Chapter 22 Chapter 17 Revolutionary Western Civilization
"We should note the power, efficacy, and results of these inventions, but they are far less conspicuous than the three great inventions; unknown to the ancients, they were the printing press, gunpowder, and the compass. Because these three inventions changed The face and state of the whole world.” The significance of this assertion of the British philosopher and scientist Francis Bacon (1561-1626) lies in the fact that the three inventions he insightfully selected all originated in China.However, these three inventions did not have much effect on China. On the contrary, they had an explosive impact in the West.China's civilization is deeply rooted, and the Chinese imperial organization has penetrated far and wide, and these inventions will never be allowed to destroy traditional institutions and customs.Printing, then, was used to disseminate old ideas, not new ones; gunpowder strengthened the rule of emperors, not emerging monarchs of nations; That was used for world-wide exploration, trade, and empire-building.
At the root of this major difference is the uniqueness of the new Western civilization; it is complex, adaptable, free from the traditional shackles that bind all other civilizations in Eurasia.The result was a historic shift.This shift transformed not only the West but, as Bacon foresaw, the whole world when the powerful expansionism of the revolutionary new society came.
"In order to avoid impending disasters, people divide themselves into three categories: the first category is those who pray to God; the second category is those who engage in business and farming; Cavaliers born of injury.” This analysis of the minister of King Philip VI of France simply and essentially described the division of medieval Western society: priests, laborers, and knights.Although all three classes are found in Eurasian civilizations, in the West their status and interrelationships are unique due to the collapse of the Roman Empire and the failure to re-establish imperial organization.The role of these three estates in these cases will be considered in terms of the three institutions which they embody; feudalism, betrothalism, and church.
Feudalism is a form of government in which those who own land also own power, whereby state power is superseded by contracts between feudal lords and vassals.The background to the emergence of feudalism was this: the German monarchs had seized power in the Roman Empire, but lacked the funds to maintain the bureaucracy, the courts, and the army.The option chosen at the time was to use estates as payment for services, but the recipients, vassals, tended to manage estates as private domains.Charlemagne was powerful enough to compel his vassals to swear an oath of fealty, but under his weak successor power passed to them; their estates, fiefs, became virtually inalienable.These powerful feudal lords then divided their lands into smaller fiefdoms among followers who depended on them rather than on the king.The feudal contract between the feudal lord and the vassal stipulated certain obligations to each other.The most important of these is that the feudal lord should provide both fiefdom and protection; while the vassals should perform military service once a year, usually about 40 days, according to local customs.
In the feudal kingdoms formed after the collapse of the Charlemagne Empire, this process of feudalization was proceeding rapidly.Since the legitimate and legitimate rights and interests of the fiefdoms of the great feudal lords nominally came from the imperial power, the feudal lords chose the king very carefully, even if they had no intention of respecting his right to rule.However, after 1000 years, when Western Europe settled down with the cessation of foreign invasion, the rulers gradually were able to maintain their feudal power and began to establish strong monarchies.In the centuries that followed, the struggle between kings and nobles was the essence of Western political history.
Just as feudalism arose with the collapse of a large political organization, so the fiefdom arose with the collapse of a large economic organization.Therefore, the fiefdom was a self-sufficient village run by serfs; serfs could not leave at will, and used their labor to support the clerical and secular feudal lords.The fiefdoms varied greatly in size, ranging from as few as twenty to as many as several hundred inhabitants.A serf, unlike a slave, had both duties and recognized rights.He was protected, possessed a piece of land to support himself and his family, and enjoyed many religious holidays and harvest festivals as respite from toil.In return, he was obliged to cultivate those fields reserved for the feudal lord, to do housework and other farm chores for the feudal lord, and to give him a portion of his income from any source.
With the virtual disappearance of long-distance trade, central handicraft production, imperial currency, etc., the fiefs had to provide themselves with almost everything they needed.Despite, or perhaps because of, a self-sufficient economy, Lai's technology was by no means primitive compared with that of the Roman Empire.As the empire's economy collapsed, so did luxury production, irrigation works, and a system of ditches and roads.But self-sufficient villages, precisely because of their self-sufficient economy, did not need imperial organization.They function on a local village-to-village basis with steadily increasing efficiency.The benefices preserved and improved the mill and smithy, and since iron could be produced locally, more iron was used than before.As a result, agricultural technology in the West in the Middle Ages, as described in the third section of this chapter, made greater progress, surpassing the level of Greece and Rome, and had a profound impact on all aspects of life.
As for the Church, we also find a paradoxical development, namely, that the Pope became more powerful precisely because of the fall of Rome.He did not have to fight against the emperor's rule as the bishops of Constantinople, Alexandria, and Antioch fought against the orders of the Byzantine emperor.When an emperor tried to gain control of the Western Church, Pope Chiracius (492-496) sent him a famous letter in which he asserted that "it is the bishop, not the secular authority, The administration of the Church is responsible." More importantly, the pope went on to claim that theocracy was superior to the secular: "Of the two, the responsibility of theocracy is greater, because they have to communicate the divine will even to the princes who rule the people."
Chatudinian's conquest of Italy; enabled him and his successors to control the papacy, with the result that at least 11 of the 13 popes in room 678 in 752 years were Greek or Syrian.But with the Lombard invasion of Italy and the Islamic conquest of Egypt, Syria, and North Africa, the Byzantine emperor's ability to intervene in the West was greatly weakened (see Chapter 15, Section 1).The papacy now passed from the beleaguered Constantinople to the Franks, with whom the pope made a covenant that culminated in the coronation of Charlemagne by Pope Leo III in 800.At the same time, the pope's missions converted the pagan northern regions and further strengthened the papal supremacy in the west.As a result of their success new churches were founded: the Church of England in 597, the Lombard and Frisian churches in the seventh century, the German church in the eighth century; Worldwide" canons.
At that time, the components of the new diversity society in the West were as follows: an independent church established on behalf of the emperor's order, a group of feudal monarchs and feudal lords who replaced the imperial authorities, and independent towns that replaced slave plantations in the Roman period and reclaimed wasteland. It was not long before the emerging merchant class, with its unique effectiveness from the city, that it was quite unfavorable to the nobility, the prelates, and finally the monarch.How this society, unique in all of Eurasia, developed and adapted during the 500 years after 1000, and how it finally developed the power and drive to expand abroad, will be described in the following sections.
Geographical factors were an important factor for Europe to go ahead of other regions in the Middle Ages.One of them is the vantage point.Because Europe is located at the western end of the Eurasian continent, it has not been invaded after 1000 years.The significance of the distance between Western Europe is very obvious in the 13th century Mongolian occupation of Russia, the Ottoman Turks conquered the Balkan Peninsula in the 15th and 16th centuries, and the Berbers repeatedly attacked North Africa.Freed from such ravages, Western Europe undoubtedly enjoyed a great advantage over the more vulnerable parts of the East.
Equally important, Europe has very favorable natural resources.Most of Northern Europe is a great plain, which begins at the western end of the Pyrenees, extends eastward and northward, and widens as it goes forward, eventually forming a continuous great plain from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea.The prevailing westerly winds from the Atlantic blow straight across these plains across Europe and into Russia.Therefore, the climate in the northern part of the Mediterranean Basin is milder, it is rainy all year round, and the land is fertile, which provides ideal conditions for agricultural production.The river is ice-free all year round and has sufficient water, which provides convenient means for transportation.The jagged coastline further increases this advantage, providing a more convenient channel for inland areas to reach coastal ports.Certain plateaus and mountains interrupt the continuous Great Plains, but they are not too high or too large to seriously interfere with transportation.On the contrary, these mountains are rich in mineral resources and are a huge material wealth with great historical significance.
