The Founding of Classical Education in the West
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- Опубліковано 5 тра 2024
- On the cold stone floors of a monastery nestled in the hills of Calabria, Italy, monks toiled silently, grasping at civilization like a wisp-it would be gone soon if they failed to catch it. Hunched over pieces of parchment, their ink-stained hands formed letters, painstakingly recreating faded texts. The monks at Vivarium, and the thousands more like them who unceremoniously copied manuscript after manuscript by hand, were just as much heroes and defenders of the West as Charles Martel or Leonidas.
It was in the quiet confines of a monastery that the West was preserved. And it all started with a monk named Cassiodorus.
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Ora et Labora. Thank you Benedictines.
I love the Benedictines, too!
Thank you monks from Ireland as well as S Columbanus did a great job for western civilisation
That's right! People need to see the Book of Kells as well as the Lindisfarne Gospel! Also, many of the monasteries in other European countries were founded by Irish missionaries.
Yes, hope this channel covers it
It is glad that you mentioned S Columbanus, he died at Bobbio where is a small town in Northern Italy.
They certainly did.
Irish monasticism, which came from an Egyptian Coptic origins, gave birth to European monasticism .
Great book on this topic: Thomas Cahill, How the Irish saved the civilisation. Also available as audiobook on Audible.
Long have i known that the church kept the light of learning alive in the dark ages .
But this is the frist time i learn who , how and why it was done.
Thank you so much.
DEUS VULT !!!
PAX DOMINI.
A lot more was kept by the Muslims in Cordoba, Toledo, and Sicily as well.
@@becnal
That has nothing to do with the fact that if it wasn't for the church retaining the knowledge of reading and writing the light would have gone completely out.
Thomas E Woods, How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization is an excellent book . Well worth reading.
do u think ur a poet blud? this is youtube
@@DonBailey-od1de Humbug. It was Christian fanatics who destroyed the Library at Alexandria. Only for the Arabs, we'd still be living in caves. I can't believe the level of ignorance that's carried into the 21st century. We're a damned species.
We Need More Traditional Monks, to save today's world !👍💪🙏⛪
I believe the church to be indwelled by the holy ghost , so there's no way I will leave the church .
However that don't mean a fun time won't be had by all , before it all comes out in the wash , meanwhile I don't go to the English mass , I am Roman Catholic .
As with the time of
Saint Francis the church is in ruins , Islam again has come into Western civilization.
We again need warrior monks and another
Saint Francis to rebuild the church , as I said , it's in ruin's.
Indeed! (But we are all the times we live in, we can all make a difference for the better)
NO! We don't more to shrink away from society. We NEED more to ENGAGE society by LIVING OUT the Word every day! More moks? To DO what, exactly? Copy books? The Library of Congress is in the process of securing the entirety of it's miles' long shelves of books for posterity; one can hit a button and print any of it on demand. So, I'm not sure what the purpose of becoming a monk would BE today.
(More monks. You've GOT to be kidding me!)
@@drileydriley2814 The first and last purpose of a monk is to live for God in prayer for this world, for you and all life. So of course we need more monks!
@@drileydriley2814
Your so in the dark if you lit a candle against the darkness you would go as blind as. If you walked into the light of glory.
I used to hear it so often: "The Catholic church destroyed ancient wisdom and replaced it with superstition and blind obedience." Turns out it was not that simple. Thank you for this video.
I loved this video! We have forgotten the value of education in today’s world. Even though young people have access to knowledge at a level that was unthinkable in any stage in history there has never been a greater lack of interest in learning as there is today.
I don't know of any period in history where people (as in the vast majority) wanted to know anything worth knowing. As Mencken put it: 'No normal human being wants to hear the truth. It is the passion of a small and aberrant minority of men, most of them pathological. They are hated for telling it while they live, and when they die they are swiftly forgotten. What remains to the world, in the field of wisdom, is a series of long-tested and solidly agreeable lies.' It's true today, sure, but it was ever thus. And from what I see going on around me, it will ever be thus.
Cassiodurus. His name should be more well-remembered.
