Sorry Heraklia, I'd forgotten to respond to this.

Heraklia wrote (some time ago):

This is from H. St. L.B. Moss and the Birth of the Middle Ages: 395-814:

"During the ages of transition, the Western Church as a whole definitely feared and distrusted the pagan learning; there are notable exceptions to this attitude, but the uncompromising tradition of Tertullian proved stronger, and finally previaled with the influence of Gregory.

While there were some western Churchmen who liked to cite Tertullian on pagan learning, to say this tradition "proved stronger" and "finally prevailed" is odd considering it was Augustine's teaching on the "gold of the Egyptians". I'm wondering how Moss reconciles his assertions above with the abundant evidence of the high regard with which pagan learning was held throughout the period. There were a few who cited Tertullian against an undue overemphasis on classical subjects, but to say that this attitude was dominant is contrary to a vast amount of evidence.

In a natural reaction from earlier depreciation of the 'Dark Ages,' stress has recently been laid on the 'humanism' of the medieval Church; but it is not difficult to overstate this view, for it is certain that the sole purpose of education at this time in the West was to train ecclesiastics for the performance of their duties .... But the extraordinary, achievements of scholars like Bede and Aldhelm, and, judged by contemporary standards, the high intellectual level of Canterbury, York, Wearmouth and Jarrow in seventh-century England . . . must not blind us to the fact that our gratitude for the preservation of classical literature would have incurred the censure of the most orthodox ecclestiastical authorities, nor cause us to minimize the great gulf which divides the learning of this age from that of Jerome, and still more that of Origen, when all the resources of ancient civilization were still available.

Again, Moss doesn't do anything much to substantiate this (erroneous) assertion that this anti-pagan learning position was "stronger".

For several centuries, these resources had been declining, and the Church further reduced and diluted the supply. Creative thought had long ceased; the taste of the time had turned to epitomes, anthologies, grammars and works of reference. Genuine mastery of the Greek language disappeared wholly from the West; after Boethius there was no real assimilation of Hellnic philosophy. Decorative Greek characters, isolated passages, and words from glossaries are found in Irish manuscripts, and Bede, exceptionally, shows some acquaintance with the Septuagint, but of a creative use of Greek there is no indication. Passive encyclopaedists, like Isidore of Seville and Raban Maur, are the characteristic product of the early Middle Ages - an indication of the stern necessity for the preservation of extant knowledge in face of the barbarism which threatened to engulf it."

This is generally accurate - the decline in knowledge in the West was due to social disruption, dwindling resources and an often desperate attempt to preserve as much information as possible through the efforts of these "passive encyclopaedists". Moss may have preferred learned medievals to have been brushing up their Greek or writing in hexameters, but the imposition of our priorities on people who lived 1500 years ago is an odd thing for any modern historian to be doing.

And, taken with his earlier paragraphs above about Tertullian's antipathy to pagan learning being dominant - which is quite incorrect - this final paragraph implies heavily that this (supposed) antipathy was the reason for the loss of classical learning. Notice that he supports none of these implications and assertions with any actual evidence from the period.

The highlighting is something I understand from my reading - that the very idea of reading the pagan authors for knowledge and pleasure would have displeased certain clerics of the time.

There have always been conservatives, puritains and fundamentalists. Where Moss is wrong is in his assertion that it was Tertullian's attitude to pagan learning which prevailed - it was actually Augustine's (which, oddly, Moss doesn't even mention). And this can be seen in what happened in the following centuries - as the political and economic situation in Europe stabilised and improved and learning and educational institutions expanded, what form of learning was the most eagerly sought after and gladly received when it was re-discovered? "Pagan" learning. So much for Tertullianism "prevailing". Cheers,

Thiu