Two social classes remain: the middle classes and the “gutter poor,” as Mr. Leach elegantly terms them.[126] Which of these two classes did the Church endeavour to educate?
The answer is obvious when we consider the social structure of the period. For practical purposes,[127] the middle class in England did not exist until about the close of the fourteenth century. The social distinctions between the various classes of tenants on a manor were so slight as to be negligible; one class tended to merge into the other, so that it was impossible to draw a clear line of demarcation between them. Consequently when the question is asked as to the social grade for whom the Church provided educational facilities, the answer is that such facilities were offered regardless of social standing, and were available for the poorest, even the “gutter poor” if the term is desired.
Indisputable evidence of the social grade of those who attended the schools of the Church in the tenth century is available. Not only were the various classes of persons who were employed on agricultural labour, such as shepherds, cowherds, swineherds, represented, but even members of the “unfree” class are described as being present in the school of which Abbot Aelfric gives us a picture.[128]
As we shall be obliged to return to this subject again, on account of the common misconception, we may now defer further consideration.
CHAPTER I.
EDUCATIONAL LABOURS OF THE MONASTERIES.
The place of the monasteries in connection with the educational life of the country will become evident from a consideration of the special circumstances of the time. Monasticism, as we have shown, originated mainly from a sense of inability to lead a Christian life in an atmosphere largely tinged with paganism, and in which the prevailing ideal of life had sunk to a very low standard. The remarkable success of monasticism led to a great increase in the number of those who desired to enrol themselves as members of an organised religious community. In course of time, not only had Christianity become the generally accepted religion of the western world, but the monks had come to be regarded as the élite among the clergy. As a class, the secular clergy of this country of the ninth and tenth centuries had not shown themselves inspired with the same zeal, self-sacrifice, and fervour, which had marked the early missionaries; apparently they had been attracted to the clerical profession by a variety of motives, and not invariably from a sense of vocation. Learning does not appear to have been highly esteemed among them, and it would be a difficult matter to name, in this country at this period, many secular priests of outstanding ability. Generally speaking, the term “secular clergy” had come to denote men of lower ideals, of less learning, of less spirituality, and of less efficiency, than the regular clergy.
The monastic mission of the eleventh and twelfth centuries consequently differed appreciably from that undertaken by the Benedictine and Celtic monks in the seventh century. Originally the aim of the monks was the introduction of Christianity; now the task of the monks is to make the Church more efficient and powerful. Efficiency and power can be acquired by the Church in various ways—by its temporal wealth, by its political power, by its spiritual zeal, by its intellectual activities. It is only with the last named aspect of the work of the Church that we are here concerned. Education and religion were generally regarded as identical at the period with which we are dealing; the progress of religion was held to involve the spread of education. “Zeal for letters and religion,” remarks William of Malmesbury, “had grown cold many years before the coming of the Normans.”[129]