity provided the fuel."27

Although what Professor Dawson says of the Patristic
Age is true in that most of the Spokesmen Of this Age had
been trained in the methods of the classical tradition, i.e.,
rhetoric and grammar, the bond which he sees between theology
and philOSOphy is stated in the reverse order from which it
should be. In his extreme effort to emphasiZe the continu-

ation of classical rhetoric, his examination of the writings

271bid., p. 63.

88
of someone such as St. Augustine slights the important
fact that moral and theological problems preoccupied his
work. While it is evident the Augustine continued to
employ rational thinking in his writings, his philOSOphy is
essentially that of a Spiritual SXperience which is in dis—
cord with the classical tradition.

While the research of Dawson has been sufficient to
fill the vacuum left in early medieval culture by Ferdinand
Lot, there is still-not an accurate sketch Of the true
nature Of this new institution. It is only when we turn to
the more modern writings such as William C. Bark that we
can see the intellectual life of the Middle Ages was cast
in a mold essentially different from that Of classical anti-
quity.28 As it is already evident, the old Greek union of
science and philOSOphy was no longer dominate in the early
Middle Ages. AS we have noted in the later Roman Empire,
the Hellenistic fires burned low with man's faith in
science being drained of its vitality and the Old ties with
philOSOphy being dissolved.

With the dying out Of the scientific partner of
philOSOphy the people of Rome were not left to wander in
pessimism. Soon after this break philosophy contracted a
new alliance, this time with theology, to direct the

intellectual life Of the Empire. The significance of this

28William c. Bark, Origins Of the Medieval WOrld
(Stanford, 1958), p. 100.

89
union was not, as Dawson suggested, in that it continued
to employ classical rhetoric, but as M. L. W. Laistner has
pointed out, the thinkers and writers of the Patristic Age,
by contrast to the Old moribund state of secular life in
the Empire, had complete faith in the urgency Of what con-
cerned them and wrote with energy and assurance.29 There
is being formulated at this time a completely new concept
of life. No longer is man living in a universe which
stresses his Own greatness and ability as the Greeks had
done, but the Christian world view was that of a universe
ruled by an Omnipotent transcendental God. Man could not
think perfect, build perfect, nor be perfect. His thoughts
and actions were now governed by his concern for God and not

his Own perfectability.3O

Thus, most Of the literary work
of this period came about as a result of the doctrinal con-
flicts between the different Church Fathers. While their
literary tools may have been similar to antiquity, the sub-
ject matter was completely different.

The literature Of the Patristic Age was concerned
primarily with dogmatic treatises, exegeses, homiletics, and

apologetics. While there were many heresies existing within

the fourth and fifth centuries to stimulate the Church

29M.L. W; Laistner, Thought “and Letters in Western
EurOpe (Ithaca, 1931), p. 54.

BOSullivan (January 22, 1965).

9O
Fathers, we are concerned here with only those which took a
firm hold in the West and thereby lead to a Latin Christian
literature.

Of these doctrinal disputes which arose during this
age, the Trinitarian controversy deserves a prominent place.
The Orthodox definition of the Three Persons had first been
clearly defined by the Council Of Nicaea in 325 in an
effort to settle once and for all the false teaching of
Arius, who had defined the Second Person Of the trinity as
having been created by God and therefore not Of the same

nature with Him.31

Despite the decision of the Council,
Arianism was destined for a long life in the West. It won
many adherent victories because the Germanic kings, when
they abandoned their heathendom, were converted to the Arian
form Of Christianity.

Arianism was not to go unmolested in the West, however,
with the pugnacious writings Of Hilary (315-67) to hinder
it. Hilary's writing was of such a nature as to inSpire one
medieval chronicler to record, ”it is a fact universally
agreed upon that thanks to the good work of Hilary our
country of Gaul was freed from the defilement of heresy."32

Equally prowoctive during this period was the stir

created by the teachings of Pelagius. The essential teach-

ings of Pelagianism which drew the greatest criticism from

 

31Laistner, p. 56.

321bid.

91
the orthodox was his rejection of the doctrines of pre-
destination and original sin. It can occasion no surprise
that Peleagianism met with strong Opposition and in its ex-
treme form was short lived because both St. Augustine and

33 If a close

St. Jerome condemned its tenets outright.
examination is given to the anti—Pelagian writings of
Augustine it becomes obvious that there was much more than
a skillful example of dialectic. His discourse on the

doctrines of "Predestination" and "Divine Grace“ illustrate

the significance of the union between philOSOphy and theo-

logy.34

The other writings of the period were equally as
important in illustrating the basis on which the new culture
of the West was to rest. The works of Origen, especially
his allegorical exegesis Of the Bible, received universal
acclaim and not because Of his classical style, but the
subject matter. The works of Jerome, Ambrose and Augustine
received like fame because Of their theological significance.35
While we must conclude that most of these men did employ
certain tools of classical culture, as a result of being
trained by the rhetoricians of the day, the essential point
is that the subject Of greatest concern had changed. Man

was now predominantly concerned with theological matters and

 

33lbid., p. 61.

34Ibid., p. 63.

351bid., p. 69.

92
this is new and original and it is this that is to serve as
the basis upon which the new culture is to be built.

It is also prOper at this time to ask of history if
there is reason for assuming, as Professor Lot does, that
human genius flamed less brilliantly where man, for good
reason, deflected Speculative thought from the realm of
science-philOSOphy to theOlOgy—philosophy. As we have al-
ready seen, the classical tradition had lost a great deal of
its vitality and its followers seemed no longer convinced
that the subjects with which they dealt were meaningful.36
While some scholars may assume that the work of the Church
Fathers represented wasted time, this is not true Of thOSe
who know well and recognize the place they hold in the
develOpment Of the thought process of the Western man.37
Although they may have often expressed more passion in their
style than intelligence, it remains true that the theological
diSputes most Often dealt with problems of undying concern.
The brilliance and sincerity with which these struggles
were waged also gave strong impetus to the develOpment of a
method of thought keen, probing, and logical. It was for
these reasons that the Patristic Age was instrumental in the
formation, in later centuries, of the scholastic philOSOphy
which represents one of the high points in the develOpment

of Western thought.38 Thus, we must be careful in passing

 

36Bark, p. 102.

37Ibid., p. 102.

38Ibid., p. 101.

93

judgment upon the Church Fathers in comparison with class—
ical antiquity. The essential considerations is that by

the fourth century a new intellectual attitude toward the
world had been well launched; that this attitude was not

of necessity either superior or inferior to that of classical
antiquity, but simply different.39

Parting for a moment from the intellectual changes

of the fourth and fifth centuries we can also see evidence

.C

01 the cultural change that is taking place by examining

the art of the early Middle Ages. In addition to the
Orientalization that was taking place in the West, Professor
Bark also sees some very important trends that were being
introduced by the barbarians. It is true that classical art
had been in the state of change since the second century,
but it is wrong to call this a decline as does Lot.4O With
reservations, one could even conclude, as Pirenne, that for
awhile much that was Roman remained, for in the greater part
of Western EurOpe the Germanic invaders were a small minor-
ity. Gradually, however, an extensive modification did occur.
The Oriental influence, which affected style and Spirit,

was certainly not a continuation of the old tradition and
with the arrival of the barbarians there was introduced that
art which was absorbed by the Goths while in Southern Asia.

The old humanistic culture faded: the artistic absorption

391bid., p. 102.

4OIbid., p. 32.

94

with the human face and form gave way to geometric form and
classical architecture yielded to the minor decorative
arts.4l'

The conclusion must be that in the new art of the
later Roman Empire and the still newer art brought in by the
barbarians, there was much that was vigorous and original,
much that owed nothing to Rome, but derived its inSpiration
solely from the new needs and values of the emerging medi-
eval world. Nothing better attests the creative genius of
Western EurOpean civilization, even in the period of its
youth, than the mighty products Of its religious art which
combined spiritual aspiration, warm human feelings, and the
artistic excellence in a way unknown to pagans and classical
antiquity.42

While certain elements Of this new culture, such as
the intellectual and artistic activities, were already ex-
pressing themselves in the first half Of the fifth centuries
there is still another change to be considered which even
further accentuates the uniqueness of the new way of life.
As ChristOpher Dawson so accurately pointed out, the
Patristic Age was a period when the great centers Of learn-

ing were still located within the major cities. This was

important in that it meant that much of the intellectual

 

41H. St. L. B. Moss, The Birth of the Middle Ages
(Oxford, 1935), p. 255.

421bid., p. 253; Bark, p. 99.

95

activity of the Church Fathers still retained certain
elements Of the classical tradition. What Dawson failed to
adequately stress was the great changes that were being
effected in Roman city life during fourth and fifth centuries.
As we have seen in earlier chapters, the political and
economic order of Rome was already in chaos. City life was?
becoming idle and lifeless. The social reforms of the
Emperors, as you will recall, did not succeed in reviving
city life, but actually served to sap the remaining vitality
that existed and in the end brought to the forefront a new
agrarian society. With this change, the cities which
served as the breeding ground for the new Patristic culture
was now decadent, but this is not to suggest that with the
rise of an agrarian society that all cultural activity died
out.43 To understand exactly what happened in the chaos of
the fifth century we must first make note of the fact that
chronologically, when the Church Fathers were exercising
dominance over the intellectual activities, a new movement
arose in the Christian world which we know as monasticism.

The formation of the monastic movement illustrates
an attempt by man to escape the influence from the world.
These individuals were in protest to what was prevailing in
life and tried to effectuate a return to gOSpel purity.
They believed that in the social, political, and economic

chaos, which was rampant during this period, that true

 

43Sullivan, (January 25, 1965).

96
Christianity was being lost and the only way of preserving

it was to flee the influence of the world.44

While in its

earliest stages, the monastic movement repudiated not only

the world, but also world culture, that is ’atristic culture.

