Zeitgeist of the Middle Ages

I spent the Christmas holiday working on a book proposal and playing golf (also a little tennis). One of the things I'm sending publishers is a description of what it might have been like to live in the Middle Ages. The textbook is for the history of psychology course, in case you are wondering.

For those who do not know, zeitgeist is a German word that describes what it feels like to live in a particular time and place.

Here goes:

The Zeitgeist of the Middle Ages

Religion was probably the most important difference between then and now. For during the medieval period, religion thoroughly permeated every aspect of life to a degree almost unimaginable today. Yet, at the same time, daily life contradicted those same religious principles. Violence was endemic and justice uncertain. Life was seen as a temporary state, a trial leading to eternal salvation or damnation. Thus, efforts were few to reform social structures or to change behavior because, for the blessed, salvation awaited; and, for the wicked, damnation. Religion also stifled creative thought because God's plan had already been revealed. All human explanations had to account for Biblical truth and for religious dogma. The world and humankind were unique reflections of God's creation. The gradual sense of a loss of uniqueness caused later by Copernicus, Galileo, and Darwin were still far in the future.

Throughout the period, evidence of earlier Roman civilization still stood. Early in the period, a belief that the world was in decline must have been universal. Later, however, as new towns grew, and great cathedrals and castles were built such feelings probably abated some. However, our notions of constant and universal progress would probably have been unrecognizable. Instead of progress, stasis was a hallmark of the period. But, some technological change did take place, slowly. For example, the invention of the chimney allowed for the heating of individual rooms and served to separate the classes from the great common rooms before, where all huddled overnight around the only fire. Town clocks were built, and changed forever perception of time. In the service of war, metallurgy advanced.

Socially, the world was highly structured. The three estates consisted of the clergy, the nobility, and the rest of humanity. Within each estate, of course, large differences existed. The clergy had a special role given the religiosity of the period. The nobility are our main source of information about the period, because of their status. Comparatively little is known about the daily existence of peasants, but their lives can probably be safely assumed to reflect best the stasis of the period. Later in the period, as towns and commerce grew, a middle class developed. Jews, excluded from "proper" occupations, suffered throughout the period. Massacres, exiles, and discrimination were both common and viewed as righteous, given the Jews' alleged role as "Christ killers" and their subsequent refusal to adopt Christianity. In the same light, the Crusades seemed to make abstract sense, even though in a practical sense they were no testimony to Christian principles.

The universities of the Middle Ages were established to reconcile philosophy and theology. Early on in the history of universities, many of the religious orders opened houses of study. The course of study at the medieval university was much different than today's curriculum. The trivium, or introductory curriculum, consisted of three courses: grammar, logic, and rhetoric, while the quadrivium, or advanced curriculum, consisted of geometry, astronomy, arithmetic, and music. Books were all produced by hand and were, consequently, rare. Relatively few attended the university, and those came from the clergy or the nobility. (As an aside, the oldest universities are: Bologna, Paris, and Oxford)

So, life was far different during the medieval period than it is today. Yet, some of its vestiges still remain, such as superstitions and nursery rhymes. Zeitgeist yourself back to a medieval village. Imagine the smell of raw sewage flowing through the gutter in the center of the street. Think of the rigid class structure, the status of women, and the lives of children. Finally, examine how modern culture is descended from medieval culture, and what things have changed and what have not.