THE EMERGENCE OF MODERN SCIENCE 67 



Like other historic cultures, it now appears as a natural 

 outgrowth from preceding centuries. The Middle Ages 

 culminated in the Renaissance by a natural process, and this 

 historical fact puts a better face upon the Middle Ages. The 

 Crusades, which were so distinctively a product of the 

 medieval frame of mind, are now recognized as the precur- 

 sors of the intellectual awakening of Europe. Beginning as 

 a response to what was believed to be the call of God, they 

 eventuated in developments that were of far-reaching im- 

 portance along intellectual lines. 



Such, for example, was the commercial development of 

 the Italian cities, initiated by the transportation of the 

 crusaders, and the consequent rise of an industrial aristoc- 

 racy possessed of wealth and leisure. Contact with the in- 

 fidels brought respect for then- courage, their morality, and 

 their learning. Mohammedan learning, which, as we have 

 seen, had been filtering into Europe during the preceding cen- 

 turies, became the basis for a renewed growth of science, 

 although its influence was not generally acknowledged. The 

 secularization of many activities tended toward greater in- 

 tellectual freedom. New vistas were opened to the human 

 mind, not only by the partial recovery of the ancient learning 

 but also by geographical discoveries and by the renewed 

 incursions within the field of natural knowledge. The mari- 

 time experiences of the Italians and their sudden economic 

 advancement, along with the intellectual leadership of the 

 Church at Rome, made the Italian peninsula the starting 

 point from which the awakening spread westward and north- 

 ward. We have seen that the dawn of European science 

 dates from Roger Bacon and the thirteenth century. By the 

 opening years of the fourteenth century, the spirit most 

 typical of the Middle Ages had disappeared in the more 

 progressive centers of the western world, and the time was 

 ripe for the re-birth that was to follow. 1 



1 Adams, G. B., "Civilization during the Middle Ages," Chapters XI and 

 XII. 