They exhibited a wholly anti-cultural attitude in being con-

tent to study the bcriptures alone and destroy anything,

such as intellectual standards, artistic development, or

any other activity that would distract man from uOd.
Strangely enough, it was monasticism that emerged in

the fifty century as the cultural leader of the day. With

the internal chaos that was being experienced in the West

during the fifty century and the final triumphs of the

Germanic barbarians, the monastic movement began to grow at

an astounding pace. it became the refuge for much of the

displaced, insecure sOciety. The final victory of the

barbarians had Split the Roman world culturally, permitting

the k’atristic culture to continue in the metropolitan

life of the East, but demanding alterations Of the

cultural life of the agrarian west. Thus it became the

task of the monastery, as the only major unifying

force left in existence, to reshape the cultural pattern

of the West. While some attempts were made in the West

to continue the Patristic culture, as can be seen in

the monastery of Cassiodorus which emphasized the study of

the writings of the Church Fathers, the order of society was

 

44
1962).

Cuthbert Dutler. Benedictipe MOnarc‘hism (New York,

97
not such as to permit the success of his efforts. It was
the monastery and primarily the efforts Of Benedict of
Nursia and Gregory the Great that effected the change to a
monastic culture which was to serve as the basis upon which
Jestern EurOpean civilization was laid.

We can see then, with the decay of city life within
the West, the Patristic culture had to undergo serious alter-
ations at the hands Of the monks. In regards to the valu-
able contributions presented by the monasteries, the noted
French Scholar Jean Leclercq has contributed heavily in
destroying the long prevailing thesis that the monastery was
detrimental to world develOpment. Actually, it was this
institution which was to serve as the very hub of the new
culture. Although it is true the primary aim of the Ofder
created by St. Benedict was to draw'man closer to God,
Leclercq adequately proves there was also a vital intellectual
aSpect to monastic order as well.45 A vital task in the
lifeof every monk was to engage in regular reading. The
material to which the monks had access was definitely of a
narrow range with the major goal being the edification of
the individual. With this end in mind their reading usually
involved a study of the scriptures and selected commentories.
We can see from this, there is a marked change from the Old

Patristic culture which permitted the free study Of all

45Jean Leclercq, The Love of Learning and the Desire
for God, (New York, 1960), p. 22.

93

‘-
I

pagan literature as well.40

The monks were required to
read aloud to one another pausing from time to time to
meditate upon certain texts in an effort to get closer to
God. The list of materials from which the monks could
read was Officially organized by Gregory the Great and
though it had a very limited range, it was extremely
important in that it fulfilled a vital purpose in the life
of man.

With the increasing interest in the monasteries con-
cerning reading as one of the best ways of fixing their
mind upon God, it became necessary for the monks to become
better prepared for this task. The monasteries eventually
became schools stressing the teaching of Christian grammar.
The knowledge that was gained from the monastic schooling
was employed first and foremost in the study of the
Scriptures. Man's knowledge Of the Bible became so concen-
trated that they could easily see in it allegorical mean—
ing which could be employed to explain events happening in
nature. As William C. Bark has suggested, no other subject
offers better proof of the far reaching consequences of the
fall of Rome and the birth of a new tradition than does
education. The institutes Of learning had now passed into
new hands, those Of Christians, and while this was primarily

a matter of edification, it also meant the construction of

 

 

99

a whole new system of education for a new world with new
values and aims.47

The intellectual life of the monk was not completely
tie to that of reading, but they also produced writings.
An essential part of the life of any monk involved the
COpying of certain Latin classics in an effort to provide
source material for the monastic schools. While this
material was carefully selected in effort to use those that
would be most beneficial to a Christian, the fact that they
saved particular classics was an important fact for the
later renaissance. The writings of the monks also included
voluminous sermons and history of saint's lives. However,
the greatest contribution of the monks in this area was in
their liturgy. It was through liturgical incidents that
they passed on their greatest talents. They produced
volumes of poetry to be used in their liturgical exercises
and much of this wasgnt to music, such as the Gregorian
chant.48

While the monkkslife was primarily an attempt to
escape the chaos of this world and to draw closer to God,
he was actually laying the foundation of those thoughts
and behavior that were to rule dominate in Western EurOpe
until the eleventh century. While this has been by no means

a definitive account of the cultural basis of Western EurOpe,

 

47Bark, p. 31.

48Sullivan (January 29, 1965).

100

it has been sufficient to conclude that this was certainly
not a continuation of classical culture, but the beginning
of something new and original. We can also conclude that
the early Middle Ages were far from being a dark age but
was essentially theepoch making era that witnessed the
founding of a new civilization. If it is justifiable for
the history of nations to be so dogmatically concerned
with the history of their founding fathers, as we can see
in writings Of our own country, then it is no less import—
ant for man to know and be concerned with the founding

fathers and institutions of their civilization.

Chapter VI
THE MEROVIITGIAN AND CAROLINGIAN D'ILJAS’I‘IES:
PROGRESSION OR RE‘l ROGRESSION?

With the closing of the sixth century, the omens
which warned of a changing world were clearly distinguish-
able within the dismal 1ife of the Empire. The once robust
political, economic, social, and cultural forces that had
powered the engine of antiquity, now lay dormant within
this new and changing world order. Those institutions
which had once kindled a fiery patriotism within the Roman
citizens has now given way to a new set of stimulants with
the Church possessing a dominant influence. No longer were
the minds of men concerned with the same thoughts and prob-
lems that had characterized the minds of men of antiquity.

While much of the material examined heretofore has
dealt primarily with the death of an old order, which had
proved to be impractical and no longer workable, this is
not where the emphasis should come to rest. The true sig-
nificance of this epoch-making age of transition is not to
be found in death, but life. As Professor M. Rostovtzeff
has so brilliantly expressed it, in the formula, “the decay
Of ancient civilization,“ the emphasis is not to be placed

upon “civilization" but upon the term “ancient."l

 

1Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History of the
Roman Empire, lst ed., (Oxford, 1926), p. 109.

 

101

102
Civilization did not come to a halt with the fall Of Rome,
but out of the rubble of the third through the sixth centur-
ies is to emerge the greater and much more enlightened
Western EurOpean civilization.

As we now eXpand our picture Of the early Middle Ages
chronologically into the seventh, eighth, and ninth
centuries, we are soon confronted with another vital prob-
lem that has been very influential in the development of
medieval historiography. The problem to which we are
referring involves the relationship between the Merovingian
and Carolingian dynasties. Were these two periods simply
a continuation Of the highly developed classical tradition
or do they represent a distinct change from the Old world
order? Was the first a reign of progress which the latter
perverted into chaos? The answer to these, and other
similar questions, will reveal to us not only a vital link
in the develOpment of medieval historiography, but also
will permit us to see the true nature of the heirs of the
Roman Empire.

Time after time in the preceeding chapters, we have
seen the Merovingian dynasty presented by Henri Pirenne
and.Alfons DOpsch as a continuation Of the classical tradi—
tion to which they had fallen heir. These men could see
a remaining vitality in the forces Of antiquity which con-
tinued to flourish after the Germanic invasions. While
considerable doubt has already been cast upon their theses,

we need only turn to additional sources to further check

103
the validity Of their conclusions concerning the Merovingians.

Looking once more at the work of Ferdinand Lot, it
soon becomes Obvious that probably the most dismal aSpect
of Western EurOpean life after 600 was the decay of govern-
mental institutions and the consequent reign of violence.
By the end of the sixth century, four Germanic groups
dominated Western Europe: the Anglo—Saxons in Britain, the
Franks in Gaul, the Visigoths in Spain, and the Lombards in
Italy. The political history of these states in the early
Middle Ages presents a grim record Of war, court intrigue,
and grave injustice. The kingdom of the Franks in Gaul
under the Merovingians might well serve to illustrate the
fate of the Germanic state founded within the territory of
the moribund Empire.

Although the Merovingian Franks were destined to
experience a short lived zenith, there did occur during
their early history certain religious and political
happenings that were of profound importance. It was the
accession of Clovis to the Merovingian throne, at the early
age of fifteen, that heralded the beginning of the one
Spot of glory for the Merovingians. While Clovis proved
to be a capable leader in a very difficult age, his reign
is remembered primarily as a result of two events which
took place that has occasioned some historians, such as
Ferdinand Lot, to label his kingship as one of the epoch-

making reigns in the history of Western EurOpe.2

 

2Ferdinand Lot, The End of the Ancient World (New
York, 1931), p. 371.

104

The first of these events, which proved to be of
strategic importance to the Church, was the conversion of
the pagan Clovis to an Orthodox form Of Christianity. As
noted in an earlier chapter, one Of the greatest problems
plaguing the embryonic Church in its newly acquired role as
guardian of the West, was the provocative wide—spread
acceptance of Arianism by the Germans. With this theological
road block standing in the way of the Church, it was only
natural that many Of her philanthropic endeavors were sub~
jected to stunted rewards. With most of the Germanic kings
embracing the Arian form of religion, Christianity was
constantly harassed by this ever present deterrent force.
Until the accession Of Clovis there existed nowhere in the
West an orthodox Christian king Of any prominence which
meant the Church had to prOgress without benefit of a
political leader to champion their cause. So great was the
problem encountered by the Church during this period that
the Catholic historian, Henri Daniel-Rope, has proclaimed,
and with reason, that apart from the conversion Of
Constantine, the baptism of Clovis was the greatest event
in the history of the Christian West.3

The actual conversion of Clovis was the culmination
of a long, tedious effort on the part of his wife, Clotilda,

and the Church. There is little doubt now existing that the

 

3Henri Daniel-Rops, The Church in the Dark Ages
(New York, 1959), p. 180.

105
marriage of Clovis to the Christian Clotilda was an event
in which the Church claimed a vital role. Whether or not
Clotilda had serious objections to this union with a pagan
is not certain, but we can be sure that following the
ceremonies she exercised extensive efforts to win her
husband to the Orthodox faith. With the early pleas of his
wife falling on deaf ears, an event was soon to occur that
would lead to the conversion of the Frankish king. The
scene Of this event was the battlefield of the Alamans
where Clovis was faced with the most definite possibility
of being annihilated by his far superior enemy. Realizing
the danger with which he was confronted, Clovis made the
vow that if the God of his wife would deliver him victory
in this critical moment he would accept the faith.4
Experiencing a sound victory over his foes, Clovis remained
true to his word and he, along with his followers, was-
lowered into the waters of Christian baptism. This created
fer the Church an open door through which it could advance
against the predominance of Arianism. The significance of
this event can be seen in the numerous military expeditions

that followed as Clovis attempted to remove an Arian segment

that Opposed his conversion.5

 

41bid., p. 189.