Of course, these natural resources have been available to people for thousands of years, but they can only be used effectively when a certain level of technological capability has been achieved.This requirement for appropriate technology operates everywhere and in all ages.For example, in the last century, the United States has made huge profits from the huge Mesabi Ridge iron mining area in northern Minnesota, but Indians have fished and hunted this area for thousands of years without using the ore or even knowing it exists.The same is true of the rich oil fields now being developed in the Middle East, northern Alaska, and on the seabed.The same was true of medieval Western Europe, where advanced technology made efficient use of local resources for the first time.As a result, productivity gains had a profound effect, shifting the economic and political center of Europe northward from the traditional Mediterranean basin.
Medieval Western Europe made more technological progress than the entire period of classical Greek and Roman history.One reason is that Western Europe did not have slavery, which tends to prevent technological innovation.Another reason is that the environment of remote places generally promotes labour-saving inventions.The fief system in the West in the Middle Ages also contributed to the development of technology.Under this system, the range of social class was not from the "holy" emperor to the inhuman slave, but from the serf with certain rights and duties to the manor owner; Maintain full contact with serfs.Thus, manual labor gained a place, and a respect, that the ancient civilization of slavery did not have.
Finally, the Christian humanitarian ethic also contributed to the development of Western technology; the humanitarian ethic itself developed against the inhumanity of ancient imperial societies.The monks in the monastery insisted that physical labor was an integral part of spiritual life.Or, as they say: "Labour is prayer." These menders are historically significant as the first intellectuals with filth under their fingernails.They were the first to connect intelligence and sweat, and at this point, they are very helpful to the advancement of technology.It was no accident that a monk named Roger Bacon foresaw many of the technological achievements of the future in the thirteenth century.
Bacon's insight not only reflects his own talent, but also reflects the uniqueness of Western society.Just as no similar statement could be found in other parts of Eurasia at that time, this statement is probably also difficult for classical Greece and Rome to understand.It helps explain why many inventions that originated in China and that were known to the Greco-Romans were fully developed and fully utilized only in the hands of Western Europeans.
Uniquely Western technological achievements include fundamental inventions in primitive agriculture.One is the "three-field" crop rotation system, which was gradually adopted from the 8th century and greatly increased productivity because only one-third of the fields were fallow at any one time, while When using the past "two-field" system, half of the fields are idle.The second was the development of the heavy-duty wheeled plow; this plow was equipped with a sharp iron point and could turn soil to a depth of six to eight inches, or even deeper.Behind the plowshare is a plow wall, which allows the device to turn up the plowed grass.The plow made it possible to cultivate fertile depressions that were overgrown and difficult to cultivate.Undoubtedly, this was a completely different agricultural implement from the primitive plough, which was commonly used to plow the poor sandy soil of the Mediterranean basin.
Late 16th century painting: A cosmographer at work.
More efficient use of horsepower also aided in the development of agriculture.In ancient times, horses were seldom used in agriculture because the harnesses used were set around the stomachs and necks of livestock, and livestock were often strangled to death when dragging heavy objects.However, by the 10th century, people had developed a harness that was put on the horse's shoulders so that the horse would not be strangled when dragging heavy objects, thus increasing the horse's pulling power by four to five times.Therefore, horses are faster and more efficient than cattle used in the past, and have become an indispensable source of power for agricultural production.Also important was the invention of the horseshoe, which made it easier for horses to cast heavy loads and plow land.
Another painting from the sixteenth century: New Discoveries and New Inventions; among them are the three great inventions mentioned in the words of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) at the beginning of this chapter—printing, gunpowder, and the compass.
Finally, talk about the very important waterwheels and windmills.Watermills and windmills were known in Greco-Roman times, but were rarely used due to the abundance of slave labor and the lack of perennial rivers.In the absence of these two great obstacles in the north, mills and millers soon spread to almost every fiefdom.In the Mediterranean Basin, the waterwheel was originally a tool for rice milling, and it developed into a general prime mover in the Middle Ages.Thus, hydraulic power began to be used in silver hammers and forge bellows, in large saws and lathes, in washing machines for weaving, pulping machines for paper, and pounding machines for crushing ore.Indeed, England's Land Survey compiled in 1086 enumerates 5,000 mills.That is to say, there is one mill for every fifty households, a large enough number to greatly affect the standard of living of the people.
This unique advance of the West was also reflected in its changing relationship with its immediate neighbor, the traditional Byzantine civilization. In 1203, when the Western Crusaders began to besiege Constantinople, they were in awe of the wealth and luxury of this ancient capital:
In contrast, two and a half centuries later, the Greek scholar and Cardinal Bessarion expressed a completely different view in a letter.The cardinal had lived in Rome for many years, so he was deeply impressed by the advanced level of Italian handicrafts. In 1444, he wrote to Constantine Paleologus, ruler of the autonomous province of Byzantium in the Peloponnese (Morea), advising him to send "four or a few young men" Go to Italy, secretly learn Italian handicrafts, and learn Italian "to become proficient in what the correspondence says."Bessarion was particularly impressed by the hydraulic saw, which eliminated manual labor.He speaks of "logs cut by automatic saws, and water wheels turning swiftly and evenly."He also thought of hydraulic bellows when he wrote: "Leather bellows are used in smelting and refining metals; these bellows separate metal from useless, earthy pre-existing substances without pushing and pulling with hands." Bessarion also In Italy, he says, "the knowledge of iron-making, which is very useful and indispensable to mankind, is easily acquired."The significance of this statement is obvious.The technological progress made in medieval Western Europe was so great that, for the first time in history, Easterners suggested that students be sent to the West to learn "practical crafts."
Consistent with technological progress is a corresponding economic development. From 900 to 1300, the economy developed steadily.Then came the Great Depression of the 14th century.It is caused by a combination of factors.These factors were years of poor harvests and famines, the Black Death, the Anglo-French "Hundred Years' War" and other struggles in Germany and Italy.Harvest failures and famines were particularly severe during 1315 and 1316.The first epidemic of the Black Death in 1349 claimed the lives of one-third to two-thirds of the city's residents;However, shortly after 1400, the economy began to recover; since then, the trend of economic development has been generally upward.
The overall development of the economy is naturally related to technological progress; technological progress has promoted the increase in the productivity of agriculture and handicrafts.The absence of any foreign invasion for centuries is also conducive to economic development.In addition, from the 10th to the 14th centuries, the population increased by about 50%. This growth rate seems insignificant today when the global population is exploding, but at that time it was unmatched by any region of roughly the same size in the world.Population explosions facilitated improvements in agriculture that sustained population growth; and increased food supplies, in turn, made possible further population growth.
The development of the European economy is remarkable in various fields.New mining methods boosted production of salt, silver, lead, zinc, copper, tin and iron ore in Central and Northern Europe.Likewise, the abundance of water and turpentine along the coasts of Britain, Scandinavia and the Baltic was now more extensive than ever before.The production of fisheries in the northern regions, especially cod in Ireland and Norway, and herring in the Baltic Sea also increased significantly.Most importantly, of course, the productivity of agriculture, in which most people work, has also increased enormously.For the first time, farmers reclaimed the wasteland around the village.This is a startling but true fact: in the 12th century, only about one-half of the land in France, one-third in Germany, and one-fifth in England was cultivated. wasteland.Surrounding the small plots of cultivated land were vast expanses of wasteland to be reclaimed by the colonists.European farmers flocked to these uninhabited clearings, clearing forests, burning bushes, and draining swamps for clearing and farming.By 1300, France had more arable land than it does today.
