Henry's Discourse on Education Quiz

Answer: Guild

While my father sought a place for me in the military service of the Earl of Warwick, my youngest brother, George, is attending university at Cambridge. As I am my father's oldest son, I am likely to inherit his manor one day; with all the other brothers that I have, it is unlikely that there will be any land for George. He will need to plan to pursue another occupation.

Students have found it necessary to organize "universitas", or scholastic guilds, much like craftsmen and merchants have done, in order to protect their interests. The rules are rather strict, and can govern the teachers as well as the students. For example, there is a regulation that says that a teacher cannot wait until the end of the lecture to read difficult information. The reason? This could potentially lead to questions that might prevent the students from leaving promptly when the bell rings. Although this might seem to be a picky point, you must remember that lectures usually last six or seven hours. Waiting until the end of the lecture to broach a difficult subject will surely create a hardship for the students.

Just so you know - an enfeoff is when a lord gives a vassal land in exchange for service, a monastery is a religious building occupied by monks, and an amercement is a penalty levied by the king's justice system for a minor penalty.

Answer: University of Bologna

Founded in 1088, the University of Bologna was founded for the study of both canon law (church law) and civil law. Thomas Becket, the famous Archbishop of Canterbury, attended school there. Although women are not allowed to attend university, there is a story that early in its history Bettisia Gozzadini taught there and attracted so many people that her lectures had to be held outside! The practices of students and teachers at Bologna have influenced many systems, as has procedures at the University of Paris, which was established some time during the 1100s.

When English students were expelled from the University of Paris, many returned home and the University of Oxford was established.

Answer: Latin

It is important for George to know Latin because Latin is the language of the Church and educated people. There are not many books in existence, but most of the ones that exist are written in Latin. In fact, they still use a book called "Ars grammatica" that was written by a Roman man named Donatus, who lived in the 300s AD. Can you believe that it continues to be an important book today? Latin students today must master the rules of the language as Donatus taught them. And get this! Even though George will be attending school in England, all of his lectures and lessons will be given in Latin! There is even a rule in some universities that when students are out of the classroom they must converse in Latin!

Answer: Gown

Both students and teachers at the university wear gowns for several reasons. First of all, gowns keep them warm during cold weather. In addition, the gowns cover the clothing worn underneath and make everyone appear to be equal, disguising a person's wealth. Lastly, the gowns help to separate the students and teachers from the townspeople; they do not get along very well together. Some universities board their students with townspeople, however, most do not. Why not? University students are protected by church courts and are immune from any type of physical punishment. They can get away with all sorts of poor behavior, including drunkenness, gambling, and even murder. In addition, many of the university students - well - think they are better than the townspeople. This animosity between the groups is called "town and gown disputes". Many times students live away from their families because the universities are few and far between, and sometimes they forget to behave properly.

Wimples are worn by women as a head covering, a hauberk is a mail shirt worn by a knight, and a tunic is a type of shirt worn by both men and women over whatever underclothing they wear.

Answer: Grammar, rhetoric, logic

It is necessary to master the subjects of the trivium before a student may go on and continue to study the quadrivium. We have already discussed the important of being able to read and write Latin, which is covered in the study of grammar. Rhetoric, the ability to speak clearly and express ideas, is also taught along with logic, the ability to deliberate and reason precisely. Together with the quadrivium, which is made up of the study of arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music, these subjects comprise the core of university learning, which is typically called the liberal arts.

Answer: Wax Tablets

This process all seems very difficult to me. First, the students do not sit at tables, or even on chairs. Their wax tablets are made of wood that is covered with wax on top. As they sit on the floor, they prop the tablet on their knee in order to take notes. That really doesn't sound very comfortable, does it? Using a stylus (which isn't very easy - they have to press really hard!) they write on the wax while listening to a lecture that can take six or seven hours; then the students take their wax tablets home and attempt to transcribe their notes on whatever precious parchment or vellum they might be able to afford.

The wax is remelted when they are finished, and the wooden board is ready for the next lecture. There is a lot of memorization involved, and learning doesn't seem to be easy.

Answer: Arab invasion of the 7-8 centuries

Bishop Langton told me that papyrus from Egypt was used extensively in Roman times as a writing material to make scrolls and the like. It wasn't especially expensive and was affordable as a writing medium for students in schools. After the death of the Islamic prophet, Muhammad, however, the armies of invasion began to find their way across North Africa, spreading not only the prophet's religious beliefs, but his language as well.

The presence of these armies effectively cut Europeans off from continued trade of papyrus in Egypt. What can be used instead? Vellum, which is cowhide, and parchment, which is sheepskin, can be used for writing, but both are very expensive; they are, however, about the only way that university students can preserve their notes for future reference. Because writing materials are difficult to procure, there is very little writing or literacy in our time.

Answer: True

Bishop Langton reminded me that that first rule when writing is not to write something down that doesn't need. Writing materials are too precious, scarce, and expensive to waste. The second rule of writing is to recycle pages of documents that are no longer needed.

This is done by scraping the surface in order to remove as much of the text as possible. Then the writer can simply write over it. It is important to scrape the surface as cleanly as possible, or these copies, called palimpsest copies, become very difficult to read. Sometimes it is hard to tell where the old writing, called the underwriting, and the new writing beginand end.

Answer: Baccalaureatus

A university student may earn a baccalaureatus, or bachelor's degree after about 3-5 years of studying. In order to receive the degree they must take a comprehensive exam - one that covers everything that they have learned! Yikes! The problem with the bachelor's degree is that it doesn't really bring very much status to the students, even if they do well on the exam.

They can teach, but only under the direct supervision of a master teacher. That is why many students continue to study and then submit a masterpiece. If they can successfully defend their masterpiece in front of a panel of masters, then they too can become a master. Further study may yield a degree called a doctus, or "learned".

In the Middle Ages, specialist degrees were awarded only in law, medicine and theology.

Answer: Theology

Cambridge is close to the Ely Cathedral, which has operated a monastery school for hundreds of years. Students who wanted to attend university would go to Oxford or maybe travel to the University of Paris. There was an incident at Oxford, however, in 1209, and many of its students moved to Cambridge, eventually beginning a new university there; King Henry III granted the students a Royal Charter in 1231. Peterhouse was founded at the University of Cambridge in 1284 by the Bishop of Ely, Hugh Balsham.

The subject taught at the school is theology, and its purpose is to educate young men for the clergy. As my father's youngest son, this is the best way for George to make a way for himself and earn social status. Perhaps he will be able to move up the hierarchy of Church offices one day.