I have to agree with Choppy's assessment. The "clamping down" of scientific research by the Church came much later after the Renaissance, a la Galileo, Bruno, et. al. There wasn't much research going on in the immediate centuries after the fall of the Roman Empire.
John Hebert Chopin Cusachs wrote: > > There wasn't a clamping down on research because in the generations > before the > collapse of the Roman Empire in the West there wasn't any organized > support or > control of research. Those wealthy enough to afford it and inclined so > to do did it, > such as was done. The Church wasn't powerful enough to exercise effective > control until much later. On the contrary, what survived of culture > survived largely > in the monasteries. The barbarian destruction of most of the > infrastructure of the > old Empire eliminated the educational system, too. > > For a glimpse of what life was like then, read the History of the > Franks, by Gregory > Bishop of Tours, 540-594, a churchman who was proud that he could read > and write > basic Latin, unlike most people of his time. It wasn't that anybody > had a campaign > against knowledge, but the destruction of the economy of the Empire left > few > resources for transmitting information and teaching literacy until after > St. Benedict > got monasticism going about the middle of the 6th century. If you read > the history > of the Byzantine Empire you get a glimpse of how difficult conditions > were there, too. > > It may be taken as a joke about the Irish saving civilization in the > West, but there > is a great grain of truth of the Irish monks re-evangelizing Western > Europe after the > barbarian conquest and reviving literacy, at least among the clergy. > Clerk, the word, > is derived from cleric, was one who could be presumed to read and write. > > The collapse of the Western Empire was touched off by the freezing over > of the > Rhine, previously adequately defended by available troops, letting a > massive > barbarian horde cross over, exterminating the defenders. The Rhine had > not > frozen over so solidly in classical times. > > Why many textbooks are more into axe grinding than fact is another > question. > > Choppy > > > At 09:56 AM 12/31/02 -0600, you wrote: > >> At 06:18 PM 12/30/2002 -0800, you wrote: >> >>> Mat: >>> >>> Just a note about your tag. The dark ages were dark due to a lack of >>> light. There are several proposed reasons for the long winters and >>> dark skies, but the evidence is very firm, the dark ages were dark, >>> cold, and damp in Europe. >> >> >> I believe that was one reason for the labeling of the Dark Ages. The >> other, and the one I learned (and now I know two!), is the loss of >> knowledge after the fall of the Roman Empire, and the subsequent >> clamping down on research and ideas that did not benefit the Church. >> Is this incorrect? I have seen this as the stated reason many times in >> various texts. Ask your wife, I'm curious. >> >> >> --- >> Dustin Puryear <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> >> Puryear Information Technology >> Windows, UNIX, and IT Consulting >> http://www.puryear-it.com >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> General mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://oxygen.nocdirect.com/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net > > > > _______________________________________________ > General mailing list > [email protected] > http://oxygen.nocdirect.com/mailman/listinfo/general_brlug.net -- John Hebert: [EMAIL PROTECTED] System Engineer: I T Group, Inc. http://www.it-group.com 225.922.4535