Farmers not only opened up wasteland and cultivated land in their own area, but also moved to vast and sparsely populated remote areas with the increase of population.Just as the United States initiated the westward movement to the Pacific coast, Europe began to move eastward to the Russian border at this time.For example, by 1350 there were 1,500 new colonies in the Silesian region, run by 150,000 to 200,000 immigrants.Not only did Germanic immigrants cross the Elbe, crowding out the Slavic and Baltic peoples of Eastern Europe, but other immigrants followed the conquests into Spain, and the Anglo-Saxons into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
Population growth, along with increased yields from agriculture, mining, fishing, and forestry, contributed to the corresponding growth of commerce and cities. In the 10th century, although merchants could be seen all over Europe, most of the goods they dealt in were luxury goods.By the 14th century, commerce had grown from being foreign to being the center of everyday life.The goods exchanged at that time were: raw wool from England, woolen fabrics made of British wool from Flanders, iron and wood from Germany, furs from the Slavic region, leather and steel from Spain, and luxury goods from the East.Although people engaged in commerce accounted for only a small part of the total population, the great development of commerce in the late Middle Ages had an important impact on the whole society.Cities slowly began to emerge as centers of local trade and local administration.Italy was the leader in this regard, with such commercial centers as Venice, Amalfi, and Naples; the inhabitants of these centers, cut off from the interior by the Lombard invaders, took to the seas to make a living.Later, some cities appeared one after another on the inland trade routes and along the Baltic Sea coast.In addition, regular large fairs were also important for the sale of goods; these fairs appeared on both sides of the trade roads, and those in the Champagne region were the most famous; Champagne was equidistant from Flanders, Italy and Germany, and its strategic position was very important.
In terms of population and trade, the cities of medieval Western Europe were insignificant compared with those of China, India, or the Middle East.But they are unique because of their growing autonomy and political power.Precisely because they were starting again from the ground up, and within the structure of a politically fragmented Europe rather than a rock-solid empire, the freedmen of the borough from the very beginning displayed the self-confidence and independence that is Eurasia not found in any other region.
Since the freedmen of the borough possessed power and financial resources, they usually obtained a royal charter from the king; the charter allowed them to form separate small boroughs, enjoy the rights of self-governing bodies, sign agreements with the borough's seal, and own their own boroughs. Town Hall, courthouses and extra-urban territories.Royal charters also allowed merchants and artisans to organize guilds, or voluntary associations, for self-defense and mutual aid, which included regulation of product standards, prices, and working hours.As a result, the city was gradually recognized as a new social component, and citizens were no longer subject to feudal laws.This was reflected in the convention that if a serf escaped to the city and lived there for a year and a day without being caught, he became a free man.As the saying goes at the time: "The air of a city makes a man free."
In some regions, groups of cities joined together to form alliances, and these alliances became powerful political and economic entities.When the emperor of the Hohenstaufen dynasty tried to force the rich cities of Milan, Brescia, Parma, and Verona in northern Italy to pay taxes and accept imperial jurisdiction, these cities formed the Lombard Alliance; the alliance was supported by the Pope. Successfully waged the war against the emperor.Similarly, in 1350, 90 cities along the Baltic Sea such as Bremen, Lübeck, Stettin, and Danzig formed the Hanseatic League to oppose pirates, force foreign countries to recognize their commercial privileges, and actually monopolize the trade of Northern Europe.
This development brought status and power to European merchants unique in Eurasia.In China and India, for example, merchants were viewed as inferior and persona non grata: in northwestern Europe, merchants held social status and their wealth and political power grew over time.In China, merchants of all ages were subject to restrictions on how to dress, carry weapons, ride horses and carts, and own land; their transporting goods from one place to another was considered an unproductive and parasitic activity, placed at the bottom of society.Likewise, in India, merchants have no reputation due to the Hindu emphasis on giving up property.In India, the ideal person is not a busy businessman earning money to build a mansion, but a mystic who sits on cushions, eats plantain leaves, and is free from material possessions.Hence, in the empires of the East, the merchant had no chance of rising to the position of authority.In China, scholars are in charge of administration, in Japan, soldiers are in charge of state affairs, in Malaysia and in the Rajput states of India, local aristocrats are in charge of the country, but nowhere are businessmen in power.
Yes, no one place except Europe.In Europe, the political and economic power of merchants was growing steadily. They were becoming mayors of London, senators of the Free Cities of the German Empire, and governors of the Netherlands.Such social status and political connections meant that the state paid more attention to and more consistently supported the interests of merchants and later foreign ventures.
By the tenth century, Western Europe had become a collection of small feudal states; these small feudal states gradually acquired the land and power of the fallen Charlemagne's empire in Pakistan.In the following centuries, several traditions and forces were at odds with each other.Feudal monarchs were constantly in conflict with vassals who often held larger fiefdoms and exercised more power.The religious and secular feudal duchies revealed the thorny issue of investiture rights.Cities sometimes formed powerful organizations like the Lombard League and the Hanseatic League.They were all self-centered; yet at the time, against them, there was an ongoing struggle for a unified Catholic world headed by the Pope, or by Charlemagne and his predecessor's successor, the "Roman" Emperor. power.The intertwining of these conflicting forces produces in political life all levels of alliances and coalitions, infinitely varied and ever-changing.
Broadly speaking, after Charlemagne's death, the development of Western European politics can be divided into three stages. From the 9th to the 11th centuries, popes and emperors generally cooperated.The pope helped the emperor against the German secular aristocracy; in return the emperor supported the pope against the Byzantine forces opposed to the power of the papacy. In 1073, Pope Gregory VII took office, and the power of the Papacy began to reach its peak.The pope and the emperor clashed over the investiture of the Germanic bishops, and Gregory prevailed, thereby weakening the administration of the empire and the power of the emperor.By the 13th century, Innocent III was actually involved in the affairs of European countries, and kings and emperors were appointed or deposed by him.He declared: "Nothing in the world can escape the attention and control of the Pope." For more than two centuries, especially because of the succession of the devout Kings of France and England, the Pope of Rome is generally considered to be the supreme ruler of the Catholic world.
The supreme power of the Pope in Rome came to an abrupt and dramatic end in the hands of Pope Boniface VIII; Boniface VIII issued the "Papal Bull" (1202), which firmly stated the doctrine of the supremacy of the Pope's power: "... We declare, we state, we explain, we formally proclaim that submission to the papacy is absolutely necessary for the salvation of all beings." But what had been accepted in previous centuries no longer satisfactorily. .The sovereigns and their councils put national prosperity above the pope's wishes.Boniface was threatened and abused by the envoys of the King of France, and died shortly after being humiliated. In 1305, the French archbishop was elected Pope, known as Clement V.He did not go to Rome, but took Avignon in southeastern France as the pope's residence.For the next 70 years, the Pope of Avignon was subject to the King of France and lost the dominance of his predecessors in the Catholic world.
The acquisition of new powers by European monarchs depended largely on informal alliances with the emerging merchant class.The burghers of the borough provided financial aid and managerial talent to the sovereign, becoming the king's servants, overseers, custodians, managers of the Royal Mint, etc.Initially, these people formed the king's royal family and were in charge of the king's private affairs.Today, a strong centralized government develops as members of the royal family are sent to run the entire kingdom.More specifically, it, along with certain representative assemblies, laid the groundwork for bureaucracies, courts, and taxation.
In return, the monarch offered protection to the freedmen against frequent wars and excessive taxes by feudal lords and bishops.They also served the interests of the merchants by abolishing the various Zemstvos, each with its own tariffs, laws, systems of measurement, and currency. At the end of the 14th century, there were 35 tax collection stations on the Elbe, more than 60 on the Rhine, and many on the Seine. If a ship carried grain along the Seine for 200 miles, the cost would be half the price of the grain.With the elimination of these obstacles, and the implementation of national laws and orders, national monarchies emerged in the 15th century, initially forming today's England, France, Portugal, and Spain after the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. territory.
These large and new political entities were essential in mobilizing the necessary human and material resources for overseas ventures.It is no accident that the early explorers, though overwhelmingly Italian seafaring adventurers, were patrons of emerging national monarchies rather than their home, insignificant city-states.The Spanish and Portuguese courts gave great support to Columbus and Vasco da Gama; the English and French courts followed suit, enthusiastically supporting Cabot, Verrazzano, and many others.
