Centers of Learning: From Monasteries to Universities
In the early centuries of Christianity, the centers of learning were based in the monasteries. As Christianity entered the Middle Ages, learning shifted from the monasteries to the universities of Europe.
Monasticism defined
Monasticism has been understood as a "flight from the world" or in Latin, "fuga mundi". Some historians interpret this movement as a "protest" of the spiritually knowledgeable and intellectually inclined, against a sector of the Church that has become secularized by the many vices often seen in the cities. Many of those who followed this movement hurried off into the desert "to be alone with God". Although the response of these religious may be a negative reaction to what was happening to the faith in the cities, a positive way of seeing this phenomenon is the desire of these many Christians for greater solitude, quiet and a direction to better knowledge of God and His ways.
The proponents of monasticism
There were major proponents of this monastic movement. The foremost among these were: St. Anthony of the Desert, Pachomius, Basil the Great, and St. Benedict of Nursia.
St. Anthony of the Desert
St. Anthony (251-356 A.D.) lived as a hermit in the desert of Egypt - leaving all earthly securities after being inspired by a gospel passage. For 20 or so years, Anthony lived alone, and learned about the spiritual life from his victories against the temptations of the devil. By Anthony's complete trust and confidence in the providence of God, he eventually attracted followers who were interested in his way of life. This way of life soon became the origin for the anchorite or eremitical [hermit] way of life in the Christian faith.
Pachomius
Pachomius (287-347 A.D.) also followed the spiritual path of Anthony. Pachomius also began as a hermit but eventually introducted a new element in his way of life: a sense of community among the those who began as hermits. These community of hermits then began the cenobitic way of life where men in community shared in the life of silence, prayer, seclusion (solitary life in a cell), and meditation.
St. Basil and St. Benedict
From St. Anthony and Pachomius in the Egyptian desert, the movement spread all over the East and the West. Basil the Great (329-379 A.D.) drew up a rule which became accepted as a standard in Eastern monasticism. In the West, this movement was popularized by Benedict of Nursia (480-547 A.D.), who also wrote a rule for the monasteries he founded.
With the rules of St. Basil and St. Benedict, monasteries sprouted all over the Eastern and Western landscapes. Their flowering occured more intensely in the high Middle Ages when additional reforms were made to protect the monasteries from worldly influence. With a wave of reforms the monastic movement recovered and regained its focus on the spiritual and intellectual task of praying for the whole of Christendom.
Though the monks were basically secluded from public life, they preserved some openness to the world by pursuing scientific studies. It is in these studies, plus their intense prayer life, that the monastic movement and its centers became great sources of learning that influenced the spiritual and intellectual life of the people. Noted among these monasteries were the ones at Cluny, at Gorze in Lorraine, and also at Brogne, Hirsau, Siegburg, and Einsiedelm.
The monasteries educated the world in their time. They helped people understand the importance of religion in public life, and the role of the Church and the pope in the world. Their emphasis and focus on prayer helped people to learn how to place in proper context their relationship with God, and all human activity. People understood that God was to be the center of all life and human activity.
The universities of Europe
For a long time, the monasteries were centers of learning. Many studies were written and preserved by the monks that later provided voluminous scholarly resources for the whole of Christendom. From the time of Benedict and Basil, up to around 1200 A.D., learning came from the monasteries.
By 1200 A.D., starting with the influence of two missionary saints - St. Francis of Assisi and St. Dominic de Guzman - Christianity was brought out of the monastery and into the streets. Gradually, the centers of learning shifted from the monasteries to the newly developing universities of Europe. Great theologians who made scholarly studies became solid proponents of theological and scientific studies that initiated for the development of the university system. Those who spearheaded this movement were scholars like: St. Anselm of Canterbury, Gratian, Peter Lombard, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, St. Bonaventure and St. Thomas Aquinas. They moved the center of intellectual life and scholarly activity from the monasteries to the universities. Popular among these universities is the one at Paris; at Padua (1222 A.D.) and Naples (1224 A.D.) in Italy; Oxford and Cambridge in England; Valencia and Salamanca (1220 A.D.) in Spain; Prague (1348 A.D.), Vienna (1365 A.D.), Heidelberg (1386 A.D.), and Cologne (1388 A.D.). These universities sparked intellectual life all over Europe, became great centers of theological studies and science in general.
In many of these universities, philosophy and theology were of prime importance - most especially in the university at Paris. In Bologna, it was the school of law that was primary. But in general, the three primary schools in the universities were: theology, law and medicine. At the time, the acquisition of a doctoral degree from one of these universities meant equality with the nobility. The university as a center of learning truly ennobled a person - both in his Christian faith and in his knowledge of the sciences.
Related resources
- "A History of the Church", by August Franzen and John P. Dolan
- Saints for Our Time, by Ed Ransom
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