Practical and occupational character.
Thus education in early Rome was practical, and, to some extent, occupational. It was intended to produce efficiency as fathers, citizens, and soldiers. It consisted in training the youths to be healthy and strong in mind and body, and sedate and simple in their habits; to reverence the gods, their parents, the laws, and institutions; and to be courageous in war, and familiar with the traditional agriculture, or the conduct of some business. It did produce a nation of warriors and loyalcitizens, but it inevitably tended to make them calculating, selfish, overbearing, cruel, and rapacious. They never possessed either lofty ideals or enthusiasm. Their training was best adapted to a small state, and became unsatisfactory when they had spread over the entire Italian peninsula. The golden age of valor and stern virtue had then largely departed, and they began unconsciously to seek a more universal culture. While such a people regarded the Greeks as visionary, just as the Greeks looked upon them as barbarians, they felt instinctively that only by absorption of the Hellenic ideals could their cosmopolitan ambitions be carried out. On the other hand, it was through the organization which the Romans were able to furnish, that the great ideals formulated by the Greeks were destined to be rendered effective and to become a matter of value and concern to civilization ever since.
The Absorption of Greek Culture.—There was a gradual infiltration of Greek culture into Rome from very early days. This received a great impulse throughSpread through Alexander and Roman conquests.the conquests of Alexander (334-323 B. C.) and the absorption of Macedon by Rome (168 B. C.), but it was not until about half a century after Greece itself had become a Roman province (146 B. C.), that the Greek educational ideals and institutions can be said to have been completely absorbed by Rome. This new type of education was thus well established early in the first century B. C. It may be said to have remained almost unmodified until toward the end of the second century A. D., when political conditions at Rome became most unstable and the period of degeneracy set in. During these three centuries of Hellenized Roman education,three grades of schools resulted from the amalgamation. They were the (1)ludusor school of thelitterator, as the lowest school was called; (2) the ‘grammar’ school,The schools resulting.taught by agrammaticusorlitteratus; and (3) the schools of rhetoric and oratory, which furnished a somewhat higher education.
The Ludus.—The ludus, or lowest school, may possibly have existed before the process of Hellenization even began, but if it did, it must have been intended simply to supplement the more informal training of the home.Its content and methods.Whenever originated, it probably taught at first only reading, writing, and rudimentary calculation, as in the family, through the medium of historical anecdotes, ballads, religious songs, and theTwelve Tables. But as the Greek influence crept in more and more, the literary content was somewhat extended. About the middle of the third century B. C., Livius Andronicus translated theOdysseyinto Latin; and a number of epics, dramas, and epigrams were soon composed after Greek models. These works, in whole or part, were introduced into the curricula of theludiand by the beginning of the first century B. C., theTwelve Tableshad been displaced by the LatinizedOdysseyof Andronicus. The methods of instruction werememoriterand imitative. The names and alphabetic order of the letters were first taught without any indication of their significance or even shape, and all possible combinations of syllables were committed before any words were learned. Reading and writing were then taught by dictation, and, in tracing the letters on wax-tablets with the stylus (Fig. 5), the hand of the pupil was at first guided by the teacher. Calculation was learned by counting on the fingers, by means ofpebbles, or upon the abacus, and eventually sums were worked upon the tablets.
(a)(b)(c)Fig. 5.—School materials from wall paintings: (a) Wax tablet andcapsa, containing rolls, or books. (b) Threestili,capsa, and roll leaning against it. (c) Wax tablet, withstilustied to it.
(a)(b)(c)
Fig. 5.—School materials from wall paintings: (a) Wax tablet andcapsa, containing rolls, or books. (b) Threestili,capsa, and roll leaning against it. (c) Wax tablet, withstilustied to it.
Fig. 6.—Scene at aludusor Roman elementary school, taken from a fresco found at Herculaneum.
Fig. 6.—Scene at aludusor Roman elementary school, taken from a fresco found at Herculaneum.
Methods so devoid of interest were naturally accompaniedDiscipline and teachers.by severe discipline. The rod, lash, and whip seem to have been in frequent use, and the names ordinarily applied to schoolmasters in Latin literature are suggestive of harshness and brutality. Moreover, a fresco found at Herculaneum depicts a boy held over the shoulders of another, with the master beating the victim upon the bare back (Fig. 6). Under these circumstances, no real qualifications were required of the teacher, and his social standing was low. The Greek custom of having the boy accompanied to and fromSlaves to accompany pupils.school by a slave that was otherwise incapacitated by age or physical disability soon came to be imitated byBuildings.the Romans. When a special building was employed for the school, it was usually a mere booth or veranda, and the pupils sat on the floor or upon stones.
