IV. Medieval Stupidity

Medieval stupidity should be easy to characterize: It should be Christian stupidity. However, a look at the record indicates much less Christian behavior than belief during the Middle Ages, so stupidity in this era was more a function of the Church reacting as a ruling rather than Christian institution to medieval realities.

Still, although the Christian schema was not much of a guide to medieval behavior, it inhibited appreciation of the secular dimension of life, and it was this inhibition which actually characterized medieval stupidity. This condition was more noticeable among the intelligencia, such as it was, which had been indoctrinated with theology, than among the people

or the pragmatic rulers of the Church or states. Certainly the political behavior of medieval leaders was clearly shaped more by some eternal and transcendent power ethic than by either a sense of Christian virtue or a desire to understand what they were doing.

Because of this inhibition, medieval stupidity came in two forms, both of which were malfunctional expressions of the interaction of the Church with its environment. One of these was the general lack of intellectual activity in all fields but theology, in which scholastic analysis was eventually carried to hair-splitting extremes. The other was the moral corruption of the Church as its emerging, centralized leadership dealt with the evolving practicalities of medieval life.

Initially, these practicalities were shaped by the collapse of the Roman Empire, which marked the beginning of the Dark Ages (ca. 500-1000). In the early sixth century, Europe was basically a giant slum, with political fragmentation compounding social disorder. It was not really barbaric— just extremely demoralized, with daily life functioning at a very low level physically, morally and intellectually. Only very slowly did people rally around the Cross and regain a sense of community.

Not only was Europe demoralized, but it was confused as well. In the absence of an organized administrative system and in the presence of generally increasing ignorance, social and political chaos posed problems which were solved piecemeal by practical people without theorists and by priests without theologians. Nevertheless, amidst this confusion, there

stupidity.net

Notes