Disintegration and Synthesis:
Neo-Medievalism at the Crossroads of the Middle Ages, Christianity & Gothicism
Underlying the sunny optimism of modernist and postmodernist thinking in today’s world lies a stark shadow. No matter how one views the future pathways and opportunities of our contemporary era, a basic, widespread, and disturbing trend of the twentieth century continues unabated into the twenty-first. Culturally, socially, and above all, spiritually the fundamental forces shaping global society, with few exceptions, are leading us into disintegration. In fact, one could easily argue that accelerating spiritual entropy is the defining characteristic of our current age.
No matter whether we examine religion, morality, ethics, transcendent thought, or any of our social organizations charged with promoting these goals, we get the same result. We live in an age of spiritual decay. Why is this important to realize? Is spirituality necessary or even significant nowadays? In view of the problems, excesses, and even horrendous abuses of religion across the world and over the centuries, many proclaim we would all be better off without spirituality. They would see its disintegration, especially in our “Western” world as a triumph. “Good riddance,” would be the common response. Especially in view of things like the Crusades, the Medieval Inquisitions, runaway religious fundamentalism, and even 9/11, spirituality might seem more of a hindrance to humankind, instead of a help.
Origins of Modern Gothic Thought Amid Romanticism
The literary genre in writing and fiction, which deals most directly with spiritual disintegration, is the Gothic. It is no accident that Gothic literature was born in 1764 CE (or AD) with Horace Walpole’s novel The Castle of Otranto, in the midst of the Enlightenment era. This time was the so-called “Age of Reason” (roughly the 1700s), the era when human rationality supposedly triumphed over superstition and religion. The most influential thinkers of the eighteenth century declared all things supernatural to be dead and celebrated their funeral. Yet, human beings appear to have a need for the mysterious, supernatural, and even the irrational or abnormal. Gothic thought and literature became the dark twin of a heady Romantic movement emerging from the 1700s Enlightenment. Amazingly, Gothicism, in spite of its often negative viewpoint, survived into the 1800s and beyond.
The ideals or Romanticism have their polar opposites in Gothicism. Romanticism declares that human beings have freedom from the past and an unlimited future. Gothic thought says we’re chained to history and maybe have no future in this world. The Romantic sees himself or herself as the main agent of action. The Gothic remains more fatalistic, finding human action influenced by powers beyond our control, agents of the supernatural, unknown, or irrationality within. Finally, the Romantic ideal posits human progress onward and upward toward finding a utopian or near-perfect world. Gothic realism accedes to the inevitability of disintegration and death. It believes that almost all human endeavors end in doom and destruction, even the worldly drive toward a better world. Continual entropy without ceasing is its melancholy motto.
This Romantic/Gothic polarity is not just a choice between optimism and pessimism. The difference between the two extremes represents a duality of human thought in the Western World. This conflict between worldviews began subtly in the mid 1700s and is still with us to an even greater degree today. Is human progress toward continuing social and personal improvement inevitable and continuing? Or, like the Roman Empire, are all societies and human efforts doomed to failure and fall?
When examining their histories, one quickly realizes the Romantic and Gothic philosophies did not emerge from out of nowhere. Centuries of European thought preceded them, going back to the ancient world. In the sixth century, with the exception of Christianity, the Greco-Roman worldviews dominant during antiquity collapsed along with the Roman Empire. Afterward, the so-called Dark Ages covered almost all of Europe. During this era, little progressive or independent thought emerged beyond assiduous work in monasteries to preserve what was left of earlier writings. As these “classical” writings gradually emerged in a more educated West after Charlemagne in France (in the tenth century), the Middle Ages era was born. Medieval thought and philosophy built on and extended the ideas of the preserved ancient writings.
History: Gothic Origins in the Christian Church & Rise of the Medieval Synthesis
This re-emergence of European civilization grew up within the strong framework of the Church and Christian theology in that era. From around 900 to 1400, a powerful, unified system of thought and worldview arose and flourished, influenced by classical writings and of course, the Hebrew and Christian scriptures. Early Medieval authorities and the Church helped to structure and certainly enforced this new culture. It is interesting to note that the Christianity of this era emerged as a much different religion from what was practiced in antiquity.