I won't forget him. The Inquisition came from his contribution to humanity.
@@aleccullen2696 That's a stretch, although I suppose the case could be made that the inquisition was likely predicated on the Greco-Roman classical canon Cassiodorus labored so hard to preserve. On Christian terms it certainly seems an aberration. Much like the Western defense of slavery was based on ancient authors, Aristotle in particular, while Las Casas and the 16th century popes who thundered against slavery were based entirely in the Bible and Church fathers.
Still, I think Cassiodorus's move to preserve the ancient texts that were mouldering from lack of interest was a good thing, even if they formed the basis for mistakes later on.
@@sammygoodnight Pope Innocent III (Ratzinger's hero) used the murderous Benedictines to wipe out all the French Cathars; men, women, children, pets and livestock. The whole city of Beziers was razed to the ground. Mistakes, you say? That's the revisionist Catholic perspective. My own sister, a nun, told me that all the Church crimes including the Inquisition were necessary to ensure the Church survived into the present. What sort of psychosis is that? Francis knows it and tries to save a sinking ship.
Cassiodorus should have been canonized as a saint ages ago. The Catholics are closer, after they elevated him to "Servant of God." But the Orthodox, to our shame, have by and large neglected entirely our wealth of Western saints and western Orthodox heritage, with a few notable exceptions.
It is for this reason that I whole-heartedly support Western-Rite Orthodoxy, and a recovery of the Orthodox (i.e., pre-Schism) West, bringing it back into the collective memory and _phronema_ of Orthodox Christians.
All that said, I do personally venerate Cassiodorus as a saint. Just reading his writings, one can witness his love of learning and his deep and abiding love for and faith in Christ our God.
Just came accross your channel. I have been looking for this kind of education. THANK YOU.
Thank you, Sir for this video. It's rather rare for people to consider the history of education which, makes a vast difference in its pursuit. Please, keep up the good work.
If you love that topic, then should add that most 'modern' European education, the school system was also developed in 18/19th century Prussia to get obedient soldiers, and later to get obedient workers! One consequence is that we hardly learn life lessons or social skills (that we have to do in our free time, or with rare awesome teachers) but all is focussed on the one profession we want, regardless that most people change professions quite a lot in life.
We hardly learn critical thinking, we dominantly learn to please the system by giving the right answers.
Dear KootFloris, thank you for your comments. I couldn't agree with you more. Fortunately, I was exposed to critical thinking, history, culture and social skills growing up in Europe, as the child of an American soldier. After all these decades, people in the US still can't comprehend our experiences there. The Deep State is not limited to political news reporting. Thanks again for everything.
Thank you! I totally agree with this. And nice that you brought this man into the spotlight. I think he deserved this.
Thank You Priest. May Lord Jesus bless you. Amen
Wonderful the trust of classic civilazation rests on Education…
Yeah. A misplaced trust.
Very interesting! The theologian-in-residence at my Episcopal church is a former Benedictine monk. He's a wonderful, scholarly teacher!
Just found this channel - Wow!
We had never heard about this man; thank you for this remarkable episode!
1453: the Fall of Constantinople,bastion of Christinity and the first european city with Universitues and hospitals
The exodus of these people from Constantinople contributed to the revival of Greek and Roman studies, which led to the development of the Renaissance in humanism and science. Byzantine emigrants also brought to western Europe the better preserved and accumulated knowledge of their own Greek civilization.
The Renasiance, started in the 14th(late 1300's) Century in Italy !!!!
@@kathleencook3060
The Encyclopædia Britannica claims: "Many modern scholars also agree that the exodus of Greeks to Italy as a result of this event marked the end of the Middle Ages and the beginning of the Renaissance",although few scholars date the start of the Italian Renaissance this late…”
Point is that these émigrés brought to Western Europe the relatively well-preserved remnants and accumulated knowledge of their own (Greek) civilization, which had mostly not survived the Early Middle Ages in the West. That is:the revival of Greek studies that led to the development of the Renaissance humanism and science.
@@aek72: Yes, no doubt a trickle started well before 1453 to Venice and Genoa etc.
