Chivalry began to decline about the middle of the thirteenth century. “Froissart characterises and describes with picturesque detail this tendency to decay which, as time advanced, gradually resulted in a complete transformation, so that the chivalric ideal became lost and the independence of the soldier, once the slave only of his God and of his lady, gave way to the obsequiousness of the courtier, and finally became a selfish and pitiful servility.”[357]
What place does chivalric education occupy in the evolution of educational thought and practice? In the first place, it contributed to the elaboration of the educational ideal. Though, as we have indicated, chivalric education was based on utility, just as was the education of the schools of the cloister or of the church, yet it resulted in a wider connotation being given to the term “education.” Chivalric education aimed at fitting a man to live a life in society; whereas the education given by the monk or priest aimed only at fitting a man to lead a religious life. A change was also made in the estimation of educational values: the intellectual element of education (though not entirely ignored) was yet relegated to a subsidiary position, whilst the care of the body, notoriously absent from the ecclesiastical education, was exalted to an important position. It is interesting also to note that the custom of sending boys of good family away from home directly contributed to the practice of sending boys to a residential school, which is characteristic of the present day, especially among parents of good financial means. In addition, we must note that some of the ideals of chivalry have tended to live on in our great public schools of to-day; further, they have influenced our secondary schools and, to a lesser extent, our elementary schools. Admiration for physical prowess, as exemplified on the playing fields, still occupies the highest place in the mind of the schoolboy; the ideal of service survives in the custom of “fagging”; loyalty, honour, courtesy, and deference to external ceremonial continue to be distinctive marks of the “schools of the nobility” of to-day.
There is a danger in assuming that all the ideals of chivalry were equally high, and that the contribution of chivalry to education was greater than it really was. “Chivalry,” writes Cornish, “taught the world the duty of noble service willingly rendered. It upheld courage and enterprise in obedience to rule, it consecrated military prowess to the service of the church, glorified the virtues of liberality, good faith, unselfishness, and courtesy, and, above all, courtesy to women. Against these may be set the vices of ostentation, love of bloodshed, contempt of inferiors, and loose manners. Chivalry was an imperfect discipline, but it was a discipline, and one fit for the times. It may have existed in the world too long; it did not come into existence too early; and with all its shortcomings, it exercised a great and wholesome influence in lifting the medieval world from barbarism to civilisation.”[358]
The practice of sending the sons of the nobility and gentry to the houses of other nobles continued even after “chivalry” itself as a mode of life had died out. Thus, Sir Thomas More was brought up at the house of Cardinal Morton;[359] Cardinal Wolsey had a number of young lords residing with him;[360] in the household of the Earl of Northumberland in 1571 were a number of young gentlemen.[361]
For the purpose of teaching these young nobles, it was customary that there should be a “Maistyr of Gramer” as a part of the establishment of the house, who was responsible for the instruction “which is necessary for song and the rules of grammatical construction.”[362] Various household books bear testimony to the presence of this tutor.[363] It is not suggested that the education given at the houses of nobles and other great men was very effective from an academic point of view. In fact, the opinion in which letters were generally held at the time was not sufficiently high to serve as an inducement for study to be taken up seriously by young members of the higher social classes.[364] The course of study followed included Latin, French, writing, fencing, accounts, and music,[365] but this enumeration of subjects does not imply that a high standard was attained. A further consideration of this subject will be necessary when the period subsequent to the Reformation is dealt with.
BOOK III.
EDUCATION PASSING OUT OF CHURCH CONTROL.