The Christian monks helped Western civilization survive in many ways:
（1） The Christian monks spread Christianity to the Mediterranean region and some of them
even suffered martyrdom; （2） Some monks translated the Old Testament into Greek and St. Jerome translated the whole
Bible into Latin. Later some such as John Wycliffe and William Tyndale translated the Bible into the vernacular; （3） In the Middle Ages, people in Western Europe were mainly divided into three classes:
clergy, lords and peasants. Of these three classes, the only literate section was the clergy. The Christian monks did a lot to help preserve and transmit a large part of the traditional heritage of the western culture. They not only translated the Bible into Latin or the vernacular but also copied or translated the ancient works into the vernacular, such as the monks in these monasteries set up by Charlemagne and Alfred the Great. 基督教僧徒促使了西方文化的复兴和繁荣。
（1）基督教僧徒把基督教传播到地中海地区。他们中的许多为此付出了宝贵的生命。 （2）基督教僧徒把《旧约》翻译为希腊文，圣耶利米还把整个《圣经》翻译为拉丁文，再后来，约翰·威克里夫和威廉姆·丁道尔把《旧约》翻译成方言。
（3）中世纪时，西欧人主要分为三个阶层：牧师、封建主和平民。在这三个阶层中牧师是唯一的有知识阶层，他们为大部分西方文化的保存和传播做出了很大贡献。他们不仅把《圣经》翻译为拉丁文和方言，而且还抄录，翻译了许多古典著作为方言。例如，查理曼大帝和阿尔弗烈德大王建立的学术中心里的僧徒们在这方面做了许多贡献。
13. Why do we say the Bible has shaped Western culture more decisively than anything else
ever written?
为什么说《圣经》是使西方文化成形的奠基之作?
Judeo-Christian tradition constitutes one of the two major components of European culture.
（1） The Bible which is virtually related to every phase of human life has greatly
influenced people‘s daily life, especially in the Middle Ages when almost everyone was a Christian; （2） The Bible has great impact upon western literature. For a long period of time, the
Latin Bible was accepted as the authority and the Latin was the official language of the Roman Catholic Church, so most European literature at that time was in Latin. Besides, it is generally accepted that the English Bible and Shakespeare are two great reservoirs of Modern English. Furthermore, the use of Biblical themes has been a literary tradition. In fact few great English and American writers of the 17th,18th ,19th and 20th century can be read and appreciated without sufficient knowledge of the Bible; （3） The study of the Christian teaching especially the Bible has become an important
branch of knowledge—scholasticism which has been prevalent for centuries; （4） The Bible has also influenced western philosophies and science. Thus the Bible has
shaped western culture more decisively than anything else ever written. 犹太-基督教传统是欧洲文化的两个重要组成部分之一。 （1）《圣经》实质上与人类生活的各个阶段相联系，渗透到人们的日常生活中，特别是在中世纪，那时几乎每个人都是基督教徒。 （2）《圣经》对西方文化影响极大。在很长一段时期，拉丁文版的圣经被誉为权威，拉丁文成了罗马天主教的官方语言。 因此，那时的欧洲文学绝大多数是拉丁文书写
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的。另一方面，普遍认为《圣经》的英文版和莎士比亚作品是现代英语的宝贵财富。而且，用圣经作主题成为一种文学传统。实际上，17、18、19、20世纪的英美作家无不精通《圣经》，否则，他们的作品定索然无味。 （3）学习基督教教义，特别是《圣经》，已成为一门重要的学问—经院哲学，这种学风盛行了几个世纪。 （4）《圣经》同时也影响了西方哲学和科学，所以说是《圣经》而不是其他著作促使了西方文化的形成。
Part Three: The Middle Ages
第三部分：中世纪
1. What is the Middle Ages in European history? 何谓欧洲文化中的中世纪？
In European history, the thousand-year period following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century is called the Middle Ages. It is so called because it came between ancient times and modern times. In the Middle Ages, Christianity took the lead in politics, law, art, and learning for hundreds of years. It shaped people‘s lives. So this period is also called the “Age of Faith”.