5Ibid., p. 192.

106

While the conversion Of Clovis did possess vital
significance for the Church, it must also be Observed
there were political advantages gained for himself. With
the Church now supporting the military efforts of the
Frankish king, he could advance upon his neighboring foes
with a greater ease.6 As a result, Clovis soon established
himself as the most powerful king in the West. Following
his decisive victories over the Burgundians and Visigoths
it was evident that the whole of Gaul was soon to fall in—
to the hands of the Franks. This ultimate conquest of
Gaul by Clovis gave birth to a state more original in its
political orientation and more vigorous in stature than
any Of the other barbarian kingdoms that arose out of the
disintegration of the Roman world.7 For example, the
Merovingians had at no time been federates of the Empire,
but existed in independence Of Roman control. Thus, we can
conclude, politically there emerged from the reign Of
Clovis a Frankish people united in suCh a way as to mark a
notable achievement in the history Of the West.

The death of Clovis, however, occasioned a Change in
the political history of the Frankish State that was far
from complimentary. It was his reign which witnessed both
the emergence and the zenith of the Merovingian dynasty.

While he was capable of experiencing repeated success in his

 

6Lot, The End of the Ancient World, p. 318.

7Ibid., p. 322.

 

107

political endeavors, these positive aChievements were not
to continue with his frail successors. While there was
the occasional appearance of a capable leader, such as
Dagobert, the true character of the remaining Merovingian
dominance was one of violence. AS Professor Moss has
pointed out, the period immediately following the death of
Clovis was one marred by murder, court intrigues, and
revolts.8 While all the successors of Clovis claimed
absolute authority, between the end of the sixth century
and the middle of the eighth their actual power dwindled
to nothing.9

The causes of this decline were certainly numerous,
but primarily the Merovingians kings proved to be incapable
of jettisoning their barbaric political tradition and there-
fore created an atmosphere Of violence and tyranny through
their own unmitigated use Of force to gain their political
ends.v Few royal dynasties in all history can match the
record of violence and brutality of the rulers of the last
half of the sixth century. It is foolish to maintain, as
does Pirenne and DOpsch, that these barbarians possessed
sufficient cultural achievements to Operate a highly

lO

civilized way of life. The episodes of the Merovingians

8H. St.L.B. Moss, The Bppth of the Middle Ages
(London, 1935), p. 193.

9Richard E. Sullivan, Heirs of the Roman Empire
(Ithaca, 1960), p.39.

10William C. Bark, Origins Of the Medieval World
(Garden City,1958), p. 14.

 

108
are recounted by Gregory of Tours with such a cold blooded-
ness as to become disconcerting.

Even more ferocious than the Merovingian kings were
their wives, eSpecially Brunhilda, a Visigothic princess
married to King Sigebert and referred to by her contempor-
aries as the "Second Jezebel," and Fredegunda, the slave
mistress of King Chilperic, who became his queen after

11 The

strangling his first wife, the sister of Brunhilda.
hatred which already existed between Brunhilda and
Fredegunda was fanned even more by Fredegunda arranging for
the death of Sigebert and by urging her husband, Chilperic,
to seize the inheritance of Brunhilda's son. The atroci—
ties of these indomitable queens dominated the history of
the last part Of the sixth century and the beginning of the
seventh. At least, however, it can be said Of these per-
sonalities that they were forceful and dynamic, which is
more than can be said Of those who are to reign in the
seventh and eighth centuries.12

These kings, having only the vaguest notion of public
welfare, seldom attempted anything resembling positive
service for their subjects. Continuing with ancient
Germanic customs, they treated the state as private property

to be divided among their male heirs, thus breeding vicious

family quarrels that consumed their energies. These same

 

llSullivan, Heirs of the Roman Empire, p.38: Moss,
The Birth of the Middle Ages, p. 139: Lot, The End of the
Ancient World, p. 329.

12Sullivan, p. 40.

109
blunders can be seen when we examine their economic re-
sources. As we have already seen in previous chapters,
Pirenne and Dopsch believe that the maintenance and adminis-
tration of an effective economic order never posed any real
problem for the extremely capable Germans. Yet, as we
look at the facts of the period we see not only were there
little economic resources inherited by the barbarians, but
that which they did inherit soon slipped into decay as a
result of their inability. To the Franks a treasury was
Simply for personal advantages such as to avoid an immedi-
ate danger, or to take revenge. Such a use of finances as
this does not suggest in any form a high understanding of
economic principles.

Not only did the Frankish kings illustrate a profound
misconception Of the uses of a treasury, but when it was
being rampantly exhausted they showed even less knowledge
of how to replenish it.13 It is generally accepted that
the land tax constituted the chief source of income in an
agrarian society such as existed by the end of the sixth
century. Yet, in Spite of their inheritance of a well
organized land tax system, fully equipped with registers
and a customs system for the collection of the taxes, the

14

Merovingians proved incapable of maintaining it. They made

l3Bark, Qgigins of the Medieval World, p. 14: Lot,
The End of the Ancient WorldL_p. 351.

—-——

l4Bark, p. 15.

110

little use Of this major source of income and let it slip
away. This was both economically and politically a fatal
blunder, for it led inevitably to the impoverishment Of the
monarchy. Thus we can see that the conclusion of Professor
Bark is correct as it maintains it was not the invasion of
the Moslems that destroyed the Merovingian economy, as
Pirenne would have it, but their own inability to perfect
and retain their own inheritance. The Merovingians plagued
by barbarism, lack of resources, inadequate conceptcf
government, and a host of other problems, never succeeded
in dominating their Situation. They became, as Einhard has
described them, "do-nothing“ kings who were content to ride
in their Open carts from one of their estates to another,
and to intrigue among kinsmen for bits of territory.15 To
liken the reign of these barbaric kings to the past reign
of the Roman monarchs, in whose hands rested the welfare of
the public, is an idea bordering on fantasy.l6

Since the Merovingian state rested primarily on the
king, the Frankish monarchy was essentially a personal
government. It is true, as Professor Lot maintains, that
when the rulers' force weakened from one cause or another

the whole machine was out of order.17 An absolute govern-

ment can exist only as long as it wins forgiveness for its

 

15Sullivan, Heirs of the Roman Empire, p. 41.

16Lot, The End of the Ancient World, p. 347.

l71bid., p. 354.

lll

harshness by rendering Special services to the public. But
the Merovingians performed no such services. They realized
that their government was being served only from fear and
rewards so the kings began to increase the degree of both.18
The last word in politics became, "bribe your rivars faith-
ful followers." With no real institutions to support it,
the Frankish monarchy was at the mercy of chance. Providing
no security nor justice for the bulk Of society, the decay
Of the Merovingian was hastened on by civil wars.

Unable to provide more than a rudimentary government,
the Merovingian kings were forced to share the political
power with the great landowners.19 The fact Of a rising
aristocracy, which we have already seen gaining prestige in
the later Roman Empire, was accelerated under the Germanic
kings primarily because the king lacked sufficient revenue
to finance the services of government. The only recourse
was to call upon their subjects to render political services
at private expense, especially military service in the
maintenance of internal peace and order. It is natural
that to such a request only the wealthy were able to res-
pond and as a price for their services they demanded additional
grants of land from the private estate of the king and the

right to govern these grants as a private realm?O It was

 

19Bark, ggigins of the Medieval World, p. 15: Lot,
The End of the Ancient World, p. 356: Sullivan, Heirs Of
the Roman Empire, p. 41.

2C)Lot, p. 56 .

112

through this process that the king soon depleted his
private resources and at the same time divided his power.
While this was going on the nobles acquired more land,
instituted private government and subjected the bulk of
the population to their immediate authority. The king
made an attempt to ensure the fidelity of his landlords
by requiring each Of them to take a personal oath of alleg-
iance, a process known as "commendation”, which placed the
nobles in a Special category above the mass of the people.
From this time on the energies Of the king are directed at
guarding their position against the encroachment of their
powerful vassals.21

These early steps in the evolution of what eventually
was to be called the feudal system created tremendous
strife within the West. The line Of authority between the
king and nobles was so indefinite as to ensure a continual
struggle between them. It is true, however, as Professor
Sullivan has suggested, this new system provided a basis
for the restoration of order. "The powerful nobles, each
entrenched in a small area, could protect and control the

“22

pOpulation in their immediate localities. NO one could

deny that this system was primitive compared to the regime
of Rome, but under it the West began to develOp its own

characteristic political organization.

 

21Sullivan, p. 42.

Ibid.

 

113

As we have already indicated, Western EurOpe also
suffered a gradual, but desperate, economic depression be—
tween 600-750 A.D. If the causes of this decline were con—
fused, the manifestations were clear. Commerce continued
to diminish until the mid-eighth century it was practically
non-existent. The failures of trade paralyzed city life
to such an extent that it was not uncommon, as Professor
Moss has recorded, to see grass growing in the streets of
the blightful cities. With this ending of a commercial
activity, the pOpulouS was forced to resort to agriculture

as a means Of livelihood.23

The agricultural life, which
we have previously noted, was centered around the high
estate known as a latifundia or manor, which was already
nearly self-sufficient. Small farmers deprived of markets,
together with wandering refugees from the dying cities

now made up the labor force on these large estates.24

This decline of trade and city life which created the
agrarian society drastically reduced the standard of living
in the West hastening the division into two classes of
landlord and serf. This is just another marked difference
of the new way of life that was develOping in Western
Europe during the early Middle Ages.

While the Germanic kingdoms of Western EurOpe pain-

fully constructed a new basis for their society in a

23Moss, p. 205.

24Sullivan, p. 43.

114

political order which was dominated by the landed aristo-
cracy and an economic system which was compared of self—
sufficient manors, the religious institutions were also
undergoing a comparable transformation. As EurOpe once
more began to assume the character of an organized society
it was Obvious, from its now agrarian orientation, that it
was impossible for the Old modes of propagating culture

through the cities to operate.25

Although the state was
in no condition to perform such a task, the Church, which
was in some reSpects more powerful than the State, and in
all respects better organized, could.

