
#Art and culture in medieval europe knights qwuizlet windows#
Their graceful spires and tall windows carried the eye upward to the heavens. "Since their brilliance lets the splendor of the True Light pass into the church," declared a medieval visitor, "they enlighten those inside." Gothic churches soared to incredible heights. These supports allowed builders to construct higher, thinner walls and leave space for large stained-glass windows. There, builders developed what became known as the Gothic style of architecture.Ī key feature of the new Gothic style was the flying buttresses or stone supports that stood outside the church. It "would shine with wonderful and uninterrupted light." In time, but long after the Middle Ages, the use of Hindu-Arabic numerals allowed both scientists and mathematicians to make extraordinary advances in their fields.Ībout 1140, Abbot Suger (SooZHAY) wanted to build a new abbey church at St. Hindu-Arabic numerals were much easier to use than the cumbersome system of Roman numerals that Europeans had used for centuries. In fact, the Arabs had adapted these numerals from India. In mathematics, Europeans adopted Hindu-Arabic numerals, commonly called Arabic numerals. It would take many centuries before Christian thinkers changed the way they viewed the physical world. Yet science made little real progress in Europe in the Middle Ages because most scholars still believed that all true knowledge must fit with Church teachings. They saw, too, how Aristotle had used observation and experimentation to study the physical world. Scientific works, translated from Arabic and Greek, also reached Europe from Spain and the Byzantine empire.Ĭhristian scholars studied Hippocrates on medicine and Euclid on geometry, along with works by Arab scientists. Theology was the longest course of study. Only after several more years of study could a man qualify to become a master of arts and a teacher. To show mastery of a subject, students took an oral exam.Įarning a degree as a bachelor of arts took between three and six years. There were separate programs for further study of law, medicine, and theology.


Students were expected to memorize what they heard.Ī program of study covered the seven liberal arts: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music, grammar, rhetoric, and logic. Students sat for hours on hard benches as the teacher dictated and then explained Latin texts. Since the first medieval universities did not have permanent buildings, classes were held in rented rooms or in the choir loft of a church. Students usually ate a light supper and then studied until bedtime. Students then attended classes until 10 A.M., when they had their first meal of the day.Īfternoon classes continued until 5 P.M.