The development of Western culture and knowledge in the Middle Ages was as significant and innovative as the development of economy and politics.The centuries preceding and following the fall of Rome to about 1000 constituted, in the sense of a complete lack of cultural creativity, the "Dark Ages" in Western history.Extreme poverty, perilous and isolated, could not have produced masterpieces of literature, art and scholarship.It is true that monastic abbots managed to preserve parts of classical culture, but they were naturally devoted to preserving those parts consistent with their religious beliefs, while ignoring those more secular.The result was a "Christian" or "ecclesiastical" culture that was complementary to and dependent on the Church.
In the 11th century, bishops founded church schools to educate priests in their jurisdiction.A century later, early universities based on church schools gradually took shape.These universities are autonomous bodies with legal status, which is their distinctive feature.In addition, they do not have only one liberal arts department like church schools, but also have departments of canon law, civil law, medicine and theology.The full curriculum of the liberal arts includes three lower subjects (Latin grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and four higher subjects (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy). In the 12th century, the first universities appeared in Bologna, Paris and Oxford.Universities were founded in Padua, Naples, and Salamanca in the following century, and in Prague, Krakow, and Vienna in central Europe in the fourteenth century.
These universities were originally institutions for the training of priests.This focus of training was natural and appropriate, since the clergy at the time monopolized cultural professions and administrative positions.However, this limitation was challenged in the 12th century when the metaphysical works of Aristotle and other classics were translated from Arabic to Latin, and later directly from Greek to Latin.The translation of these works made Western scholars face a complete and rationalistic natural philosophy for the first time, which caused great turmoil in the European intellectual circles.Today, their problem is to bring this philosophy into line with traditional Christian assumptions and teachings.
In essence, earlier Muslim theologians and philosophers such as Ghazali and Averroes had encountered the same problem (see Chapter 14, Section 7).Their method is derived from a dilemma, a "double truth" theory, a higher truth of theology and a lower truth of reason.A notable figure in his search for the unity of Aristotelian and Christian theology was the eminent Dominican Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274) of the University of Paris.In his major work, the Summa Theologica, he states that Aristotle expounds the truths of reason, and the proverbs of the Church expound religious truths; But in the end there must be agreement; the truth of Aristotle's philosophy must support and agree with the highest, truth of the Christian creed.This is also the point of view he sets out to demonstrate in his Summa Anti-Paganism, a masterpiece of comprehensive thought in scholastic philosophy.He constructs a synthesis with pros and cons of each argument, and with the view that in the end it always supports the formal teaching: "...men naturally want to know the first mover at the end of their lives. God is the first mover. Therefore, man In the end it is to know God. . . . " The Middle Ages, then, was an age of faith, where there were no agnostics, because God's Last Judgment Day was haunting the minds of the people.
This theology demonstrates the hierarchical nature of the medieval world.Society, nature, and the universe are represented in similar hierarchical relationships.Earth is below, water is above, air is above, and the most precious element, fire, is on top.Popes and bishops, emperors and kings, nobles and common people all find their place in nature.The same is true in the universe, the moon and the sun are below, the planets are above, and the stars are above. Above all the stars is heaven. For theological needs, the opposite of heaven is hell.This picture of the world remained popular until the time of the Scientific Revolution; Copernicus' heliocentric theory in the 16th century, and Newton's world machine theory in the 17th century overturned the geocentric cosmology.
From the 4th to the 10th century, Europe was invaded by Germans, Huns, Magyars, Vikings and Muslims.But from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries, the situation was dramatically reversed, and Europe began to attack across the board.Various armies defeated the Muslims in Spain, southern Italy, Sicily, and the Netherlands, and even occupied the Christian Byzantine Empire.At the same time, in northeastern Europe, the feudal lords of the German frontier were encroaching on the east bank of the Elbe.Subsequently, the expansion of Germany continued to extend to the east bank of the Oder River, opposing the pagan Prussians, and formed the Crusades commanded by the Teutonic Knights.他们建立了许多要塞，并在要塞周围安置德意志移民；这些移民为进一步扩张提供了人力和物力。德意志商人随即占领沿海岸和河道的各战略要地，建立城市。因而，到15世纪末，过去曾由斯拉夫和波罗的海诸民族占据的广大地区，这时都变成了德意志各阶层——封建主、主教、市民和农民——的领土。
有个时期，人们曾认为，这些十字军东侵实际上对促进中世纪后期的各项富有建设性的发展，其中包括贸易、城市和文化的发展，起到了决定性的作用。现在，这种说法已不再为人们所接受。相反，人们普遍认为，十字军东侵基本上是这些发展的结果而不是原因。如果不是先有技术进步、商业复兴、人口增长和人们普遍的精神充沛，十字军南侵是完全不可想象的。这些推动力继续发展，并在14世纪大萧条后加快了速度，结果，使扩张主义的征战运动扩大到海外领土。
基督教及其传统的普救说、改变异教徒信仰的热情和十字军的好战精神，是向海外扩张的一个重要因素。早期的探险者及其支持者，其所作所为在一定程度上是出于宗教方面的考虑。13 世纪，马可·波罗的旅行使欧洲人知道了印度和中国的存在，并渴望到达这两个伟大的国家。他们还知道这些国家的人们并不是穆斯林，因地，希望他们与基督教徒通力合作。另外，中世纪长期流传着有关祭司约翰的传说；约翰被传说为东方某一基督教国家的强有力的国王。几个世纪来，基督教首领梦想与他建立联系，从东、西两方大举进攻穆斯林世界。欧洲人虽未找到祭司约翰，却在非洲和美洲偶尔发现了新的、陌生的民族。这些民族还未开化，不信教，因此，是适于征服、拯救、使之归依的臣民。
在促使欧洲人开始海外冒险事业的许多动机中，为上帝服务和寻求黄金可能是最强烈的动机。瓦斯科·达·伽马向惊讶的印度人解释说，他来到他们的国家，是为了寻找基督教徒和香料。同样，征服者伯纳尔·迪亚斯在回忆录中写到，他和同伴到美洲去，是“为了象所有男子汉都欲做到的那样，为上帝和皇帝陛下服务、将光明带给生活在黑暗中的人们和发财致富。”
