the
general types of things had a real existence; the Nominalists, that they
were merely a mental abstraction expressed by a word. It was therefore
the Old Greek dispute revived. [Sidenote: Nominalism and Realism.] Of
the Nominalists, Roscelin of Compiegne, a little before A.D. 1100, was
the first distinguished advocate; his materializing views, as might be
expected, drawing upon him the reproof of the Church. In this contest,
Anselm, the Archbishop of Canterbury, attempted to harmonize reason in
subordination to faith, and again, by his example, demonstrated the
necessity of submitting all such questions to the decision of the human
intellect.

The development of scholastic philosophy, which dates from the time of
Erigena, was accelerated by two distinct causes: the dreadful
materialization into which, in Europe, all sacred things had fallen, and
the illustrious example of the Mohammedans, who already, by their
physical inquiries, had commenced a career destined to end in brilliant
results. [Sidenote: The Arabs in Spain promote these discussions.] The
Spanish universities were filled with ecclesiastics from many parts of
Europe. Peter the Venerable, the friend and protector of Abelard, who
had spent much time in Cordova, and not only spoke Arabic fluently, but
actually translated the Koran into Latin, mentions that, on his first
arrival in Spain, he found several learned men, even from England,
studying astronomy. The reconciliation of many of the dogmas of
authority with common sense was impossible for men of understanding.
Could the clear intellect of such a statesman as Hildebrand be for a
moment disgraced by accepting the received view of a doctrine like that
of transubstantiation? His great difficulty was to reconcile what had
been rendered orthodox by the authority of the Church with the
suggestions of reason, or even with that reverence for holy things which
is in the heart of every intelligent man. In such sentiments, we find an
explanation of the lenient dealings of that stern ecclesiastic with the
heretic Berengar. He saw that it was utterly impossible to offer any
defence of many of the materialized dogmas of the age, but then those
dogmas had been put forth as absolute truth by the Church. [Sidenote:
Rise of Scholastic Theology.] Things had come to the point at which
reason and theology must diverge; yet the Italian statesmen did not
accept this issue without an additional attempt, and, under their
permiss