Grammar Schools.—The ‘grammar’ school grew out of the increasing literary work of theludus. But, while offering a more advanced course, it would seem to belong in part at least to the elementary stage of education, especially as its work was never sharply divided from that of theludus. The young Roman might attend both a Greek and a Latin grammar school, but, in case he did, usually went first to the former. The curriculum in eachCurriculum.consisted, according to Quintilian, of ‘the art of speaking correctly’ and ‘the interpretation of the poets,’ or, in other words, of a training in grammar and literature. ‘Grammar’ may, however, have included some knowledge of philology and derivations, as well as drill on the parts of speech, inflections, syntax, and prosody, andpractice in composition and paragraphing. The literary training was obtained by writing paraphrases of the best authors, textual and literary criticism, commentaries, and exercises in diction and verse-writing. Some other studies, like arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, geography, and music may also have been added in time, from the suggestions of Plato, but the Romans naturally gave them a practical bearing. Some gymnastics, mostly forMethods and discipline.military training, were often in the course. The methods in the grammar schools were somewhat better than those of theludus, but the commentary of the teacher on the text was usually taken downverbatimby the pupil. The discipline, in consequence, was not much in advance of that of the lower schools. But the accommodations forBuildings.these secondary schools were decidedly superior, and the buildings not only possessed suitable seats for the pupils and teacher, but were even adorned with paintings and sculpture.
Rhetorical Schools.—The ‘rhetorical’ schools were a development of work in debate that had gradually grown up in the grammar schools. The earliest of these institutions at Rome were Greek, but by the first century B. C., there had arisen a number in which Latin was used. While they afforded a legal and forensic training, andProfessional, but broad training.seem more professional in spirit than the grammar schools, they were by no means narrow. The orator was for the Roman the typical man of culture and education, and he was supposed not only to have been trained in eloquence and law and history, but to possess wide learning, grace, culture, and knowledge of human emotions, sound judgment, and good memory. Besides a training in oratory, these schools furnished a linguistic and literaryeducation of some breadth. They may be considered as belonging partly to the secondary and partly to the higher stage of education. The youths were exercised first in declamation on ethical and political subjects, which would bring in fine distinctions in Roman law and ethics, and later they were given practice in three types of speeches,—deliberative, judicial, and panegyric. Attention was given to all the various factors in making a successful oration: the matter, arrangement, style, memorizing, and delivery.
Universities.—When the young Roman had completed his course at a rhetorical school, he might, if he were ambitious, go to the university at Athens, Alexandria,Spread throughout the empire.or Rhodes for a higher training. Later, a university also sprang up at Rome, and before long these institutions spread throughout the empire. The Greek influence caused a large number of these institutions to be established in the East, but some were also located in the West. The latter gave more emphasis to practical subjects. In several instances the universities found their nucleus in one of the many libraries that were started with books brought from the sacking of Greece and Asia Minor.
Subsidization of Education.—Thus, through the adoption of the institutions of the Greeks, Roman education became thoroughly Hellenized. Although all the types of schools spread everywhere in the empire, there was, of course, no such thing as a real school system, except as the government gradually came to subsidize all schools. This the different emperors accomplished inImperial control of schools.various ways,—by contributing to school support, paying a salary to certain teachers, or granting them exemptionfrom taxation and military service, or offering scholarships to a given number of pupils. As a result, schools came to be established in many cases for the purpose of getting these special privileges for the teachers, rather than for promoting education. To stop these abuses, the emperor in 425 A. D. decreed that he had the sole authority to establish schools, and that a penalty would be laid upon anyone else assuming this prerogative. In this way the schools came fully into the hands of the imperial government, and the basis for the idea of public education was laid for the first time in history.
Decay of Education.—Before this, however, Roman education had deteriorated. With the political and moral decay that were obvious after the second centuryFormal and superficial character.A. D., it became a mere form and mark of the aristocracy. The training in oratory was continued, because it was a necessary qualification for entering the senatorial class, but it had lost its real function, since there was no longer any occasion for oratory when the emperor dominated all the government and law. It was not intended to furnish a training of any value in life, and the careful literary preparation was more and more shirked. While the grammarians and rhetoricians were still held in high esteem, they contented themselves with mere display, and wandered from town to town more for the purpose of entertaining than of teaching. Glittering phrases, epigrams, and other artificialities took the place of instruction and argument.
Influence of Roman Education.—But the Roman education and civilization had left their impress upon the world. This was accomplished by the practical nature of the Romans, and by their ability to make abstractideals concrete and embody them in institutions that have been useful to civilization and progress. Through them was created the idea of a universal empire, which has been influential throughout the world’s history.Institutions furnished for the ideals of Judea and Greece.Similarly, the concept of law originating with the Greek philosophers became in the hands of the Romans the great system of principles that underlies and guides all our present civilization. And it was the Roman genius for organization that institutionalized a despised religious sect and expanded it into the position of the greatest world religion. If Judaism furnished the world with exalted religious ideals, and if from Hellenism came striking intellectual and æsthetic concepts, the institutions for realizing these ideals originated with Rome.
