In the middle ages 33

Etienne of Toiirnai, Peter of Corbeil, William of

Champagne, were humanists and men of letters.

Maurice of Sully, elected bishop of Paris in 1160,

was a model administrator in the days of the great

changes in studies effected at Paris. The bishops

of Chartres, of Laon and of Tournai play no less

important a part in the domain of letters.

Finally, we could not understand the political

and social spirit of Europe, in the twelfth century,

without taking into account the growing prestige

of the Papacy. After having been freed, by the

action of Cluny, from the humiliation of the Ger-

man Emperor, the way was open to the Papacy of

becoming the greatest moral force in the w*orld.

During the twelfth century it was in process of or-

ganizing the theocracy, which was to reach its

zenith in the following century, under Innocent

III. On those pious Christian kings of France,

the action of the Papacy exerted always a power-

ful political influence. "In the Middle Ages, the

French crown and the Papacy could be near to

falling out with each other, but they were never

separated."^^

12 Luchaire, op. cit., p. 149, The bourgeoisie of the towns, or com-

munes, should be mentioned also in this connection. The towns first

rose, in Italy and elsewhere, at the beginning of the eleventh cen-

tury, and during the twelfth century they became real factors in the

general progress. The bourgeoisie, or body of merchants, assumed

organized form, and it adapted itself to feudalism. "L'air de la

ville donne la liberte," since a serf who lived in a town for a year

and a day secured thereby his freedom and retained it. In the

34 PHILOSOPHY AND CIVILIZATION

III

We have now seen how a new spirit was in

process of formation. What then constitutes the

essence of this spirit — the spirit which arose from

the depths of the mediaeval soul, and which became

impregnated with Christianity, and which, from

England and France, penetrated the whole of

western Europe?

The feudal sentiment par excellence, which is

still so deeply embedded in our modern conscience,

is the sentiment of the value and dignity of the in-

dividual man. The feudal man lived as a free man;

he was master in his own house; he sought his end

in himself; he was — and this is a scholastic expres-

sion — propte7' seipsum existens; all feudal obliga-

tions were founded upon respect for personality

and the given word. The scrupulous observance of

feudal contract engendered the reciprocal loyalty

of vassal and lord ; fraternal feelings and self-sacri-

fice among men belong also to this class.

Under the influence of Cluny, this feudal senti-

ment became Christian in character, because Chris-

tianity placed upon each soul purchased by Christ's

sacrifice an inestimable worth, and it furnished the

])oor and the rich and the great and the small with

the same standard of value. The scrupulous ob-

servance of tlie feudal contract engendered loyalty.

thirteenth century the nouveaux riches of the merchant class laid the

foundations of a "patriarcat urhain" which was destined to rival the

nf)bility in wealth.