Chapter II: Reservations Summary and Analysis

The Model—the collection of beliefs about the universe and its inhabitants which formed a kind of backdrop for writers in the Middle Ages—is certainly a reflection of the philosophical and religious currents of thought of the time, but it should not be thought of as a direct image of it. The Model was not sensitive to some of the most heated and, historically, important debates in the Middle Ages, like the introduction of Aristotle or the debate between Nominalism and Realism. While the least educated of the Medievals was probably totally unaware of any of the elements of the model, its influence extended fairly far down the economic and social echelons.