Often maligned in popular culture, the Irish suffered through English colonization and the resulting oppression and disasters that followed. Despite their assumed lack of civilization, the Irish are responsible for saving Western civilization following the fall of Rome. Once an isolated backwater not conquered by the Roman Empire, the Christian monks that were kidnapped or that found refuge in Ireland brought with them the works of classical Greeks and Roman writers, and also preserved Jewish and early Christian writings.
A confluence of events following the decline and fall of the Roman Empire brought chaos everywhere in Europe except in Ireland, where its remoteness allowed its culture to continue. A fairly egalitarian society, the Irish welcomed refugees who brought with them their own books and traditions. The aesthetic life of congregating in communities of learners saw the rise of monastic orders dedicated to the preservation of knowledge. Much of what we know of the writings of the antiquity survived through their efforts.
As states rose on the ruins of what the Romans had built and enough order was restored, monks began to travel from Ireland back to England and thence to continental Europe, bringing with them a renewed Christianity, along with knowledge that has vanished from the collective memory. Through the hard work and dedication of Irish monks, the heritage of Western Civilization was preserved and shared with a newly awakening world, rebuilding the foundation of a renewed civilization we still enjoy today!
Fans of history will love hearing about the tales of the unconquered Irish, what is known of Ireland before the arrival of the English, and how various male and female religious orders evolved and grew over two centuries of consequential changes. Without the Irish, our world would look very different indeed!
No comments:
Post a Comment