13th century
Aquinas reconciles reason with faith — and thereby opens a door that can never be shut again
What happened — and why
Aristotle returns through the Arabs
Arab philosophers — Averroes, Avicenna — preserved and commented on Aristotle while Europe had forgotten him. In the 12th and 13th centuries the translations return to Europe through Spain. The Church is in a panic: Aristotle says the world is eternal and there is no providence.
The philosophical cause
Thomas Aquinas — The monopoly on thought was over. Either the Church would accept Aristotle, or educated people would walk away from the Church.
Thomas Aquinas takes up the challenge. His answer reshapes Western thought for the next 700 years.
Thomas Aquinas: reason and faith are not enemies (1225-1274)
Aquinas writes the "Summa Theologica," the most monumental synthesis in history. His thesis: God created both reason and revelation. They cannot contradict each other. So Aristotle should not be banned but baptized.
The philosophical cause
Thomas Aquinas — Before him many theologians held that philosophy was dangerous to faith. Tertullian asked, "What has Athens to do with Jerusalem?" Aquinas answered: everything.
The Church accepts reason as a tool, and founds universities. Bologna, Paris, Oxford. This is the beginning of European science.
The Inquisition: the same Church says — but only our reason
In 1231 Pope Gregory IX establishes the Inquisition as a permanent institution. The Cathars, the Waldensians, any deviation from dogma — heresy. Aquinas justified the execution of heretics: they endanger the souls of others.
The philosophical cause
The paradox: the same Church that said "reason is an ally of faith" added "but only within the bounds of our faith." Free reason was permitted, up to the border.
250 years later Luther would cross that border. Without the Inquisition it is impossible to understand why the Reformation was not a debate but a war.
The Mongols divide the world: the West untouched, Russia conquered
In 1237-1241 the Mongols destroy Ryazan, Vladimir, and Kiev. All of Rus falls under the yoke for 240 years. Batu's armies reach the Adriatic and then turn back: the great khan has died, and a new one must be chosen.
The philosophical cause
Chance decided everything. Europe was spared not because it was stronger. Russia was not spared, and that determined the rift between the West and the East of Europe for centuries.
While the West builds universities and prepares for the Renaissance, Rus merely survives and copies the Mongol machinery of state. Berdyaev wrote about this in the 20th century.
