EDUCATION IN THE MIDDLE AGES

 

The Middle Age is a historical context of the Western civilization. It is divided into three stages:

- Early middle ages: 5^th century to the middle of the 8^th century.

- High middle ages: Second half of the 7^th century to the end of the 11^th century.

- Low middle ages: 12^th century to the 15^th century.

Objective of the Catholic school: spread the word of God and Christian values. It was based on the Bible and the Gospel.

The Church was interested in evangelizing, Christianising, educating and guaranteeing the education of all human beings, regardless of their social class. Moral education was of great importance in monasteries. For Christianity, the innocence of children was a virtue. Instruction focused on a biblical-evangelical tradition. Military education was reserved for the nobles.

Alcuino of York divided education into three stages.

In universities the liberal arts were divided into two parts. The trivium consisted on learning grammatic, rhetoric and dialectic. The quadrivium consisted on studying geometry, arithmetic, music, and astronomy.

Monasteries consisted of huge places which were divided in different parts which where: agriculture, industries, and education. To make a correct reading, lectio divina was used, which consisted of reading Scripture and discovering in it a new way of life. Glosses and the four senses of writing were incorporated into this technique. Latin was fundamental and resources such as glossaries, vocabularies, and dictionaries were used for its teaching.

Their main concern was to reconcile faith and reason, philosophy, and theology.

Thomas Aquinas was born in 1225 and died in 1274, he entered the Dominican Order. He defends the importance of the role of teachers, and that knowledge is a process that follows a gradual and complex development.

Saint Benedict was born in 480 and died in 543, he created the Benedictine Order. He recommends silence, which is necessary to pray and he gives importance to work. The Benedictine rule give importance to dedicate several hours of study diary.

The education in the Middle Age and in the 21^st century have a lot of differences.