rise of an independent learned class in western Europe. This came with the
rise of the universities, to which we next turn, and out of which in time
arose the future independent scholarship of Europe, America, and the world
in general.

We also discover a series of new movements, connected with the Crusades,
the rise of cities, and the revival of trade and industry, all of which
clearly mark the close of the dark period of the Middle Ages. We note,
too, the evolution of new social classes--a new Estate--destined in time
to eclipse in importance both priest and noble and to become for long the
ruling classes of the modern world. We also note the beginnings of an
important independent system of education for the hand-workers which
sufficed until the days of steam, machinery, and the evolution of the
factory system. The eleventh and twelfth centuries were turning-points of
great significance in the history of our western civilization, and with
the opening of the wonderful thirteenth century the western world is well
headed toward a new life and modern ways of thinking.


QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION

1. Why is it that a strong religious control is never favorable to
originality in thinking?

2. Show how the work of the Nestorian Christians for the Mohammedan faith
was another example of the Hellenization of the ancient world.

3. Would it be possible for any people anywhere in the world today to make
such advances as were made at Bagdad, in the late eighth and early ninth
centuries, without such work permanently influencing the course of