Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/492

 456 Readings in European History 193. Aver- roes on Aristotle's greatness. Attitude of the Church toward Aristotle's works. His Arabic commentator, Averroes, shared his fame, and promoted the superstitious awe in which " The Phi- losopher " was held by the following eulogy, to be found in the preface to his commentary on Aristotle's Physics, Aristotle was the wisest of the Greeks and constituted and completed logic, physics, and metaphysics. I say that he constituted these sciences, because all the works on these subjects previous to him do not deserve to be mentioned and were completely eclipsed by his writings. I say that he put the finishing touches on these sciences, because none of those who have succeeded him up to our time, to wit, during nearly fifteen hundred years, have been able to add anything to his writings or find in them any error of any importance. Now that all this should be found in one man is a strange and miraculous thing, and this privileged being deserves to be called divine rather than human. The Church at first opposed the study of Aristotle's bo6ks on natural philosophy, and forbade, in 1210, their discussion at Paris. Five years later the papal legate ordered that no one should lecture upon either the meta- physics or natural philosophy of Aristotle, or discuss the commentary of Averroes. In spite of this we find the University of Toulouse advertising in 1229 that the various treatises on natural science which had been prohibited at Paris might be read there freely by all those who cared to penetrate into the secrets of nature. When, about 1230, Pope Gregory IX undertook a partial reorganization of the demoralized University of Paris, he learned that the prohibited books of natural science by Aristotle contained many useful matters, along with some reprehensible things. Three masters were consequently appointed to examine the works with penetration and prudence and suppress everything which