Medieval scholarly method privileged authoritative books over direct sensory evidence

Evidence

Few medieval authors embody the search for truth via dependence on authority better than Isidore of Seville, contemporary of Muhammad. Isidore not only compiles florilegia of earlier authorities but also becomes an authority who will be quoted throughout the Middle Ages. Both in the content and the method of his work, he illustrates the intellectual filtering common to many medieval authors. Authoritative explanations of the world around one are to be found in revered books. These books are timeless, never out of date; if the reality one sees around oneself does not seem to correspond to the models described on parchment, it is the evidence of the senses that must be questioned, not the authorities. — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 89

Categorization

Category: Causal Relationships

• XREF: Connects to arguments in ‘Communication as Culture’ about how dominant media forms (here, the authoritative text) shape what counts as knowledge and truth.
• DEFINE: Illuminates ‘florilegia’ as the medieval practice of compiling excerpts from earlier authorities.
• SEED: Possible essay angle: the medieval inversion of evidence-versus-authority as a precursor to modern epistemic crises, where source reputation outweighs observation.

Related

• Medieval textual authority trumped sensory evidence when they conflicted (similarity 0.92)
• Medieval authors could innovate while citing only established authorities (similarity 0.85)
• Medieval hagiographers sought authentic sources despite modern-looking credulity (similarity 0.78)
• Isidore’s Etymologies shaped medieval Christian understanding as a systematic ordering of creation (similarity 0.78)