Being confronted with the onerous task of preserving
and stimulating civilization, the Church in the West,
during the seventh century, found itself in a position
quite unlike that Of other periods. From the fifth century
on the Western Church could no longer depend upon the
beneficient support of a strong organized government.
Thus, the task which befell Christianity had to be under-
taken with the bishops fulfilling an active role within
secular affairs and running the risk of becoming worldly
themselves. With political and economic duties demanding
much of their time, the religious responsibilities of the
clergy began to suffer. Consequently these secular posi-

tions became positions of wealth and power creating vicious

struggles for the epiSCOpal sees with the strong ultimately

 

zspark, p. 110.

115
winning over the pious. The typical bishOp Of the eighth
century was a warlike figure not overly concerned with
Spiritual affairs, and his Shortcomings were reflected in
the declining quality of priests. These men were un-
lettered, ignorant of the rudiments of doctrine, unfamiliar
with liturgy and lax in moral life.

During this period in which the clergy became
secularized as a result of its all too frequent contact
with the world, there were positive elements taking place
that were of extreme importance. In this age of weak and
aimless rulers, secular government had abandoned all res-
ponsibility for the welfare of their subjects. The Church
with more positive leadership shouldered the burdens Of
caring for the weak. It maintained the only existing
hospitals and schools: its ideas of justice and mercy
penetrated and tempered the harsh Germanic law codes: and
as Professors Dawson and Daniel-ROps have emphasized in
their works, the Church was important in helping to shape
political actions through the efforts of educated clergymen
serving in a political capacity.26

Another accomplishment of the Church during the
period was its continual success in winning converts
through the efforts Of its missionaries. According to
William C. Bark there was only one way of extending the

Christian culture to the pagan world and that was to be

 

26ChristOpher Dawson, The Making of Europe (New
York, 1932), p. 180: Daniel-ROps, The Church in the Dark

Ages, p. 230.

116
achieved by sending agents out to live and work in the

27 Once the

agrarian communities under barbarian rule.
peasants of Rome had been won to Christianity, it was
possible for the Church to turn its attention to new fields.
The center of attraction now passed to the far west of the
Empire and the territory Of the Anglo-Saxons. Although
both the Irish and Roman missionaries exerted strong influ-
ence in England, the Roman forces eventually predominated,
eSpecially in organizing the new converts and in instituting
the outward practices Of the ChurCh. This was very import-
ant tO the ChurCh in that some of its most devoted allies
and servants were to come from the Anglo—Saxon monks and
missionaries. This can be illustrated, par excellence, in
the person of St. Boniface who in the eighth century was
so essential in the concession and civilizing of Germany.28
The missionaries Operating in these barbaric commun-
ities represented the force of civilization with their
assaulting barbarism on barbaric soil and in the process
made Christianity a basis for communication throughout
Western EurOpe. Through such efforts as these, the nascent

Western European civilization began to Spread and to develOp.

Under prOper leadership it was muCh easier for religious

 

27Bark, p. 1107 Dawson, p. 174.

28Bark, p. 1117 Sullivan, p. 47: Moss, p. 209.

117
reform to be instituted in these areas which had just been
newly established than where it had already been bound by
tradition. England, for example, became the center of
piety and learning for the whole West during the seventh
and eighth centuries with her churchmen eventually exercis-
ing a strong influence outside of England as well.

While both the extension of the Church's role in
society and the expansion of its jurisdiction into new
geographical areas were of tremendous importance, there
occurred during this period a third accomplishment which
left the previous two aChievements resting in its shadow.
What we are referring to at this point was the restoration
and deepening of the Spiritual life within the West which
was accomplished primarily by both the growth of the
Benedictine monastic order and the power of the papacy.
This need for a restoration of the spiritual life, which
is certainly evident, was created as a result of the in—
creased role of the Church in society and the expansion of
Christianity among the barbaric nations. Although it may
be true that the conversion of the Germanic nations illus-
trates,as ChristOpher Dawson claims, the superiority of
Christian culture, this does not erase the fact that it
also proved detrimental to the spiritual life. The method
by which many of these tribes were transformed from their
pagan ways was characterized by what the Protestant

historian, Philip Schaff has termed "wholesale conversion."29

 

29Philip Schaff, History of the Christian Church,
Vol. IV, (New York, 1895), p. 18.

118

The Church, using the conversion of Clovis as a guide,
first sought to convert the leaders Of the Germans which
in turn meant the followers of these Germanic kings would
also accept Christianity. While the emphasis which
Professor Schaff places upon these mass conversions tends
to do harm to the importance Of the missionary expeditions,
it is true such conversions usually result in little

change Of life.30

The true spiritual effects of such a
conversion proved to be very shallow and it isn't until we
have tne growth of the papacy and the increasing importance
of the Benedictine Monks, that the Spiritual life of the
West began to mature.

Upon examining the increasing power of the papacy
during the seventh and eighth centuries we must return for
a moment to the sixth century to see that the prestige of
the Church had first been seriously threatened by the re-
surgent power of the Eastern Roman Empire and then by the
invading Lombards in Italy. The threat from the East came
with the conquest of Italy by the Eastern Emperor Justinian
in his efforts to reshape the Old Roman Empire. This
Eastern victory placed over Italy a political master who
insisted upon dictating religious policy and who reSponded
to the claims of Rome to religious supremacy by supporting

the counter claims Of the patriarchs of ConstantinOple.31

 

BOIbid.

3J‘Sullivan, p. 48.

119

Coupled with this East-West religious struggle was the
military threat posed by the pressing Lombards upon the
borders of Italy. In 568 A.D. the invasion Of these
barbarians thrust the Italisn peninsula into war and con-
stantly threatened the downfall of Rome.

While the Church was at this critical juncture, the
Roman Papacy was saved from these menacing forces by the
inSpiring genius, Pope Gregory the Great (590-604). The
reign of this Christian giant was so significant that some
scholars, such as Philip Schaff, has cited his reign as the
beginning Of ecclesiastical history of the Middle Ages.32
Descending from a noble family, the young Gregory received
a good education designed to prepare him for service in the
Imperial government. Soon disillusioned with the state of
society, Gregory abandoned his public career and retreated
to a Benedictine monastery. Being a man of deep religious
fervor and hardheaded practical sense, Gregory launched a
policy of making the papacy politically and economically
independent while increasing its Spiritual leadership in

33 With land being the primary instru-

the Christian world.
ment of wealth and power the Church, which was the largest
landholder in the West, was capable Of progressing with
its political and economic independence.

Although Gregory's efforts to establish an independent

secular power were tremendous, they did not exhaust his

 

32Schaff, IV, p. 5: Moss, p. 136.

33Sullivan, p. 48.

120
energies. He was yet to earn his greatest fame whiCh was
derived from his abilities as a Spiritual leader.34
Gregory was especially gifted in stating Christian doctrine
in a language suitable to the mentality of Western Europe.
It was he who dispatched the first missionaries to England
which later proved to be one of the most important events

35 Under his

in the history of the early Middle Ages.
guidance, the Roman see assumed a new prominence throughout
all Christendom. AS Professor Sullivan has pointed out,
the efforts of Gregory were Of such significance that it is
usual to Speak of “Roman" Christianity being Spread in the
seventh and eighth centuries.36

The Spread of the Church's influence as a political
and spiritual leader was greatly aided by the wide accept-
ance Of Benedictine monasticism. St. Benedict Of Nursia
(480-543), born an Italian nobleman, gave up a very promis—
ing public career to become a monk. Being strongly
repelled by the licentiousness, decay, and corruption that
was existing in Italy during the Sixth century, Benedict
abandoned his inheritance Of wealth in an attempt to flee

the world and please God.37 After Spending three years of

 

3414088, p. 135.

Ibid., p. 209.

 

36Sullivan, p. 50.

37Cuthbert, Butler. Benedictine Monarchism (New
York, 1962), p. 24.

121
solitude within a cave, his reputation for piety became so
well known that many disciples flocked to his refugee seek-
ing his leadership. Parting at this time from the eremiti-
cal way Of life, which was predominent among monks in the
East, Benedict set about creating a monastic order which
was neither harsh nor burdensome.38 Although the order
which he established at Monte Cassino was extremely strict
in general principle, St. Benedict permitted a rather remark-
able amount Of liberty to his followers concerning points
of detail. For example, he permitted complete liberty to
the different communities in the selection of appropriate
food and clothing. The essential point of Benedict's Rule
was contained in the idea that God could best be served by
a community of dedicated men who divided their energies
between prayer, study and manual labor. This, in compari-
son to the Eastern monastic order was an easy rule. What
Benedict had in mind was the establishment of a manner of
life, self-denying, hard, but not a life of great austerity.39
It was required of the monks, however, that they take a vow
of poverty, chastity, and Obedience thereby cutting them—
selves off from the material, personal and political prob-

lems of the outside world.

 

' 381%igk, p. 24: Daniel—ROps, The Church in the Dark
Ages, p. 6 .

39Butler, p. 26.

122

Throughout the seventh and eighth centuries, the
monasteries continued to grow and provide an incalculable
service to the West. As William C. Bark has so accurately
stated, the Spreading of the Christian culture among the
pagans and the raising of spirituality within the West
became the task of the monks. They helped to guide the
bewildered EurOpeans in the prOper performance of the Roman
rituals and played a major role in its dissemination. Howe
ever, these early pioneer monks were much more than trans-
mitters of religion.40 They served as teachers to the
ignorant barbarians and were the leaders in the reorganiza-
tion of charitable activities. Along with the gOSpel, they
also spread among the pagan, technical knowledge and skill.
The well organized monastic estates served as models for
good farming. On the Whole, this was a period of consider-
able creative activity in Western Christendom starting with
the Western Church being able to exist in its own right.

Culturally, this period which witnessed the atrocities
of the Merovingians was also marked by a decline in cultural
life?1 There were, however, some positive develOpments
made during this period. Among them were the efforts to
preserve elements of the classical culture. The benedictine
monks, taking seriously the orders of their founding

fathers to study, laboriously c0pied the works of certain

 

4Osark, p. 115.

41Sullivan, p. 52.

123
classical authors and Church Fathers for their tiny
libraries. IO use these works they needed Latin, and
therefore, compiled simple textbooks for its study. Schools
were established to teach rudimentary knowledge and in the
process a tenuous link was there maintained with the dying
classical world.