Christian fanatics destroyed the great Library of Alexandria because it embodied all the learning of the ancients.
@@aleccullen2696 It was the Muslims who burned it to the ground you fool!!!
Italy and renaissence.Thank you.!
Cassiodurus lived at the very beginning of the Dark Ages. Thanks to scholars like him, the knowledge of the ancients was transmitted across the thousand years of the Middle Ages to The Renaissance. Italy saw the first sparks of The Renaissance around 1350 AD. The rebirth (of knowledge and learning) spread to Holland, France and England after that.
Excited to find this channel. So much of historical teaching focuses on whats wrong w the west (plenty), but ignores the good, the true, and the beautiful. I am unaware of a civilization that was/is better for humans spiritually, economically, or physically.
Well its not a competition but buddhism in its many facets, could easily be argued to be superior to christianity in those three qualities.
Wow! So glad I spotted your history of Casiodorus. Very well done! Few know the impact of the great monks of times past. When critics of the Bible are long dead in their graves, the word of God will live on.
Excellent video. Many people in the West would appreciate their own roots and cultural patrimony far more if they just knew a little Church history. Please see the book "How the Catholic Church Built Western Civilization" by Dr. Thomas Woods.
Thanks much F. Portelli, I have now bought T. Woods's book
The Roman Church is responsible for a lot in Western Civilization: good AND bad. While it appears they may have been responsible for helping to keep education alive, it is also true we got the Jesuits and the Inquisition from it, too.
Thank you for this channel! What a fabulous idea! I'll keep my eyes on it ❤️🙏🏼🕊️
So he didn't do it alone. Monks throughout our history have carried many causes. 🙏✌️
A great scene setting video for what is yet to come from this great channel.
We take so many things for granted.
I TOTALLY AGREE WITH YOU TOO MANY VITALLY IMPORTANT THINGS
Monks STILL saving Civilization
Included thus video in my "A1 Gems & Jewels" UA-cam playlist. Beautiful & fantastically well done. A true gem. Thank you.
Thank YOU for creating this vid account of Cassiodoris. I appreciate ur ability to weave together the rhetoric, images, and chant, and cadence in an interesting fashion that held my interest. Thus, I have subscribed.
The preservation of many classical texts is pretty remarkable. Byzantines, Arabs, and monasteries all contributed to their preservation. It's remarkable how each culture had people who recognized the value of ancient literature and the importance of preserving the works. How the texts went back and forth and how close some of them came to extinction. The Book Seller of Florence is a pretty interesting read as well. Foundational texts from places like China and India are also being questioned in those countries so there seems to be a real worldwide effort to discredit and put down ancient authors from around the world...But when you pull out the texts and read them you really start seeing how smart the people back then were and though things have changed they definitely seem to have some good thoughts and useful things to say regardless of whether they are from the east or west...It's just depressing how people generally don't care about it at all and if you are interested in it there's a great deal of animosity from many to you for even daring to try and read any of the texts.
Once the internet starts being scrubbed of Western Civilization, we may well need to go back to copying books by hand again.
Wise thought!
".... and the East shall shake the West awake, while ye still have the night for morn" - James Joyce ⬆Awake! do not be anything but awakened! Forget 'woke' - BE AWAKE!!! YES!!! 🎯
Yup, Buddha was in Europe for 900 years in the Barlaam and Josaphat story which helped preserve monasticism during the Protestant revolution.
Thanks for this interesting video! Small point: Please remember that “disinterested” means “impartial”; I believe you meant to say “uninterested”.
This is rare video nowadays giving a positive view to the heritage of catholic Christianity espc, from an Anglo-Saxon American source.
CATHOLIC Christianity is like saying SOCIAL Justice: the extra descriptor BEFORE what should be the main target word makes the target word have an entirely different definition. I don't want SOCIAL Justice, I want JUSTICE! I don't want CATHOLIC (Roman church) Christianity, I want CHRISTIANITY. Christ doesn't need much of our descriptors to describe HIS Church. There have been many truly wonderful and devoted Christians that may have come by the way of the Roman church... in SPITE of tge Papacy, Vatican, Holy See, Jesuit, Black Pope, etc. To be sure, there isn't one vein that has "the lock" on Christianity. So NONE should be too proud, as they all seem to have contributed and had their share of despotic, tyrannical, and/or heretical aspects to Christ's church!
