Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II. German Mystics. SCHOLASTICISM attained its best period in the thirteenth century, towards the close of which appeared the famous Summa Theologies of Thomas Aquinas. This work has remained in use and repute until the present day, notwithstanding the attacks on the author and his party by Duns Scotus and his pupil, William of Occam, which led to the battle between the Thomists and Scotists, and which in turn degenerated into disputes between the Franciscans and Dominicans. This contest was renewed over and over again, and certainly did no good to the cause of religion; and the feeling of the un- satisfactoriness of scholasticism led to the appearance of Christian mysticism. This mysticism, taking its rise with the St. Victors, attained its height in Franceduring the thirteenth century, and was succeeded by the German mystics of the fourteenth, when there arose " a deep desire for the union of man with God, a real longing for God." The richest fruit thus produced is to be seen in the Brothers of Common Life, and in the literary offspring of one of their number, namely, the Imitation. Scholasticism was still in full force when Hugo de St. Victor attempted to unite it with mysticism. His writings take a very high position, and it is said that St. Bernard derived much benefit from them. He was born in 1097, but there is a doubt as to his place of birth, some giving the preference to Alsace, others to Saxony. The probability of the latter being correct is testified by the inscription on his tomb; besides, we first hear of him at the convent of Hammersleben, where he lived up to his eighteenth year. At that date he went to Paris with his uncle, Archdeacon Hugo of Halberstadt, when they were both persuaded to enter the monastery of St. Victor, and became Canons Re...