There was also a brilliant cultural life in the‘
Irish monasteries in this period. With this knowledge
finding its way to England in the seventh and eighth century,
by avenue of the Irish missionaries, there emerged a long
line of monastic scholars who produced histories,
theological discussions, poetry, Biblical commentaries,
and even scientific tracts. The most famous of the English
scholars was Bede, Whose influence was being felt through—
out the West.42 These islands of intellectual activity
prevented total sterility in Western European cultural life
and served as a basis upon which future cultural achieve—
ment could be constructed.

It was a vital fact that the Church controlled the
feeble intellectual life of Western Europe at this time in
that the monastic scholars naturally selected the aSpect
of classical culture that best suited their religious needs
While disregarding that which was more secular. Although

this was a residue of the old classical tradition remaining

 

42Schaff, IV, p. 18: Daniel-ROps, p. 278.

124

in this culture, that which ultimately emerged was
essentially a new Christianized culture which became one
of the distinguishing features of Western EurOpean civil-
ization.43

As we have already seen, the Merovingian dynasty
of the Frankish kings experienced such decline during the
seventh and eighth centuries that they were eventually
labeled as “do-nothing“ kings. Before they were formally
replaced by the Carolingians, their authority was being
rapidly usurped.44 Having gained prominence in the
seventh century by acquiring extensive estates in Austrasia,
the Carolingians soon achieved greater prestige than any
other noble family by establishing hereditary control of
the position of Mayor of the Palace in the service of the
Merovingian rulers of that subkingdom in the northeastern
part of the Frankish realm.45 The chief reSponsibility
of this office was the management and diSposition of the
greatest source of wealth and power existing at this time,
the land. It was through a systematic exploitation over a
considerable period that the Carolingians were able to
develop a strong following by extending to the Austrasian

I

nobles parcels of royal land in return for loyal support,

 

43Sullivan, p. 54; Bark, pp. 102-107.

441Lot, p. 342.

45Sullivan, p. 57.

125

the Carolingians mayor of the palace succeeded in commanding
greater loyalty among the nobles than did the weaker king.

The first Carolingian to stand out clearly in history
was Pepin of Heristal. While posing as a champion of the
Merovingian king of Austrasia, whom he served as Mayor of
the Palace, Pepin waged war on the Mayor of the Palace of
Neustria who was trying to exalt his branCh of the
Merovingian family.46 By virtue of a decisive military
victory in 687 at Tertry, Pepin established dominance over
Neustria which was followed by control of Burgundy. His
victory not only checked the territorial disintegration of
the State, but also reinstituted a single political regime.

Followed by his illegitimate son, Charles Martel, the
same policy continued to flourish with the strengthening

47 Charles was essentially a

of the Mayor's position.
ruthless warrior who crushed internal resistance to the
authority of the monarch and beat back foreign attackers.
His successful reign was followed by the able leader, Pepin
the Short, who continued to strengthen the position of the
Mayor. The most important action undertaken by Pepin was
the active support of the most progressive religious force

of the era. Since the conversion of Clovis, the Frankish

rulers had traditionally posed as protectors of Christianity.

 

46Lot, p. 342: Moss, p. 198.

471‘1088’ p. 199.

126

However, the efforts of these "do—nothing" kings did not
always experience the happiest results as protector of the
Church. Being threatened already by the rising aristocracy,
the Merovingian kings were reluctant to encourage any
institution that would serve to further sap the already
declining authority of State. As a result, the kings
policy tended to encourage the growth of a Frankish national
church which had little connections with the rest of the
Christian world.48 The outcome was an increasing corrup-
tion of religious life which had already reached scandalous
prOportions early in the eighth century. This movement was
checked, however, from the moment the Carolingians gained
power. The Mayors of the Palace gave active support to
the missionary efforts. Charles Martel aided St. Boniface,
the English Benedictine, in his journeys which were
designed to organize bishOpries, recruit priests, and found
monasteries among the newly Christianized lands along the
frontier of the Frankish kingdom. Pepin's religious policy
went even further than accepting responsibility for the
welfare of the Frankish Church: before the end of his
reign he had shouldered the burden of actually protecting
the papacy.

This alliance between Rome and the Franks arose out
of their mutual need for assistance. The ChurCh, which so

long depended upon the Eastern Emperors for its protection,

 

481bid., p. 207.

127
now had to seek refuge elsewhere. With the East being
faced with the onslaught of Islam and the emergence of
the theological dispute between the East and West concerning
the use of icons in worship, the Western Church was left
to the mercy of the pressing Lombards.49 With these
problems confronting the Church, the Popes turned to the
rising Carolingians Who had already shown themselves favor-
ably inclined toward the papacy with their interest in the
missionary and reforming work.

With the Church appealing to Pepin for assistance, the
Carolingian Mayor found it very difficult to refuse the
request in light of the problems whiCh he confronted.

Still only Mayor of the Palace, he served kings who did
nothing while he fought the wars, kept the peace, and pro-
moted the true religion. To change this preposterous
situation involved a serious risk of rebellion. The Franks,
like all Germans, believed that God had bestowed a special
sanctity on those who carried royal blood in their veins
and to bestow the crown upon anyone but a member of the
royal family was sacrilege.50 Brute strength was not
enough to transfer the kingship so Pepin therefore sought
some authority whose approval of this act would supply the
necessary aura of legality and receive wide acceptance.

49Danie1—Rops, p. 375; moss, p. 214.

sobullivan, p. 62.

128

In 749 A.D., Pepin sent a legate to Rome requesting
a papal Opinion about a change of dynasty, and the POpe
answered, “it is better that the man who has the real
power should have the title of king instead of the man who
has the title but no power."51 With this sanction, the
Frankish nobles elected Pepin king of the Franks in 751.
Both the Protestant historian, Philip Schaff and the
Catholic historian, Henri Daniel—ROps, cite this as the
essential step in the formation of a Christian Western
Europe.52

Although the Carolingians had been experiencing ex—
tensive growth during the seventh and early eighth century,
‘it was Pepin's son, Charles the Great, who brought the
dynasty to its full glory. His powerful physique,
unbounded energies and personal courage made him a natural
leader of the Frankish warriors.53 Charles initial success
came by avenue of military conquest which brought into his
control an Empire embracing more territory than had been
controlled by any single ruler in the West since the fall
of Rome. While Charlamagne greatly expanded his Empire as
a result of his military prowess this was never the sole

aim of his endeavors. Instead, he regularly attempted to

introduce strong political institutions which would make

 

5lIbid.

52schaff, p. 233; Daniel-ROps, p. 381.

538chaff, p. 240.

129
he conquered people truly his subjects.

Equally important in Charles' program for incorporat—
ing new territories was his insistence upon the Christian-
ization of the conquered people and the immediate institu-
tion of a Church organization. While the Protestant
historian Philip Schaff takes issue with Charlamagne's

methods of converting such people as the Anglo-Saxons by the
sword, the other historians believe the ends accomplished
in the strengthening of the Christian West justified the
means.54 While there are certainly pros and cons to such
a method as that employed by Charlamagne, it is certain
that positive results were obtained. One of the most
important achievements of this Frankish king was that he
managed to convince most of his subjects that he was more
than a greedy conqueror. Instead he was hailed as a
champion who protected his Christian subjects and rendered
services for their betterment. This, it will be recalled,
was one of the major shortcomings of the earlier
Merovingian rule.

While expending an extraordinary amount of energy
as leader of the successful military ventures, Charles al-
so sought to improve the quality of government. His main
concern became the establishment of peace and order among

his subjects. He made efforts to provide competent courts

 

54Schaff, p. 243: Daniel-Rops, p. 415.

130
and to create a body of local officials.55 However, the
decline of money economy in the Carolingian State and the
reduction of the king's income made this very difficult.

Those who served the king loyally could only be paid in

grants of land with the inevitable risk they would use then

.—

to defy the king.5b

To limit the danger involved in such
a system, Charlamagne attempted to bind his officials
with personal oaths of alliance and to control their actions
by use of the "missi", itinerant agents sent out from the
royal court to regulate the actions of his vassals.57 In
the strong hands of Charles, this system not only worked
amazingly well, but succeeded in re—establishing the pres—
tige of the monarchy as a civilized and useful institution.
The indefatigable Charles further distinguished
himself by the order in which he promoted the cultural life
of his court and realm.58 He delighted himself in the con-
stant surroundings of the greatest minds of the West at

this time. The group drawn from all over EurOpe, was

dominated by the great Alcuin who had already established

55Sullivan, p. 69.

56Moss, p. 230 .

57Ibid., p. 232.

58Schaff, IV, p. 241: Daniel-ROps, p. 423: Dawson,
p. 1967 Moss, p. 235.

131
quite a reputation for himself in England.59 The main
function of his palace school, founded at Aachen, was to
prepare students recruited from among the sons of the
Frankish nobles and who were destined for service in the
royal court or high office in the Church. These scholars
generated such a notable revival of Latin and Patristic
culture that the era has been labeled in history as the
"Carolingian Renaissance." This period was so significant
as to lead some scholars, suCh as Dawson, to refer to it
as the direct forerunner of the later Italian renaissance.
In any reSpect, during the reign of Charlamagne the cultural
level of the West was certainly lifted to new heights.

In the year 800 there occurred an event in the life
of Charles that has generated much acclaim from medieval
scholars. Charles realized that Christianity was the
strongest bond of unity in his diverse Empire and it was
this belief that reinforced his own personal piety and led
him to develOp a stronger policy with the support of the
chief religious leaders of the period. With vigor he
pressed forward the reform of the Church began by his father.
Nowhere in Christendom was there a greater champion of the
faith. The culmination of Charles' vigorous religious
policies resulted in the much disputed event of Christmas
Day, 800 A.D., whiCh witnessed the coronation of Charlamagne

as Emperor of the West. Who was reSponsible for the

59Moss, p. 236.

132

decision that resulted in the elevation of the Frankish
king to the exalted dignity of Emperor? What motivated
those reSponsible to act as they did? What exactly did
they think they were achieving by their extraordinary
actions? The answer to these questions have stimulated
considerable controversy among certain scholars.

