Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/143

UNIVERSITIES AND OTHER CENTRES OF LEARNING 131 study of the past history of the Fatherland. In order to strengthen the national feeling of the people, and to rouse a spirit of heroism among the young, Wimpheling sets forth in glowing language the glorious past of Germany, with which no other nation on earth can compare either in military prowess, moral purity, or intellectual feats. The invention of printing alone would have constituted them the greatest benefactors of the world ; and in architecture, painting, and sculp- ture they were without doubt the greatest masters. He shows great insight in dealing with the intellectual conditions of the time, discusses the most eminent among the scholars and artists, and affords pleasant proof that even at that early period there were writers who could intelligently handle the history of civilisation and literature in combination with political history. What appeals to us most forcibly in this book is the perfect blending of genuine love for the Church with true patriotism, which indeed was a leading feature, not only of Wimpheling's labours and aspirations, but of the whole school of Christian Humanists. The de- fence of the unity and purity of the faith, together with inviolable loyalty to the empire, was looked on by them as their first duty, and the re-establishment of Christianity under the empire was their highest goal. Hence their reiterated warnings, by word and by writ- ing, of the danger to Christianity from the advance of the Turks, who threatened to overrun the whole of Europe, and of the risk of decay of the empire through the ambition and covetousness of its separate princes, from whom the Emperor Maximilian, enthusiastic for everything high and noble, could get no support. ' All eyes,' says Wimpheling, ' are turned on Maximilian ; on