This new Western system of thought and worldview constituted what the theologian Arthur C. Custance has called the “Medieval synthesis.” In essence, this new Church-centered system became the foundation of all human life, work, thought, and interaction. Almost every facet of European civilization found unity and stability within this system. The tenets of this “new” Christianity rested on the supremacy of the Church and upholding as authoritative whatever it said was right and wrong. During this era the Church defined, strongly believed in, and propagated what became the Medieval ideals of everything from family life and community to economics, politics, and war.
As a result, from around 1100 until the Renaissance, this strong consensus on what constituted right and wrong came to pervade the entire culture. European society’s unanimity centered on the Church. The bishops and other Church leaders determined all parameters of human life and behavior in the Middle Ages. Generally, this lifestyle combined post-Roman feudal manorial economics, divinely blessed kings as autocratic political leaders, relatively (compared to ancient times) civilized, limited warfare, and church dogma as the totality of human morality, ethics, and spirituality. Like it or not, our own contemporary Western culture grew from these Medieval roots and shares much in common with those times.
Examples of essential values in our society we have inherited from the Middle Ages are:
- Belief in the importance of monogamy and the family as a primary social good
- Conviction that government’s main functions are to restrain violence and promote justice
- Importance of education and learning as an antidote to the ills of ignorance and illiteracy
- Restraint of the excesses of warfare
- Building community and good community relations as the foundation of a stable society
- Promoting the ideal that the best use of wealth is for endeavors that promote social well-being
- Emphasis on perpetuating the ideals of ancient eras as found in their surviving writings, for example, scriptures, philosophy, science, and literature
- Promoting and improving the arts, craftsmanship, science, and technology, as understood by each generation
This list presents only a sampling of major values and ideals bequeathed to modern society by our Medieval forebears. More detailed discussion of this cultural heritage will emerge in future Neo-Medievalist essays. It is unfortunate to note that many of the most desirable of these goals are nowadays either under attack or have almost completely faded (for example, limiting warfare). However, the bedrock basics of these concepts still form the broadest notions of what is normative and worthy of promotion in Western society.
As mentioned earlier, the Christianity of the Middle Ages differed markedly from that of earlier times. In essence, the main difference in Christianity from previous eras was that increasingly, after 900, the Church and its dogma prevailed over all disagreements and alternative beliefs. The earlier church was only one of many religions in Europe and tended to follow the Bible (Hebrew scriptures plus 27 books of the first-century “New Testament”) along with various and often contradictory traditions handed down from nascent Christianity. Before 900 and especially before 312 when Roman Emperor Constantine declared Christianity as the empire’s “official” religion, Christian practice and belief was localized and extremely diverse. So-called “pagan” religions strongly influenced individual church assemblies. Common religious values and observances varied greatly from place to place in Europe, even after Constantine.
From the time of Pope Leo III and Charlemagne (early 800s) to Pope Gregory VII and the East/West schism (1000s), this diversity was slowly crushed, especially in the Western Church. In the new era after 1100, what the bishops said was law, regardless of earlier beliefs. These bishops included the Roman Pope and Eastern Patriarch of Constantinople, after the East and West had split around 1035. Church pronouncements could change, but if the new “law” differed from the old, then so be it. Everyone, including kings and knights, lived and died under the power of the Church and its proclaimed dogma.
There were obvious drawbacks to this “new” worldview. The Church during this time was accountable to no other authority (apart from its concept of God and Christ) and often far from perfect. There were numerous instances of corruption and persecution, as well as crusades and inquisitions. Heretics and witches suffered death, while conversion to the faith often happened at sword point. However, in fairness to the Middle Ages, no era or civilization of humankind has ever been perfect, just as our own time is far from any kind of shining model.
Of course, some remnants of the old Christianity did survive into the Medieval era. For example, the church co-opted and even institutionalized many pagan practices, for example, exalting the Virgin Mary to replace pagan mother-type goddesses. Much of the earlier spirituality of the pre-fourth century church survived in the monastic movement. However, these types of remnants were either totally “laundered” for the new society of the age or marginalized into the monasteries. The main stream of European culture gradually adopted the organized church’s and aristocrats’ version of Christianity, for better and worse, a new synthesis of the faith and society.
