"The Renaissance of the 12th century is maybe even more interesting to study than the ‘Renaissance’ most people are familiar with. The Cathedral school of Chartes was the most famous of the Medieval cathedral schools and precursor to the University of Paris that was founded in 1150. What was the main impact of the School of Chartres?
The
Reconquista of the Iberian Peninsula, and in particular of Toledo in
1085, created a revolution in learning that dragged Europe out of the
Dark Ages. The Toledo school of Translators copied books written in
Greek, Arabic, and Hebrew, into Latin. These books made their way to
places like Chartes and Cluny Abbey in France and led to the creation of
the seven liberal arts. The trivium and study of logic, grammar, and
rhetoric. The quadrivium and the study of arithmetic, geometry, music,
and astronomy.
The
school of Chartes focused on the quadrivium in particular and also
encouraged the study of natural philosophy. It was the cosmology
presented in Chartes that inspired the construction of Saint-Denis in
1140, the first truly Gothic Cathedral. Beauty
and aesthetics based on mathematics, geometry, and proportion
transformed the way Europeans thought about God and the natural world.
Knowledge
that had been viewed as taboo, even evil, spread like wildfire.
Universities became a common feature of this period and learning was
encouraged, until it wasn’t. Round about the same time as the
Albigensian Crusade 1209-1229, the Holy inquisition was created to help
root out all ideas that weren’t in alignment with dogmatic Catholic
beliefs. The
Condemnations of 1210-1277 that took place at the University of Paris
included a number of medieval theological teachings. These teachings
were inspired by the study of Plato, Aristotle, Euclid, Archimedes,
Ptolemy, Arabic books on astronomy, geometry, even Alchemy, and
countless Jewish works.
Toledo in Spain was a melting pot of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian cultures.
Although these cultures were at odds in the Holy Land because of the
Crusades, they were also learning and sharing from each other in the
Iberian Peninsula. On
the one hand they seemingly had nothing in common, and on the other,
they were more similar than different. This sentiment was clearly
expressed by Wolfram von Eschenbach in Parzival. The Knights Templar
were accused of adopting Islamic beliefs, and Freemasons are branded as
traitors for treating all religions as equal.
Mathematics
and geometry transcend the petty disagreements that exist between
religions. It is a universal language that is best expressed in
architecture and art. The deepest secrets in all three the monotheistic
religions revolve around these ideas. This
is why a statue of the Greek philosopher Pythagoras can be found at
Chartes Cathedral. Pythagoras taught that numbers are at the source of
all things, a deeply profound understanding of the underlying order that
permeates existence.
In
Wolframs Parzival, the focus is moved away from the Grail as a cup,
towards the Grail being a sacred stone that fell from heaven. He says
that the Knights Templar Templiesen, were the protectors and
guardians of this stone, the Lapis Exillis, also known as the
Philosophers Stone. Understanding
the meaning of this stone decodes the Bible and reveals the knowledge
of astronomy, mathematics, and geometry, that has been hidden in plain
sight."
This blog quotes in full a post on Facebook of 1 September 2024 posted by Holy Incongruence. The illustration shows the statue of Pythagoras at Chartres Catherdral, France, source, Fair Use intended.
Support TemplarsNow™ by becoming a Patron, tipping us or buying one of our Reliable Books
No comments:
Post a Comment