Thinkers of the 'Middle Ages'--The Askers of Silly Questions?

No thinker during the ‘Middle Ages’ concerned himself with the question of how many angels could dance on the head of a fine needle. That idea developed from Isaac D’Israeli’s criticism (or earlier)—a criticism dated within the early nineteenth century in regards to Aquinas’ treatment on angels. Isaac said that Aquinas might as well have asked how many angels could dance on the head of a needle. Snarky little bugger, isn’t he? In any case, no ‘Middle Age’ thinker, and certainly not Aquinas, entertained that particular question.

But did such thinkers entertain questions of that sort? In other words: Did any ‘Middle Age’ thinker entertain questions similar enough to the one Isaac thought Aquinas might as well have asked. The answer might be in the affirmative, I don’t know. ‘Middle Age’ thinkers tended to value different sorts of knowledge than those of the modern mind: knowledge about general truths, eternal truths and the like. To them, that sort of knowledge was true knowledge, they were not concerned with investigations of the natural world in order to produce this or that result. Through deductive reasoning and scholastic logic, these thinkers thought they could penetrate the mysteries of the world and provide new truths, all without leaving the comforts of their chair.

These questions seem silly to some modern thinkers, I do not doubt. But before we label ‘Middle Age’ thought irrelevant or inferior, à la Desiderius Eramus, we need to first examine our standard of measure. By which measure do we judge it inferior or irrelevant? Once we determine the standard, it needs to be established through argument rather than presumption, lest we beg a question.