¶14 What is altogether extraordinary is the rapidity with which the civilisation of the Middle Ages fell into the most complete oblivion; the men of the 17th century no longer had the slightest notion of it, and the monuments that remained of it no longer represented anything to their eyes, either in the intellectual order, or even in the aesthetic order; one can judge from this how much mentality had been changed in the interval.1 We shall not undertake here to search for the factors, certainly very complex, that contributed to this change, so radical that it seems difficult to admit that it could have taken place spontaneously and without the intervention of a directing will whose exact nature necessarily remains rather enigmatic;2 there are, in this regard, some very strange circumstances, such as the popularisation, at a given moment, and presenting them as new discoveries, of things that had actually been known for a very long time, but whose knowledge, on account of certain drawbacks that risked outweighing the advantages, had not been spread abroad in the public domain until then.3 It is also very improbable that the legend that made the Middle Ages an epoch of ‘darkness’, ignorance and barbarism, arose and gained credit by itself, and that the genuine falsification of history in which moderns have indulged was undertaken without any preconceived idea;4 but we shall not go further into the examination of this question, for, in whatever way this work was accomplished, it is, for the moment, the observation of the result that, in sum, matters most to us.5
Summary
What is extraordinary is the rapidity with which medieval civilisation fell into complete oblivion. By the 17th century, people no longer had the slightest notion of it. Guénon will not search here for the complex factors behind this radical change, which seems difficult to admit could have occurred spontaneously without the intervention of a directing will. He notes strange circumstances, such as the popularisation at a given moment of things known for a long time but kept hidden. It is improbable that the legend of the Middle Ages as an epoch of darkness arose by itself, or that the modern falsification of history was undertaken without any preconceived idea. But Guénon will not examine this further, because it is the observation of the result that matters most.
General notes
- rapidité de l'oubli du moyen âge — Rendered as 'rapidity of the oblivion of the Middle Ages'. Guénon insists on the speed and the extent of the rupture between the Renaissance and the 17th century. In less than two centuries, the traditional sciences (alchemy, astrology, Kabbalah, cathedral symbolism), scholastic philosophy, Gothic art, the feudal organisation and the hierarchical conception of society had become incomprehensible, ridiculous or dead. The men of the 17th century (classicism, Cartesianism, absolutism) no longer understood the symbolic language of the Middle Ages, even in the monuments they saw daily. This collective amnesia is for Guénon an indication of a radical, almost pathological mental change. ↩︎
- volonté directrice énigmatique — Rendered as 'enigmatic directing will'. Guénon suggests here, without stating it openly, that the destruction of the medieval world and the establishment of modernity may not be the result of purely historical and natural causes (evolution, chance, conjuncture). There might have been a 'directing will' (groups, forces, currents acting deliberately) at work. He does not specify, for he lacks evidence or does not wish to enter into polemics, but he leaves this possibility open. This echoes his frequent criticisms of 'false scholars', 'negative secret societies', etc. The idea is that radical change cannot be explained by a mere internal evolution. ↩︎
- vulgarisation de choses anciennes présentées comme nouvelles — Rendered as 'popularisation of ancient things presented as new'. Guénon alludes to the 'rediscovery' of ancient texts (for example, Hermes Trismegistus, the works of Aristotle via the Arabs, Neoplatonic literature), but also of techniques or ideas (heliocentrism, blood circulation, etc.). Some of this knowledge was already possessed by esoteric traditions (alchemy, Hermeticism) or by non-European civilisations. By divulging it without initiatory precautions, knowledge potentially dangerous was made accessible. Guénon suggests that this popularisation may have been deliberate, to break with traditional prudence. ↩︎
- falsification de l'histoire … idée préconçue — Rendered as 'falsification of history … preconceived idea'. Guénon affirms that the image of the Middle Ages as a 'dark age' is a legend, an ideological construction of the humanists of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment, taken up by modern historiography. This legend served to discredit medieval civilisation (traditional, Christian, hierarchical) and to justify the rupture. Guénon suggests that this falsification is not innocent: it proceeds from a deliberate intention (preconceived) to destroy the authority of the past and to present modernity as progress. He does not develop this, but it foreshadows his critique of the idea of progress. ↩︎
- constatation du résultat — Rendered as 'observation of the result'. Guénon focuses on the essential: the result is there, whatever the causes and agents may be. Medieval civilisation has been erased from collective memory, a new mentality has imposed itself. He does not seek to conduct a detailed historical investigation (which would be complex and perhaps contested); he prefers to establish a diagnosis of the modern crisis, then go back to principles. This is a methodological attitude: rather than wasting time looking for culprits or contingent causes, he concentrates on describing the present situation and its doctrinal origins. ↩︎
Guénon’s footnotes
- had not been spread abroad in the public domain until then — We will cite only two examples, among the facts of this kind that were to have the most serious consequences: the supposed invention of printing, which the Chinese knew prior to the Christian era, and the “official” discovery of America, with which much more regular communications than one might think had existed throughout the Middle Ages.