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The Evolution of Medieval Thought

David Knowles

3.94 · Rating details · 139 ratings · 15 reviews

A famous text with an introduction and commentary by Brooke and Luscombe. It reveals the connection between the thought of the Medieval Schools of philosophy and that of the Greek philosophers. The new edition has been fully revised, updated and corrected.

Preface to First Edition
Preface to Second Edition
Introduction to Second Edition
I The Legacy of the Ancient World
1 Pl ...more

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Paperback, 337 pages

Published January 5th 1989 by Longman Group UK Ltd (first published 1962)

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Lists with This Book

Summa Theologica, 5 Vols by Thomas Aquinas

The History of the Kings of Britain by Geoffrey of Monmouth

The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius

Ecclesiastical History of the English People by Bede

Medieval thought from the university to the café

169 books — 27 voters

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Dec 09, 2010 Brandon Hawk rated it really liked it

It should be said up front that I enjoyed this book immensely--from front to back covers, with only a few lags in between here and there (some of the socio-educational bits in the middle, rather than more enjoyable foci on specific figures and trends). Mostly, I like the style of this book quite a bit, and I enjoyed Knowles's voice throughout. I enjoy philosophical history, but works in the genre of the history of philosophy have the grave potential to be dry and overwhelmingly heavy--yet Knowle It should be said up front that I enjoyed this book immensely--from front to back covers, with only a few lags in between here and there (some of the socio-educational bits in the middle, rather than more enjoyable foci on specific figures and trends). Mostly, I like the style of this book quite a bit, and I enjoyed Knowles's voice throughout. I enjoy philosophical history, but works in the genre of the history of philosophy have the grave potential to be dry and overwhelmingly heavy--yet Knowles escapes this. The book mostly reads like a series of lectures on various topics, moving through philosophical history chronologically but also keeping the many currents and themes in view as they intersect. Beyond merely a lecture, however, Knowles's style offers a sense of engagement for the reader, with a distinct and far from monotone voice, and even a bit of wit lying below the surface.

A second aspect to be applauded in this work is how Knowles covers a breadth of intellectual moments, themes, characters, and social history without over-simplifying the issues. While the majority of the book does focus on the high Middle Ages, it begins with an overview of Classical thought and education--mainly focused on Plato, Aristotle, and later Platonists--and moves through the late Antiquity/early medieval border figures such as Augustine, Boethius, Dionysius, before moving on to the medieval proper. Knowles focuses the rest of the book on the philosophical currents of the Middle Ages through a discussion of the social aspects, the various schools of thought, the use of Ancient and contemporary thought and debates, and the developing trends within the education of medieval philosophy.

As the philosophical tradition of the Western world is very much focused on the European continent, Knowles subsequently focuses most of his discussion also on the continent--with centrality given to France, and most of his time devoted to the eleventh through fourteenth centuries. He does, of course, mention the various other outlying factors in philosophy, with a chapter titled "Arabian and Jewish Philosophy" (with reference to the trends of the Eastern Orthodox, the Middle East, and Iberian peninsula) and another titled "England in the Thirteenth Century" (with slight nods backward and forward from this century). Herein lies the largest critique I have of Knowles: his main focus on continental trends in the eleventh through fourteenth centuries has a tendency to minimize some of the intellectual trends outside of this view.

