CHAPTER 5

THE MEDIEVAL CONCEPT OF

SPIRITUAL, INTELLECTUAL,
POLITICAL, AND ECONOMIC
EDUCATION

•MONASTICISM
•SCHOLASTICISM
•CHIVALRY
•THE GULID SYSTEM OF EDUCATION
 MONASTICISM AND RELIGIOUS
DISCIPLINE

Notable People:

* St. Patrick – founded the

first Monasticism in Ireland
between AD 432 and 461

* St. Anthony – founder of

Christian monasticism
(Father of Monasticism)
Monasticism
- a special form of religious community life
- people separate themselves from ordinary ways of
living
- based on Jesus’ passage "be perfect, therefore, as your
heavenly Father is perfect" Matthew 5:48
Etymology: from the Greek word “monos”
meaning alone. It is sometimes called “monaschism”
literally means “dwelling alone”.
men who adopt a monastic life are called monks
while women are called nuns and live in a convent
The three evangelical counsels or state of perfection:

• poverty (perfect charity)

• chastity
• obedience

Medieval monastic life consisted of

prayer, reading, and manual labor.
Aims of Monastic Education

• Spiritual
- to save individual souls

• Moral
- to attain the ideals of poverty, chastity, and obedience

• Spiritual Knowledge
- to attain the highest spiritual knowledge and to achieve
spiritual perfection

• Virtue
- world renunciation
Agencies of Education

* Monasteries

The Monastery of Saint Anthony in Egypt, built over his tomb

Saint Catherine's Monastery - one of the oldest
working Christian monasteries in the world
* monastic schools
- under Charlemagne in the
18th and 19th centuries
- the seven liberal arts was its curriculum

a. The Trivium (tres viae, three roads)

* Grammar – languages and literature
* Dialectic – logic or right reasoning
* Rhetoric – law and composition

b. The Quadrivium (quattor viae, four roads)

* Geometry – geometry, geography, and natural
history
* Arithmetic – numbers and the study of the calendar
* Music – plain chant and harmony used in church
* Astronomy – the heavenly bodies, chemistry and
physics
 Types of Education
• Moral and Religious Training
• Literary Education
• Manual Training

Three Aspects of Social Organizations

Monasticism renounced completely the three aspects of social
organizations:

• The Domestic Home

• The Economic Structure
• The Political State
 Methods of Instructions

• Catechetical Method
• Dictation
• Memorization
• Language
• Discipline
• Meditation and Contemplation/ Thoughtful
Reflection
 Outstanding Contributions to Education

• Preserving and spreading learning and culture by the

Christian Monasteries

• The monasteries opposed the vices and corruption of

the medieval world.

• They were an influence in taming the warlike spirits

and refining the rustic customs of the Teutonic people.

• Dignity of Labor
Scholasticism was a general
designation for the particular methods
and tendencies to rationalize the
doctrines of Christian Church.
WHAT IS SCHOLASTICISM?

Aristotle had used

logic to try to prove
the existence of God.

-the revised beliefs

and logical methods
of discussion were
termed
scholasticism.
- Father of Scholasticism
MAJOR SCHOLASTICS OF 12TH
CENTURY
MAJOR SCHOLASTICS OF 12TH
CENTURY
AIMS OF EDUCATION

 Intellectual Discipline - by rational argument

 Faith by Reason - by reason

“That the will of man wills or chooses from necessity…

That the world is eternal…

That the soul is corrupted when the
body is corrupted…
That the man’s actions are not ruled
by the divine providence.”
AGENCIES OF EDUCATION


Parish Schools
MONASTIC AND
CATHEDRAL
Palace School
University
THE BIRTH OF UNIVERSITY
Scholastic Realists Conceptualists
VARIOUS KINDS OF SCHOLARLY
TREATISES
 DisputedQuestions
 Disputed Questions on Truth
 Summae

