What do you think?
The Discovery of the Individual, 1050-1200
Colin Morris traces the origin of the concept of the individual, not to the Renaissance where it is popularly assumed to have been invented, but farther back, to the spirituality and intellectually dynamic world of Europe in the twelfth century.
"Our connection with the age of Abelard, then, is partly continuous, partly a question of loss and recovery. It is also perhaps true that we have with it a special sympathy of our own.
"Then, as now, men faced a crisis of identity. They found themselves in a rapidly changing society, whose stock of knowledge was increasing at a speed which made it difficult to digest. They discovered that inherited ethics and venerated authority did not provide the guidance they needed. Confused over their role in society, they sought new models of behaviour, partly in the distant past; at the same time they spoke with the voice of individual sincerity, convinced that in their personal experience they could find the clues to the meaning of the world.
"In all this there is much that is common to all men, but I doubt whether these pressures have been felt so strongly by any intervening generation." -- from the Conclusion
"Our connection with the age of Abelard, then, is partly continuous, partly a question of loss and recovery. It is also perhaps true that we have with it a special sympathy of our own.
"Then, as now, men faced a crisis of identity. They found themselves in a rapidly changing society, whose stock of knowledge was increasing at a speed which made it difficult to digest. They discovered that inherited ethics and venerated authority did not provide the guidance they needed. Confused over their role in society, they sought new models of behaviour, partly in the distant past; at the same time they spoke with the voice of individual sincerity, convinced that in their personal experience they could find the clues to the meaning of the world.
"In all this there is much that is common to all men, but I doubt whether these pressures have been felt so strongly by any intervening generation." -- from the Conclusion
202 pages, Paperback
First published July 27, 1972
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
September 30, 2009
Engagingly written and reasonably persuasive, though this is a hard sort of thing to prove at the best of times -- and Morris is a little evasive on the question of causation. A better title might be "The Rediscovery of the Individual," since Morris is describing a medieval revival of classical literature.
Morris argues that it is possible to trace the Western preoccupation with individuality (what he rather loosely terms "individualism") to twelfth-century France rather than to fifteenth-century Italy. It was in or by the twelfth century, he argues, that several streams of individual consciousness converged as the "barbarian" peoples of Western Europe settled back into a more rational and interconnected international order. These streams may be loosely grouped as "classical" and "Christian."
A revival of Latin learning and classical literature (via cathedral schools and linked with imperial administration) made possible the imitation of, for example, Ovid's love poetry and Cicero's writings on friendship. Scholars scattered across the empire formed intellectual communities bound by surprisingly warm ties of deliberately cultivated personal affection. Poets promulgated the ideal of courtly romantic love, apparently as a means of regulating individual behavior in a situation where marital ties were far more fluid in practice than in theory. (Morris claims that this discovery of romantic love clearly links the twelfth-century troubador with the poet of the nineteenth century, and marks the beginning of the modern erotic self.) University philosophers, reviving Greek and Roman debates, explored in theory the relationship between the particular and the universal.
Meanwhile, Christianity was changing. Thinkers like Abelard and Bernard urged that the faithful seek to "know themselves" and pursue individual unity with Christ and sympathy with his suffering. This is approximately the period when crucifixes started showing Christ dead or in agony rather than hanging in serene kingly triumph; when the host was first elevated in the mass for the gaze of the faithful; and when frequent individual confession and personalized penances became customary throughout the Western church. In eschatology, Christian writers seemingly downplayed the idea of the future collective resurrection of those who were "asleep," emphasizing instead the immediate presence of the departed individual with God (or else the dead soul's sojourn in purgatory). In soteriology, as well, they were inclined to see personal affect as a more important part of the process than their ancestors had.
It is perhaps good that Morris avoids trying to pin down a single set of causes for these changes. That prevents him from confusing cause and effect in a process that was evidently gradual, cumulative, and (naturally) personal and contemplative. It also prevents him from trying to claim that the twelfth century was unique, or on the other hand, that the evolution it saw is an exact parallel to other cases in history. I do wonder, though, how it would modify Morris's picture of the "Western mind" to examine other renaissances (some of which he mentions) that followed a similar course. I recommend the book as a glimpse into the world of the twelfth century rather than as a piece of evidence in the search for the origins and meaning of Western individuality.