人们把欧洲史中5世纪西罗马帝国灭亡后的一千年称为中世纪。之所以这样叫，是因为这一段时期是介于中古历史的古典时期和现代时期之间。中世纪时，基督教控制着政治、法律、文艺和知识界长达数百年之久。同时它还影响了人们的生活方式。因此，这一时期被称为“信仰年代”。
2. What is Feudalism?
何谓封建主义？
The word “Feudalism”was derived from the Latin “feudum”, a grant of land. In Europe, Feudalism was mainly a system of holding land in exchange for military service and a form of local and decentralized government.
封建主义一词是从拉丁语“feudum”演化而来的，意为-分封土地。在欧洲，封建制度主要指的是一种用土地所有权来交换军事服务的制度，是一种地方自治和政府分散统治形式。
3. What is Manor in ancient Greece?
古希腊的（封建）庄园是指什么？
The center of medieval life under feudalism was the manor which was founded on the fiefs of the lords. The lords lived in a manor house and met with vassals there and carried the laws and said the prayers. By the 12th century manor houses came to be called castles.
封建制下，中世纪生活的核心是采邑制，它是建立在封建领主封地的基础上。封建主居住在庄园里，在此，他们会见封臣、行使法律、作祈祷。直到12世纪，庄园才被称为城堡。 4. What is Knighthood?
“骑士”指的是什么样的一些人？
In the Medieval days, knighthood had to be earned. The training was both long and hard. A noble began his education as a page at the age of seven. He was taught to say his prayers, learned
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good manners and ran errands for the ladies. At about fourteen, the page became a squire or assistant to a knight who became his master. He was taught the duties of a knight and practiced using a sword, lance and shield. He went into battle with his master. If the squire proved to be a good fighter, he would be made a knight at a special ceremony known as dubbing.
中世纪时，骑士封位必须通过长期的努力、艰苦的训练才能赢得。7岁时，贵族就作为小侍开始接受教育。他要学会做祷告，学一些举止规矩，给女士们当小差。大约14岁时，他作为骑士的随从或助手，跟随其学习，当然这位骑士即是他的主子。于是他学一些有关骑士的义务职责，学习舞剑、使用长矛和盾。他还随从主人即骑士上战场。如果在战场中是一位好战手的话，他才会在一特别的仪式上被封为骑士。这个仪式被称为骑士授予仪式。 5. What is the Code of Chivalry?
骑士的行为准则是什么？
A knight should pledge to protect the weak, to fight for the church, to be loyal to his lord and to respect women of noble birth. These rules were known as code of chivalry, from which the western idea of good manners developed.
骑士应誓志保护弱者，为教会而战，效忠封建领主，尊敬贵族出身的女士。这些准则被誉为骑士制度准则。所谓现代西方社会的礼仪观念也是由此发展而来的。 6. What is Benedictine Rule?
什么是“圣本尼狄克制度”？
St. Benedict, a monk who was highly reputed for his holiness, founded Benedictine Rule about 529 A. D. The monks who followed these rules promised to give up all their possessions before entering the monastery. They wore simple clothes and ate only certain simple foods. They could not marry and had to obey without question the orders of the abbot. They had to attend seven times during the day and once at midnight. In addition they were expected to work five hours a day in the fields surrounding the monastery.
公元529年，有一和尚叫圣本尼狄克，他以圣洁著称，创建了圣本尼狄克派。信奉圣本尼狄克派的僧徒，在入住修道院之前立志要放弃自己的所有财产。他们穿着朴素的衣服，吃着粗茶淡饭。而且，他们不能结婚，要绝对服从修道院主持的命令，必须每天进经堂颂经7次，午夜还有一次。另外，他们每天必须在修道院周围的田地里工作5小时以上。 7. What is the Crusades? 十字军东征指的是什么？
In the 11th century Palestine fell to the armies of the Turkish Moslems who attacked the Christian pilgrims and killed many of them and sold many others as slaves. This event roused great indignation among Christians in Western Europe and resulted in a series of holy wars called the Crusades which lasted for 200 years because all the soldiers going to Palestine wore a red cross on the tunics as a symbol of obedience to God. There were altogether eight chief Crusades from 1096 to 1291. Although the Crusades failed to regain the Holy land for the Moslems, they had an important effect on the future of both the East and the West. They brought the East into closer contact with the West and excited the westerner‘s desire for wealth or power. The Crusades helped to break down feudalism, which in turn led to the rise of the monarchies. The Crusades also resulted in renewing people‘s interest in learning and invention.