Graves,Before the Middle Ages(Macmillan, 1909), chap. XIII; Monroe,Text-book(Macmillan, 1905), chap. IV. Interesting brief monographs on the subject are Clarke, G.,Education of Children at Rome(Macmillan, 1896), and Wilkins, A. S.,Roman Education, (Cambridge University Press, 1905). See also the treatment in Laurie,Pre-Christian Education(Longmans, Green, 1900), pp. 319-436.
Christianity accomplished much in the reform of the degraded Roman society. The earliest education of the Christians came through their ‘otherworldly’ life, but actual schools, called ‘catechumenal,’ before long furnished a moral and religious training.After the amalgamation of Christianity with Græco-Roman philosophy, ‘catechetical’ schools furnished a higher training. When higher education came to be utilized by the bishops for training their clergy, institutions known as ‘episcopal’ or ‘cathedral’ schools were founded.Later, although opposition grew up among the Christians to the culture of Greece and Rome, its impress was found to have been left upon the doctrines and organization of Christianity.
Christianity accomplished much in the reform of the degraded Roman society. The earliest education of the Christians came through their ‘otherworldly’ life, but actual schools, called ‘catechumenal,’ before long furnished a moral and religious training.
After the amalgamation of Christianity with Græco-Roman philosophy, ‘catechetical’ schools furnished a higher training. When higher education came to be utilized by the bishops for training their clergy, institutions known as ‘episcopal’ or ‘cathedral’ schools were founded.
Later, although opposition grew up among the Christians to the culture of Greece and Rome, its impress was found to have been left upon the doctrines and organization of Christianity.
The Ideals of Early Christianity.—The actual social conditions amid which the religion of Christ was born, and which it was destined to reform, were most degraded.Impotence of Roman and other ideals.The Roman world had become sunk in vice and corruption. The Roman virtues of patriotism, bravery, and service to the state had largely disappeared with the development of the empire, and were impotent in checking the widespread depravity. Nor could the lofty Greek thought accomplish much, since it was too intellectual and philosophic to touch the masses. The debased Eastern religions, which Rome had admitted in her easy-going skepticism, were still less productive of good. While the more philosophic forms of Judaism andthe Roman development of Stoicism tended to raise the tone of morals and pave the way for Christianity, not even these forces could have accomplished a successful reform in Roman society, without the stimulus and wideUniversal appeal of Christianity.appeal of the Christian teachings. Christianity was the ethical and universal religion needed as a leaven. Its truths were based on faith rather than understanding, and its appeal was to the instinctive promptings and emotions rather than to the intellect. This made it democratic and enabled it to reach the masses, for everybody can feel and have faith, even where he cannot understand.
Early Christian Life as an Education.—Thus it came about that, while the earliest Christians were without schools of their own and were largely illiterate, their religion itself served as an education. They were practically deprived of intellectual development, but they received moral training of a very high order. The very dishonor and unpopularity of the Christian religion, andSegregation.the segregation of their Church membership, gave the Christian life itself all the effect of a species of schooling. The early Christians showed an extreme reaction to the vicious morals of the time, and endeavored to cultivate the higher ideals inculcated by the teachings of Christ. They had gathered from the statements of the Master that he would soon return and this world would come to an end. They, therefore, concerned themselves entirely‘Otherworldliness.’with a preparation for ‘Jerusalem the golden’ and ‘the life everlasting,’ and the ideal of this most primitive Christian training may be described as ‘otherworldly.’
Catechumenal Schools.—Early in the second century,however, when the Church began to extend itself rapidly, it seemed necessary to insist upon some sort of formal instruction as preliminary to Church membership. It was also deemed wise to fix a period of probation after the profession of one’s faith in Christ, in order that informers might not be admitted to the services, or the Church disgraced by apostasy or the lapses of those whoCause of their organization.had not well considered the step. These demands were met by the gradual institution of popular instruction in Christian principles for the Jewish and pagan proselytes, who were known ascatechumens. While some effort was made to lift the pupils of these ‘catechumenal’ schools from the bondage of ignorance, they were primarily trained in the things needful for their souls’ salvation, and the ideal of Christian education remained prevailingly ‘otherworldly.’ The instruction was carried onElementary content.in the portico or other special portion of the church; and consisted in moral and religious teachings, reading and memorizing the Scriptures, together with some training in early psalmody. The course usually lasted three years, and while some distinction was made between the general division of catechumens and those almost ready for baptism, there is little ground for supposing that the schools were divided into actual classes. The meetings in the church were held several times a week, or even every day.