The word "catholic" simply means universal. To wit, the Roman "universal" church is different from Scripture - and in fundamental principles - to consider it Christian. You can't have a "vicar of Christ" and think you're not creating an idol of a man on Earth. Do I need to say that idols are not condoned by Christ? Did He not say He didn't come to abolish the Law, but to FULFILL it? Therefore, could one argue that the Roman empire lives on through Vatican City, nowadays thanks to Mussolini... who gave what is now Vatican City to the Roman church (Vatican/Holy See/Papacy, etc.)? Praying/communicating to the dead is necromancy, which flies in the face if Christ's Word. Mary and Jesus' brothers are no more special than anyone else, as the Gospels state when they came to see Him and He declared those either Him were His brothers and mother. "Queen of Heaven" is the title of the pagan godless Inana - research that. NOT good!!! Should we talk about the Vatican Bank, and the BEYOND corrupt practices of IT? Murder, sexual sins too numerous to count, the Jesuits (there's a LIFETIME of diabolical practices there!), choosing who are "saints" and who are not... isn't that Jesus' responsibility? I don't remember Him delegating that authority. Peter was NEVER the subject of Christ's church, but the REVELATION Peter had was what Jesus referred to about even the Gates of Hell wouldn't be able to overtake it.
So, to sum: necromancy, sexual deviance, murder, financial greed and corruption, all being led by a "school" of "elites" (Jesuits) who will do ANYTHING to protect their club (the Roman church), all while falsely deifying people who were no more special than you and me, but had the many and political influence to corrupt, (echem) I mean "encourage" the Pope to grant special privileges and respect. Let's nit even start with indulgences and Purgatory, or the practicing of abstaining from certain foods and marriage (priests/nuns), which the Bible clearly states us doctrine of demons! Referring to some as "father," which Jesus Himself Saud was a no-no. There's enough Biblical errands in the Roman church for any studier of Scropture to know it's got a whole lot of heresy going on, and would need to significantly clean-up, repent, and humble themselves back to the Scripture's teachings before I'd EVER break bread with someone who thinks that is the path of the straight and narrow!
We ALL need to be more humble in what we seem to gravitate to with pride. Is not pride the INITIAL sin? Be careful of that one!!!
The Pope is no better than you or me, his vestments are little more than a Halloween costume; the sane with nuns and priests. They need to practice the teachings of CHRIST, not to be replaced by those who came after Him. Mary was to be considered Highly Favored and Bless among women. That is all scriptural, but praying to her, the rosary, and thinking you're not committing GRAVE SIN while doing so... is just ignorance having gone to seed, and don't think that behavior doesn't come with its own poems for you should you not reprint! Those who are to be considered the best in the Kingdom are the GREATEST SERVANTS, and those who do so WITHOUT a "look at me being a good person" while doing so. Learn to oractice the behavior Jesus taught, not any catechism to the contrary.
Can someone send this video to the Chicago "Teachers" Union?
Loving this channel. Subscribed!
I must go back and visit the Cistercians near me again. I really wish they were in my town, because the bus ticket is pricey. So awesome that these monasteries are still around these days.
great work! love the quote at the end
🙏. We owe so much.
Thank you so much for this.
He wasn't just a Christian, he was CATHOLIC, the first and only CHRISTIAN religion of the time.
Ethiopian orthodox church enters the chat
@@jorgefigueroa2231 😂LOL, you have made me laugh. "Ethiopian Orthodox enters the chat." Welcome Brother. Yes, there are many paths, but one journey.
@@jorgefigueroa2231this church is very catholic and orthodox.
Bosh!! There were dozens of so-called ''heresies'' prevalent throughout Europe at the time. Learn some PROPER history before you post again.
Many paths and many journies.@@RobertHugginsDJ
Thank you for the very interesting lesson.
Thanks for this video.
Thank you, that was wonderful.
Excellent thank you!
Thank the monks! Thank you Saint Columbanus
Really interesting video and thought-provoking too.
cassiodorus is great. the monasteries are just really well run homes. these homes love education so it isnt too hard to see that these non political homes can preserve education for others
Thanks to the Catholic Church.
No, thanks to Cassiodorus.
@@MMijdusi wonder which institution to which he belonged?
@@SpodgeDanish It was not the church who instigated this. It was this man who took initiative, and made an effort.
@@MMijdus I guess you haven't the slightest idea about how the Catholic Church works as an institution.
Oh, an Italian. Good on him!
when Cosimo de Medici got the bug to gather old learning, and Poggio Bracciolini went out to find them, it was the legacy of the Vivarium and Cassiodorus that allowed them to locate the texts.
Good job. Bravo.
Thank you for this very important information. I shall remember it and pass it on.
in future, please cite the image sources in your videos. They convey as much meaning and value as the texts you cite.
Please do it.
Yes, please! I like to have a source I can go to for more information.
ThiningWest this is awesome! Brief but really informative & interesting. I knew a bit about early Xtian monks and their role in keeping Western civilization alive but didn't know about Cassiodrus. Thanx
STEM has crowded out all other education including Phys Ed, Home economics, Civics, manual arts, etc.
I study how humans can adapt genetically and strategically to the new ecology we have been creating since we left the tribal ecology for the farms and cities of civilization (Genetics For A New Human Ecology). As a biologist, I recognized the value of the lessons of philosophy, but I found something else. Noodle on this if you want. I was studying population decline and the commonest reason given for it is the expense of raising children and the uncertainty of the world. Some people admit it is birth control. We don't have a lot of instinct to have families, but we have a lot of instinct to have sex and nurturing instincts naturally follow that. Is there another way to release and develop instincts to have children? There are a few, but to make it short, we need to be teaching the foundations of philosophy at a grammar school level, as it used to be taught. That should release the instincts to have children. (It's more complicated than I'm going to write here). Can our society, civilization and nature, built upon philosophy, endure without it?
True I am an engineer never wanted a child. I started to read and learn history and philosophy and something clicked in me and I feel like I don’t want to die without a son or a daughter anymore
Very thought provoking comment. I agree with you. People that love the Western Civilization and Christianity should interconnect and exchange ideas. Biology and Science in general are very important contributions to the restablishment of Logic, among other sources of true knowledge. There is a lot of non-science prevailing across all sectors.
Important channel, good!
Good stuff !!! SUBSCRIBED !!!
I love this, cheers!
Very good!
A BIG THANK YOU
You should also mention the contributions of St. Benedict at MonteCassino.
A very noble video
Thank you Sir.🎉
Well done
Sometimes it is the humble tasks, such as copying, that turn out to be the most vital.
We, the people living in Asia do not see West as a civilisation, but as a lot of ruthless barbarians.
Excellent ! Thanks. I didn't know this data.😊
Thank you Abba, Jehovah God works in Mysterious ways; Wonders to Perform.
I would rate Saint Thomas from Aquino even higher. A noble longobard he procured translated and copied the more important Arab treaties (including Greek translations, back to the ancient Persian ones, saving those form the "cultural revolution" that burned through the Arab world aroud the year 1000.
He became the driving force behind the western philosophy for the following 1000 years.
Great job.
Thanks!
thank you.
excellent
“We do not merely study the past: we inherit it, and inheritance brings with it not only the rights of ownership, but the duties of trusteeship. Things fought for and died for should not be idly squandered. For they are the property of others, who are not yet born”
― Sir Roger Scruton, from "How to be a Conservative"
truth beauty good....thx
Martianus Capella and the 7 Liberal Arts - there is a link between this and Cassiodorus
Prayers for your works!
Thank you for sharing this story. I subscribed and I am interested in what Value your Channel can provide to me.
My mind popped up with Alcuin, but Cassiodorus remains the OG.
Amen 🙏
Gloria in Excelsis Deo!
Yes!
The monk that really saved civilization is Dom Perignon. Decadence is good.❤❤❤❤
Thank you for recognising how similar today's word is.
Please note that Ireland is not included in the British Isles.
Praise the Lord ❤
Yes! Praise Lord Krishna!
Doing Gods work sir. Deus Vault.
Notably, civilization was still alive and well in Greece, where Western Civilization had begun in the first place. But outside of the Eastern Roman Empire, it was struggling.
The Greeks believed in mythical Gods.
So did the Latins, until they converted to Christianity. Funny that.
At this point in time, Greece had been just a thoroughly converted (if not more so) than the Latins to Christianity. They were not following the old pantheon any more than the Romans were.
@@kathleencook3060bro you think the Greeks (Byzantines) of the Middle Ages still believed in Zeus? They were as Christian as the Pope look at Byzantine iconography it’s impossible to find something not related to religion and it’s always Christianity
Some historians suggest the picture is more complex. Cassiodorus strove to keep classical learning alive, but it was Christians, and Justinian, who forced the closure of Athens’ Platonic Academy in 529. Large numbers of Classical texts were lost to zealotry and intolerance of what was deemed ‘Pagan’. Your quest might, ironically, gain strength if it considered the West with its warts and all, rather than with a more hagiographical slant that falls to scrutiny and, in the end, fails to convince.
Good inteo to Cassiodurus.
Could you please tell me the name of the painting in the thumbnail with the two monks in red and the arches? I'd love to know.
InspiringPhilosophy has talked about how Christians have contributed to education and referenced many books and historians, his channel is amazing, would definitely recommend it to anyone who is interested 😊
One monk? They where thousands
A single spark turns into a flame but only if the tender is ready to receive.
Pagan literature and philosophy shaped the Western Civilization after renaissance.
Cassiodorus was not a Benedictine Monk - he was a monastic experimenter, loved disciplined life and ascetical practice, whose "rule" was essentially a syllabus of reading classical texts from Latin and Greek sources, as well as patristic writings from East and West as the basis for theological investigation (study of Scripture) in order to pursue God, not secure classical education per se. His was a monastic life that centered on learning and reading as "work" rather than manual labor, as Benedict wanted. Cassiodorus' way did not survive long after his death - it lacked the balance necessary to be attractive and sustainable, given how Benedict valued moderation in his Rule (ca. 520 or so, Monte Cassino).
The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know!
Great video! Please do the Irish's contribution to saving western civilization.
Great video. Until the emergence of the flat earthers and other science sceptics, I often wondered how knowledge could simply disappear. Now we know.
Far from denying the contributions of Cassiodorus it is not true that the fall of western part of the Roman Empire led to chaos. The roman institutions remained under Odoaker as well as the gothic kings and queen, you noticed in the video that Cassiodorus held the office of a praetorian prefect under the gothic king Thoederich. Some short chaos arose when the easter roman Emperor brought Italy again under direct byzantine administration.
But also in Gaul roman culture remained and led to the romanization the the germanic Francs.
God bless Cassiodorus. God loves us, he gives us donuts and pizza.
Thought you were gonna talk about St. Augustine
What is the song used in the background?
The Gloria
There are several chants mixed together, including the Salve Regina and the Gloria.
One of my hippie concerns: the transition from the "Gutenberg Internet" (1451-199x) to the Digital Age... different set of landscapes... but still away forward with the responsibilities of stewardship... looks like you're exploring some heavy material in how we became who we are today !
How do you integrate this with "How the Irish Saved Civilization," which claims that the remote location of dedicated monks there saved the books that were destroyed by the dark ages and Vikings?
Cassiodorus was late 5th to early 6th century. Vikings first appeared in the 8th century.
I wondered that as well; see 3:48 to 4:03 for a mention.
The Vikings did not destroy the monastic movement in Ireland. There’s a lot of myth making around the Vikings. Truth is the Vikings were unable to conquer Ireland. Were defeated several times on land & sea. They ultimately assimilated.
@@cushyglen4264 I don't think you understand that that was my point.
Although Dublin was a Viking trading center, monasteries survived and preserved the great books of Western Civilization.