所谓的“文艺复兴运动”，强调了个人主义和现世主义，显然比中世纪观点更有助于对外扩张。关于人类本身逐渐形成了一种新观念，一种对其高贵和创造力的新的信任。人们无需再一心想着神对来世会作何判决，而只需发展自己生来俱有的潜力，首先发展他的思考能力。德西迪里·伊拉斯谟在其名声达到顶峰时，表达了他的信任和欢乐。他大声叫道：“永恒的上帝啊！我看见一个多么美好的世界正在出现！我为什么不能再变得年轻呢？”
西方思想的活跃和丰富，是欧亚大陆其他地区所投有的。比如，在中国，儒家思想继续统治着社会（见第十六章第五节）。它尊老鄙少，厚古薄分注重既成极力，忽略革新发明，成为在各方面维持现状的非常有效的工具。同样，在穆斯林国家，学校忽略天文学、数学和医学，着重强调神学、法学和修辞学（见第十四章第七节）。这些学校毕业的学生，同儒家学者一样，对西方的事情既一无所知，又不感兴趣。因此，突厥人仍处于宗教蒙昧主义的深渊，并象其他非西方民族一样，为此付出了高昂的代价。基督教异教徒以其新学问，最终不仅成为他们所发现的美洲大陆的主人，而且成为古老的伊斯兰教帝国和儒家帝国的主人。
西方技术的不断发展，也直接有助于对外扩张。这方面尤其重要的是在造船、仪器、航海技术和海军装备上所取得的进步。1200 至1500年，欧洲船舶吨位平均增加一到两倍。600吨到800吨的圆体帆船，代替了150吨到200吨的长型单层甲板帆船。13世纪开始使用的船尾舷，迅速代替了陈旧的、低效率的边舵。14世纪，葡萄牙人对阿拉伯三角帆船的索具的改进同样重要，它使船只更适于迎风航行。船体结构和船帆索具方面的这些进步表明，这时的船只综合了北欧、地中海和中东早期船只各自的特点。其结果是船体更大，速度更快，操纵更灵敏，同时也更经济，因为它减少了100到200个划手及其食物和装备，大大增加了存放货物的空间。
造船方面的这些进步总是同航海技术的进步，尤其同指南针、星盘和新地图的日益有效的使用携手并进的；这些新地图是根据精确的罗盘方位和海岸线及港口的详情绘制而成。与此同时，欧洲人在海军装备方面正占据着决定性的、明显重要的领先地位。过去，海战是指占领敌船和甲板上的肉搏战。16 世纪的前20年，佛兰德和德意志治金学家发展了铸炮技术；这种大炮能射出弹丸，摧毁30O码内的船只。海战发生了变化，由占领敌船的肉搏战变成了舷炮齐射的炮战。从此，欧洲人占领并控制了世界各大洋达四个世纪之久，直到1905年日本人在对马海峡全歼俄罗斯人，取得了划时代的胜利。
伴随造船业、航海业和海军装备的发展而来的是商业经营方面的重要的新技术。意大利复式簿记的发明使随时确定商业上的财务情况成为可能。另外，货币的日益广泛的使用和普遍为人接受的标准硬币的铸造，便利了商业经营。银行的发展，商业证券的出现，中世纪基督教逐渐放弃对贷款利息的谴责和排斥，也有利于商业经营。最后，欧洲人开始对外扩张后，合股公司的兴起极大地加强和促进了商业经营。这些合股公司以其有限责任，为投资提供了媒介，使欧洲大批资本用于海外冒险事业。东方商人因自身及其合股人的资力有限，没有一个能与几个东印度公司和东地中海公司、莫斯科公司以及现存的哈得逊湾公司相竞争而最终获得成功。
最后，上述诸因素使欧洲富有激励人的、独特的活力。这一活力究竟如何独特，在欧亚大陆对15 世纪穆斯林世界的扩张的各种反应中显而易见。如第十四章第六节所述，当时的伊斯兰教以扇形从中东向四面八方扩展。突厥人在攻陷君士坦丁堡后，占领了巴尔干半岛；随后渡过多瑙河，进军匈牙利，兵临维也纳城下。同样，在东方，富有魅力的巴布尔率领突厥人，正从阿富汗问南推进，开始建立伟大的莫卧儿帝国，统治印度，直到19世纪英国人接管为止。另外，在非洲，伊斯兰教正从东部和北部沿岸的基地向内地稳步传播。最后，穆斯林商人控制了欧亚大陆的海上航线，即从红海和波斯湾穿过印度洋、绕过东南亚、到达中国海的航线。
由于伊斯兰教的军人、商人、传教士所取得的这些进步，伊斯兰教世界变成了欧亚大陆的中心地区。它占领了这片大陆的战略中心，而且，它愈扩张，欧亚大陆东端的中国人和西端的欧洲人就愈孤立。中国人和欧洲人对这一包围的截然不同的反应，从当时到现在，都对世界历史的进程产生了深远的影响。
如前所述，尽管郑和的远征确切地表明，中国人拥有控制海洋的技术和财力，但他们却自愿地撤退了（见第十二章第一节和第十六章第五节）。蒙古统治结束后，明朝的中国人将自己与外世隔绝。中国商人阶层缺乏西方商人所拥有的政治权力和社会地位，无力向禁止海外冒险事业的皇帝的敕令挑战。因而，中国人将其令人生畏的才能和精力转向内部，从而自愿放弃了在欧亚大陆，最终在世界事务中的领先地位。
欧洲人的反应恰恰相反。蒙古统治下的和平无止境地扩大了他们的地理视界和商业野心，因此，蒙古帝国的突然崩溃给他们以沉重打击，留下了深深怀念。同样，十字军失去地中海东部前哨基地，伊儿汗国在波斯实行伊斯兰教统治，突厥人征服巴尔干诸国，所有这些都使欧洲人无法到达黑海、波斯湾和印度洋。因此，他们实际上被困在欧亚大陆的西端。诚然，由于意大利商人在地中海东部各港口继续同阿拉伯商人发生贸易交往，将货物转船运往西方，所以十分重要的香料贸易仍很繁荣。这使意大利人和阿拉伯人作为经纪人获得厚利，他们为此非常满意。但是，其他欧洲人并非如此幸运，他们迫切希望找到某种方法，到达东方，分享财富。
只要给他们专门技术、经济实力和允许他们政治上自主发展，他们的寻找必定成功。欧洲没有一个国王颁布禁令，禁止海外冒险事业；相反，各民族君主国展开了狂热的竞争。另外，欧洲确实需要并强烈要求外国产品，商人们完全有能力满足这种需求。因此，即使哥伦布没有发现美洲大陆，达·伽马没有绕好望角航行，在以后的几十年中，其他人也会这么做。总之，西方社会已达到起飞点，即将起飞；而它一旦起飞，必将扫清海路，不可阻挡地向全球扩张。
Late 16th century painting: A cosmographer at work.
More efficient use of horsepower also aided in the development of agriculture.In ancient times, horses were seldom used in agriculture because the harnesses used were set around the stomachs and necks of livestock, and livestock were often strangled to death when dragging heavy objects.However, by the 10th century, people had developed a harness that was put on the horse's shoulders so that the horse would not be strangled when dragging heavy objects, thus increasing the horse's pulling power by four to five times.Therefore, horses are faster and more efficient than cattle used in the past, and have become an indispensable source of power for agricultural production.Also important was the invention of the horseshoe, which made it easier for horses to cast heavy loads and plow land.
Another painting from the sixteenth century: New Discoveries and New Inventions; among them are the three great inventions mentioned in the words of Francis Bacon (1561-1626) at the beginning of this chapter—printing, gunpowder, and the compass.
Finally, talk about the very important waterwheels and windmills.Watermills and windmills were known in Greco-Roman times, but were rarely used due to the abundance of slave labor and the lack of perennial rivers.In the absence of these two great obstacles in the north, mills and millers soon spread to almost every fiefdom.In the Mediterranean Basin, the waterwheel was originally a tool for rice milling, and it developed into a general prime mover in the Middle Ages.Thus, hydraulic power began to be used in silver hammers and forge bellows, in large saws and lathes, in washing machines for weaving, pulping machines for paper, and pounding machines for crushing ore.Indeed, England's Land Survey compiled in 1086 enumerates 5,000 mills.That is to say, there is one mill for every fifty households, a large enough number to greatly affect the standard of living of the people.
This unique advance of the West was also reflected in its changing relationship with its immediate neighbor, the traditional Byzantine civilization. In 1203, when the Western Crusaders began to besiege Constantinople, they were in awe of the wealth and luxury of this ancient capital:
In contrast, two and a half centuries later, the Greek scholar and Cardinal Bessarion expressed a completely different view in a letter.The cardinal had lived in Rome for many years, so he was deeply impressed by the advanced level of Italian handicrafts. In 1444, he wrote to Constantine Paleologus, ruler of the autonomous province of Byzantium in the Peloponnese (Morea), advising him to send "four or a few young men" Go to Italy, secretly learn Italian handicrafts, and learn Italian "to become proficient in what the correspondence says."Bessarion was particularly impressed by the hydraulic saw, which eliminated manual labor.He speaks of "logs cut by automatic saws, and water wheels turning swiftly and evenly."He also thought of hydraulic bellows when he wrote: "Leather bellows are used in smelting and refining metals; these bellows separate metal from useless, earthy pre-existing substances without pushing and pulling with hands." Bessarion also In Italy, he says, "the knowledge of iron-making, which is very useful and indispensable to mankind, is easily acquired."The significance of this statement is obvious.The technological progress made in medieval Western Europe was so great that, for the first time in history, Easterners suggested that students be sent to the West to learn "practical crafts."
