The spiritual attitude that dominated the Romanesque age was
             not as strong and sure during the Gothic. In the earlier period, people
             believed that the world was a God - inspired mystery that could be
             expressed in simple, direct art. In the Renaissance that followed the
             Middle Ages, people believed , as did the Greeks, in cultivating
             rationalism and humanism. This change to a more secular age came
             about through the subtle influences of a variety of trends and events.
             When the year 1000 passed into history without the predicted end of
             the world, people began to think in terms of a more pleasurable life.
             Salvation through the remission of sins was still paramount in their
             thinking, but they reduced it to a formula. Scholasticism was the
             product of the medieval university, which had evolved from the earlier
             monastic schools. The medieval curriculum was divided into the so -
             called quadrivium and trivium. The quadrivium included arithmetic,
             geometry, astronomy, and music all under the heading of
             "Mathematics." While scholastic philosophy systematized salvation, it
             did not bring forth the deep and abiding faith that many believed it
             would. Worship tended toward an empty formalism, with the letter of
             the doctrine superseding the spirit of Christianity. Men like Dante
             were conscious of the inconsistency that existed between the Christian
             ideal and Christian practice. This decline of spiritual values gave rise
             to skepticism regarding spiritual authority and law. It cannot be said
             that the Church lost its hold, but certainly, the faithful were less
             concerned with the self - denial of earlier years and more interested in
             their own happiness and well - being. The arts, in turn, responded
             with a more humanistic expression. Another factor that weakened the
             focus on the afterlife was the Crusades. These pilgrimages to wrest
             the Holy Land from the Moslems w...