Medieval Muslim and Christian societies struggled to accept the paganism of the classical world, nevertheless, legal and philosophical ideas of the classical world inevitably influenced the cultures of Islam and Christianity. In the Christian world, the East Byzantine Empire and Western Europe differed in their attitudes towards the classical world. The Muslims and Christians differed in preserving and translating Greek and Roman works. Given their wary attitude towards the classical world, both societies attempted to synthesize the accepted elements of the classical world into the Christian and Muslim cultures.
It could be argued from the start of the Middle Ages, Christian societies wanted to purposefully rid themselves of some elements of the classical world. The Byzantines chose Greek as the empire’s official language and abandoned Latin, which distanced the new empire from its pagan Roman past. The Byzantine’s disdain for pre-Christian Rome is also observed in Western Europe beginning from the late 500s, for example in the British cleric Gildas’ book: “The only evils I wish to publicize are those our island has suffered, and has at times inflicted on others, since the time of the Roman emperors.” (Sources, 95) Many European cultures, especially those in the interior such as the British Celts, considered the Romans as occupiers and blamed them and their paganism for the problems that plagued these regions. Consequently, these societies shunned the classical world because it was tied to the Roman Empire and culture.
Muslims also exhibit a similar attitude, struggling to separate the classical world from what the Muslims perceived as false religions. In both medieval societies, there were attempts to erase the pagan elements incompatible with religious teachings. It seems that many intellectuals of the medieval era, whether in the House of Wisdom or the monasteries, were wary of the paganism of the classical world. Bede’s biography of Pope Gregory praises the conversions of pagans: “large crowds gathered daily to hear God’s Holy Word, and they too abandoned their pagan tires and entered the unity of Christ’s Holy Church as fully fledged believers.” (106) This is an example of the determination of spreading Christianity amongst pagans. In this case, an anecdote of the pagan Britons in Rome: “Oh, how sad!” Gregory sighed, “How sad such bright-faced people are in the clutches of the Author of Darkness,” (107). Missionary work and rapid top-down conversions took place throughout pagan Europe, which focused on Christian teachings over pagan ones. Muslim philosophers studied classical philosophy, including the works of Aristotle and Plato. Al Kindi, commenting on Aristotle’s Metaphysics, claimed that Aristotle “sought also to affirm the Oneness of God, to explain God’s many beautiful names,” (Textbook, 301). Although some argued that Greek philosophy was highly compatible with Islam, there was also distortion and misunderstanding of the contents and meanings of ancient works.
The loss of classical high culture in the Byzantine Empire was an indirect consequence of the disappearance of curiales, the civil officials of the Roman Empire, who were the urban class preserving Ancient Greek and Roman philosophical ideas and literature. When Constantinople became the center of cultural life, urban education shifted from classical to Christian teachings. Gradually, the high culture of the ancient world in urban provinces disappeared, except in Constantinople. Meanwhile, monasteries in Western Europe preserved Roman teachings since Latin remained the official language. This led to a cultural and intellectual gap between East and West. Furthermore, the rise of monasticism saw the collection and preservation of classic texts by figures such as Virgil, Seneca, and Cicero. The rise of monasticism also accelerated a new phenomenon in the Christian world where new converts poorly understood Christianity so it was easier to retain traditions of the pre-Christian world. The Germanic peoples found a way to maintain their pagan traditions by simply incorporating them into their own personal Christianity.
There were efforts in both Muslim and Christian societies to reconcile with the classical world. The Church Fathers, scholars of religious backgrounds, wrote of the similarities between the Christian and classical understanding of the world. For example, Jerome’s City of God discussed the classical and Christian views on human nature (Textbook, 273). In the Muslim world, classical works were translated from Greek to Arabic. Ibn Rushd and Maimonides, both of whom lived in Islamic Iberia, were among the scholars who applied Greek philosophical ideas to their religions. Ibn Rushd wrote: “The question of fate and predestination is one of the most complicated questions in all religion, because the traditional teachers on this problem, are seen to be contradictory.” (Sources, 132) Ibn Rushd’s On the Harmony of Religious Law and Philosophy is one example of how medieval intellectuals used classical knowledge to untangle perplexing cases in Islam. Muslims also advanced scientific knowledge in the fields of medicine and astronomy using classical texts. Similarly, medieval Christians in Western Europe retained elements of Roman law and even classical medical practices. One 13th-century physician wrote, “With God’s help, I have worked diligently to collect passages from the better parts of the works of Galen and Hippocrates…to cure women’s diseases.” (110) However, it would have been dangerous for a physician to use pagan methods if they were thought to be in opposition of Church teachings. On the other hand, classical knowledge flourished in Muslim empires, facilitated by the translation and study of the works of Euclid, Archimedes, and Herodotus in fields like mathematics and philosophy.