For the people of the Middle Ages, life was often Living amidst a politically aggressiveera, which was brewing with poverty and plagues, often leftpeople in fear and despair. The people of the Middle Ages beganto look to the heavens for salvation. Religion offered securityand hope in a seemingly hopeless time, and so it soon became thebackbone of medieval communities and was injected intophilosophy, literature, and architechtcure. Thomas Aquinas’ (1225-1274) position in philosophy was a rethinking of Aristotlein light of Christian teaching. According to the Summas (Summation of the Catholic Faith), Thomas Aquinas believed therewere two ways to knowledge of God. There was the way of thephilosopher and the way of the theologian. The medieval romancestory “Our Lady’s Tumbler” embodies the idealistic salvationpeople of the middle ages longed for. The story offers hope tothose who may have felt they had nothing to offer God. In the13th century, motivated by the faith of their inhabitants, citiescompeted to build the most magnificent religious buildingsotherwise known as cathedrals. Religion pervaded the Notre-Dameof Amiens as it was built in the image of heaven with it’sgeometrical structures reaching to God, the audible harmonieswhich would bound endlessly, and the use of light to representthe true light of Christ. Religion permiated many aspects ofmedieval life to provide comfort for the people who endured thehardships of survival. ...
