Medieval Philosophy

Medieval philosophy is the philosophy that existed through the Middle Ages, the period roughly extending from the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fifth century until after the Renaissance in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. Understood as a project of independent philosophical inquiry, it began in Baghdad in the middle of the eighth century and in France and Germany at the itinerant court of Charlemagne in Aachen in the last quarter of that century. It is defined partly by the rediscovery of the ancient culture developed in Greece and Rome during the Classical period and partly by the need to address theological problems and to integrate sacred doctrine with secular learning, and understanding God was the focal point of study for Jewish, Christian and Muslim philosophers and theologians. It is recorded here alongside the separately recorded Scholasticism.