Unfortunately, Knowles leaves a large gap between the years c. 600-1000, during which he says, "the cultural history of western Europe is a series of attempts, far separated in time and space, to recreate the glories of past ages by amassing and imitating their learning and literature" (67). He also says specifically that "there is little of educational and literary activity in the seventh and eighth centuries save in a few monasteries" (71), and furthermore, "There was no higher education north of the Alps" before c. 1000 (73). These several centuries were clearly tumultuous on the continent and lacking in formal education or intellectual growth, but what of England? My own penchant for the Anglo-Saxon world makes me wonder that Knowles has left out much intellectual work (educational, theological, and otherwise) during the Northumbrian renaissance (7th-8th centuries) by Bede (whom Knowles mentions several times as a major thinker in medical history, 74, 275) and his contemporaries--or the later work of educational stimulus by King Alfred the Great (9th century), or the Benedictine reform (late 10th-11th centuries) with figures such as Ælfric, Æthelwold, Oswald, and Dunstan (whom he also mentions but briefly, 77). Of course, these moments and figures are not strictly attached to philosophy proper (metaphysics, etc.)--but their influences on the theology, education, and higher culture of England are far-reaching, and they no doubt should be noted as at least "educational and literary activity" and some sort of "higher education north of the Alps." Knowles does, in fact, mention that "the Carolingian revival is only one of the many revivals, Irish, English, continental, that occurred during the middle ages" (75), and he does tip his hat to the accomplishments of early medieval England (77), but he does not linger on these issues and instead writes that the Carolingian "is more important and had more permanent results than any of its predecessors for a number of reasons" (75). Such mentions of these achievements accompanied by a lack of greater exploration of these intellectual topics, however, raise skepticism of Knowles's approach to the early medieval period--no matter how he might be applauded for the rest of his study--and give reason to question his seeming dismissal of England's legacy in the early Middle Ages.

Overall, however, I was pleased with Knowles's book and the overview of philosophy it offers. As I mentioned above, I had taken a course on the history of ancient and medieval philosophy, but this book gave me a much more in depth view and filled in many of the gaps, while solidifying what I already had read. For a standard overview of the history of medieval philosophy, this book has lasted over forty years for good reason. ...more

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May 18, 2017 Adam Marischuk rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, medieval-studies, philosophy

It is impossible to read The Evolution of Medieval Thought without thinking that Dom David Knowles, the eminent Cambridge historian and monk, has accomplished for Medieval philosophy what Charles Homer Haskins accomplished for Medieval history: a revolution.

It is also impossible to not compare Knowles' Evolution with Frederick Copleston's A History of Medieval Philosophy but while Copleston had the advantage of a decade of research, Copleston managed to write an enyclopedia of Medieval philosoph It is impossible to read The Evolution of Medieval Thought without thinking that Dom David Knowles, the eminent Cambridge historian and monk, has accomplished for Medieval philosophy what Charles Homer Haskins accomplished for Medieval history: a revolution.

It is also impossible to not compare Knowles' Evolution with Frederick Copleston's A History of Medieval Philosophy but while Copleston had the advantage of a decade of research, Copleston managed to write an enyclopedia of Medieval philosophy while Knowles has written a book. What I mean to say is that Knowles' book stretches the fabric of classical philosophy across the chasm that separated it from modern philosophy. His extended chapters on Aristotle and Plato, then on the Platonists such as Plotinus allow the theories and trends to flow into the Medieval period. Copleston on the other hand covers much of the same but plugs the gaps with all of the same figures.

One area which seemed thin, to continue the cloth analogy, was the single reference to John Scotus Erigena. One would think that "the only writer to deserve such a title [original thinker] between Boethius and Anselm was John the Scot...Erigena is a voice in the wilderness." (p.77) Knowles dismisses Erigena's though with, "Erigena's system is a difficult one to grasp and is certainly unorthodox in implication, though not in intention, but it had so little direct influence on the scholastics that it need not detain us here." (p. 77) Truly Dom David Knowles was so committed to the unity of his book that no asides (no matter how interesting) were to be allowed to divert it.

