516 nave
Aragon by occupying the Spanish part of the kingdom
in 1512.
See alsoASTURIAS-LEÓN,KINGDOM OF;BASQUES.
Further reading: Béatrice Leroy, “Navarre,”EMA,
2.1,006–1,007; Angus MacKay, Spain in the Middle Ages:
From Frontier to Empire, 1000–1500(New York: St. Martin’s
Press, 1977); Joseph O’Callaghan, A History of Medieval
Spain(Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 1975).
nave The nave was the central part of a church
between the main entrance or west portal and the chancel
and choir. It was often flanked by aisles. It was assigned
to the LAITYor the congregation and was separated from
the sanctuary by a screen and from the aisles by columns
or pillars. It was based on the LATINword for “ship,”
navis, since it resembled an upside-down ship or in
another way the ark of SALVATION. In Byzantine churches
the laity were sometimes even removed from it and
herded into the aisles. Aisles were often added to the
nave for chapels and side altars.
Further reading:Nicola Coldstream, Medieval Archi-
tecture(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002); Roger
Stalley, Early Medieval Architecture(Oxford: Oxford Uni-
versity Press, 1999); Rolf Toman, ed., Romanesque: Archi-
tecture, Sculpture, Painting(Cologne: Könemann, 1997);
Rolf Toman, ed., The Art of the Gothic: Architecture,
Sculpture, Painting(Cologne: Könemann, 1998).
navies SeeSHIPS AND SHIPBUILDING.
navigation(Mila ̄ha) Medieval navigation involved
several geographic areas: the Atlantic Ocean, the Red Sea,
the Indian Ocean, and the Mediterranean Sea. During the
Middle Ages the magneticCOMPASSbegan to be used in
the West, and shipbuilding technology progressed. The
Irish and the VIKINGS or Scandinavians had pioneered
open ocean navigation from the fifth century. The devel-
opment of the ASTROLABE, mathematically based charts,
the expansion of commerce, the reprovisioning needs of
the CRUSADES, and the rediscovery of the ideas of the
classical geographers all contributed to the advancement
of navigation during the Middle Ages. The great voyages
of the 15th century and beyond became possible as a
result of these discoveries and additional tools.
See alsoBRENDAN, SAINT; GEOGRAPHY AND CARTOGRA-
PHY;HENRY“THENAVIGATOR”;MAPS; PORTOLAN CHARTS;
SHIPS AND SHIPBUILDING.
Further reading:George Fletcher Bass, ed., A His-
tory of Seafaring: Based on Underwater Archaeology(New
York: Walker, 1972); J. A. Bennett, The Divided Circle: A
History of Instruments for Astronomy, Navigation, and Sur-
veying(Oxford: Phaidon, Christie’s, 1987); W. E. May,A
History of Marine Navigation(New York: Norton, 1973);
J. E. D. Williams, From Sails to Satellites: The Origin and
Development of Navigational Science (Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1992); W. G. L. Randles, Geography,
Cartography and Nautical Science in the Renaissance: The
Impact of the Great Discoveries(Aldershot: Ashgate/Vario-
rum, 2000).Neoplatonism and Platonism in the Middle Ages
Medieval Platonism, with its modern name Neoplaton-
ism, was not based on the direct study of the works of
Plato. Instead it was based on a movement from the early
Christian era, a school of thought of ALEXANDRIAand
linked to PLOTINUS. In western Europe, direct knowledge
of Plato’s work was limited to a translated part of the
Timaeus.Nonetheless a lack of translations and texts did
not prevent this form of Platonism from exercising influ-
ence on Christian metaphysics through intermediaries.
Numerous Christian authors, such as AUGUSTINE OF
HIPPO, integrated the ideas of such Platonism into their
thought; other commonly read authors sympathized with
and drew on Platonism, such as Cicero or BOETHIUS; and
the secondhand Platonic materials that entered the Latin
world through Arabic or Jewish intermediaries.
The pagan Neoplatonic philosophy of the third cen-
tury of PLOTINUSand Porphyry (ca. 232–ca. 305) influ-
enced Christian thought in terms of the concepts of the
hierarchy of spiritual beings, the spiritual name of reality,
the return of the soul to the One the unknowable source
from which all exists and emanates, through contempla-
tion, and the essential goodness and fullness of being itself.
On the other hand, Neoplatonism denied God’s voluntary
creation. Its triad or hypostases of the One, the Intelligence
or intuitive knowledge, and the Soul, the realm of discur-
sive thought and activity was completely unlike the Chris-
tian Trinity. The One’s omnipresence suggested pantheism.
More direct knowledge of explicit Neoplatonism was
not really accessible until the ideas of the Muslims AL-
FARABI, AL-GHAZALI, and IBNSINA(Avicenna) and those of
the Jewish scholar Avicebron or Ibn Gabirol (1021–ca.
1058) reached Latin Europe in the late 12th century. Their
thought combined the physical ideas of Aristotle and the
spiritual ideas of a Neoplatonic system to explain a uni-
verse. Later translations of Proclus (ca. 411–485), for
example, provided by WILLIAMof Moerbeke (1215–86)
went further, allowing a possible disentangling of Neopla-
tonism and Aristotelianism. The availability of these trans-
lations led to a disenchantment with the ideas of Aristotle
and certain aspects of SCHOLASTICthought. In the 15th
century a complete translation of the dialogues of Plato
was made by Marsilio FICINO. This allowed scholars and
humanists to discover the authentic thought of Plato and
to cultivate his philosophy as an alternative to ARIS-
TOTELIAN ANDSCHOLASTIC PHILOSOPHIES.
See alsoABÉLARDPETER; DIONYSIUS THEAREOPAGITE;
JOHNSCOTTUSERIUGENA;MIRANDOLA,PICO DELLA; PLATO
AND PLATONISM.