Morris argues that it is possible to trace the Western preoccupation with individuality (what he rather loosely terms "individualism") to twelfth-century France rather than to fifteenth-century Italy. It was in or by the twelfth century, he argues, that several streams of individual consciousness converged as the "barbarian" peoples of Western Europe settled back into a more rational and interconnected international order. These streams may be loosely grouped as "classical" and "Christian."
A revival of Latin learning and classical literature (via cathedral schools and linked with imperial administration) made possible the imitation of, for example, Ovid's love poetry and Cicero's writings on friendship. Scholars scattered across the empire formed intellectual communities bound by surprisingly warm ties of deliberately cultivated personal affection. Poets promulgated the ideal of courtly romantic love, apparently as a means of regulating individual behavior in a situation where marital ties were far more fluid in practice than in theory. (Morris claims that this discovery of romantic love clearly links the twelfth-century troubador with the poet of the nineteenth century, and marks the beginning of the modern erotic self.) University philosophers, reviving Greek and Roman debates, explored in theory the relationship between the particular and the universal.
Meanwhile, Christianity was changing. Thinkers like Abelard and Bernard urged that the faithful seek to "know themselves" and pursue individual unity with Christ and sympathy with his suffering. This is approximately the period when crucifixes started showing Christ dead or in agony rather than hanging in serene kingly triumph; when the host was first elevated in the mass for the gaze of the faithful; and when frequent individual confession and personalized penances became customary throughout the Western church. In eschatology, Christian writers seemingly downplayed the idea of the future collective resurrection of those who were "asleep," emphasizing instead the immediate presence of the departed individual with God (or else the dead soul's sojourn in purgatory). In soteriology, as well, they were inclined to see personal affect as a more important part of the process than their ancestors had.
It is perhaps good that Morris avoids trying to pin down a single set of causes for these changes. That prevents him from confusing cause and effect in a process that was evidently gradual, cumulative, and (naturally) personal and contemplative. It also prevents him from trying to claim that the twelfth century was unique, or on the other hand, that the evolution it saw is an exact parallel to other cases in history. I do wonder, though, how it would modify Morris's picture of the "Western mind" to examine other renaissances (some of which he mentions) that followed a similar course. I recommend the book as a glimpse into the world of the twelfth century rather than as a piece of evidence in the search for the origins and meaning of Western individuality.
May 23, 2013
Another one of those seemingly modest, tidy little books that does a whole lot in a little space. Morris' teases out the strands of influence and cause that led to the 'birth' of the individual in the long twelfth century. His task demands broad reach as well as the ability to synthesize large amounts of data into coherent points--and Morris is well up to the task. Thus the reader is taken on a tour of the history of ideas that range from theology to the production of royal funerary images to a shift in how the crucified Jesus was portrayed (along with the consequences of that shift for individual devotion). The argument is taut throughout and relies on discussions of writing from troubadour poetry to epistolary demonstrations of friendship. In short, this is a very wide-ranging affair that nevertheless stays focused on its key theme: how 'individuals' came to be. Much of Morris' brief demands his attention to the recovery of Latinitas in a fairly impressive array of authors. If there is one defect to the text, it is that it remains intensely focused (as Morris candidly admits) on "urbane and intelligent society." If proles or peasants were individuals or came to think of themselves as individuals in this same period, Morris isn't prepared to say. It's not clear how one would go about recovering that data in any case, but the worth of the volume for the more educated classes does leave one wishing Morris had given it a shot. Clearly written and well-organized.
October 19, 2023
In this enjoyable and short historical work, Morris contends that Western individualism, which holds that human individuals are unique and intrinsically valuable, arose not in the 14th or 15th century, during the Italian Renaissance, but primarily around the 12th century, between 1050 and 1200.
Coming from a period of political disorganization and illiteracy, but also experiencing urbanization, trade, clerical corruption, and the medieval universities, some European writers—the lucky few, all male, who knew how to read and write—drew upon their classical (Greco-Roman) and Christian heritage to engage in deep self-examination ultimately in order to reach God, yes, but also themselves as a necessary waypoint.
Morris looks at representative authors, such as Guibert of Nogent, Peter Abelard, and Aelred of Rievaulx, among others, who demonstrate a turn both backwards, to the past, and inward, toward themselves, in order to cope with changing circumstances. This spawned a new psychology of affection and intention, spiritual autobiographies, satirical depictions of the church, spiritualized friendship, a courtly tradition of love, and new forms of piety.
