Education in England in the Middle Ages / Thesis Approved for the Degree of Doctor of Science in the University of London

by Albert William Parry

Here, then, is indicated the task which awaited the leaders of the Church, the revival of zeal for religion and letters. How were they to approach and solve the problem? We may legitimately assume that those who lived at the time, and who were in a position to know the special circumstances of the period, would also be in a position to consider the best policy to adopt. The method actually adopted by them for promoting the cause of “religion and letters” was, in the first place, by the establishment of monasteries. We learn that between 1066 and 1135, three monastic cathedrals, thirteen important monasteries for women, eleven important monasteries for men, seventeen Cluniac priories and sixty cells for foreign houses were founded in this country.[130]

One of the main effects of the Norman Conquest upon England, from an ecclesiastical point of view, was the substitution of Norman for the existing English bishops and abbots. Of the twenty-one abbots who attended the Council of London in 1075, thirteen were English; of these, only three held office at the accession of William Rufus.[131] From among the Normans of learning who came to occupy positions of importance in England may be mentioned Lanfranc and Anselm, successively Archbishops of Canterbury, Gundulf, Bishop of Rochester, Paul, Abbot of St. Albans, Water, Abbot of Evesham, Gilbert Crispin, Abbot of Westminster, Ernulf, Prior of Christchurch, Canterbury, and Thurstan, Abbot of Glastonbury, all of whom had been connected with the school attached to the monastery of Bec. Instances might also be given of ecclesiastics who came to this country from the schools of Rouen, of Cluny, of Mont St. Michel, of Bayeux, and of Laôn.[132]

These appointments are all the more significant because the Church in Normandy at this time was in a very flourishing condition, and was conspicuous for its learning;[133] hence the Norman Conquest, among other things, meant that men of learning and ability were appointed to the chief ecclesiastical positions in England.

Reference should be made here to the reforms effected at Cluny—a Benedictine monastery—in the second half of the eleventh century. Confining ourselves to the reforms that were connected with the intellectual activities of the monastery, we note that manual labour, in its literal sense, became practically non-existent. In its stead additional time was given to study and to the copying of manuscripts.[134]

The importance of Cluny for the educational progress of England arises from the fact that Lanfranc, who was appointed by the Conqueror to the position of Archbishop of Canterbury, had apparently studied the customs prevailing in that monastery,[135] and had based upon them the reforms which he sought to effect in his own Cathedral monastery at Canterbury,[136] and also endeavoured to introduce into other monasteries in this country.[137]

The two men who successively occupied the position of Archbishop of Canterbury after the Conquest are of special importance both from an ecclesiastical and from an educational point of view. Lanfranc had acquired a reputation as a schoolmaster before he took up residence in this country. His first school was conducted at Avranches, where he attracted many scholars; subsequently he entered the monastery of Bec, where he opened a school in connection with the monastery, the fame of which spread widely. Scholars educated at this school subsequently occupied most important ecclesiastical positions both here and on the continent. Among them were Pope Alexander II., and Ivo who afterwards became famous in connection with the school at Chartres.

After Lanfranc became Archbishop of Canterbury he issued his “Constitutiones,” a series of regulations for the control of the monastery of Christ Church, Canterbury. For the most part, these regulations relate to the stringent discipline which Lanfranc wished to enforce; educationally, they show that he followed the course of study in the monastery which had been customary since the council of Aix-la-Chapelle in 817. The curriculum of the school included the psalms, writing, and reading and speaking Latin.

After the death of Lanfranc, the see of Canterbury was vacant till a dangerous illness frightened William Rufus into the necessity for taking action in the matter. He compelled Anselm, who had succeeded Lanfranc as Prior of Bec, to accept the position. Under Anselm the reputation of the school at Bec had been enhanced, so that it had become generally regarded as the principal centre of learning in Western Europe. Little direct evidence of the connection of Anselm with education in England is available, but it may fairly be assumed that a man, whose learning was so generally recognised and whose influence on European thought was so great, would of necessity react upon the condition of learning in this country and tend to bring education into greater repute.

The work of the monasteries for education during the eleventh and twelfth centuries may be considered under three heads: (1) the part they played in connection with a revival of learning, (2) their connection with schools, and (3) their contribution to the production of books.

I.—The Revival of Learning.