A multitude of less-known men found
warrant in Scripture for magic applied to less worthy purposes.[376b]
But after the thousand years had passed to which various
thinkers in the Church, upon supposed scriptural warrant, had
lengthened out the term of the earth's existence, "the end of
all things" seemed further off than ever; and in the twelfth
and thirteenth centuries, owing to causes which need not be
dwelt upon here, came a great revival of thought, so that the
forces of theology and of science seemed arrayed for a contest.
On one side came a revival of religious fervour, and to this
day the works of the cathedral builders mark its depth and
strength; on the other side came a new spirit of inquiry
incarnate in a line of powerful thinkers.
First among these was Albert of Bollstadt, better known as
Albert the Great, the most renowned scholar of his time.
Fettered though he was by the methods sanctioned in the Church,
dark as was all about him, he had conceived better methods and
aims; his eye pierced the mists of scholasticism.
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