Education of the Middle Ages Essay

Education, as we know it today, did not exist in the warmness Ages. Illiteracy was dominant among the population. Scribes were the exception to the rule. Churches were the main source of friendship and schooling. authorized interest in learning grew along with the development of towns. The towns officials needed to be better. At the same time a need for legal institutions was created and so started the university phenomenon. Modern education was on its way. There were few schools in the mediate ages, so everyone had limited education.Even the Lord of the Manor was often inefficient to read or write. many of the first schools were Cathedral schools. As intumesce as Parish, Monastic, and Palace schools. Here people learned a cross subprogram in society. Naturally the primary job was instruction the clergy in their professional duties as priests of the Christian people. The bishop was the head of the complex and he had a staff of priest to help him with the several of the dio cese. These skills that were taught here were reading, singing of hymns, church building law of nature, writing of documents and the performing of Church duties and sacraments.An example of educating for a specific role in brio were the Knights who had learn how to campaign with various weapons so that they could fight for their king. The common people, however, had no way of being educated other than vent a monastic school. However, if they did this, they had to donate their property to the church. The people who went to this school ulterior become monks or nuns. They had to follow three important laws chastity, obedience, and the law or the lord if not followed they would be thrown out of the monastery.Most monasteries had a rule of silence monks could not talk which other except for a short period of time. During meals one monk expertness read passages from the pas firebrand art object the others mediated. Even though monks lives seem to be so tall(prenominal) it was the best place to go for a good education for anybody from a king to a beggar (Monasteries 488-499). Women took part in monastic life by living in a convent under a heraldic bearing of an abbess. Known as nuns, they wore simple clothes and wrapped a etiolated cloth called a wimple close to their face and neck.They alternated prayer with spinning, weaving, and embroiling items such as tapestries and banners. They also taught needlework and the medicinal use of herbs to daughters of nobles (Couglin A6). Although monks and nuns lived apart from society, they were not completely isolated. In consummation, they played a crucial role in gothic intelligent and social life. Since few people could read or write, the regular clergy uphold ancient and the classical writings. Scribes copied all the give-and-takes by hand working in a small drafty room with one candle or a small window for light.Illuminated manuscripts decorated with rich change and intricate pictures indicate that, althoug h the task was done with hard work, it was also lovingly done (Monastaries 499-501). Monasteries and convents stomachd not only schools for young people, but hospitals for the sick, food for the needy, and a home for travelers who need a place to stay (Monasteries 499-501). Cathedral schools were at that place to train higher-member of the Church in their professional duties as ministers of the Christian people. The bishop in whose Cathedral complex the school was located needed a assemblage of trained priests to administer the various needs dioceses.The Cathedral school more often than not emphasized practical skills, effective reading, singing, and knowledge of Church Law, public disquisition and the administration of the holy sacraments (Corbishely 28). At first the university was not so very much a place as it was a group of scholars organized worry a guild for the purpose of learning. Classes were held in rented rooms or churches correct in the open air. Books were scar ce. In most classes teacher read the textual matter and discussed it, while students took notes on slates or memorized as much information as possible. Classes did, however meet regularly schedule.University rules established the obligations of the students and the teachers toward each other. To qualify as a teacher students had to pass an exam leading to a degree, or a certificate of completion (Cantor 58). By the end of the 1200s universities had stretch out throughout Europe. Most southern European universities were modeled after the law school at Bologna, Italy, and specialized in law and medicine. Universities in blue Europe on the contrary, specialized in liberal arts in Theology. These were generally modeled after the University of Paris (Bailey 89).At medieval universities, scholars canvas Latin classics and Roman law in depth. They also acquired knowledge from the workings of the Grecian philosopher Aristotle and from the Islamic scholarship in the eruditions. This i nterest in the natural world eventually led a rise of western science (Schools 291-292). Many church leaders opposed the study of Aristotles works, fearing that his ideas feared the Christian teachings. In contrast some scholars thought that new knowledge could be used ideas. The applied Aristotle philosophy to theological questions and positive a dust of thought called scholasticism.This new type of learning emphasized reason as well as the faith in the interpretations of Christian doctrine. Scholastic sought-after(a) to bring back classical philosophy along side with the teachings of the Church. They believed that knowledge could be integrated into a coherent in all (Schools 295). One scholastic teacher, Peter Aberlard taught theology in Paris during the ahead of time 1100s. In his book Sic et Non, he collected statements from the bible writings of early Christian leaders that showed both sides of controversial questions.Abearld then had his students reconcile the difference though logic. In the 1200s the most important scholastic thinker was doubting Thomas Aquinas a brilliant theologian and philosopher who taught philosophy in Naples and France. In his work Summa Theolgica Aquinas claimed that reason was a gift from god that could provide answers to basic philosophical questions. The catholic later accepted and promoted Aquinass way of teaching and thinking (Schools 310). The education of a horse proceeded in a way similar to that of many medieval occupations.At an early age the prospective knight was apprenticed to serve as a scallywag, or attendant, in a knights household. In his teens the page graduated to the emplacement of a squire and received more responsibilities. As a squire the boy tended his knights horses and armor, but he also gained his first battle experience. Several squires were usually apprenticed to a knight at the same time and on the battlefield they might fight as a small band of infantry around their master. Here they acquire d the many skills in arms necessary for their profession.To graduate to the status of a knight, a squire usually performed some heroic deed in battle. The squire was welcomed into the order of knights by being dubbed with a sword or slapped in the face by his lord. Afterwards the new knight would receive his fief, or gift of land. As the cult of chivalry developed in the 12th and 13th centuries, knighting ceremonies became more involved. Often they occurred at court, and a knights dubbing might be preceded by a religious vigil in which the knight vowed to uphold Christian and undismayed principles (Davies 12-13).Finally the reincarnation, or rebirth of learning, began in Europe in the fourteenth century and reached its height in the 15th century. Scholars became more interested in the do-gooder features that is, the secular or worldly rather than the religious aspects of the Greek and Latin classics. Humanist educators found their models of literary style in the classics. The Rena issance was a particularly powerful force in Italy, most notably in art, literature, and architecture. In literature, the works of such Italian writers as Dante Aleghieri, Petrarch, and Giovanni Boccaccio became oddly important (Renaissance 228-229).Humanist educators designed teaching methods to prepare well-rounded, liberally educated persons. Dutch humanist Desiderius Erasmus was particularly influential. Erasmus believed that understanding and conversing about the meaning of literature was more important than memorizing it, as had been required at many of the medieval religious schools. He advised teachers to study such fields as archeology, astronomy, mythology, history, and Scripture (Renaissance 220). The invention of the printing press in the mid-15th century make books more widely available and increased literacy rates.But school attending did not increase greatly during the Renaissance. Elementary schools educated middle-class children while lower-class children receive d little, if any, formal schooling. Children of the nobility and upper classes attended humanist secondary schools (Bailey 112). Educational opportunities for women improved slightly during the Renaissance, especially for the upper classes. Some girls from wealthy families attended schools of the royal court or received offstage lessons at home.The curriculum studied by young women was still base on the belief that only certain subjects, such as art, music, needlework, dancing, and poetry, were suitable for females. For working-class girls, especially rural peasants, education was still limited to training in household duties such as cooking and sewing (Couglin, A8). As it shows education the Middle Ages seems to be so diverse and a offset point for modern education. But the reader must always respect in mind only about five percent of the whole population did all of these educational activities.