During the High Middle Ages European culture achieved a creative synthesis of Christian and Greco-Roman thought. This synthesis was made possible by the revival of learning that began in the late eleventh century. This revival was prompted by renewed peace, the growth of trade and towns, and increased contact with Byzantium and Islam. In the rising towns, cathedral schools taught a variety of subjects, but these were surpassed by the universities, guild-like organizations that taught subjects ranging from grammar and rhetoric to church law and theology. Relying on Latin translations of classical texts, the university curriculum was generally uniform throughout Europe, thus creating a cosmopolitan intellectual class.

From the universities emerged the highest expression of the medieval world-view. Based upon a Christianized version of the classical geocentric theory, that world-view drew sharp moral and spiritual distinctions between God, humanity, and lower animals; between heaven, earth, and hell; and between humanity's sinful nature and the redeemable soul. Never questioning this view, scholastic philosopher-theologians gradually joined it to the Greek rational tradition. The important early figures in this movement were Anselm, who devised a philosophical proof for the existence of God, and Abelard, who applied rigorous logic to many theological questions. During this period, European scholars translated into Latin Arabic translations of Aristotle and commentaries on those by Muslim thinkers. These texts both sparked a renewed interest in Greek philosophy and confronted Europeans with a comprehensive philosophy based on reason alone. Many theologians worked to harmonize Aristotle and Christian revelation. The most important of these was Aquinas, whose Summa Theologica synthesized belief and reason, proclaiming the value of rational activity while maintaining the primacy of divine revelation. The strict Aristotelians rejected Aquinas' reconciliation of Aristotle and Christian dogma, provoking a conservative backlash during which the church condemned many Aristotelian propositions, even some of Aquinas'.

The High Middle Ages also saw creative achievements in science, law, literature, and architecture. Working from Latin translations of Greek and Arabic texts, European scientists-including Albert the Great, Robert Grosseteste, and Roger Bacon-advanced understanding of optics, geography, and medicine. These thinkers also developed an anti-Aristotelian impetus theory of physics. Just as theologians and scientists applied classical reason to their subjects, medieval jurists brought it to bear on the law, recovering the Roman Corpus Juris Civilis and using it to systematize both civil and church law. Several types of literature flourished during this period, including Latin hymns, religious dramas, and student poetry; French chansons de geste such as the Song of Roland; heroic epics such as the Niebelungenlied; Arthurian romances; and troubadour poetry of courtly love that helped civilize the warrior class and offered more positive images of and roles for noble women. In his Divine Comedy, Dante achieved the greatest literary synthesis of the medieval world-view, creating a comprehensive poetic vision of damnation and salvation. With architectural innovations including the pointed arch and flying buttress, the heavy Romanesque style gave way to the Gothic. This style expressed the medieval vision of God's transcendent glory through soaring spaces infused with light from stained-glass windows.

The Middle Ages were long regarded as a dark age between classical and modern civilization. Now they are recognized as a creative period in their own right, a period exemplified by the genius of scholastic philosophy, Dante's Divine Comedy, and Gothic architecture.