The GIANT

            The Middle Ages were absolutely an age of faith.
             Theology prevailed as queen of sciences and clergy influenced .
             the affairs of both kings and common people. The church was definitely the most .
             dominant power as a landowner, lawmaker and tax administrator. The social impact of .
             medieval times" religious figures and issues was similar to the social impact of today's .
             political figures and issues. Because of religious and secular reasons, people of medieval .
             times considered sin, death and devil very seriously. Thus, the theologians of monastic .
             schools and universities took the responsibility of defining man's religious nature and .
             destiny. These theologians were learned and talented men whose reflections about the .
             religion influenced many ecclesiastical laws and ordinances that governed daily life and .
             popular devotional practices that consumed religious energies. My argument is that none .
             of these learned men influenced medieval theology and religion more than Saint .
             Augustine. What Plato and Aristotle were to medieval philosophy, Augustine was to .
             medieval theology. The fundamentals of western religious thinking about sin and grace, .
             predestination, the church, political power and the state shaped directly by his famous .
             works "Confessions" and "City of God". Most significantly, the ideas of Augustine .
             provided arguments for both sides in the major theological debates of the Middle Ages. .
             Medieval history began with the fall of the Roman Empire after a century .
             of military factions and sheer impoverishment, all of which left Western Europe .
             powerless before barbarian invasion. In 476, Romulus Augustulus, the last western .
             emperor, was deposed, and a barbarian chief took his place. By the way, 476 became the .
             traditional date for the fall of the Roman Empire. Afterwards, Western civilization .
             entered a period of steep cultural decline that is described as the "dark middle age" .
             between classical antiquity and the "reborn" civilization of the fourteenth and fifteenth .