The point which we wish here to emphasise is that the men of the time who were in a position to judge were of the opinion that the only effective method of producing a reform in the educational condition of the country was primarily through the erection of monasteries, destined to be centres of intellectual activity. With this object in view, they used every possible means to build or restore monasteries in different parts and to place over them men who were not only spiritually minded but who were also men of learning and ability. We learn that in pursuance of this policy, forty monasteries for men and eight for women were erected during the reigns of Edgar and his sons.[84] The men at the head of these institutions taught personally in the schools. Thus we learn of Dunstan being in charge of the school at Glastonbury,[85] and of Aethelwold who "did not scorn ever to explain the difficulties of Donatus and Priscian to little boys."[86] Efforts were also made to keep in touch with foreign monasteries, especially those of Ghent, Corbeil, and Fleury. These monasteries were appealed to, to send men of learning to the English monasteries, and also for advice in the conduct of the monasteries.[87] In 968 the Abbot of Ramsey sent to Fleury for a master to rule the schools, because "the study of letters and the use of schools had almost died out in England."[88] The master sent in response to this appeal was Abbo, who is described as being well versed in the trivium and the quadrivium.[89] Abbo spent two years at Ramsey and wrote a book _Quaestiones Grammaticales_ for the purpose of testing the knowledge acquired by the monks of his monastery.[90] Among the pupils of Abbo was the anonymous author of the _Vita S. Oswaldi_ (a work which shows that the writer was a man of culture and learning), and Byrhtferth, who wrote commentaries on Bede's mathematical treatises and shows a knowledge of Latin authors.[91] In 817, by the council of Aachen, it had been decreed that no one was to be admitted to the monastery schools unless he was destined for the monastic life. It does not appear that this distinction was observed in England during the Saxon period, and it seems probable that the English monasteries continued to receive pupils irrespective of whether or not they intended ultimately to enter the monastery. Thus we learn that the scholars of Dunstan at Glastonbury were of all ages, from the little boy[92] to the man who had already taken priest's orders.[93] Then, of the pupils of Wulfstan, we learn that they included both young and old, and that many of them subsequently became secular priests.[94] Again, in the picture drawn by Aelfric of a monastery school of the period,[95] it will be noted that the pupils included not only a professed monk but also others who were engaged in secular pursuits. We also read that the boys who attended the school at Ramsey Abbey were allowed to go outside the cloisters for play and recreation.[96]