Generally most scholars subscribe to the view that
the event of 800 must be attributed to Charlamagne himself.6O
C. Delisle Burns argues that Charlamagne arranged for his

own coronation simply to enhance his reputation as a con-
queror.61 but such a belief as this is probably too '
Hachiavellian to describe the actual motives involved in
the event. Christopher Dawson, on the other hand, believes
that the coronation was the political manifestation of the
fact that a new civilization, basically Christian in its
orientation, had finally come:mto existence. For Dawson,
the coronation was an attempt to bring to life the City of
God that St. Augustine had Spoken about in the early fifth

6 . . . .
century. 2 Charlamagne was striVing to give eXpreSSion to

60Richard E. Sullivan, The Coronation of Charlamagne
(Boston, 1959), p. X.

01C. Delisle Burns, The First EurOpe, A Study of the
Establishment of Medieval Christendom Tiondon, 1947),
pp. 569—578. ‘

 

 

I"

O2Dawson, pp. 214—223; Daniel-Hops, p. 374.

133

the belief that a Christian society needed a Christian
Emperor to continue its pursuit of Christian ends.

In Opposition to the ideas suggested above was the
school of thought, of which Ferdinand Lot was a member,
that relieved Charlamagne of any reSponsibility for the
coronation. In claiming he had little to gain from such an
act, other than additional problems, they lay reSponsibil-
ity for the coronation upon the Church. It was the papacy
that was to gain from sudh an act, thus it was they who
instigated it. Perhaps the most provocative suggestion
concerning the nature and importance of the affair of
Christians Day, 800, has come from the pen of Henri Pirenne.
He argues that most develOpments in the Carolingian period
resulted from the impact of the Moslems on the Mediterranean
world. As will be recalled, he sought to prove that for
at least two centuries after the Germanic invasion political,
social, economic, cultural, and religious life continued
unchanged. But then in the seventh century the Moslems
shattered the unity of the Mediterranean world and thereby
killed Roman civilization. Thus, the Moslems were res-
ponsible for the emperorship of Charlamagne: in Pirenne's
own words "without Mohammed, Charlamagne would have been
inconceivable."63

However we interpret it, the coronation of Charlamagne

Spelled an eventful change in the direction of historical

 

63Henri Pirenne, Medieval Cities (Princeton, 1925),
p. 18.

134
development. As Professor Sullivan has concluded, either
it represents the establishment of a Western EurOpean
ruler who claimed supremacy over society, or the act
represented the expression of the claims of the papacy
to direct society and to designate its temperal rulers.
It makes no difference which of these alternatives one
chooses or whether he reaches some kind of compromise in—
volving all of them. What is significant was that the
coronation of Charlamagne marked a turning point in history.
There is now a new and unique form of society being formu-
lated in the Western European portion of the Empire which
possesses a peculiar relation with Christianity which
separates it from the other world powers. Western EurOpe
has now been launched on its own.

It is quite evident by now that the Carolingian
dynasty does not represent a period of decline or retro-
gression but is, in comparison to the do—nothing kings of
the Merovingians, a marked improvement in human develOpment.
The political order has once more undertaken the reSponsib-
ility of providing protection and rendering services to
the subjects under its control. The economic order has
been altered to meet the needs of an agrarian society and
the cultural standards have experienced a tremendous upsurge.

Thus, from the work accomplished by more recent
scholars, it is no longer feasible to ascertain, as does

Pirenne and DOpsch, that the Merovingian dynasty represented

135

a continuation of the classical tradition which came to an
end under the Carolingians. For all practical purposes,
the world of antiquity had succumbed much earlier than the
Carolingian period and this age, rather than representing
decline, is an age of progress. It was during this era
that we see the profile of Western European civilization
coming more Sharply into focus and however insignificant
it may appear, claiming its rightful position beside the
Eastern Roman Empire and the Arabic world. A new phase in

world history has now been launched.

Chapter VII

THE RISE OF THE MOSLEM EMPIRE AND ITS SIGNIFICANCE

Few events in history can be looked upon with greater
amazement than those whiCh witnessed the rapid transforma-
tion of the wandering sons of Arabia into a unified
political State and their entrance upon the stage of world
listory as leading actors. So amazing was their rapid growth
that it has enticed the very capable scholar, Henri
Pirenne, to list it as the major cause heralding the begin-
ning of the Middle Ages. Although we have previously seen
the dubious nature of the Pirenne thesis, we have yet to
establish the true significance of this cosmic event in
relation to that which was tranSpiring in Western EurOpe
at this time. However, before we proceed to this task let
us first see a brief sketch of the formation of this new
world force.

The chief characteristics of the Arabian desert prior
to its sixth century ascendancy could best be described as
a fusion between individualism and chaos. The Bedouin
tribes that inhabited the arid northern portion of Arabia
were essentially semi-barbaric clansmen who pugnaciously

guarded their flocks, customs, gods, and proud independence.l

 

la. St. L.B. Moss, The Birth of the Middle Ages
(Oxford, 1935), p. 144.

136

137
In comparison to a brilliant Rome or Persia, the life of
these nomads was painfully Simple and poor. So tenaciously
did they cling to their individual primitive customs that
it seemed doubtful that any force existed capable of over~
coming the backwardness of their ways.

A striking contrast to his wandering northern brethren
is the sedentary Arab of the fertile Southern fringe who
was accustomed to an urban life. Their strategic location
along the major trade routes between the East and West
brought to these southern communities knowledge of the out-
side world which the far removed northern clans did not
experience. One of the major cities along the caravan
route, through which merchants regularly passed leaving
both products and ideas, was the chief meeting place of the
desert dwellers, Mecca.2 Not only was Mecca one of the
leading commercial centers of Arabis, but it was also the
(capital of religion. Here was located the Kaaba, a tiny
temple which housed the mysterious black stone which drew
pilgrims from all parts to receive its supernatural bless-
ings.3 It is here, in the complex life of Mecca, that a
force is to arise capable of shattering the long prevailing
disunity of Arabia and weld it into a major world power.

It was Mohammed, citizen of Mecca and Prophet, who

was to eventually unleash the Arab forces upon the stages

 

l21bid., p. 145.

3Christopher Dawson, The Making of Europp (New York,
1932), p. 130. Moss, p. 145.

138

of Mediterranean history. Born about 570, Mohammed was
orphaned at an early age and was taken in by an uncle who
directed him into a very affluent career of trade. So
little is known of the early life of the Prophet that it
is reasonable to conclude that he eXperienced little more
than a normal childhood. Mohammed first steps into the
light of history at the age of twenty-five when he was wed
to the wealthy widow merchant, Kadijah. Obtaining from
this union economic self-sufficiency, he now has a great
deal of leisure at his diSposal in which he could pursue
his own inclinations.4

As a result of his newly found leisure, Mohammed was
often noticed secluding himself and engaging in deep medi-
tation in a little cave on the outskirts of Mecca. It was
during one of his many visits to this secluded haven, that
Mohammed was confronted with the voice of Gabriel which
persistently summoned him. "as the sound of reverberating
bells,“ to accept the divinely appointed position of
apostle to which God had destined him.5 As a result of
the impenetrable cloud of legend which has been built up
by his followers concerning this calling, we can not be
dogmatically certain of the various foreign elements involved.

Perhaps it is true, as Professors Dawson and Moss suggest,

 

4Philip K. Hitti, The ArabSL_A Short History
(Chicago, 1943), p. 25.

SIbid., p. 112.

139
that as a result of his frequent contacts with Judaism and
Christianity on his commercial journeys, the Arabian
beliefs and superstitions were discredited, creating with-
in his mind the need for a newlmonotheistic religion.6
Needless to say, to the followers of Mohammed this conclu-
sion is sheer blaSphemy, but it is safe to conclude that
the religion of Mohammed was very Similar to that of the
Old Testament and most certainly fitted the needs of his
fellOW’ArdbS.

Mohammed's first announcement of his new mission was
received with laughter and accrn from his polytheistic
friends in Mecca. His early message which stressed the
worship of one God and the rewards awaiting in Paradise
anyone who would obey His commandments was soon transformed
into a fiery message concerning the Day of Judgment, as
'he was confronted with the ridicule of the Meccans. This
new religion held little appeal for the individualistic
Meccans and further, his assault upon polytheism was
resented, particularly by those in Mecca who profited
greatly from the annual pilgrimage of the desert tribes to
the old GOdB’ at Mecca.7

After preaching for more than a decade to his un-

re8ponsive townsmen, Mohammed decided to leave iniquitous

 

6Dawson, p. 131: Moss, p. 143.

7Richard E. Sullivan, Heirs of the Roman Empire,
(Ithaca, 1960), p. 25.

140

Mecca for its rival Yathrib, whose residents Showed an
interest in his teaChings and invited him to come and act
as arbiter to pacify their quarreling factions. The
“hegira,” or emigration, which occurred in 622, led to
the changing of the name of the city from Yathrib to
Medina, “the city of the PrOphet." More significant, how-
ever, this event represented a turning point in Moslem
history. While it is clear the origin of Islam was purely
religious, after the migration to Medina political elements
began to exert a strong influence in the PrOphet's teach—
ings as can be seen in the series of "revelations" which '
he received embodying a civil and penal code. Henceforth,
the “Prophet“ was Slowly being overshadowed by the
"statesman."8

Increasingly Mohammed began to stress the obligation
of his followers to wage ”holy war" against the non-
believers for the glorification of God. On one occasion
God Spoke to the PrOphet saying, "Oh: PrOphet, arouse the
believers to combat. Twenty resolute men of faith will
strike fear in two hundred infidels: a hundred of them
will put a thousand of the faithless to flight.“9 This
sense of mission, coupled with habit of warfare already

characteristic of the Arab way of life, supplied the Spark

 

8Philip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs from the
Earliest Times to the Present, 6th ed., (London, 1963),
p. 116.

9Sullivan, p. 25.