Knowles closes the chapter on Arabian and Jewish philosophy (interesting that he doesn't call it Muslim/Islamic) and opens the Epilogue with what I think is a good overview of the nature of the book:

"All this great body of ancient thought, Aristotelean, Neo-platonic, Arabian and Jewish, was to be decanted into Western Europe and particularly into Paris and Oxford between 1190 and 1260. In the pas the whole movement has too often been labelled 'hte introduction of Aristotle'. The whole of Aristotle did indeed arrive, and this was in the long run the significant fact, but the manner of its arrival, and the vehicles by which it was conveyed, had a great share in determining the quality and the extent of its influence." (p. 205)

"The history of Medieval philosophy in Europe between the days of Lanfranc and those of William of Ockham is the history of the reception of Greek though by the minds of an adolescent and rapidly maturing Latin Christian civilization. This simple statement, however, is far from expressing the complexity of the process that actually took place. The Greek thought that arrived in Western Europe was not the flood of a single pure stream, but a great river resulting from the confluence of tributaries, arriving one after another with waters heavily contaminated by the soil through which they had passed." (p. 337)

Though Copleston closes with Nicholas of Cusa and the Early Renaissance, Knowles' excellent chapter on the repercussions of Ockham and nominalism does a better job tying the close of the Middle Ages to the subsequent Protestant reformation and Modern philosophy than Copleston.

In summary, Dom David Knowles book offers something between Etienne Gilson's The Spirit of Medieval Philosophy (which makes no attempt at a survey of Medieval thought but rather advances a thesis of development) and Copleston's Medieval Philosophy which is more of a survey of the era. ...more

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Mar 27, 2018 David rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: history, philosophy

Not nearly as much fun as I expected. The early chapters are quite interesting but there are only so many times that I could read about Aristotle before I became bored. The last hundred pages or so nearly did me in.

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Jul 11, 2020 J. Boo marked it as to-read

Referenced in a footnote in C.S. Lewis' "The Discarded Image", pg 185:

The relevant chapters of D. Knowles Evolution of Medieval Thought (1962) are a good introduction [to medieval education]

...more

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Apr 29, 2008 Erik Graff rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: persons interested in the history of philosophy or mediaeval mentalites

Recommended to Erik by: David Lotz

Shelves: philosophy

Another surprisingly interesting book from Church History II at Union Theological Seminary in New York. This one about mediaeval philosophy contributed to my eventual decision to enter Loyola University Chicago's doctoral philosophy program. "If mediaeval philosophy is so interesting, then surely modern philosophy will be," I thought, not having experienced the new scholastic abyss of analytic philosophy. ...more

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Dec 17, 2018 Ted Morgan rated it it was amazing

I read some version of this at university though I do not recall it well now in my old age. I think I read it closely.

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Sep 10, 2011 Joel rated it liked it

This book assumed a lot of knowledge, but was still informative. It felt repetitive towards the end. The dominance of Plato and Aristotle over all systematic thinking seems strange to me.

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May 23, 2019 Samuel rated it really liked it

Shelves: história

Už pomerne staršia knižka, ktorá sa mi do rúk dostala náhodou, ponúka obraz stredovekého myslenia, o ktorom dodnes vládnu predstavy, že bolo spiatočnícke, statické, konzervatívne a tak ďalej. Knowles dokazuje, že to tak nie je. Jednak hovoriť o stredoveku ako o jednotnom období, je prílišná generalizácia. Na základe knihy by sa pokojne dalo hovoriť o stredovekoch viacerých (čo sa týka myslenia). Napríklad stredovek pred Abélardom a po ňom. Stredovek pred univerzitami a po ich vzniku. Alebo stred Už pomerne staršia knižka, ktorá sa mi do rúk dostala náhodou, ponúka obraz stredovekého myslenia, o ktorom dodnes vládnu predstavy, že bolo spiatočnícke, statické, konzervatívne a tak ďalej. Knowles dokazuje, že to tak nie je. Jednak hovoriť o stredoveku ako o jednotnom období, je prílišná generalizácia. Na základe knihy by sa pokojne dalo hovoriť o stredovekoch viacerých (čo sa týka myslenia). Napríklad stredovek pred Abélardom a po ňom. Stredovek pred univerzitami a po ich vzniku. Alebo stredovek realizmu a nominalizmu. A to sú len niektoré body, na základe ktorých by sa dalo stredoveké myslenie rozdeliť. Po prečítaní tejto knihy už nie je možné hovoriť o temnom stredoveku. Odporúčam všetkým historikom, záujemcom a stredovek a stredoveké myslenie alebo vôbec milovníkom histórie.