Amalgamation of Christianity with Græco-Roman Philosophy.—But while the Christian ideals and training were developing and crystallizing, the Greek philosophy in its Roman form was being continued and expanded.Græco-Roman training a worldly one.This movement has been seen to be very different from early Christianity in its general purpose.It concerned itself chiefly with life in this world. The problem it attempted to solve was how one should live so as to get the most satisfaction out of life. The Hellenized Roman schools may, therefore, be accounted as ‘worldly’ as the Christian schools were ‘otherworldly’ in their aim. A general feeling of this marked difference in purpose and organization between Christianity and the contemporaneous Græco-Roman culture was destined to cause an opposition to pagan learning to spring upUnion of the worldly and otherworldly,—among the Christians. But for two or three centuries this is scarcely noticeable, especially in the Eastern empire, where it was felt that philosophy was, like Christianity, a search after truth; and, as far as it went, confirmed the Bible. There was even a tendency to unite the two movements. As the new religion spread throughout the Roman world, and was compelled to defend itself against charges of immorality, atheism, and treason, the educated converts attempted to set forth the Christian teachings in terms of Greek thought, and to solve speculative problems that had never been considered by Jesus and his disciples. The first Hellenizing ChristiansApologistsare known asApologists, since their efforts were directed toward reconciling Christianity with the Græco-Roman philosophy. In general, they mingled Stoicism with the teachings of Jesus. Later, other Hellenistic philosophers unified Christian doctrine with the principles of Pythagoras, Plato, and Aristotle. Perhaps the most extreme of these philosophic positions within Christianity was a combination with Platonism known asand Gnostics.Gnosticism, which was intended to be a sort of esoteric knowledge and to show the relation of Christianity to other religions and to the universe.
Catechetical and Episcopal or Cathedral Schools.—In this way, during the second and third centuries, all the Christians at Alexandria, which had become the great seat of Hellenistic philosophy, had their theology tinctured with Greek thought. Before long, a sort of theological, or ‘catechetical’ school, was gradually organized at this center, to counteract the heathen schools there and to afford higher instruction for ChristianPupils in the school at Alexandria allowed to study all Greek subjects.teachers and leaders. This school had no building of its own, and the students met at the teacher’s house, but they were able to take advantage of the facilities at the University of Alexandria. In addition to a thorough training in the Bible, the pupils were allowed to study all types of Greek philosophy, except Epicureanism, the whole range of sciences, classical Greek literature, grammar, rhetoric, and other higher subjects of the pagan schools, but from a different point of view. Thus the Græco-Roman and the Christian movements had formed an alliance in education, and in this catechetical school we find an attempted union of the ‘otherworldly’ ideal with the ‘worldly.’
The best known heads of this school at Alexandria were Clement (150-215) and Origen (185-253). They were among the most noted of the Eastern Fathers in the philosophic interpretation of Christianity, and their work contributed not a little to heretical doctrine. Origen may even have been expelled for heresy. At any rate, he opened a new school of the same sort at Cæsarea, where he was kindly received. Other catecheticalOther catechetical schools.schools sprang up rapidly at Antioch, Edessa, Nisibis, and elsewhere throughout the East. Later the accession of the followers of Nestorius, whose Hellenizedtheology had in 431 been proscribed by the Church at the Council of Ephesus, very greatly increased the importance of these cities as intellectual centers. In addition to the translations already there, the Nestorian Christians accumulated a larger range of the original Greek treatises on philosophy, science, and medicine.
But before this, higher training of the Hellenic typeBishops start Hellenic schools for their clergy.came to be regularly used by the bishops in training their clergy, and promotion in the Church began to depend upon having had this education. So higher schools of this sort were gradually instituted in every bishopric at the see city, and became known eventually as ‘episcopal’ or ‘bishop’s’ schools, or, from their location at the bishop’s church, as ‘cathedral’ schools. These cathedral schools became the most important educational institutions of the Middle Ages. From them were derived all the schools of Western Europe, but the bishop soon became too busy to attend to them himself and was forced to commit them to various officials. Thus they developed in time into at least three types,—the ‘grammar’ school, taught by one of the cathedral canons, known as thescholasticus; the ‘song’ or music school, taught by thecantororprecentor; and the ‘chorister’s’ school, which offered a combination of the training in the two other schools. Thus the cathedral schools virtually took the place of the old pagan schools supported by the Roman emperors.
Influence of Græco-Roman Culture upon Christianity.—However, by the century after the foundation of the catechetical school at Alexandria, the ChristiansGrowth of opposition to the Græco-Roman culture.had begun to grow suspicious of Græco-Roman culture and the ‘worldly’ ideal in education. Even the Easternor Greek Fathers of the Church appear to have cooled considerably in their attitude toward philosophy, and the Western or Latin Fathers were more pronounced in their opposition. Roman Christians could not forget the immorality of those who had been connected with this culture, nor the abuse and insults that these pagans had heaped upon them. They felt, too, that the one great mission of the Church was ethical, and that Christ’s second coming was at hand, and that all philosophy and learning were somewhat impertinent.