141
for the military actions of the new community. With this
divinely inSpired force at his command, Mohammed turned
against his former tormentors and in 630 was able to make a
triumphal entry into Mecca, where he destroyed the false

10 For the

idols and introduced the worship of one God.
next two years delegates from the surrounding tribes made
their way to Medina to offer allegiance to the prince-
prOphet. Most likely these missions were acts of conveni-
ence rather than conviction, but they did serve to bring
the territory under the authority of one man.11 When the
Prophet's death came in 632, he was the leader of a large
confederation of Arab tribes whose allegiance was built
upon the acceptance of a strong leader and a common religion.
Having at last conquered their long existing disunity,
the Arabs prepared to confront the outside world.

In many reSpects ChristOpher Dawson is correct when
he maintains the power of Islam, as a religion, rested in
its simplicity.12 The most important point in their simple
creed was the uncompromising monotheism. The most serious
of all sins to a Moslem was to establish apartner equal to

God. The followers of Mohammed viewed their leader as the

last in a series of prophets sent down by God. The earlier

 

10Hitti, History of the Arabs, 6th ed., p. 118.

11Ibid., p. 119.

12Dawson, p. 132.

142

vessels of the Lord had received only part of the divine
truth and the converts of these earlier religions had lost
or abused the original Word. God's final revelation was
revealed to man through the Prophet, Mohammed, and was in-
tended for all the world.

Completed shortly after the death of the Prophet, the
Koran was the record of the revelation he had received

from God.13

With particular emphasis being placed upon
the rewards awaiting the faithful and the tortures in
store for the wicked, Mohammed imposed upon his followers
an overwhelming sense of the urgency of religious obedience
and moral righteousness. In the course of his journey,
Mohammed prescribed a simple set of religious practices to
be followed by the faithful. There was first a statement
of faith to be taken in which they recognized not only the
omnipotence of God, but also the legality of His Prophet.
Also, the believers were required to pray five times daily
in an established fashion. This mode of prayer was to be
a private affair, but public prayer had also deve10ped in
Mohammed's time. On Fridays, the faithful would assemb1e~
in a specially erected mOSque where they followed a prayer
leader in rendering homage to God. Other obligations of
the faithful were the giving of alms to support the poor,
fasting during holy seasons, and making a pilgrimage to

Mecca at least once in their life.14 With the establishing

 

13Tor Andrae, Mohammed (New York, 1936), p. 70.

l4Dawson, p. 133.

143
of Islam, the world gained its third monotheistic religion
and the similarity which it possesses in regards to the
other two, Judaism and Christianity, may explain the rela-
tive ease with which man has been converted from one to
the other.

With the death of Mohammed in 632, there was a
momentary threat that the community which he had deve10ped
would disintegrate. Leaving no method of successions,
many of the tribes that had joined the PrOphet began to
diSperse and returned to their primitive clanish life.15
It was obvious that no one could fill his position as the
true prophet: still the infant community needed leadership.
At the most critical moment some of his friends took the
matter into their own hands and designated Abu-Bakr to
serve as “caliph”, or successor to the PrOphet. During
his two year reign (632-634) he was occupied primarily
with restoring defeating tribes back to the community.16
Itvas his work that virtually completed the unification of
the Arabs.

It was the two able successors of Abu-Bakr, Omar
(636-644) and Othman (644-656), who led the attack on the
Eastern Roman and Persian Empires which vaulted the desert
warriors into the limelight of world history. To under-

stand the rapid ascendency of this once primitive tribe

 

15Hitti, History of the Arabs, 6th ed., p. 139.

16Hitti, The Arabs, A Short History, pp. 42—52.

144
into a cosmic power it is necessary to examine both the
Arabs and their foes at the time of the conquest. One of
the prime factors which must be borne in mind is the war-
like Spirit which was always second nature to the desert
dwellers. In addition to this was the far more important
intense religious enthusiasm which made "holy war“ a
supreme act of consecration and self-sacrifice. For the
Moslems to die in "the path of God“ was of the highest

17 It is eaSy to understand how the professional

ideal.
armies of the Eastern Roman and Persian Empires were no

match for men antimated by such a Spirit as this. When

this force confronted the Persian Empire which was already
riddled by internal dissention and weakened by the attacks

of Heraculius, it completely destroyed its foe and by 650,
occupied all of its territory. The Eastern Roman Empire
which was equally enfeebled by religious division and the
attacks of many enemies during the preceeding half century,
relinquished its provinces of Syria, Palestine, and Egypt
with ridiculous ease when confronted by these religious
warriors embodied with a contempt of death. Thus, when

the already weakened Eastern Empires met with the religiously
inSpired warriors, they were competently diSplaced from

their old positions of supremacy and new masters came to

the forefront.

 

l7Hitti, Histogyyof the Arabs, 6th ed., p. 141.

145
With the death of Othman, the advances of the Arabs
were once more brought to a temporary halt. The succession
question which had never been sufficiently solved erupted
this time into bloody civil wars. But it was out of this
strife the experienced military leader, Moawiya, emerged
victor and in 661 established the Umayyad dynasty and with

18 The most Signifi-

it a hereditary method of succession.
cant result of this action was that it removed the caliphate
from being primarily a religious office. However, with the
formation of this dynasty (661-750) the internal stability
returned and the Arab armies resumed their conquest.

The Umayyads now pressed their attack westward
through North Africa. With the same rhythmic effect as
one domino knocking over another, the Byzantine possessions
fell into the hands of the Arabs. By the end of the seventh
century, the Moslem authority stretched all the way to the
shores of the Atlantic. But this was not the termination
point of the attadkbrls In 711, they pushed across the
Straits of Gibraltar where the decrepit Visigothic king-
doms torn by internal strife collapsed like a house of

19 Once established in Spain, small raiding parties

cards.
began toventure across the Pyrenees into the kingdom of the
Franks, but there the Arabs met a much more formidable foe.

In 732, exactly one hundred years after the death of

 

18Ibid., p. 183.

19Moss, p. 156.

146
Mohammed, the Frankish prince, Charles Martel, turned back
the Saracen forces at the battle of Tours marking the

Westward limits of the Moslem Empire.20

Although this
decisive battle has been hailed as the salvation of
Western Christendom from the infidel, the fact of the
matter is that the force of the Moslem invasion was al-

ready spent.21

Being plagued by internal dissention be-
tween the Arab and African Berber elements, by 732 the
Moslem strength was exhausted.

Although the battle of Tours appears to be a vital
victory for Western EurOpe, the real threat to EurOpean
civilization was actually at the other end of the Mediter-
ranean. During their far-flung campaigns the Umayyad
princes found time and energy to pound away at the
Byzantine Empire. On at least two occasions, 673 and 717,
the Arabs were on the brinkof bringing total destruction
to Eastern Roman Empire. Had this actually occurred the
back door to EurOpe would have been left completely Open
to the mercy of the invaders. However, by a skillful
regrouping of its forces and tapping its reserve this
mighty fortress at ConstantinOple was to stand unpurposely
protecting the entrance to Western EurOpe until the much

later foufl11Crusade when the Europeans themselves were

 

20Hitti, History of the Arabs, 6th ed., p. 215.

21Moss, p. 156; Alphons Dopsch, Economic and Social
Foundations of Eurgpean Civilization (New York, 1937)
p. 285. .

147
reSponsible for the downfall of this strategic landmark.

With this brief sketch of the Arab ascendancy behind
us, we turn now the more important task of establishing
the significance of the cosmic event inzelation to Western
Europe. While much of the material previously examined in
this work has revealed the futility of Pirenne's efforts to
establish this rapid onslaught of the Arabs as the begin-
ning of the Middle Ages, this is not to suggest that it had
no effect upon Western EurOpe. To see evidence of this we
need only to examine the internal development of the Moslem
Empire as it attempted to establish a workable administra-
tion of its possessions which now embodied a portion of
three continents.

Following the period of conquest the Umayyads found
the problem of administration to be more difficult in peace
than in war. What.Mohammed had established was a vague
theocratic state in which he as PrOphet exercised political
authority. His successors, unable to sustain such a theo-
cracy, instituted the practice of distributing to each of
the Arab warriors a share of the booty and tribute exacted
from the conquered peOple in an attempt to retain control
of the Empire. Such a systan as this only bred greed and
disappointment making it necessary for the Umayyads to
institute a more orderly system of control. In 661, when
they first gained control of the government they moved the
capitol to the city of Damascus. Moawiya, the founder of

the dynasty, had long Served in Syria where he had closely

148
observed the intricate workings of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Once in power he proceeded to establish a bureaucratic

government resembling the Roman system.22

Although this
political development was to possess an effective adminis-
tration, it also reveals the limitations of the Arabs as
they had to resort to the systems of their conquered sub—
jects to establish a workable political order. As we shall
see, this policy of adopting the customs of their subjects
was not to stop here, but mushroomed to include many
phases of life.

Evidence of this need of the Arabs to employ the long
established customs and knowledge of their conquered sub-
jects can be seen in the cultural realm of the Empire.
Aside from their language, religion, and primitive poetry,
the Arabs actually had little in the way of culture to
offer the world. The subjects whom they had conquered
were greatly their superior in literature, learning, art,

23

science and philOSOphy. Down to the end of the Umayyad

dynasty in 750 their one great cultural achievement was in
architecture.24 Here they deve10ped a style of workmanship
suited to their own religious needs. Mohammed himself had

built a mosque at Medina consisting of an enclosed courtyard,

 

22Moss, p. 160: Dawson, p. 137.

23Ibid., p. 240.

2414055, p. 160.

149
partially roofed and containing a pulpit from which he
could preach and lead services of prayer. As time pro-
gressed, the mosques became increasingly elaborate.
Probably the most famous is the one erected in Jerusalem,
called the Dome of the Rock. Built by a caliph determined
to create a Moslem structure superior to the Christian
Church of the Holy Sepulcher, the Dome of the Rock embodied
many features of Byzantine architecture especially its dome
and colorful mosaics.

As a result of the Arabs having little to offer their
conquered subjects and much to gain from them, ChristOpher
Dawson's emphasis concerning the first century of Moslem
history is not upon its rapid westward eXpansion as Pirenne
would have it, but upon the fact that this represented a
period of incubation.25 The Moslems, recognizing their
primitive ways, were willing to sit at the feet of their
conquered subjects absorbing all the qualities of their
long established culture. That which emerged from the
Umayyad dynasty was not a pure Moslem culture, and still
less Arabic, but it represented a cosmopolitan product, be-
ing shaped by all the various elements within the Empire.
Thus, the significance of this period lies within the fact
that the Arabs put themselves into a position to become

heirs to all the earlier civilizations existing within the

lands they had conquered.

