Education in England in the Middle Ages: Thesis Approved for the Degree of Doctor of Science in the University of London — John Shaqi
Education in England in the Middle Ages: Thesis Approved for the Degree of Doctor of Science in the University of LondonParry, Albert William
History
Education in England in the Middle Ages: Thesis Approved for the Degree of Doctor of Science in the University of London
Parry, Albert William
Education -- England -- History; Education, Medieval
We may also note here that when a bishop's official seat or throne
(cathedra) was placed in a church, it thereby became a cathedral church.
Sometimes the cathedral church was a monastic church, sometimes a
collegiate church; in each case the church was known as a cathedral. From
the standpoint of the development of education, as will be subsequently
shown, the distinction between a collegiate cathedral church and a
monastic cathedral church is an important one, but this distinction cannot
always be clearly made, because during the early centuries of Christianity
in England, a cathedral church was at times in the possession of the
regular clergy, and at other times in the hands of the secular clergy.
Thus Christ Church, Canterbury, was originally monastic but is said to
have fallen into the hands of the seculars during the archiepiscopate of
Ceolnoth (837-870), after which it again returned to the monks and
remained monastic till the Reformation. So too, Gloucester Cathedral was
originally monastic, then Offa transferred it to the secular clergy, later
it again became monastic.
Whether or not the cathedral church of a diocese was monastic, the bishop
of a diocese was the head of the secular clergy and obedience was due to
him from them; on the other hand, the monks owed their obedience directly
to their abbot, from him to the head of their order, and ultimately to the
pope.[44]
In this chapter we propose to limit ourselves to the labours for education
of the bishop and the secular clergy, though, as we have previously
indicated, the line of demarcation between the work that was definitely
monastic and that which may definitely be assigned to the secular clergy
cannot always be clearly drawn.
The educational problems which had to be faced by a bishop and his band of
secular priests were similar to those which had to be dealt with by the
missionary monks. Latin, the language of the Church, had to be taught to
those who were ignorant of it and who wished to be attached to the Church
in an official capacity. A knowledge of music was necessary for those who
desired to take a personal part in the worship offered by the Church. In
addition, the principles of Christianity had to be taught more fully to
converts; the children of the faith required instruction; arrangements had
to be made for more advanced instruction for those who were desirous of
receiving it. Schools had to be founded for these purposes, and these
schools were the original schools of England.
We have already adopted as our hypothesis that the schools of this country
were not a new discovery but were modelled on those which existed
elsewhere. Our first problem consequently, is to discover where these
models were found.
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