Education.
These schools began more and more to come under the influence of the old pagan culture and to drift away from their original purpose of giving religious instruction and to enter more upon the intellectual side. To counteract this they were finally taken away from the laity and brought under the influence of the clergy and came to be established in connection with the churches and then these schools became to be known as cathedral schools. They then gradually grew to become used for the training of the clergy. When monasteries arose in connection with the Christian church, there grew up in them schools for the training of those who were to become monks or priests. Thus education became to be less common than under Roman civilization and the schools to be used mostly for those who were to enter more directly into the work of the church.
One of the marked characteristics of the Middle Ages was the growth of the idea of education for all classes. In the early part of the period education was not considered highly important for any one, then came the idea of education for those who were to enter into clerical duties, and then last of all began to grow up the idea of education for all, whatever the future life work might be. That classical learning in its essential features was preserved to Europe was due to the Christian church, for keeping up the use of the Latin language the churchmen were thus given access to the written works of Roman culture and through them much was retained, especially in the monasteries. While the Roman civilization was almost annihilated in the central part of the empire, the extreme eastern and western parts were relatively undisturbed and classical learning was maintained in them, Ireland being the chief center in the West, from whence later this learning was returned to the central part of Europe. There were three distinct outbursts of learning following the darkest time of the period, the first being under Charlemagne (742-814) in France and Central Europe, the second in England under Alfred the Great (849-901), and the third under the Mohammedans in Spain.
The course of study in the schools of the Middle Ages was primarily designed to train the clergy to be able to participate in the church services and also to conduct them. The instruction was given in the elementary or song school which was followed by the grammar school and then by higher instruction. In the elementary school reading, writing, music, arithmetic, and Latin were taught. In reading the beginner was taught by the alphabetic method and when reading was begun careful attention was given to enunciation and accent and often boys were taught to read well without knowing the meaning of the words of the Latin they were reading. In writing wax tablets were used in the earlier times and then there came into use pen, ink, and parchment. This was an important phase of education because of the need of copying books. Music was an important subject because of its use in the church service. Arithmetic was begun by counting and then simple operations on the fingers, adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing being drilled into the pupils through oral work, but little written work being done. Latin was only of an elementary form, a beginning in conversation being made. The student who went on with his studies took up the subjects of the trivium—grammar, rhetoric and dialectic. If he wished to pursue his studies further he entered into the subjects of the quadrivium—arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
There were three kinds of medieval church schools—the monastic school, the cathedral school, and the parish school. The monastic school occupied a place within the monastery and it was primarily intended for those who were to enter into monastic life; there were no charges for tuition, the school being maintained through gifts from pupils, sometimes such being quite large; the poor pupils were supported by charity or they paid their way by copying books or by doing other things. In the cathedral school there was usually a song school, for elementary instruction, and a grammar school, for those who should want more advanced education. As assistants in the smaller churches needed instruction, parish schools were established, in which there was but little training given beyond that needed for participation in the church services.
Lay education arose in this period in three ways. In the first place it came through the education and training of those intended for knighthood, as such produced standards of deportment that impressed themselves upon the upper classes in such a way that as civilization advanced and means of intercourse widened there came a need of systematic instruction so that there arose the great public schools of England and similar schools upon the continent. In the second place the growing importance of the cities in industry and commerce led to the establishment of schools for the training of the city youth, so that the burgher school was produced. Under the guild system there arose a kind of industrial education and the need of means of instruction of the young of the guild members so that guild schools were formed.
During the period following the fall of Rome, the culture and learning of Greece and Rome were almost entirely lost to central and western Europe. Only here and there was a little retained, usually in some monastery where some of the old manuscripts were stored away. Yet learning was never entirely lost, and when the Crusades arose and the people of the West came in contact with the old Greek culture in eastern Europe and with the scientific learning of the Moslems, and who brought learning again into Spain, they brought back with them a widening interest in learning. Too, as commerce grew and wealth increased there became more leisure for learning and there grew up a desire for further knowledge and, so to the education as discussed in the foregoing paragraphs there was added a still higher form, that of the university.