 

25Dawson, p. 137.

150
Additional weight is added to this idea of a fusion
of cultures by H. St. L.B. Moss. As he points out,
Islamic art was not the sudden creation of new style, but

26 The

a combination of all that they had fallen heir to.
typical mosque of this period featured the long colonnated
halls of Egypt, the horseshoe archs and stucco exterior of
Persia, and the Byzantine vaults supported by marble columns.
This same admixture can be seen in most of the accomplish-
ments of the Arabs. Today when we Speak of Arabic medicine,
Arabic philosophy, or Arabic mathematics, it is not meant
they were Arabic in origin, but they were preserved and
transmitted by way of the Arabic Empire.27
This fusion of cultures that was taking place during
the Umayyad dynasty burst forth in the eighth century
reign of the Abbasid dynasty in a full renaissance. With
the Spread of the Arabic tongue as a common language, the
way was paved for the later spread of this cosmopolitan
culture which was to have a profound effect upon the
develOpment of the medieval world.28
Thus we can conclude that while the Moslems were not
directly responsible for the beginning of the Middle Ages,
they had a profound influence upon the development of

Western Europe. It was by avenue of their provinces in

 

26Moss, p. 173.

27Hitti, History of the Araber6th ed., p. 240.

28Dawson, p. 152.

151
Spain that a great deal of ancient knowledge passed into
the hands of European scholars. Brief though this account
of the Arabs may be, we can see thatby the end of the
ninth century there were three distinct powers existing in
the world: the superior Arab dynasty, the declining
Byzantine Empire, and the embryonic, but growing, Western
EurOpean civilization, and it is around these the course

of future history is to revolve.

CONCLUSION

As we come to the end of our long journey covering
three centuries of historiography and seven centuries of
actual historical happenings, perhaps the most valuable
conclusion that can be derived from suCh a study as this is
that the present Should not worship nor be dominated by
the Shrines of past history. True historical study involves
a double operation of both raising questions and see<ing
answers. The success and usefulness of history rests with
the historian who seeks his answers by a systematic method,
carefully probing and free from blinding prejudices. The
dangers that are engendered when a scholar is dominated by
the past can be seen in the work of such otherwise capable
historians as Voltaire, Edward Gibbon, and Henri Pirenne,
whose probing vision became fatally blurred by the past
brilliance of classical civilization. As a result of their
blindness, many fallacious ideas were transmitted and their
work ultimately became null and void as a valid historical
source deserving the attention of future generations.

The beginning of the Middle Ages to a scholar who
has lost the ability to probe carefully his materflfl.and has

succumbed to the forces of blind prejudices, represents a

152

153
catastrophic event herald by the onslaught of some external
force upon the much superior civilization of antiquity
bringing with it an inferior way of life. Such historians
as this, stand as a man who “...Sees through a glass darkly
...,“ failing to conceive the blatant internal maladies
already plaguing classical civilization. They do not see
the life destroying problems in the economic Sphere of
antiquity as the Romans were unable to capitalize upon
their golden opportunities to establish and maintain a
balanced economic enterprise. The moribund state of
society and the political incompetence of the Roman leaders
passed unnoticed to their prejudice eye. As a result, the
true Significance of the early Middle Ages lies hidden in
the ignorance of their ways.

It is only from the superior research of such
historians as Ferdinand Lot, ChristOpher Dawson, H.St. L.B.
Moss, and William C. Bark that it becomes evident that the
early Middle Ages represents neither a catastrophic event
nor the beginning of a “Dark Age." As we have seen in the
first five chapters of this work, the origins of the Middle
Ages were deeply rooted in the decline of Rome and came to
life through a gradual transition. The fact that in the
formation of this new era in the West, several conditions
and forces occurred together and reciprocally influenced
eadh other cannot be overemphasized. The political institu—

tions, the religions ideas and systems, the mode of thought

154
and eXpression, and the social and economic organization,
all worked together to provide a sound and satisfactory
basis for the lives and dreams of medieval man. While the
writings of twentieth century historians may at times dis-
agree on minor issues and degrees of emphasis, their common
conclusion is now undiSputable. As they have stressed and
supported so scholarly, civilization did not come to an end
with the fall of Rome nor with the emergence of the Arab
forces upon the world, but arose in a new and different

form to launch man upon a new phase of history.

BIBLIOGRAPHICAL ESSAY

Several books are available in English which deal
with the develOpment of historiography, but few are
distinctively better than Harry Elmer Barnes, A History of
Historical Writigq, (Norman, 1938). More Specialized
work, however, can be found in J. B. Black's The Art of
Histogy, (New York, 1926), which deals with eighteenth
century historiography, and G. P. Gooch's History of
Historians, (New York, 1913) which gives emphasis to nine-
teenth century scholarship.

From the vast storehouse of sdholars writing in the
eighteenth century, the works of Voltaire, Annals of the
Empire , (New York, 1901) and General HistOry, (New York,
1901) along with Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline
and Fall of the Roman Empire, 5th ed., edited by J. B.
Bury, Vols I-IV (London, 1923) quite adequately illustrate
the "Enlightenment" approach to the Middle Ages.

The nineteenth century historical literature can be
divided into two schools, the romanticists and the
natonalist writers. Evidence of both of these modes of
approach can be found in the work of Jules Michelet, Higgggy
of France (New York, 1857). Also emerging from the nine-

teenth century was the writings of scholars who had been

155

156
influenced by the new scho¢1s Of science. William Edward
Hartpole Lecky, Histogypof European Moralg, Vol. I (New
York, 1894) reveals the impact which the biological theory
of evolution had upon sociological writing.

The medieval literature Of the twentieth century can
also be divided into two general classifications. The
first group, which maintains that the early Middle Ages
were characterized primarily by a continuation Of the class-
ical tradition is represented by the works of the noted
Belgium scholar, Henri Pirenne: Medieval:§ities
(Princeton, 1925: Anchor paperback, 1956): Mohammed and
Charlamagne (New“York, 1939): Economic and Social_Hi§tory
Of Medieval EuQOpe (New York, 1937) and Alfons DOpsch, Egg
Economic and Social Eggndations of Eugopean Civilization
(New York, 1937). In Opposition to this view of a continu-
ation Of classical culture are the works of Ferdinand Lot,
The End Of the Ancient World_apd the Beginning of the
Middle Aggg (New York, 1931: Torchbook paperback, 1961):
H. St. L.B. Moss, The Eggth Of the Middle Ages, 395-814 (Oxford,
1935: Oxford paperback, 1963): Christopher Dawson, The
Making of Europe (New York, 1945: Meridian Books, 1956):
and William Carroll Bark, Origins Of the Medieval World
(Stanford, Calif., 1958: Anchor Book, 1958).

In develOping the "transitional“ thesis of the
early Middle Ages, the twentieth century writers deliberate
at considerable length upon the various institutions Of

antiquity and the Middle Ages. Concerning the economic

157

institutions, in addition to the Six previously listed
works, valuable insight is to be gained from the work Of
M. Rostovtzeff, The Social and Economic History Of the
Roman Empire, lst ed., (Oxford, 1926) and his article,
"The Decay of the Ancient WOrld and Its Economic Explana-
tions,“ Economic Historigal Reyiew, II, (1929-1930), pp.
200-201. For detailed information concerning the role of
the merchants in the Middle Ages and the significance of
naval power, the works of Norman H. Baynes, “The Decline
of Roman Power in Western EurOpe," The Journal of Roman
Studies, XXXIII, (1943), pp. 29-35, and Archibald Lewis,
Naval Powe£_and_££gde in the Mediterranean. A.D._soo-lloo
(Princeton, 1951) are very useful. By far the best modern
work on the economic problems is Robert Latouche, The
Bigth of Western Economy (New York, 1961). Concerning the
social transition of the Middle Ages interesting comments
on the problem Of manpower can be Obtained from Arthur
R. Boak, Manpgwer Shogggge and the Fall gffithe Empigg
(Ann Arbor, 1955) and Moses Finley, “Manpower Shortage,"
The Journal of Roman Studies, .XLVIII-(l958), pp. 156—164.

In reference to the general conditions prevailing
in Western EurOpe after the Germanic invasion Richard E.
Sullivan presents in his Heirs Of the Roman Empire
(Ithaca, 1960) a clear and scholarly picture. Another work
edited by this same author, The Coronation of Charlamagne

(Boston, 1959) presents valuable information concerning the

158
Carolingian reign which has been sorely neglected by
American scholars. The all important question of intel-
lectual life in Western EurOpe is given increased clarity
by Jean LeClercq, The Love of Learning and the Desire for

God, (New York, 1960) and by M. L. W. Laistner, ghought and

 

Letters_in Western EurOpe (Ithaca, 1931).

Since ecclesiastical affairs loom so large in the
history of the early Middle Ages, they should be carefully
noted by the student. The writings of the Catholic scholar,
Henry Daniel-Rops, The Church4in the Dark Ages (New York,

1959) and the Protestant writer, Philip Schaff, History_of

 

the Christian ChurCh, Vol. IV, (New Ybrk, 1894) gives an
interesting synthesis of the importance of the Church in
the Middle Ages. Also helpful, is the more Specialized
work Of Cuthbert Butler, Benedictine Monarqhism (New York,
1962).

The best work in English on the Arabs is that Of
Philip K. Hitti, History of the Arabs from the Earliest
Times to the Present (6th ed., London, 1956). Moslem
history is also well handled by Carl Brocklemann, Histogy
of the Islamic Pegple, (New York, 1947). For an excellent
chronological approach, there is also Philip K. Hitti, Egg
Agabs, A Short History (Princeton, 1948: Gateway paperback,
1956). The military achievements of the Moslems is well
covered in Sir John Bagot Glubb, The Great Arab Conggest

(London, 1962). For the military historian this will‘

159
provide the most fascinating reading. Particular emphasis
concerning the life Of the Prophet, Mohammed, can be
obtained from the work, Mohammed (New York, 1936) by the

able scholar Tor Andrae.

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