11-13世纪末，西欧基督教国家以收复圣地耶路撒冷为号召，向地中海东部地区的穆斯林国家发动的一系列军事远征扩张活动。因参加者的衣服上缝有十字记号，故名十字军。自1054年东西教会大分裂以后，罗马教皇的权势下降，为此，罗马教皇力图恢复对东方的统治，甚至不惜诉诸武力。农民由于不堪忍受教会的剥削和压迫，也希望摆脱困境。他们认为
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远征可以攫取新的领地和财富。教皇利用人们去耶路撒冷朝拜的宗教热情，因而发动了侵略活动。从1095年发动第一次十字军东征至1291年耶路撒冷拉西王国灭亡，东征共8次。十字军最终被全部赶出叙利亚，标志彻底失败。东征损失惨重，使两大教长期仇视。但在客观上也促进了东西文化的交流和文艺复兴。 8．What is Holy communion?
何谓圣餐?
Holy Communion is one of the most important sacraments. It helps to remind people that Christ has died to redeem man.
圣餐是基督教新教重要仪式，纪念耶酥与门徒共进最后晚餐。仪式与天主教的弥撒、东正教的圣体礼相仿。先由主礼人（牧师或神父）对面饼和葡萄酒祝祷，然后分给信徒领受。根据福音书，圣餐礼是由基督亲自创立的。基督在被钉在十字架前一天被出卖，当天晚上，他与门徒共进的晚餐是第一次圣餐礼，席间基督把饼和酒称为自己的肉体和血，分给门徒。此后，信徒以圣餐来纪念基督牺牲自己生命永远拯救世人，以此分享基督的神性。 9. What is Carolingian Renaissance?
什么是“卡洛琳复兴”？
Charlemagne encouraged learning by setting up monastery schools, giving support to scholars and setting scribes to work copying various ancient books. Because the scribes performed their task well, few of the ancient classics that had survived until that time were ever lost. The result of his efforts is usually called the “Carolingian Renaissance”. The most interesting fact of this minor renaissance is the spectacle of Frankish or Germanic state reaching out to assimilate the riches of the Roman Classical and the Christianized Hebraic culture.
查理曼建造寺院学校，鼓励、支持学者做学问，并让抄写员抄录各种古籍书刊。由于抄写员们工作非常努力，因此，当时的古典书籍几乎都被保存了下来。他所做出的这些贡献被称之为“卡洛琳复兴”。在这一小规模的复兴—卡洛琳复兴中，法兰克或日尔曼国家吸收了罗马古典文化和希伯来基督文化的财富。 10. What is Scholasticism?
什么是“经院哲学”？
Scholasticism was the study of general questions starting from ancient writings and Christian teaching. The Italian theologian Thomas Aquinas was the supreme figure in scholasticism in the Middle Ages. He distinguishes between truth discerned by human reason and that imparted by revelation and holds that the two kinds of truth are complementary, for they both spring from an enormous system and sums up all the knowledge of medieval theology. It defends feudal theocracy by arguing that the feudal hierarchy of society is ―God‘s rule‖, the power of feudal rulers originates from ―God‘s will‖, and the Pope is ―Christ‘s Plenipotentiary‖ above the secular rulers.