Nevertheless, despite this growth of opposition to pagan philosophy, primitive Christianity could not endure in its simplicity after it had been in contact with the advanced intellectual concepts of the Greeks, as modified by the organizing genius of the Romans. Both Greece and Rome left a permanent impress upon Christianity; and, though dead, they yet live in the Christian Church. The influence of Greek philosophy is seen in the formulation of a system of Christian doctrine.But great influence of Greece and Rome upon Christian doctrine and Church organization.This appears in the development of theApostles’ Creedduring the second century, in the selection of a canon of sacred writings orNew Testamentduring the third century, and still more in theNicene Creed(325), which was not formulated until Christianity had been largely Hellenized. Similarly, the Greek tendency to attribute universal validity to their sacred writings, and the pomp, ceremonies, and mysteries of the Hellenic worship, are more or less apparent in the various ecclesiastical tenets and usages. On the other hand, the Roman concepts of administration appear in the organization of the Church, which seems to have closely paralleled the Roman civil polity. By the third centurypriests and bishops had largely come to be similarly located, and to correspond in control, to the Roman district and city magistrates respectively. And in 445 the recognition of the supremacy of the Bishop of Rome established a visible head of the entire Church, corresponding to the position of the emperor on the civic side.
Rise of the Monastic Schools.—Thus it has been seen how the two great movements of Græco-Roman culture and Christian teaching arose independently, in time united and later separated, although, after separation, the Christian doctrines were somewhat affected by their long association with pagan philosophy. Eventually the pagan schools were suppressed by the edict of Justinian in 529 A. D., and the Christian education was left alone in the field. It then found an additionalReversion to otherworldliness.means of expression in the ‘monastic’ schools, in which there was naturally a tendency to revert to an ascetic or ‘otherworldly’ ideal, and to leave intellectual attainments largely out of consideration. But these monastic institutions are to be grouped with mediævalism and belong more distinctly to the next chapter.
Graves,Before the Middle Ages(Macmillan, 1909), chap. XII; Monroe,Text-book(Macmillan, 1905), pp. 221-243. For the moral effect of Christianity, see Lecky, W. E. H.,History of European Morals(Appleton, 1869), vol. II, pp. 1-100. Other places in the chapter will be illumined by reading Ayer, J. C., Jr.,Catechumenal SchoolsandCatechetical Schools(Monroe Cyclopædia of Education, vol. I); Dill, D.,Roman Society in the Last Century of the Western Empire(Macmillan, 1899), especially book V; Hatch,E.,The Influence of Greek Ideas and Usages upon the Christian Church(Hibbert Lectures, 1888, Williams, London, 1891); Hodgson, G.,Primitive Christian Education(Clark, Edinburgh, 1906); and Leach, A. F.,Bishop’s SchoolsandCathedral Schools(Monroe Cyclopædia of Education, vol. I).
During the Middle Ages the German hordes absorbed ancient civilization under the authoritative guidance of the Church, and the chief means of leavening the barbarian lump was found in the cathedral and monastic schools.Monasteries grew up to counteract the prevailing worldliness. To keep the monks busy, Benedict prescribed the copying of manuscripts, and this literary work rendered schools necessary. In these monastic schools were taught the ‘seven liberal arts’ by catechetical methods.Thus monasticism helped preserve learning and education, although it was somewhat hostile to the classics and science.
During the Middle Ages the German hordes absorbed ancient civilization under the authoritative guidance of the Church, and the chief means of leavening the barbarian lump was found in the cathedral and monastic schools.
Monasteries grew up to counteract the prevailing worldliness. To keep the monks busy, Benedict prescribed the copying of manuscripts, and this literary work rendered schools necessary. In these monastic schools were taught the ‘seven liberal arts’ by catechetical methods.
Thus monasticism helped preserve learning and education, although it was somewhat hostile to the classics and science.
The Middle Ages as a Period of Assimilation and Repression.—The Middle Ages may be regarded as an era of assimilation and of repression. On the one hand, the rude German hordes, who had by the sixth century everywhere taken possession of the decadent ancient world, were enabled during this period to rise gradually to such a plane of intelligence and achievement thatAbsorption of Greek, Roman and Christian civilization.they could absorb the Greek, Roman, and Christian civilization, and become its carriers to modern times. On the other hand, that this absorption might take place, it was necessary that the individual should conform to the model set, and it was inevitable that a bondage to authority, convention, and institutions should ensue.
Authoritative attitude of the Church.
