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The Great Chain of Being

Medieval metaphor illustrating hierarchy of being from God to the lowliest non-being Chain stretched from foot of God’s throne to the tiniest particle of sand: a place for everything, and everything in its place. The Great Chain of Being. Hierarchy.

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The Great Chain of Being

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  1. Medieval metaphor illustrating hierarchy of being from God to the lowliest non-being Chain stretched from foot of God’s throne to the tiniest particle of sand: a place for everything, and everything in its place The Great Chain of Being

  2. Hierarchy • Top of chain represents perfection—God, according to Medieval Christian thinking • Every living and unliving thing had its place, its role and its “natural” way of being

  3. Angels • Just below God • Had reason and spirit, but no body • With no body, did not die • Could fall by free will (so the devil was a fallen angel)

  4. Humanity in the Hierarchy • Just below the angels • Could aspire to greater perfection (angelic or god-like) • Had reason in common with angels • Had body (mortality), unlike angels; had feeling, understanding • Could fall to the level of beast (free will)

  5. Higher Sensitive Class • Below human (no reason; no soul) • Hierarchy within each subset: Highest mammal? Highest fish? Highest bird?

  6. Lower Sensitive class • Have life and feeling • Creatures having touch but no feeling or memory (parasites or shellfish, for example) • Creatures having movement but not hearing, such as ants

  7. Vegetative Class • Existence and life, but no feeling, understanding, movement

  8. Inanimate • Elements, liquids and metals • No sensation, but durable for centuries • Water higher than earth • Four elements: earth, air, fire, water

  9. Order and Chaos • So long as every member of every class followed its specialty, stayed within its realm, order reigned in a sort of cosmic dance • Which being would violate this order, do you suppose?

  10. Disruption • Once man disrupted the order through sin or crime… • This unnatural disturbance shook the chain and disrupted every other class, especially if the human was high in his class (king or prince)

  11. In the Meantime • Chaos-disorder-corruption is reflected in all other realms (spirits wandering; corruption; madness) • Order must be restored • Truth must be revealed

  12. William was sure to include Haley’s Comet in the Bayeux Tapestry to show that Harold had disrupted the chain of being.

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