Methods of Instructions
 Argumentative Method
1. Starting a proposition, thesis, or
questions;
2. Setting down objections to the proposition:
3. Proving one side, and
4. Answering or disputing objections in
order.
 Lecture, Repetition, Disputation, and
Examination Methods
 Aristotelian Logic
THE ARISTOTELIAN LOGIC

1. a MAJOR PREMISE All men are mortal

2. a MINOR PREMISE All Greeks are men
3. Conclusions >All Greeks are mortal

Other requisites
1.The subject must ALL INCLUSIVE
2. The predicate must be the subject of the
MAJOR PREMISE

•Organization of the University

•Emphasis on the Intellectual Training
-The general term to describe the
political and military system of Western
Europe.
-no central government
- little security
-fulfilled the basic need for justice and
protection
-has a system of land tenure on
allegiance and service to the nobleman
or lord.
 - Owned the land, called a fief, let it out
to a subordinate who called a vassal.

Two careers for the son of

noblemen:

• Clergy -If they decided in favor of the

church, they pursed an education
that was religious and academic in
nature.
• Chivalry -an education that was physical,
social, military, in nature.
-more appeal than the church
Chivalry- comes
from the Old French
word chevalerie,
meaning horse
soldiery.

- The term came to

mean the code of
behavior and ethics
that knights were
expected to follow.
 Aims of Chivalric Education
•Morality
-to inculcate in the minds of the young
nobles the virtues of honor, bravery, courtesy etc.

• Responsibility
-to get the young nobles to assume their
responsibilities, how to manage their own estates,
and how to deal with the lower class of people.

• Horsemanship
-to train the young nobles in horseback
warfare, hunting, and tournaments.

•Gallantry
-to train the young nobles how to deal
gallantry with the ladies of the nobility and to
protect the weak.
•Religiosity
-t train the young nobles to be devoted to
the service of God.

•Social Graces
-to train the young girls in the social
graces and manner fit for the ladies.
Agencies of Education and Content Studied
•Home -was for the young boys and girls.

•Court-the court was for the girl

•The Castle- these were for the boys

•Troubadours, Minnesingers, and Minstrel

-using the vernacular, they sang about the noble
deeds of heroes, beautiful ladies, brilliant deeds of
knights and lords. They spread news, gave warnings about
impending dangers, brought messages from allies and
friends.
Troubadours propagated learning through their songs.
 The following are the contents studied by the
pupils:
•Religion, music, dancing, especially for girls
•Horse riding for warfare, hunting, and tournaments
•Physical exercises
•Reading, writing, literature in vernacular
•Good manners, right conduct, social graces & etiquette
•Household duties such as sewing, weaving, cooking, and
embroidery for girls
•At higher level: the curriculum consisted of the Seven
Free Arts:
•Jousting
•Falconing
•Swimming
•Horsemanship
•Boxing
•Writing and singing verse
•Chess

The pupil did not pay any fees because he served his master like a valet
Jousting

- Generic term in the

Middle Ages to refer
to many kinds of
martial games.
(contact sport)
Falconing

•Hunting in the Middle

Ages
•Were enjoyed by the
nobles of the time.
•Also called as “sport of
kings”
 Methods of Instruction
Observation, Imitation and Practice
The young noble observed, imitated, and practiced
what was to be learned. Training was individual.

Apprenticeship
A young noble was assigned to a lord to learn all
were to be learned.