The university arose during the Middle Ages. In its beginning it came neither directly from church or state. The awakening of a scientific spirit and the spreading abroad of discussion through scholasticism caused to arise centers around which learned men gathered about them the young men of the times. The earliest of these were the universities of Bologna and Salerno in the twelfth century. The former was for the study of law and the latter for medicine. The University of Paris originated near the same time and in it arose the four faculties—theology, philosophy, law, medicine—which are still extant to-day in the universities. Oxford, Cambridge, Vienna, and many other universities were formed during this period.
From the very first, special privileges were conferred upon the universities by the authorities. Sometimes they were allowed to have full control of their own affairs, having their own special courts. Again those connected with the universities were exempt from military service, except in time of great need, and from paying taxes. There were a number of other privileges granted. These privileges were not always granted because of the high regard in which the university was held but sometimes they were gained by the university threatening to remove to another place and even doing this, for there were no great plants in those days demanding permanent residence as now, as professors and students were about all there was to a medieval university as the buildings usually were furnished for them and there were no great libraries or laboratories or other equipment. These privileges often led to abuses on the part of the students for many of them led dissolute lives and others became bullies and adventurers. Whatever may have been the cause, it is too true that the moral tone of the medieval university was low.
The medieval university in its organization was similar to the guild, the term signifying a company of persons that were joined together for study. There came to be a natural grouping together of the students from the same part of the world so that there arose the nations, and each year each nation elected a councillor, who was to be the chief to act for the nation. The university was organized into faculties, the complete number being four, of arts, law, medicine, and theology. Each faculty elected a dean, as its representative, and then deans and councillors elected the rector, the head of the university. In the South the rector was usually a student while in the North he was generally elected from the body of professors.
At first the courses offered differed in the various universities, but later the courses were fixed either by a papal decree or by the faculty. The student was not only to acquire the subject, but to be able to debate upon it. He was expected to memorize the professor's lecture and to prepare himself in debate so as to be ready to cope with students taking the other side of the question.
Usually the courses in arts were taken by the younger students as a preparation for the professional training. At first the bachelor's degree meant only that the one receiving it was granted the privilege to enter upon the work leading to the other degrees, but later it became a separate degree. Master and doctor at first were about of equal rank, and then later doctor represented a higher period of learning.
The Church Fathers were quite severe in their ideas of education. The most famous writings among them on the subject are by Saint Jerome on the education of girls, being letters to a mother. Some of the admonitions are as follows:
"Do not allow Paula to eat in public, that is, do not let her take part in family entertainments, for fear that she may desire the meats that may be served there. Let her learn not to use wine, for it is the source of all impurity. Let her food be vegetables, and only rarely fish; and let her eat so as always to be hungry.
"For myself, I entirely forbid a young girl to bathe.
"Never let Paula listen to musical instruments; let her even be ignorant of the uses served by the flute and the harp.
"Do not let Paula be found in the ways of the world (emphatic paraphrase for streets), in the gatherings and in the company of her kindred; let her be found only in retirement.
"Do not allow Paula to feel more affection for one of her companions than for others; do not allow her to speak with such a one in an undertone.
"Let her be educated in a cloister, where she will not know the world, where she will live as an angel, having a body but not knowing it, and where, in a word, you will be spared the care of watching over her."[217]
Whatever we may think of the foregoing, we must agree that the following advice is most wholesome:
"Do not chide her for the difficulty she may have in learning. On the contrary, encourage her by commendation, and proceed in such a way that she shall be equally sensible to the pleasure of having done well, and to the pain of not having been successful.... Especially take care that she do not conceive a dislike for study that might follow her into a more advanced age."[218]
There is not very much given on education of women during the medieval period. It is no doubt true that girls received even less education than did boys. During the time of chivalry the young women, like the young men, were often educated in the castle of some knight or lord, being trained in household management, music, and gentle manners. It would seem that sometimes girls had in their own homes governesses for training them. Sometimes girls and little boys were sent together to nunneries to be educated. Here and there are found references which imply that some women were well educated for their times and particularly so in languages, reading and writing and speaking English, French and Spanish. But in the main it was considered that all the training necessary for the girls was a little elementary education and such knowledge of housework and management as would fit them for wives.