Consistent with technological progress is a corresponding economic development. From 900 to 1300, the economy developed steadily.Then came the Great Depression of the 14th century.It is caused by a combination of factors.These factors were years of poor harvests and famines, the Black Death, the Anglo-French "Hundred Years' War" and other struggles in Germany and Italy.Harvest failures and famines were particularly severe during 1315 and 1316.The first epidemic of the Black Death in 1349 claimed the lives of one-third to two-thirds of the city's residents;However, shortly after 1400, the economy began to recover; since then, the trend of economic development has been generally upward.
The overall development of the economy is naturally related to technological progress; technological progress has promoted the increase in the productivity of agriculture and handicrafts.The absence of any foreign invasion for centuries is also conducive to economic development.In addition, from the 10th to the 14th centuries, the population increased by about 50%. This growth rate seems insignificant today when the global population is exploding, but at that time it was unmatched by any region of roughly the same size in the world.Population explosions facilitated improvements in agriculture that sustained population growth; and increased food supplies, in turn, made possible further population growth.
The development of the European economy is remarkable in various fields.New mining methods boosted production of salt, silver, lead, zinc, copper, tin and iron ore in Central and Northern Europe.Likewise, the abundance of water and turpentine along the coasts of Britain, Scandinavia and the Baltic was now more extensive than ever before.The production of fisheries in the northern regions, especially cod in Ireland and Norway, and herring in the Baltic Sea also increased significantly.Most importantly, of course, the productivity of agriculture, in which most people work, has also increased enormously.For the first time, farmers reclaimed the wasteland around the village.This is a startling but true fact: in the 12th century, only about one-half of the land in France, one-third in Germany, and one-fifth in England was cultivated. wasteland.Surrounding the small plots of cultivated land were vast expanses of wasteland to be reclaimed by the colonists.European farmers flocked to these uninhabited clearings, clearing forests, burning bushes, and draining swamps for clearing and farming.By 1300, France had more arable land than it does today.
Farmers not only opened up wasteland and cultivated land in their own area, but also moved to vast and sparsely populated remote areas with the increase of population.Just as the United States initiated the westward movement to the Pacific coast, Europe began to move eastward to the Russian border at this time.For example, by 1350 there were 1,500 new colonies in the Silesian region, run by 150,000 to 200,000 immigrants.Not only did Germanic immigrants cross the Elbe, crowding out the Slavic and Baltic peoples of Eastern Europe, but other immigrants followed the conquests into Spain, and the Anglo-Saxons into Wales, Scotland, and Ireland.
Population growth, along with increased yields from agriculture, mining, fishing, and forestry, contributed to the corresponding growth of commerce and cities. In the 10th century, although merchants could be seen all over Europe, most of the goods they dealt in were luxury goods.By the 14th century, commerce had grown from being foreign to being the center of everyday life.The goods exchanged at that time were: raw wool from England, woolen fabrics made of British wool from Flanders, iron and wood from Germany, furs from the Slavic region, leather and steel from Spain, and luxury goods from the East.Although people engaged in commerce accounted for only a small part of the total population, the great development of commerce in the late Middle Ages had an important impact on the whole society.Cities slowly began to emerge as centers of local trade and local administration.Italy was the leader in this regard, with such commercial centers as Venice, Amalfi, and Naples; the inhabitants of these centers, cut off from the interior by the Lombard invaders, took to the seas to make a living.Later, some cities appeared one after another on the inland trade routes and along the Baltic Sea coast.In addition, regular large fairs were also important for the sale of goods; these fairs appeared on both sides of the trade roads, and those in the Champagne region were the most famous; Champagne was equidistant from Flanders, Italy and Germany, and its strategic position was very important.
In terms of population and trade, the cities of medieval Western Europe were insignificant compared with those of China, India, or the Middle East.But they are unique because of their growing autonomy and political power.Precisely because they were starting again from the ground up, and within the structure of a politically fragmented Europe rather than a rock-solid empire, the freedmen of the borough from the very beginning displayed the self-confidence and independence that is Eurasia not found in any other region.
Since the freedmen of the borough possessed power and financial resources, they usually obtained a royal charter from the king; the charter allowed them to form separate small boroughs, enjoy the rights of self-governing bodies, sign agreements with the borough's seal, and own their own boroughs. Town Hall, courthouses and extra-urban territories.Royal charters also allowed merchants and artisans to organize guilds, or voluntary associations, for self-defense and mutual aid, which included regulation of product standards, prices, and working hours.As a result, the city was gradually recognized as a new social component, and citizens were no longer subject to feudal laws.This was reflected in the convention that if a serf escaped to the city and lived there for a year and a day without being caught, he became a free man.As the saying goes at the time: "The air of a city makes a man free."
In some regions, groups of cities joined together to form alliances, and these alliances became powerful political and economic entities.When the emperor of the Hohenstaufen dynasty tried to force the rich cities of Milan, Brescia, Parma, and Verona in northern Italy to pay taxes and accept imperial jurisdiction, these cities formed the Lombard Alliance; the alliance was supported by the Pope. Successfully waged the war against the emperor.Similarly, in 1350, 90 cities along the Baltic Sea such as Bremen, Lübeck, Stettin, and Danzig formed the Hanseatic League to oppose pirates, force foreign countries to recognize their commercial privileges, and actually monopolize the trade of Northern Europe.
This development brought status and power to European merchants unique in Eurasia.In China and India, for example, merchants were viewed as inferior and persona non grata: in northwestern Europe, merchants held social status and their wealth and political power grew over time.In China, merchants of all ages were subject to restrictions on how to dress, carry weapons, ride horses and carts, and own land; their transporting goods from one place to another was considered an unproductive and parasitic activity, placed at the bottom of society.Likewise, in India, merchants have no reputation due to the Hindu emphasis on giving up property.In India, the ideal person is not a busy businessman earning money to build a mansion, but a mystic who sits on cushions, eats plantain leaves, and is free from material possessions.Hence, in the empires of the East, the merchant had no chance of rising to the position of authority.In China, scholars are in charge of administration, in Japan, soldiers are in charge of state affairs, in Malaysia and in the Rajput states of India, local aristocrats are in charge of the country, but nowhere are businessmen in power.
Yes, no one place except Europe.In Europe, the political and economic power of merchants was growing steadily. They were becoming mayors of London, senators of the Free Cities of the German Empire, and governors of the Netherlands.Such social status and political connections meant that the state paid more attention to and more consistently supported the interests of merchants and later foreign ventures.
By the tenth century, Western Europe had become a collection of small feudal states; these small feudal states gradually acquired the land and power of the fallen Charlemagne's empire in Pakistan.In the following centuries, several traditions and forces were at odds with each other.Feudal monarchs were constantly in conflict with vassals who often held larger fiefdoms and exercised more power.The religious and secular feudal duchies revealed the thorny issue of investiture rights.Cities sometimes formed powerful organizations like the Lombard League and the Hanseatic League.They were all self-centered; yet at the time, against them, there was an ongoing struggle for a unified Catholic world headed by the Pope, or by Charlemagne and his predecessor's successor, the "Roman" Emperor. power.The intertwining of these conflicting forces produces in political life all levels of alliances and coalitions, infinitely varied and ever-changing.
Broadly speaking, after Charlemagne's death, the development of Western European politics can be divided into three stages. From the 9th to the 11th centuries, popes and emperors generally cooperated.The pope helped the emperor against the German secular aristocracy; in return the emperor supported the pope against the Byzantine forces opposed to the power of the papacy. In 1073, Pope Gregory VII took office, and the power of the Papacy began to reach its peak.The pope and the emperor clashed over the investiture of the Germanic bishops, and Gregory prevailed, thereby weakening the administration of the empire and the power of the emperor.By the 13th century, Innocent III was actually involved in the affairs of European countries, and kings and emperors were appointed or deposed by him.He declared: "Nothing in the world can escape the attention and control of the Pope." For more than two centuries, especially because of the succession of the devout Kings of France and England, the Pope of Rome is generally considered to be the supreme ruler of the Catholic world.