Motivation
These were done by means of high social ideals,
social standards, and social approval.
Training Preparation for Knighthood

Knighthood grew up as part of the

feudal system
-became less important in warfare by the
1400s because of the changing military
tactics and the introduction of gunpowder

In Middle Ages, a young boy in training to

be a knight spent the first years of his life
in the:

Care of the women of his family

Learned to a ride a pony and care for
horses
THE PAGE
 At 7 (left home and
assigned to a female
teacher)
 Joined the
household of
another knight or a
nobleman
Learned to handle
small weapons
Learned the code
of courtesy and
behavior expected of
night
THE SQUIRE
 At 14 (assigned to a knight)
 Acted as valet (a personal
servant to the knight who was
his master)
 Set the table and served
meals
 Keeping the knight’s
weapon in good condition
 Caring for his horses
 Helping him with his armor
 Attending to his injuries
 Guarding his prisoners
 Rode with his master into a
battle and took part in the
fight
 THE KNIGHT
 At 21, any knight could bestow knighthood on another
 Some men were knighted on the battlefield if they had shown
great bravery
 The knight received his sword and another weapons from his
master or king, or from members of the king’s court
 This ceremony was solemn and memorable
 The prospective knight too a bath of purification, dressed in
white
 Spent an entire night in meditation and prayer
 The squire knelt before the parrain, or the man who was
knighting him. The parrain struck the squire on the back of the
neck with the palm of his hand. Later a tap with a sword replaced
the blow with the hand. This tap (a ceremony) was called the
accolade from the French word col, meaning neck. “I dub you
knight.” Those words completed the ceremony in which a squire
became knight
 The Decline of Feudalism
By the 1200’s, several events in Europe led to the decline of
feudalism.

 An economic revival put more money back into use because

soldiers could be paid. Fewer lords relied on vassals to provide
services for knights
 The invention of gunpowder and of such weapons as the
longbow and the cannon lessened the dominance of knights
 Foot soldiers from the Flemish cities defeated French knights
at the battle of Courtrai in 1302
 Stone castles occupied by feudal lords could no longer stand
against cannon
 Cities grew wealthier and became more important and rulers
have less need of the aristocracy
People trained in the government service took over the
functions that vassals had performed on their fiefs
Outstanding Contribution to Education

Use of vernacular as a tool of teaching

 The emphasis placed on the learning of social
graces, rules of etiquette or good manners and
right conduct
 - Guilds were associations of people who had common
interest, or who engaged in the same work.
-People performed charitable, religious, and social guilds

Religious guilds – paid money into a common fund.

Alms – a relief that was given to members who needed help
because of sickness or old age
Mass – guilds arranged to be offered for members who died.
The religious guilds were suppressed in England in the
1500’s. These guilds are known as merchant guilds and
craft guilds.
Merchant Guilds

-Known as Hansen
-Primarily a commercial organization
-Members were independent of one
another
-Each guild made regulations for its
own members and varies from town
to town
-Imposed a toll (tax) on the
transactions of merchants from other
towns
-Took part in the religious and social
life of the town
-Members paid subscriptions
-Punished members who were fond
guilty of misconduct
Craft Guild

-some large towns had as

many of as 20 or 30 craft
guilds
-Guilds in the
manufacturing crafts
included those of:
Bowyers(makers of bows)
Fletchers(makers of
arrows)
Girdles(makers of girdles
Hatters
Skinners
Weavers
 Traders such as :
Drapers
Fishmongers
Ironmongers
Mercers (dealers of text tiles)
-also had their own guilds

A person could become a member of a guild in one of

three ways:
1.Patrimony(succeeding parent)
2.Redemption(buying membership
3. Apprenticeship(serving a term of training in a craft
From Apprentice to Master:
As Apprentice
As Journeymen
 As Master

• The Masterpiece
 As Master
• Guilds
• Corpus Cristi
• Liveries and Liverymen
 Decline of the Guild System

* Growth of Capitalistic Industry

* Struggle of Producing Guilds
* Change to the Domestic System
* Strict Control on Trade

Aims of Education

* Business Interest and Preparation for

Commercial and Industrial Life
* Vocational Preparation
 Agencies of Education and Contents
Studied

> The burgher school

> The chantry school
> The guild school

Methods of Instructions

> Observations, imitation, and practice

> Dictation, memorization, and catechetical
methods
> Discipline
 Outstanding Contribution to
Education

> Vocational Training or manpower

development
> Apprenticeship