Breakdown of Historic Western Gothic & Medieval Culture
Then, after 1400, this Medieval synthesis began to break down, as influences from eastern cultures flowed into Europe, for example, via Marco Polo (who opened Chinese trade to Europe), as well as others. Change is neither right nor wrong of course, but historically, it was inevitable. The rise of nations and nationalism, immigration to and opening the New World, the Renaissance and Reformation, and finally rationalism (the “Age of Reason”) and modern science and technology all shook the foundations of the Medieval synthesis. It was replaced with a Balkanized “crazy quilt” of ideologies, philosophies, and worldviews. During the 1700 to 1900 period, many new worldview systems in the Western world were competing for adherents outside the Church.
By the mid 1800s, Romanticism and Gothicism were only two of a multitude of confusing choices between “philosophies.” Since 1764 and the birth of Gothicism, many major and often conflicting systems have risen and fallen. Romanticism, as a widespread Western quasi-faith, died a tortured death on the battlefields of World War I (1914 – 1919). Even the most powerful and widespread of the ideologies to emerge from this period, Communism, finally fell during the early 1990s. Of course, various kinds of Christianity continued to flourish, albeit “modernized” to meet the changing culture. Interestingly, of all the extra-religious ideological movements that began and flourished in the Western world after 1700, Gothicism remains one of the most vibrant, relevant, and widely popular in today’s times.
Modern Gothic World-Views During the Past
100 Years
The Gothic mystique, as pop movement, literature, art, and even lifestyle, still influences the modern mind. What is Gothicism? As it was broadly expressed in its early literature, it is a worldview that life is the product of fatally conflicting and dark forces. Gothicism believes that human life is primarily shaped by the convergence of a dark history with a claustrophobic present, which causes a sickening descent into disintegration influenced by the supernatural, unknown, or irrational. Over time, many creative thinkers and writers have applied these literary ideas to other areas of thought and endeavor. As a result, Gothicism has morphed into almost any kind of art, philosophy, worldview, or lifestyle strongly influenced by or based on this original literary viewpoint.
Unfortunately, to most people in modern America, the Gothic sensibility often comes off like a horror movie dramatized in real life. To others, Gothicism describes the reality of modern civilization. Which concept a person believes in depends on his or her point of view. Those at the top of our social order have the luxury of denying the entropy of modernity. Money and power give one a feeling of being immune to disintegration. Those at society’s bottom, or who perceive our culture’s darker underside, tend to see and experience America’s inward decay much more strongly.
Of course, the true victims of our modern order, persons who feel oppressed or left behind, react to their plight in widely different ways. They come apart emotionally or go insane, drop out of the accepted social order and defy conformism, turn to some kind of fundamentalist religion that offers a false sense of integration, or worst, become fascists, trying to regain a false feeling of control over their own lives, which was taken from them by society’s cultural collapse. However, many others respond to these same forces by adopting the Gothic worldview.
Among the nonconformists who perceive America’s (and the global order’s) inevitable implosion, the Goth and Gothically inclined represent a major subgroup. Given the history and meaning of Gothicism, it is easy to see why. Though often not literally oppressed by society in any way and sometimes even affluent, the Goth subculture members in Western society perceive our cultural collapse for a variety of reasons. Usually, it is because they are both nonconformist and rooted in the Gothic tradition, which naturally focuses on the “dark” side of society.
Generally the Goth lifestyle associates itself with the extremes of depression and preoccupation with death. The unique Gothic sensibility often arises in individuals who, because of personal sensitivity or intuition, become acutely aware of our culture’s weak, crumbling underbelly of decay. However, the present and historical strength of the Goth viewpoint has to arise from more than just a mournful yelp of protest. To offer a viable response to cultural collapse that is more than self-centered posing, the Goth worldview must move beyond nonconformity to embrace a positive acceptance of the Gothic tradition. This affirmation is at its best when founded on a belief in some kind of supernatural order.