The main power in effecting this subservience on the part of mediæval society was the Christian Church. For it was but natural during the period of assimilation that the Church, which had become completely organized and unlimited in power, should stand as the chief guide and schoolmaster of the Germanic hosts. By the decree of Justinian in 529 A. D., which closed the pagan schools and marks the beginning of the Middle Ages, Christian education was left without a rival. Hence the cathedral and monastic schools became almost the sole means of leavening the barbarian lump. Contrary to the view commonly accepted, the educational activities of the cathedral institutions were more important and general than those of the monastic schools. But the former have already been somewhat discussed, and so much relating to the course and services of the latter will also apply to them that we may now turn to a detailed description of the monastic schools.
The Evolution and Nature of Monasticism.—To understand these schools, it will be necessary to examine the movement out of which they arose. Monasticism grew up through the corruption in Roman society and the desire of those within the Church for a deeper religious life. Christianity was no longer confined to small extra-social groups meeting secretly, but was represented in all walks of society, and mingled with the world. It had become thoroughly secularized, and even the clergyReaction to prevailing vice.had in many instances yielded to the prevailing worldliness and vice.
Under these circumstances there were Christians who felt that the only hope for salvation rested in fleeing from the world and its temptations and taking refuge inan isolated life of asceticism and devotion. This ledHermits and monasteries.eventually to the foundation of monasteries, in which the monks lived apart in separate cells, but met for meals, prayers, communion, and counsel. Monasticism started in Egypt, but soon spread into Syria and Palestine, and then into Greece, Italy, and Gaul. But in the WestMonasticism in the West.monasticism gradually adopted more active pursuits and milder discipline, and the monks turned to the cultivation of the soil and the preservation of literature.
Benedict’s ‘Rule’ and the Multiplication of Manuscripts.—These monastic activities were especially crystallized and promoted by the Benedictine ‘rule.’ This was a code formulated by St. Benedict in 529 for his monastery at Monte Cassino in Southwest Italy, and it was generally adopted by the monasteries of Western Europe. In the forty-eighth chapter of the ‘rule’ heManual labor and reading required.commanded that the monks each day engage in manual labor for at least seven hours and in systematic reading for at least two hours. The requirement of daily reading led to the collection and reproduction of manuscripts, and each monastery soon had ascriptorium, or ‘writing-room,’ in one end of the building (Fig. 7). Most of the works copied were of a religious nature and were limited in number, but the monks were occasionally occupied with the Latin classics, and they also became the authorsResulting literary activities.of some original literature, which included histories of the Church, the monasteries, and the times, as well as works upon religious topics.
Amalgamation of and Irish Christianity.—This preservation of learning and development of literatureEspecial preservation of learning in English monasteries.was especially apparent in the monasteries of England It came about through the amalgamation at theCouncil of Whitby, in 664, of the Roman Church in England, with Irish Christianity, which had preserved an unusually high order of learning after its isolation. An immense enthusiasm for the Church, culture, and literature of Rome resulted from this merging of the rival organizations, and the English monasteries, such as Jarrow and Wearmouth, and cathedral schools, like York, became the great educational centers for Europe.
The Organization of the Monastic Schools.—The literary work of the monasteries soon led to the establishment of regular schools within their walls (Fig. 8).Length of course.The course in these monastic schools may often have lasted eight or ten years, as boys of ten or even less were sometimes received, and no one could become a regular member of the order before he was eighteen. By the ninth century the schools sometimes also admitted pupilsTypes of pupils.who never expected to enter the order. These latter were calledexterniin distinction to theoblati, who were preparing to become monks. Some training was also given women in convents for nuns, such as that established by the sister of Benedict.
Fig. 7.—A monk in thescriptorium.
Fig. 7.—A monk in thescriptorium.
Fig. 8.—A monastic school.
Fig. 8.—A monastic school.
The ‘Seven Liberal Arts’ as the Curriculum.—The curriculum of the monastic schools was at first elementary and narrow. It included only reading, in order to study the Bible; writing, to copy the sacred books; and calculation, for the sake of computing Church festivals. But after a while the classical learning was gradually introduced in that dry and condensed form of the ‘seven liberal arts’, which was also used by the cathedral schools. This mediæval canon of studies was a gradual evolution from Græco-Roman days. The discrimination of these liberal subjects may be said to have begun with Plato,whose educational scheme included a higher group of studies, consisting of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy; and during the later days of Greece and Rome these ‘liberal’ subjects of Plato were combined with the ‘practical’ studies of the sophists,—grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic. These ‘seven liberal arts’ were definitely fixed during the fifth and sixth centuries A. D.,Evolution and scope of thetriviumandquadrivium.through several treatises by such writers as Martianus Capella, Boëthius, and Cassiodorus; and the grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic eventually became classed as thetriviumor lower studies, and the arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy as thequadriviumor higher (Fig. 9). While this curriculum was not a broad one, the scope was much wider than would be supposed. ‘Grammar’ was an introduction to literature, ‘rhetoric’ included some knowledge of law and history, ‘dialectic’ paved the way for metaphysics, ‘arithmetic’ extended beyond mere calculation, ‘geometry’ embraced geography and surveying, ‘music’ covered a broad course in theory, and ‘astronomy’ comprehended some physics and advanced mathematics.
