University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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THE REDWOOD woman to the position which she has held with no essential changes since the Middle Ages. In Roman and Greek society, especially when these civiliza- tions were in the height of their glory, woman ' s place was a very degraded one. Indeed, she was considered either a slave of or an amusement for man, and treated accordingly. In early Rome a man could sell his wife into slavery. The Germanic tribes treated their women as domestic utilities. A wonderful change was wrought in the Middle Ages. Woman rose to the position of a helper of her husband, and became supreme in the dominion of her home. Since the Middle Ages women on the whole, especially in Europe, have held the same position they assumed in mediaeval times. If their lot is better it is because that of their husband ' s has improved. The peasant ' s wife in the Middle Ages was not, to be sure, as happily fixed as the wife of a modern worker, but their relative positions are the same. True it is, that recently, women in some places, have been en- franchised, but this is a small advance- ment in comparison to the progress made when they obtained their rightful place in the domestic sphere; taking a hand in government with man is only a small advance above being his co- equal in raising a family, supervising the household and sharing with him in- terests of far more weight than politics. The high esteem of women in the Middle Ages is reflected by the lays of the troubadours. They have produced poems unsurpassed in exalted and noble expression of admiration for women. Dante, in his early years, con- sidered himself one of the troubadours and composed love sonnets which would have secured him enduring fame, had he never written the Divine Com- edy. The remarkable change that took place in regard to woman ' s standing, is directly due to Christianity. If it taught that woman had caused man ' s fall, it also taught that through Mary the world was given a Redeemer. The fact that after Christ the only perfect hu- man being was a woman, powerfully gripped the minds of the age and pro- duced increased respect for her sex. This was not the only cause, however, and, perhaps, not the chief one. The Church ' s teachings and moral standards forbade the degraded treatment that women received in previous ages. The distinguished historian, Myer, has remarked that woman ' s position was a reliable gauge of the state of so- ciety. Everyone is aware that history has corroborated this truth most em- phatically. Considering the progress of woman in the Middle Ages, the re- spected part she played in the life of the times, are we justified in applying the name dark to this period? In the seventh century a peril to Eu- rope appeared, which, had it not been averted, would have blighted the civili- zation of all the world The religion of Mohammed united the Arabs and raised in them a lust for conquest Avhich grew with their remarkable successes. In eighty years they reduced more ter-

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THE REDWOOD and example they gradually won a few barbarians to accept Christianity. Whenever they gained a foothold, monasteries were established from which went forth new missionaries on their noble work. This work of conver- sion was slow and arduous. Ireland was the only country converted with- out a martyr. Thither in 432 Pope Celestine sent St. Patrick. In a com- paratively short time, he gained Ire- land to the faith. Germany was con- verted during the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth centuries. Most notable of the missionaries that labored there was St. Boniface, called the Apostle of G-er- many. Hungary owed her conversion to the efforts of the pious king Stephen. It was still more difficult to persuade the barbarians, after having accepted Christianity, to lead lives becoming their faith. This could not be done in haste. The Church realized that no fundamental change in customs and habits of living could be wrought by a sudden revolution. All things that possess permanency are of slow growth. Consequently, after the European peo- ple had become nominal Christians, the ministers of Christ continued to exalt them to perfection, and succeeded in producing that simple spirit of piety characteristic of the Middle Ages. The human element of the Church, in some places and at some times, was without doubt, inconsistent with its teachings and the example of the im- mense majority of the ecclesiastics. But such instances were so rare that, de- plorable as they are, they cannot de- tract a whit from the glory of so great an achievement as Christianizing Eu- rope. What would have become of Europe, if schooled in Roman corruption, she had not the restraining hand of Chris- tianity? Without the Christian doc- trine of equality of every one before God, the brotherhood of human beings, would social conditions be as good now as they were at the close of the Middle Ages? Would anyone except those spurred on by the hope of an eternal reward have undergone the labors of the missionaries? Could we expec t a Eoman whose language had not the equivalent of charity and humil- ity to be zealous for the welfare of barbarians from whom he could hope to gain no material advantage? Consid- ering the absence of civilization among the inhabitants of Europe at the be- ginning of the Middle Ages, the diffi- culty of disseminating knowledge the final result must command universal admiration. It must be remembered that the number of missionaries and priests who undertook the conversion of Europe were nothing to the number of its inhabitants. The spreading through Europe of a religion, so above the nature of man and the opposition to his innate selfishness, cannot be con- sidered less than a wonder. No one stints praise to those who did it. Why, then, decry the Age in which this feat was accomplished? One of the immediate and the most important results of the Christianiza- tion of Europe was the elevation of

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THE REDWOOD ritory than Rome in her prime won during four centuries. The Moham- medans passed like a devastating flood over the regions they conquered, and a large portion of those whom they vanquished were sold into slavery. Syria, Egypt, Spain, Northern Africa passed under the bitter yoke of the successors of the Prophet. Their ad- vance into Europe was halted at the battle of Tours, only after they had penetrated far into what is now France. Had they triumphed, Europe would have undergone the fate of Constan- tinople and the East. Civilization would have suffered from the doctrines of Mohammed which have proved so effective a brake to human progress. Civilization, would have been no bet- ter now than it was in the realm of the sultan. Several years later, the Mohammedan menace again appeared. The Arabs after being checked, sub- sided and devoted themselves, v ith suc- cess, to prosecution of industry and peaceful arts. Pilgrims were allowed access to Jerusalem. However, in the eleventh century the Turks of Asiatic stock, obtained power in the Moham- medan world and extended their bound- aries with wonderful rapidity. They outdid in cruelty the acts of the Arabs, four centuries before. For a time it seemed that the whole of Asia would pass into the hands of the Caliphs. Their encroachments on European ter- ritory, together with the refusa 1 to grant Pilgrims to enter Jerusalem, caused Europe, fired with religious en- thusiasm, to send repeated crusades against them. Though the crusades in the end did not accomplish their avowed purpose, the expulsion of Mo- hammedans from the Holy Land, they did succeed in weakening the Turks and preventing for the time incursions against Europe. But the most import- ant results of the crusades were not military ones. The conflicts with the Turks produced an intellectual stimu- lation in Europe. The immense multi- tudes who made the journey through Avidely varied countries had their vis- ions broadened by association with new scenes, and contact with other minds sharpened theirs. They also brought an additional im- petus to the change of political institu- tions progressing at that time. The feudal barons were weakened by the enormous expenditure entailed in the campaigns and were unable to resist the efforts of the king for a centralized government, nor could they keep the surfs in subjection as easily as before. But the most important issue of the Crusades was the birth of Modern com- merce. The transporting of warriors and their supplies necessitated large fleets, which returning brought back Oriental products. They were the first vessels to carry on a trade with the East. Money became necessary to con- duct the commercial transactions and finally banks and notes of exchange were put into use. Education is a subject to which in Modern times is given an ever increas- ing attention. An idea of the state of Education in the Middle Ages will tend