Need for a New Gothic & Medieval Synthesis:
Neo-Medievalism
In this view, such an affirmation leads one to a larger, more all-encompassing tradition, deriving from the highest ideals of the Middle Ages. Take this tradition and shear it of all the negativity discussed previously (narrow-mindedness, dogmatism, sexism, and so on), and the result takes one beyond the historical Medieval synthesis. Following this path, one can emerge into a modern, positive philosophy and worldview that the author refers to as “Neo-Medievalism.” This Gothic system of thought transcends the old pitfalls of original Medievalism and reinterprets the best of its traditions in light of modern life and contemporary human needs. More importantly, such a “renewed” Medievalism offers a positive response to the cultural disintegration we find inherent in our decaying society. Yes, the materialistic, trivializing, jingoistic, pop-spiritual shallow, and politically and ethically corrupt nature of our culture can be intensely depressing. The Neo-Medievalist Gothic mindset moves beyond bemoaning the ills of modernity and builds a positive, coherent worldview. This philosophy responds to such despair with a new hope that is both genuinely Goth and affirming at the same time.
Of course, no one is recommending a return to a regime of autocratic bishops or power-hungry kings. Also, the Medieval synthesis never meant theocracy. Even during the Middle Ages, though there was no separation of church and state as we know it, kings and bishops retained their distinct sets of powers, and political rulers never let the Church entirely run Europe. The Church did not try to usurp the prerogatives of kings. Any form of Gothicism or Medievalism can become a reactionary movement bent on returning modern society to an idealized “golden age” that never truly existed. No society is perfect or ideal. All that any worldview or philosophy can do is try to apply the best of its ideals to the realities of current existence.
Neo-Medievalism means integrating Medieval Christianity and lifestyle with the Gothic tradition and using the Medieval synthesis, in a modern context, as a guide to overcoming cultural disintegration. Placing this concept in contemporary times means stripping out obsolete, ignorant, and destructive Medieval customs and ideas. More importantly, such a “reintegrated” lifestyle provides a positive response to the forces of death and destruction in our society, just as the early Medieval reconstruction of European society after 900 rescued its citizens from the Dark Age. Also, this constructive Gothic response offers a more attractive alternative to fatalism in our society than the standard outcries of “gloom and doom” from Goth and other similar quarters.
Taking a longer view, many serious problems hover over our modern world and cloud our future. The “new global order” may end up coming apart and instead bring on a new Dark Age, if it has not already. This is not inevitable of course, but few would argue that many in our modern world grapple with a real Dark Age of the human spirit. This failure of will may soon lead to even greater social, cultural, political, and economic disintegration in our society. What positive values does the Medieval synthesis and Neo-Medievalism have to offer our modern culture? How can this worldview provide a “light” at the end of a dark Goth-centered tunnel? Can the two viewpoints work together to offer hope to today’s society in America and elsewhere? These are important questions I hope to address in future related commentaries.
End Note by Author
If readers of this Blog express further interest, I can explore these ideas and related thoughts and concepts further, from a Neo-Medievalist perspective. Depending on the interest expressed, I can address any or all the following subjects:
- Personal lifestyle and ethics
- Social and cultural life
- Art and the role of the artist
- Religious, theological, and spiritual implications
- Political organization
- Economics
Citations of Sources
Because of space limitations, readability, and the nature of this blog, I am not including elaborate footnotes and citations with this series of commentaries. I can provide a detailed bibliography at this website at a later date, upon request. Here is a list of the authors of my bibliographic sources:
Religion, theology, and spirituality:
- Arthur C. Custance
- Robert Webber
- Dietrich Bonhoeffer
- Karl Barth
Gothic thought and literature:
- Gavin Baddeley
- Catherine Spooner
- Nancy Kilpatrick
European history:
- Barbara H. Rosenwein
- C.H. Lawrence
- Charles Raymond Beazley
- James Marchand
Medievalism in contemporary thought and culture:
- Umberto Eco
- Cary John Lenehan
- David Ketterer
- Eddo Stern
I strongly encourage you to read books by the authors listed previously. If you have any specific questions about book titles, footnotes and citations, where I got my ideas, or just general questions and comments on my essay, feel free to email me via my personal website.
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