The Methods and Texts.—The general method of teaching in the monastic schools was that of question and answer. As copies of the various books were scarce, the instructor often resorted to dictation, explaining theDictation and memorizing.meaning as he read, and the pupils took the passage down upon tablets and committed it. The reading books preparatory to the study of literature, many of which are still extant, were generally arranged by each teacher, and careful attention was given to the etymological and literary study of the authors to be read. As to texts, the leading works upon grammar were at firstDonatus and Priscian,the elementary work of Donatus (fourth century) and the more advanced treatise of Priscian (sixth century), but by the thirteenth century there had sprung up a series of simplified grammars, which, for the sake of memorizing, were often written in verse. As rhetoric was no longer much concerned with declamation, Cicero and Quintilian were rarely used as texts, but various mediæval treatises upon official letters, legal documents, and forms came into use. Dialectic was studied throughAristotle, Euclid, Boëthius, and Ptolemy.translations of theOrganonof Aristotle, Euclid furnished the text on geometry, the works of Boëthius were generally used for arithmetic and music, and in astronomy adaptations of the treatises of Aristotle and Ptolemy became the texts.
Effect upon Civilization of the Monastic Schools.—Thus monasticism accomplished not a little for civilization.Maintenance of classical literature and education.While the works produced in the monasteries were uncritical and superstitious, they compose most of our historical documents and sources in the Middle Ages. And, although monastic schools were decidedly hostile to classical literature as representing the temptations of the world, and at all times their rigid orthodoxy prevented every possibility of science and the development of individualism, they, together with the cathedral schools, preserved a considerable amount of Græco-Roman culture. Without the cathedral and monastic schools, the Latin and Greek manuscripts and learning could scarcely have survived and have been available at the Renaissance.
Graves,History of Education during the Middle Ages and the Transition to Modern Times(Macmillan, 1910), chaps. I-II; Monroe,Text-book(Macmillan, 1905), pp. 243-274. For the evolution of the ascetic life, see Lecky,History of European Morals(Appleton, 1869), vol. II, pp. 101-274; for the development of monasticism, Taylor, H. O.,The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages(Macmillan, 1913), chap. VII, and Wishart, A. W.,A Short History of Monks and Monasticism(Brandt, Trenton, 1902). The contribution of Irish monasticism is shown in Healy, J.,Insula Sanctorum et Doctorum(Sealy, Dublin, 1897), and Zimmer, H.,The Irish Element in Mediæval Culture(Putnam, 1891). Succinct articles onAbbey Schools,Bishop’s Schools,Church Schools, andCloister Schoolsby Leach, A. F. (Monroe Cyclopædia of Education, vols. I and II), furnish the most accurate ideas of monastic education as far as it is known. An account of the monastic libraries is given in Clark, J. W.,Libraries in the Mediæval and Renaissance Monasteries(Macmillan and Bowes, Cambridge, 1894), and Putnam, G. H.,Books and Their Makers during the Middle Ages(Putnam, 1896). The best account ofThe Seven Liberal Artsin English is that by Abelson, P. (Columbia University, Teachers College Contributions, No. 11, 1906).
Learning and schools had by the eighth century been sadly disrupted, and, to restore them, Charlemagne invited Alcuin of York to become his adviser in education. Alcuin induced Charlemagne to conduct higher education at the Palace School, and to improve the cathedral, monastic, and parish schools.Even after Alcuin retired from the active direction of education, he continued his educational influence, but he became set and narrow. A broader spirit, however, appeared in his pupils, and intellectual stagnation never again prevailed.
Learning and schools had by the eighth century been sadly disrupted, and, to restore them, Charlemagne invited Alcuin of York to become his adviser in education. Alcuin induced Charlemagne to conduct higher education at the Palace School, and to improve the cathedral, monastic, and parish schools.
Even after Alcuin retired from the active direction of education, he continued his educational influence, but he became set and narrow. A broader spirit, however, appeared in his pupils, and intellectual stagnation never again prevailed.
