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

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14 THE REDWOOD cial conditions, this age is superior to Mediaeval times in this respect. But neither in arts nor literature, are we able to equal the Middle Ages. It seems surprising that this enlightened period should be unable to equal the arts and the literature of a Dark age. Yet it is most true. For what author, in the last century, has approached Dante, or what philosopher, (I do not mean theorist) has equaled St. Thomas? Do any of our structures merit a place besides the Gothic cathedrals? What Modern painter compares with Giotto? T shall first treat of the greatest ar- tistic glory of the Middle Ages, its won- derful churches, their only equals are the temples built in the golden age of Athens, five centuries before Christ, which are now left to us only as ruins. The architecture of Imperial Rome is in no way to be compared with them. Cer- tainly Modern buildings are even less worthy of a place beside them. Reinach, an authority on architec- ture says, If the aim of architecture considered as an art, should be to free itself as much as possible from subjec- tion to its materials, it may be said that no buildings have realized this idea, more than the Gothic churches. Like every great work of art they are the embodiment of noble emotions, of sublime thoughts. The building of churches was the chief outlet for the artistic spirit of the age. Everyone took interest in their erection, those en- gaged in the work spared no pains to make the object of their efforts, no matter how insignificant, ideally beau- tiful. The charm which they possess is not the result of mere size. The Mod- ern sky-scrapers elicit no such admira- tion as is given the cathedrals. It is the soul breathed from their spires, from their jeweled windows that im- presses us so powerfully. The churches were not built with the prevalent Mod- ern spirit of satisfying the specifica- tions of a contract at the least expense. It is almost needless to say that the finest material was used in their con- struction, but what counted infinitely more than the stone and mortar of which they were made, was the thor- ough-going, painstaking manner in which they were made. Nothing was rushed to completion. Sometimes a cen- tury was taken to build a church. Num- berless experiments were perfomned to determine how to produce certain ef- fects. A characteristic of the Gothic churches was the numerous and won- derful windows, the stained glass of which is yet to be equalled. These win- dows, together with the statues and pictures, depicted episodes in the Old and New Testaments and incidents in the lives of the Saints, which, taken as a whole, constituted a kind of a lay- man ' s Bible that appealed to the eye and could be understood by all. The secret of the success of the Gothic churches seems to have been a complete control over details, beautiful in themselves, for the purpose of heightening the effect of the whole. Ferguson in his History of Archi- tecture says, If any man were to devote a life-time to the study of one of the great cathedrals it is question-

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THE REDWOOD 13 labor. Their labor was individual and what was accomplished was a personal achievement. They were happy be- cause they were intelligent mechanics, not hands. ' The most important political institu- tion of the Middle Ages, feudalism, is quite generally understood, and since it is not my intention to repeat what is known, but to bring notice to things that lie unobserved, I will not describe it, but rather explain how it served as a useful purpose. At the dawn of the Middle Ages, when complete anarchy was threatening Europe, feudalism ren- dered a signal service to civilization by providing a form of government suffi- cient to meet the emergencies presented and suitable to the character of the peo- ple at that time. In the early times, says Coulanges, the castles of feudal- ism were considered the sure place of deposit for the peasants ' harvests and goods. In case of incursions they gave to their wives and their children and themselves complete protection, and each strong castle denoted the safe- ty of a distric t, It is the consensus of historians ' opinions that with all its defects, feudalism filled a necessary and useful position; that it laid the foundation for centralized and efficient governments and having accomplished its end, passed away. It is a matter of universal knowledge that the Magna Charta is a product of the Middle Ages. This remarkable doc- ument historians have united in calling the foundation of the liberties of Eng- lish-speaking people. For centuries following its adoption, it was constant- ly the greatest and in fact the only pro- tection against the abuse of monarchial power. Our own political institutions, derived as they are, from the English laws and system of government can be attributed in part to the Magna Charta. Alfred the Great, at an early period, collected the old Saxon laws, made new ones, and is thought to have suggested the jury system, which was introduced in the thirteenth century. Casting an eye over the Middle Ages a phenomenal improvement in govern- ment will be noticed. It opened with the Vandals Visagoths, Huns and many other tribes, wandering through Eu- rope. These tribes were quite unaccus- tomed to the restraints of law and gov- ernment. Wrongs were settled by pri- vate revenge. Then feudalism entered, imposing some restrictions on the free will of the people, but not effectually keeping peace and justice. The barons were alloAved to carry on private war- fare, but this right was abolished later. Before the end, centralized and effi- cient governments- arose. Monarchial power was limited somewhat by re- strictions, such as the Magna Charta. A Parliament and a jury system were es- tablished in England. Our own age has made no more essential and sub- stantial improvements. But the greatest of Mediaeval achievements has not yet been noticed. They were in the dominions of art and literature. Though commendable pro- gress was made in education, in gov- ernment and in the improvement of so-

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THE REDWOOD 15 able whether he could master all the details, and fathom all the experiments which led to the glor ious result before him. ' ' Eealizing the great expenditure of labor and material neeessaiy for the construction of a cathedral it seems surprising that almost every town of twenty thousand had a magnificent church. In the thirteenth century, twenty superb edifices were erected in England, whose population was less than three million. The cities engaged in the construction of cathedrals did not bring architects or skilled mechan- ics from other places. Each one took pride in exhibiting their own work- manship, and each one sought to outdo other towns. The workmen them- selves, invented and made any mechan- ical appliance necessary or helpful to their work. That a Mediaeval city of about twenty thousand, for there were few larger, should produce of itself, such a marvelous piece of architecture, speaks well of the general abilities of the people of the time. The Gothic churches are another substantial proof that the Middle Ages are not Dark Ages. Painting did not attain the perfec- tion reached by architecture, its devel- opments was delayed to a later period ; but it was not neglected. Two very famous names, Cimabue and Giotto, come in the thirteenth century. The latter especially deserves notice. Be- fore his time the figures on the canvas were stiff and awkward. The design of a piece was limited by custom to a certain number of figures in a certain position, etc. He broke the chains of conventionalism and made his fig- ures natural. Though Giotto did not equal in technique some of the later painters, he equaled, if he did not sur- pass, even Raphael, in originality. For forty years he painted throughout Italy, spreading appreciation and a de- sire for real art. Cimabue ' s work for art Avas similar to that of Giotto ' s, he helped in the work of making painting natural and thus helped the revival of painting during the Renaissance. In other lines there was substantial progress. The stained glass of the ca- thedrals is unsurpassed to this day. The hinges, door-knockers, chalices made without Modern machines, are quite as good as work of our own time, at least in design. The industrial arts were not given the attention that the fine arts received, but some noteworthy inventions were made during the Middle Ages. Mention of hand-printing by type or carved plates has been found in manu- scripts dating from the tenth century. A way of making paper from cotton rags was discovered in 1100 when the capture of Egypt by the Turks put an end to the importation of papyrus. Spectacles were invented in 1285. Roger Bacon, at an earlier date, de- scribed the principle of lenses and told how they could be made. The first clock was made by Gerbert, a monk, 1100, who afterwards became Pope Sylvester II.