He surveys many of the works but does not go into a ton of depth, although this is to be expected; Morris' goal is to demonstrate that such a cultural trend was happening, not to analyze the works in detail, and this would've lengthened the book inordinately, I understand. That being said, the works he did name, and the references he drew upon, have given me more material to research! As he concludes, “Although their [i.e., medieval] society and way of life were so different from ours, they speak to us as individuals, with that particular clarity which is the feature of men who know (or at least claim to know) themselves” (167).
Coming from a period of political disorganization and illiteracy, but also experiencing urbanization, trade, clerical corruption, and the medieval universities, some European writers—the lucky few, all male, who knew how to read and write—drew upon their classical (Greco-Roman) and Christian heritage to engage in deep self-examination ultimately in order to reach God, yes, but also themselves as a necessary waypoint.
Morris looks at representative authors, such as Guibert of Nogent, Peter Abelard, and Aelred of Rievaulx, among others, who demonstrate a turn both backwards, to the past, and inward, toward themselves, in order to cope with changing circumstances. This spawned a new psychology of affection and intention, spiritual autobiographies, satirical depictions of the church, spiritualized friendship, a courtly tradition of love, and new forms of piety.
He surveys many of the works but does not go into a ton of depth, although this is to be expected; Morris' goal is to demonstrate that such a cultural trend was happening, not to analyze the works in detail, and this would've lengthened the book inordinately, I understand. That being said, the works he did name, and the references he drew upon, have given me more material to research! As he concludes, “Although their [i.e., medieval] society and way of life were so different from ours, they speak to us as individuals, with that particular clarity which is the feature of men who know (or at least claim to know) themselves” (167).
Did Not Finish
August 19, 2022It's probably a fine book, but I wasn't moving ahead with it. It's kind of hard to read, the sentences are complicated. Maybe I'll finish it another time.
January 24, 2016
A very interesting subject, but a chore to read because of writing that is all over the place. For example:
"The reading of the Fathers in the light of the better knowledge of logic revealed that the Augustinian doctrine of the Trinity, for example, was immensely more complex and sophisticated than the simple creeds which had been accepted as adequate in the immediate past, and that it raised a variety of issues which required consideration. It was therefore discovered that the existing practice and belief in monasticism, in canon law, and in doctrine, was in serious disaccord with the authoritative standards of the past, and this inevitably confronted individuals with a series of choices which they found difficult and painful. The situation was in many ways like the reassessment of the doctrine, liturgy, and discipline of the Church which is currently in progress, and it was quite as painful for the man of the time." (p.58)
This isn't really hard-to-grasp material, just very much in need of an editor. Happy I read it, but mostly glad it's over with.
"The reading of the Fathers in the light of the better knowledge of logic revealed that the Augustinian doctrine of the Trinity, for example, was immensely more complex and sophisticated than the simple creeds which had been accepted as adequate in the immediate past, and that it raised a variety of issues which required consideration. It was therefore discovered that the existing practice and belief in monasticism, in canon law, and in doctrine, was in serious disaccord with the authoritative standards of the past, and this inevitably confronted individuals with a series of choices which they found difficult and painful. The situation was in many ways like the reassessment of the doctrine, liturgy, and discipline of the Church which is currently in progress, and it was quite as painful for the man of the time." (p.58)
This isn't really hard-to-grasp material, just very much in need of an editor. Happy I read it, but mostly glad it's over with.
January 27, 2017
A fascinating exploration of the shift towards emphasis on the individual which occurred in the late Middle Ages. Things to be admired in this volume are twofold: first, Morris uses every available sort of evidence: theology, poetry, paintings, icons, songs, and literature. Second, Morris is uncommonly cautious in evaluating the *strength* of that evidence for his or any other argument. He often points to how big the gaps are in the documentation from the eras in question, for example.
All in all an interesting subject handled by a careful and skilled hand.
All in all an interesting subject handled by a careful and skilled hand.
November 5, 2016
Begins sounding very outdated (using terms like primitive) and lacks as many notes as I think it should have. Redeems itself with fascinating points about the individual. Granted, limited to men -- churchmen and men of the court. Unfortunately, that was what life was like. In fact, Morris's presentation of troubadour lyrics in refreshing because he doesn't claim that it elevated women at all.
Read
September 27, 2015An older work that represents a shift in thought regarding the individual on a personal level. Morris looks at the 12th century renaissance, framed within the context of Western Christianity, as a period of heightened awareness and self expression.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews