renowned above all others for the study of physic in this century, and
vast numbers crowded thither from all the provinces of Europe to receive
instruction in the art of healing; but the medical precepts which
rendered the doctors of Salernum so famous were all derived from the
writings of the Arabians, or from the schools of the Saracens in Spain
and Africa" (p. 237). "About the year 1050, the face of philosophy began
to change, and the science of logic assumed a new aspect. This
revolution began in France, where several of the books of Aristotle had
been brought from the schools of the Saracens in Spain, and it was
effected by a set of men highly renowned for their abilities and genius,
such as Berenger, Roscellinus, Hildebert, and after them by Gilbert de
la Porre, the famous Abelard and others" (p. 238). Thus we see that in
science, in philosophy, in logic, we alike owe to Arabia the revival of
thought in Christendom. Progress, however, was very slow, and the
thought was not yet strong enough to arouse the fears of the Church, so
it spread for a while in peace.

Hallam sums up for us the state of learning, or rather of ignorance,
during the eighth, ninth, tenth and eleventh centuries, and his account
may well find its place here. "When Latin had thus ceased to be a living
language, the whole treasury of knowledge was locked up from the eyes of
the people. The few who might have imbibed a taste for literature, if
books had been accessible to them, were reduced to abandon pursuits that
could only be cultivated through a kind of education not easily within
their reach. Schools confined to cathedrals and monasteries, and
exclusively designed for the purposes of religion, afforded no
encouragement or opportunities to the laity. The worst effect was that,
as the newly-formed languages were hardly made use of in writing, Latin
being still preserved in all legal instruments and public
correspondence, the very use of letters, as well as of books, was