The supreme power of the Pope in Rome came to an abrupt and dramatic end in the hands of Pope Boniface VIII; Boniface VIII issued the "Papal Bull" (1202), which firmly stated the doctrine of the supremacy of the Pope's power: "... We declare, we state, we explain, we formally proclaim that submission to the papacy is absolutely necessary for the salvation of all beings." But what had been accepted in previous centuries no longer satisfactorily. .The sovereigns and their councils put national prosperity above the pope's wishes.Boniface was threatened and abused by the envoys of the King of France, and died shortly after being humiliated. In 1305, the French archbishop was elected Pope, known as Clement V.He did not go to Rome, but took Avignon in southeastern France as the pope's residence.For the next 70 years, the Pope of Avignon was subject to the King of France and lost the dominance of his predecessors in the Catholic world.
The acquisition of new powers by European monarchs depended largely on informal alliances with the emerging merchant class.The burghers of the borough provided financial aid and managerial talent to the sovereign, becoming the king's servants, overseers, custodians, managers of the Royal Mint, etc.Initially, these people formed the king's royal family and were in charge of the king's private affairs.Today, a strong centralized government develops as members of the royal family are sent to run the entire kingdom.More specifically, it, along with certain representative assemblies, laid the groundwork for bureaucracies, courts, and taxation.
In return, the monarch offered protection to the freedmen against frequent wars and excessive taxes by feudal lords and bishops.They also served the interests of the merchants by abolishing the various Zemstvos, each with its own tariffs, laws, systems of measurement, and currency. At the end of the 14th century, there were 35 tax collection stations on the Elbe, more than 60 on the Rhine, and many on the Seine. If a ship carried grain along the Seine for 200 miles, the cost would be half the price of the grain.With the elimination of these obstacles, and the implementation of national laws and orders, national monarchies emerged in the 15th century, initially forming today's England, France, Portugal, and Spain after the marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella. territory.
These large and new political entities were essential in mobilizing the necessary human and material resources for overseas ventures.It is no accident that the early explorers, though overwhelmingly Italian seafaring adventurers, were patrons of emerging national monarchies rather than their home, insignificant city-states.The Spanish and Portuguese courts gave great support to Columbus and Vasco da Gama; the English and French courts followed suit, enthusiastically supporting Cabot, Verrazzano, and many others.
The development of Western culture and knowledge in the Middle Ages was as significant and innovative as the development of economy and politics.The centuries preceding and following the fall of Rome to about 1000 constituted, in the sense of a complete lack of cultural creativity, the "Dark Ages" in Western history.Extreme poverty, perilous and isolated, could not have produced masterpieces of literature, art and scholarship.It is true that monastic abbots managed to preserve parts of classical culture, but they were naturally devoted to preserving those parts consistent with their religious beliefs, while ignoring those more secular.The result was a "Christian" or "ecclesiastical" culture that was complementary to and dependent on the Church.
In the 11th century, bishops founded church schools to educate priests in their jurisdiction.A century later, early universities based on church schools gradually took shape.These universities are autonomous bodies with legal status, which is their distinctive feature.In addition, they do not have only one liberal arts department like church schools, but also have departments of canon law, civil law, medicine and theology.The full curriculum of the liberal arts includes three lower subjects (Latin grammar, logic, and rhetoric) and four higher subjects (arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy). In the 12th century, the first universities appeared in Bologna, Paris and Oxford.Universities were founded in Padua, Naples, and Salamanca in the following century, and in Prague, Krakow, and Vienna in central Europe in the fourteenth century.
These universities were originally institutions for the training of priests.This focus of training was natural and appropriate, since the clergy at the time monopolized cultural professions and administrative positions.However, this limitation was challenged in the 12th century when the metaphysical works of Aristotle and other classics were translated from Arabic to Latin, and later directly from Greek to Latin.The translation of these works made Western scholars face a complete and rationalistic natural philosophy for the first time, which caused great turmoil in the European intellectual circles.Today, their problem is to bring this philosophy into line with traditional Christian assumptions and teachings.
In essence, earlier Muslim theologians and philosophers such as Ghazali and Averroes had encountered the same problem (see Chapter 14, Section 7).Their method is derived from a dilemma, a "double truth" theory, a higher truth of theology and a lower truth of reason.A notable figure in his search for the unity of Aristotelian and Christian theology was the eminent Dominican Thomas Aquinas (1226-1274) of the University of Paris.In his major work, the Summa Theologica, he states that Aristotle expounds the truths of reason, and the proverbs of the Church expound religious truths; But in the end there must be agreement; the truth of Aristotle's philosophy must support and agree with the highest, truth of the Christian creed.This is also the point of view he sets out to demonstrate in his Summa Anti-Paganism, a masterpiece of comprehensive thought in scholastic philosophy.He constructs a synthesis with pros and cons of each argument, and with the view that in the end it always supports the formal teaching: "...men naturally want to know the first mover at the end of their lives. God is the first mover. Therefore, man In the end it is to know God. . . . " The Middle Ages, then, was an age of faith, where there were no agnostics, because God's Last Judgment Day was haunting the minds of the people.
This theology demonstrates the hierarchical nature of the medieval world.Society, nature, and the universe are represented in similar hierarchical relationships.Earth is below, water is above, air is above, and the most precious element, fire, is on top.Popes and bishops, emperors and kings, nobles and common people all find their place in nature.The same is true in the universe, the moon and the sun are below, the planets are above, and the stars are above. Above all the stars is heaven. For theological needs, the opposite of heaven is hell.This picture of the world remained popular until the time of the Scientific Revolution; Copernicus' heliocentric theory in the 16th century, and Newton's world machine theory in the 17th century overturned the geocentric cosmology.