Condition of Education in the Eighth Century.—In the course of the seventh and eighth centuries mediævalDecay of learning.education met with considerable retrogression. The learning of the sixth century was disappearing, the copying of manuscripts had almost ceased, and the cathedral and monastic schools had been sadly disrupted. The secular clergy, monks, nobility, and others who might have been expected to be trained, at times seem even to have lost the art of writing, although the leading churchmen must generally have maintained their knowledge of ecclesiastical Latin and some acquaintance with the classical authors and various compilations of the seven liberal arts. Just before this time the Franks had succeeded in establishing a supremacy over the other barbarian tribes and had spread their rule through what isnow France, Belgium, and Holland, and most of Western Germany. Under a dynasty of vigorous kings, they now drove back the Moslems, conquered the Lombards and Saxons, and subdued the Slavs and Bohemians, andCharlemagnefinally Charlemagne (742-814) even planned to re-establish the Western Roman Empire under his sovereignty. This monarch greatly strengthened and centralized his dominions by a number of improvements in external administration, but, even before his recognition as emperor by the pope (800), he had realized that a genuine unity of his people could be brought about only through a much more effective and universal education. He had a keen sense of the unfortunate educational situation, and made every effort to improve it. To assistand Alcuin.him in his endeavors, in 782 he called Alcuin (735-804) from the headship of the famous cathedral school at York (see p. 56) to be his chief adviser in education.
Higher Education at the Palace School.—Through this noted scholar Charlemagne proceeded to revive the cathedral, monastic, and parish schools, and to increase the importance of the ‘Palace School.’ At this latter school the great king, all his family, and many of his relatives and intellectual friends studied under the SaxonMethods and curriculum.educator. Alcuin must, however, have used a more discursive and lessmemoritermethod with his adult students than the formal catechetical plan employed in instructing the youth. Among the subjects taught were grammar, including some study of the Latin poets and the writings of the Church Fathers, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, astronomy, and theology, but Alcuin appears to have had but little command of the Greek learning. Charlemagne himself seems to have become proficientin Latin and other languages, but, in spite of strenuous efforts, he began too late in life to train his hand to write.
Educational Improvement in the Cathedral, Monastic, and Parish Schools.—With the coöperation of Alcuin, Charlemagne also did everything in his power to increase facilities and improve standards in the existing types ofCapitularies to abbots and bishops.schools. In 787 he issued an educational ‘capitulary’ or decree to the bishops and abbots, “urging diligence in the pursuit of learning and the selection of teachers for this work who are able, willing, and zealous to learn themselves and to teach others.” Two years later he wrote a more urgent capitulary to the bishops and abbots, in which he specified the subjects to be taught in the cathedral and monastic schools and the care to be taken in teaching them. Schools seem to have been everywhere established or revived in the various cathedrals, monasteries, and villages, and the instruction in several places became famous. All these schools came to offer at least a complete elementary course, and some added considerable work in higher education. Reading,Course in the monastic, cathedral, and village schools.writing, computation, singing, and the Scriptures were taught first, but, beyond this, instruction in grammar, rhetoric, and dialectic was often given, and at the more noted cathedral and monastic schools thequadriviumalso appeared in the course. The schools in the villages, under the care of the parish priests, taught only the rudiments, the Lord’s Prayer, the Creed, and the Psalms.Free tuition.Tuition was free in all schools for those intending to become monks or priests, but for the higher work a small fee was sometimes paid by the laity. It seems to have been generally intended that education should begratuitous and open to all. A letter of the Bishop of Orleans required it of his clergy; and through a capitulary in 802 Charlemagne strove to make it compulsory.
Alcuin’s Educational Work at Tours.—After fourteen years of strenuous service, Alcuin retired from the activeAfter retirement Alcuin’s influence continued, but he became narrow.headship of the educational system to the abbacy of the monastery at Tours. But even here his educational work did not cease. He soon established a model house of learning and education, whither flocked the most brilliant youths in the empire, and since they rapidly became prominent as teachers and churchmen, his influence upon the schools remained fully as marked as before. He also wrote a number of educational works, mostly on the seven liberal arts, and had a large correspondence about education with kings and the higher clergy. Alcuin, however, was by nature conservative, and with his retirement he became decidedly set and narrow. His fear of dialectic and the more advanced views of certain Irish scholars is almost ludicrous, and his repudiation of the classic poets, even his former favorite, Vergil, is pathetic.
Rabanus Maurus, Erigena, and Others Concerned in the Revival.—Fortunately, Alcuin’s pupils, who at his death occupied practically all positions of educational importance,His pupils retained his broader spirit.retained his broader spirit. This was true in particular of Rabanus Maurus (776-856), whose leadership caused the monastic school at Fulda to become the great center of learning. Rabanus wrote even more prolifically than Alcuin upon grammar, language, and theology, but was not afraid to emphasize the study of classic literature or the new training in dialectic. He also greatly expanded the mathematical subjects of thecurriculum, and tended to ascribe all phenomena to natural laws. Rabanus, in his turn, influenced a large number of pupils, and a further impetus was given to the movement by a cross-fertilization of Irish learning, which was also introduced, especially through the mastership of Joannes Scotus Erigena (810-876) at the Palace School.