A čo sa v knihe dozviete?
- napríklad to, že už v stredoveku poznali grécku filozofiu, ba na nej stavali takmer všetky svoje tvrdenia. Tým sa myslí hlavne Aristoteles a Platón.
- poznanie gréckej filozofie sa počas stredoveku menilo. Hlavne v momente, keď sa do Latinsky hovoriacej Európy dostali preklady arabských verzií Aristotela, Platóna, Galéna a ďalších. Čiže nie počas renesancie v 15. a 16. storočí, ale počas renesancie v 11.- 12. storočí.
- koncept univerzity ako ju poznáme dnes stojí na pleciach stredovekých univerzít. V antike o niečom takom, ako je univerzita, ani nechyrovali - teda na mysli mám pravidelné vzdelávanie širšej masy ľudí na základe jednotných učebných textov, jednotného sylabu atď.
- stredovekým mníchom vďačíme aj za to, že vôbec máme prístup k antickej filozofii - za ich prácu v kláštoroch, prepisy a preklady týchto diel v skriptóriách a ich starostlivé uchovanie/archivovanie v knižniciach. Áno, sťahovanie národov malo svoje muchy a mnohé sa stratilo, ale až taká doba temna to nebola.
- čo sa týka stredoveku, je veľká hanba, že sa arabské dejiny na strednej škole odbijú často len jednou vetou. Pretože nie naša, ale arabská kultúra dominovala stredoveku.
- a kopec ďalších vecí

David Knowles
Benediktínsky mních a zároveň bývalý profesor na Cambridge. Odborník hlavne na stredoveký monasticizmus (kláštory a všetko, čo sa týka rádov). Dá sa to brať ako výhoda aj nevýhoda. Keďže moja angličtina nie je stopercentná, nie som schopný teraz povedať, či bol zaujatý alebo nie, ale výhoda to bola v tom, že geniálne ovládal kresťanské reálie a to je výhoda pri dejinách stredoveku v akomkoľvek smere. Pokiaľ to neskĺzne k zaujatosti. Táto jeho kniha je, mimochodom dostupná aj vo forme PDFka na internete. ...more

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May 30, 2019 Jeffrey rated it liked it

Shelves: philosophy

I just read two books on Thomas Aquinas. This was an OK overview but in my opinion Knowles was too vague about each topic. It was more philosophical and wordy then I would have liked. For example the chapter on William of Occam eluded to Occam's razor but never really gave a detailed description of it. He seemed to focus on the philosophical development. ...more

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Jul 29, 2018 Caleb rated it it was amazing

Shelves: philosophy-religion, history

A clear, easy-to-read explanation of the development and breakdown of the medieval synthesis. Helps makes sense of the following centuries.

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Sep 21, 2017 Rob Markley rated it liked it

Shelves: history

This is hard going but ultimately worthwhile. Must enter with the proviso that this is dealing with intellectual and institutional thought rather than that of kings and peasants

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Aug 22, 2007 Cat rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historyofthemiddleages, historyofchristianity

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Feb 15, 2010 Thom Dunn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: christianity, education, essays-and-lectures, history, language-latin, medieval, a-own-softcover, philosophy, read-again, religion

VINTAGE pb

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About David Knowles

David Knowles

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Fr. David Knowles, OSB, FRHistS was born Michael Clive Knowles and was given the name 'David' when he joined the Order of Benedict in 1923. He was a historian and professor at University of Cambridge from 1947 to 1968 and served as president of the Royal Historical Society from 1957 to 1961.

*Note: there is more than one author named 'David Knowles,' however this particular individual is the most w ...more