How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
So was Francis called by his own nature hungrily to devour such knowledge as could be taught in those days, and, because there were no schools but the monastic schools, he had donned the habit first of a postulant, later of a novice. (5.6)
As in Francis's time, the Catholic Church was the main source of education, philosophy, and scientific knowledge during the Early Middle Ages. If you focus on Western history, that is. Muslim civilizations were enjoying a golden age, and were a tad busy developing algebra, learning how the planets rotate, and resurrecting their own forms of Plato and Aristotle's philosophy (source).
Quote #2
The principal industries of the continent, excepting a few seacoast regions, were hunting, farming, fighting, and witchcraft—the last being the most promising "industry" for any youth with a choice of careers and having in mind as primary ends, maximum wealth and prestige. (5.8)
Here, we see how the other side lives. Lacking in science and industry, the world has regressed to hunter-gather-warrior communities—much like the Goths and other Germanic tribes of the Early Middle Ages.
Quote #3
A General Council of the Church for the purpose of making a careful restatement of doctrine concerning the limitation of the magisterium to matters of faith and morals; it was a question which had been settled many times in history, but it seemed to rearise in new forms in every century, especially in those dark periods when man's "knowledge" of wind, stars, and rain was really only brief. (9.38)
Religious beliefs rush in to fill the void left by scientific knowledge. In this interesting scene, the Church works to limit its own power on such ideas to "matters of faith and morals," not science. It's especially interesting if you come from a country where science and religion aren't exactly seeing eye-to-eye.