经院哲学研究古籍及基督教讲义的一般问题。意大利神学家托马斯·阿奎那是影响最大的经院哲学家。经院哲学产生于中世纪基督教教会学院里的一种为宗教神学服务的思辨哲学。形成于9~10世纪，13世纪达到全盛时期，以后衰落。经院哲学以封建阶级世界观为基础，它更加哲学化、系统化、理论化。经院哲学的特征是：引经据典，盲目崇拜权威；把神学教条当作不可怀疑的绝对真理；脱离实际，只在经院里运用三段论进行繁琐的逻辑推演，玩弄概念游戏。经院哲学主张理性服从信念，认为上帝是世界的创造者；反对研究自然，要求人们期待上帝的启示；鼓吹世界上的一切都是上帝按一定秩序安排的等级体系，以此为封建等级制度作理论上的论证；主张教权高于王权。但经院哲学并非毫无意义。经院哲学中的唯名论与唯实论的争论留下了一些有价值的哲学著作和观点；经院哲学内部的辩论对于暴露
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经院哲学、神学教条本身的内在矛盾，启发人们独立思考，在客观上有积极意义。后世也常把引经据典、繁琐论证的作风称为“经院哲学”。 11. What do you know about Beowulf?
《贝奥武甫》是一部什么样的著作？
Beowulf is an Anglo-Saxon epic, in alliterative verse, originating from the collective efforts of oral literature. The story is set in Demark or Sweden and tells how the hero, Beowulf, defeats the monster, but eventually receives his own death in fighting with a fire dragon.
中古欧洲的英雄史诗大致可以分为两类：一类反映了处在氏族社会末期的蛮族部落的生活，他们基本上还未封建化，一般也没有受到基督教的影响。另一类英雄史诗也以历史人物、民间传说为基础，如《罗兰之歌》、《熙德》、《尼伯龙根之歌》和《伊戈尔远征记》，但这类史诗是欧洲各民族高度封建化以后的产物。第一类英雄史诗中最早、最完整的作品是《贝奥武甫》。《贝奥武甫》源于口头文学，是一部盎格鲁-撒克逊史诗，并且是头韵诗，它发生在丹麦和瑞典，讲述了英雄贝奥武甫是如何英勇战胜怪物，结果却在与火龙奋战中牺牲的故事。这部史诗成为英格兰民族第一部史诗。现存唯一手抄本属于十世纪。 12. What do you know about Song of Roland?
《罗兰之歌》是一部什么样的作品？
Song of Roland is the most well-known of a group of French epics. This epic tells how Roland, one of Charlemagne‘s warriors, fights in Spain and dies defending a pass in the Pyrenees.
《罗兰之歌》是法国史诗中最著名的一部英雄史诗。史诗讲述的是查理曼的一位勇士---罗兰在西班牙作战时为了保卫比利牛斯山要塞时牺牲的故事。诗中写罗兰同阿拉伯人作战也是为了基督教的利益，他死后被天使接到天堂，这正好说明封建统治阶级同宗教的合流。 13. What is Romanesque?
什么是罗马式的建筑？
The buildings, sculpture, paintings, and decorative arts created in Europe during the 11th and 12th centuries exhibit a style that, in spite of national and regional variations, has numerous common characteristics. This style was called “Romanesque”, which means “in the Roman manner”. Romanesque art is predominantly religious. Architecture is characterized by massiveness, solidity, and monumentality with an overall blocky appearance. Sculpture and painting, primarily in churches, developed a wonderful unity with architecture. Both arts often are imbued with symbolism and allegory. They are not based on natural forms but use deliberate distortions for expressive impact. Romanesque art reflects many facets of the society of the time.
11世纪到12世纪间欧洲的建筑、雕塑、绘画、以及装饰艺术都展现了一种风格，即虽然存在地域和民族的差别，却有无数共同点。其风格被称为“罗马式”风格，即按照罗马的方式。罗马艺术大多是宗教式的。罗马式建筑以其厚重、稳固和整体巨大而斑驳的外观著称，主要指教堂里的雕刻、绘画与其建筑风格浑然一起。两种艺术风格常常带有象征性和讽喻性质特点，他们不是建立在自然形式之上的，而使用有意识的扭曲来达到表现上的冲击力。罗马式风格反映了当时社会的方方面面。 14. What is Gothic Architecture?
何谓“哥特式建筑”？
The Gothic style started in France and quickly spread through all parts of Western Europe. It flourished and lasted from the mid-12th to the end of 15th century and in some areas, into the 16th. More churches were built in this manner than in any other style in history. The Gothic was an outgrowth of the Romanesque, but it was given direction by a different aesthetic and philosophical spirit and reflected a much more ordered feudal society with full confidence. Gothic cathedrals
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