From the 4th to the 10th century, Europe was invaded by Germans, Huns, Magyars, Vikings and Muslims.But from the tenth to the fourteenth centuries, the situation was dramatically reversed, and Europe began to attack across the board.Various armies defeated the Muslims in Spain, southern Italy, Sicily, and the Netherlands, and even occupied the Christian Byzantine Empire.At the same time, in northeastern Europe, the feudal lords of the German frontier were encroaching on the east bank of the Elbe.Subsequently, the expansion of Germany continued to extend to the east bank of the Oder River, opposing the pagan Prussians, and formed the Crusades commanded by the Teutonic Knights.他们建立了许多要塞，并在要塞周围安置德意志移民；这些移民为进一步扩张提供了人力和物力。德意志商人随即占领沿海岸和河道的各战略要地，建立城市。因而，到15世纪末，过去曾由斯拉夫和波罗的海诸民族占据的广大地区，这时都变成了德意志各阶层——封建主、主教、市民和农民——的领土。
有个时期，人们曾认为，这些十字军东侵实际上对促进中世纪后期的各项富有建设性的发展，其中包括贸易、城市和文化的发展，起到了决定性的作用。现在，这种说法已不再为人们所接受。相反，人们普遍认为，十字军东侵基本上是这些发展的结果而不是原因。如果不是先有技术进步、商业复兴、人口增长和人们普遍的精神充沛，十字军南侵是完全不可想象的。这些推动力继续发展，并在14世纪大萧条后加快了速度，结果，使扩张主义的征战运动扩大到海外领土。
基督教及其传统的普救说、改变异教徒信仰的热情和十字军的好战精神，是向海外扩张的一个重要因素。早期的探险者及其支持者，其所作所为在一定程度上是出于宗教方面的考虑。13 世纪，马可·波罗的旅行使欧洲人知道了印度和中国的存在，并渴望到达这两个伟大的国家。他们还知道这些国家的人们并不是穆斯林，因地，希望他们与基督教徒通力合作。另外，中世纪长期流传着有关祭司约翰的传说；约翰被传说为东方某一基督教国家的强有力的国王。几个世纪来，基督教首领梦想与他建立联系，从东、西两方大举进攻穆斯林世界。欧洲人虽未找到祭司约翰，却在非洲和美洲偶尔发现了新的、陌生的民族。这些民族还未开化，不信教，因此，是适于征服、拯救、使之归依的臣民。
在促使欧洲人开始海外冒险事业的许多动机中，为上帝服务和寻求黄金可能是最强烈的动机。瓦斯科·达·伽马向惊讶的印度人解释说，他来到他们的国家，是为了寻找基督教徒和香料。同样，征服者伯纳尔·迪亚斯在回忆录中写到，他和同伴到美洲去，是“为了象所有男子汉都欲做到的那样，为上帝和皇帝陛下服务、将光明带给生活在黑暗中的人们和发财致富。”
所谓的“文艺复兴运动”，强调了个人主义和现世主义，显然比中世纪观点更有助于对外扩张。关于人类本身逐渐形成了一种新观念，一种对其高贵和创造力的新的信任。人们无需再一心想着神对来世会作何判决，而只需发展自己生来俱有的潜力，首先发展他的思考能力。德西迪里·伊拉斯谟在其名声达到顶峰时，表达了他的信任和欢乐。他大声叫道：“永恒的上帝啊！我看见一个多么美好的世界正在出现！我为什么不能再变得年轻呢？”
西方思想的活跃和丰富，是欧亚大陆其他地区所投有的。比如，在中国，儒家思想继续统治着社会（见第十六章第五节）。它尊老鄙少，厚古薄分注重既成极力，忽略革新发明，成为在各方面维持现状的非常有效的工具。同样，在穆斯林国家，学校忽略天文学、数学和医学，着重强调神学、法学和修辞学（见第十四章第七节）。这些学校毕业的学生，同儒家学者一样，对西方的事情既一无所知，又不感兴趣。因此，突厥人仍处于宗教蒙昧主义的深渊，并象其他非西方民族一样，为此付出了高昂的代价。基督教异教徒以其新学问，最终不仅成为他们所发现的美洲大陆的主人，而且成为古老的伊斯兰教帝国和儒家帝国的主人。
西方技术的不断发展，也直接有助于对外扩张。这方面尤其重要的是在造船、仪器、航海技术和海军装备上所取得的进步。1200 至1500年，欧洲船舶吨位平均增加一到两倍。600吨到800吨的圆体帆船，代替了150吨到200吨的长型单层甲板帆船。13世纪开始使用的船尾舷，迅速代替了陈旧的、低效率的边舵。14世纪，葡萄牙人对阿拉伯三角帆船的索具的改进同样重要，它使船只更适于迎风航行。船体结构和船帆索具方面的这些进步表明，这时的船只综合了北欧、地中海和中东早期船只各自的特点。其结果是船体更大，速度更快，操纵更灵敏，同时也更经济，因为它减少了100到200个划手及其食物和装备，大大增加了存放货物的空间。
造船方面的这些进步总是同航海技术的进步，尤其同指南针、星盘和新地图的日益有效的使用携手并进的；这些新地图是根据精确的罗盘方位和海岸线及港口的详情绘制而成。与此同时，欧洲人在海军装备方面正占据着决定性的、明显重要的领先地位。过去，海战是指占领敌船和甲板上的肉搏战。16 世纪的前20年，佛兰德和德意志治金学家发展了铸炮技术；这种大炮能射出弹丸，摧毁30O码内的船只。海战发生了变化，由占领敌船的肉搏战变成了舷炮齐射的炮战。从此，欧洲人占领并控制了世界各大洋达四个世纪之久，直到1905年日本人在对马海峡全歼俄罗斯人，取得了划时代的胜利。
伴随造船业、航海业和海军装备的发展而来的是商业经营方面的重要的新技术。意大利复式簿记的发明使随时确定商业上的财务情况成为可能。另外，货币的日益广泛的使用和普遍为人接受的标准硬币的铸造，便利了商业经营。银行的发展，商业证券的出现，中世纪基督教逐渐放弃对贷款利息的谴责和排斥，也有利于商业经营。最后，欧洲人开始对外扩张后，合股公司的兴起极大地加强和促进了商业经营。这些合股公司以其有限责任，为投资提供了媒介，使欧洲大批资本用于海外冒险事业。东方商人因自身及其合股人的资力有限，没有一个能与几个东印度公司和东地中海公司、莫斯科公司以及现存的哈得逊湾公司相竞争而最终获得成功。
最后，上述诸因素使欧洲富有激励人的、独特的活力。这一活力究竟如何独特，在欧亚大陆对15 世纪穆斯林世界的扩张的各种反应中显而易见。如第十四章第六节所述，当时的伊斯兰教以扇形从中东向四面八方扩展。突厥人在攻陷君士坦丁堡后，占领了巴尔干半岛；随后渡过多瑙河，进军匈牙利，兵临维也纳城下。同样，在东方，富有魅力的巴布尔率领突厥人，正从阿富汗问南推进，开始建立伟大的莫卧儿帝国，统治印度，直到19世纪英国人接管为止。另外，在非洲，伊斯兰教正从东部和北部沿岸的基地向内地稳步传播。最后，穆斯林商人控制了欧亚大陆的海上航线，即从红海和波斯湾穿过印度洋、绕过东南亚、到达中国海的航线。
由于伊斯兰教的军人、商人、传教士所取得的这些进步，伊斯兰教世界变成了欧亚大陆的中心地区。它占领了这片大陆的战略中心，而且，它愈扩张，欧亚大陆东端的中国人和西端的欧洲人就愈孤立。中国人和欧洲人对这一包围的截然不同的反应，从当时到现在，都对世界历史的进程产生了深远的影响。
如前所述，尽管郑和的远征确切地表明，中国人拥有控制海洋的技术和财力，但他们却自愿地撤退了（见第十二章第一节和第十六章第五节）。蒙古统治结束后，明朝的中国人将自己与外世隔绝。中国商人阶层缺乏西方商人所拥有的政治权力和社会地位，无力向禁止海外冒险事业的皇帝的敕令挑战。因而，中国人将其令人生畏的才能和精力转向内部，从而自愿放弃了在欧亚大陆，最终在世界事务中的领先地位。
欧洲人的反应恰恰相反。蒙古统治下的和平无止境地扩大了他们的地理视界和商业野心，因此，蒙古帝国的突然崩溃给他们以沉重打击，留下了深深怀念。同样，十字军失去地中海东部前哨基地，伊儿汗国在波斯实行伊斯兰教统治，突厥人征服巴尔干诸国，所有这些都使欧洲人无法到达黑海、波斯湾和印度洋。因此，他们实际上被困在欧亚大陆的西端。诚然，由于意大利商人在地中海东部各港口继续同阿拉伯商人发生贸易交往，将货物转船运往西方，所以十分重要的香料贸易仍很繁荣。这使意大利人和阿拉伯人作为经纪人获得厚利，他们为此非常满意。但是，其他欧洲人并非如此幸运，他们迫切希望找到某种方法，到达东方，分享财富。
只要给他们专门技术、经济实力和允许他们政治上自主发展，他们的寻找必定成功。欧洲没有一个国王颁布禁令，禁止海外冒险事业；相反，各民族君主国展开了狂热的竞争。另外，欧洲确实需要并强烈要求外国产品，商人们完全有能力满足这种需求。因此，即使哥伦布没有发现美洲大陆，达·伽马没有绕好望角航行，在以后的几十年中，其他人也会这么做。总之，西方社会已达到起飞点，即将起飞；而它一旦起飞，必将扫清海路，不可阻挡地向全球扩张。