From THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION
By Ellwood P. Cuberley
3. Training of the nobility
TENTH-CENTURY CONDITIONS. Following the death of Charlemagne
and the break-up of the empire held together by him, a
period of organized anarchy followed in western Europe.
Authority broke down more completely than before, and
Europe, for protection, was forced to organize itself into a
great number of small defensive groups. Serfs, [15] freemen
lacking land, and small landowners alike came to depend on
some nobleman for protection, and this nobleman in turn upon
some lord or overlord. For this protection military service
was rendered in return. The lord lived in his castle, and
the peasantry worked his land and supported him, fighting
his battles if the need arose. This condition of society was
known as feudalism, and the feudal relations of lord and
vassal came to be the prevailing governmental organization
of the period. Feudalism was at best an organized anarchy,
suited to rude and barbarous times, but so well was it
adapted to existing conditions that it became the prevailing
form of government, and continued as such until a better
order of society could be evolved. With the invention of
gunpowder, the rise of cities and industries, the evolution
of modern States by the consolidation of numbers of these
feudal governments, and the establishment of order and
civilization, feudalism passed out with the passing of the
conditions which gave rise to it. From the end of the ninth
to the middle of the thirteenth centuries it was the
dominant form of government.
The life of the nobility under the feudal régime gave a
certain picturesqueness to what was otherwise an age of
lawlessness and disorder. The chief occupation of a noble
was fighting, either in his own quarrel or that of his
overlord. It is hard for us to-day to realize how much
fighting went on then. Much was said about "honor," but
quarrels were easily started, and oaths were poorly kept. It
was a day of personal feuds and private warfare, and every
noble thought it his right to wage war on his neighbor at
any time, without asking the consent of any one. [16] As a
preparation for actual warfare a series of mimic encounters,
known as tournaments, were held, in which it often happened
that knights were killed. In these encounters mounted
knights charged one another with spear and lance, performing
feats similar to those of actual warfare. This was the great
amusement of the period, compared with which the German
duel, the Mexican bullfight, or the American game of
football are mild sports. The other diversions of the
knights and nobles were hunting, hawking, feasting,
drinking, making love, minstrelsy, and chess. Intellectual
ability formed no part of their accomplishments, and a
knowledge of reading and writing was commonly regarded as
effeminate.
To take this carousing, fighting, pillaging, ravaging,
destructive, and murderous instinct, so strong by nature
among the Germanic tribes, and refine it and in time use it
to some better purpose, and in so doing to increasingly
civilize these Germanic lords and overlords, was the problem
which faced the Church and all interested in establishing an
orderly society in Europe. As a means of checking this
outlawry the Church established and tried to enforce the
"Truce of God" (R. 79), and as a partial means of educating
the nobility to some better conception of a purpose in life
the Church aided in the development of the education of
chivalry, the first secular form of education in western
Europe since the days of Rome, and added its sanction to it
after it arose.
THE EDUCATION OF CHIVALRY. This form of education was an
evolution. It began during the latter part of the ninth
century and the early part of the tenth, reached its maximum
greatness during the period of the Crusades (twelfth
century), and passed out of existence by the sixteenth. The
period of the Crusades was the heroic age of chivalry. The
system of education which gradually developed for the
children of the nobility may be briefly described as
follows:
1. Page. Up to the age of seven or eight the youth was
trained at home, by his mother. He played to develop
strength, was taught the meaning of obedience, trained in
politeness and courtesy, and his religious education was
begun. After this, usually at seven, he was sent to the
court of some other noble, usually his father's superior in
the feudal scale, though in case of kings and feudal lords
of large importance the children remained at home and were
trained in the palace school. From seven to fourteen the boy
was known as a page. He was in particular attached to some
lady, who supervised his education in religion, music,
courtesy, gallantry, the etiquette of love and honor, and
taught him to play chess and other games. He was usually
taught to read and write the vernacular language, and was
sometimes given a little instruction in reading Latin. [17]
To the lord he rendered much personal service such as
messenger, servant at meals, and attention to guests. By the
men he was trained in running, boxing, wrestling, riding,
swimming, and the use of light weapons.
2. Squire. At fourteen or fifteen he became a squire. While
continuing to serve his lady, with whom he was still in
company, and continuing to render personal service in the
castle, the squire became in particular the personal servant
and bodyguard of the lord or knight. He was in a sense a
valet for him, making his bed, caring for his clothes,
helping him to dress, and looking after him at night and
when sick. He also groomed his horse, looked after his
weapons, and attended and protected him on the field of
combat or in battle. He himself learned to hunt, to handle
shield and spear, to ride in armor, to meet his opponent,
and to fight with sword and battle-axe. As he approached the
age of twenty-one, he chose his lady- love, who was older
than he and who might be married, to whom he swore ever to
be devoted, even though he married some one else. He also
learned to rhyme, [18] to make songs, sing, dance, play the
harp, and observe the ceremonials of the Church. Girls were
given this instruction along with the boys, but naturally
their training placed its emphasis upon household duties,
service, good manners, conversational ability, music, and
religion.
3. Knight. At twenty-one the boy was knighted, and of this
the Church made an impressive ceremonial. After fasting,
confession, a night of vigil in armor spent at the altar in
holy meditation, and communion in the morning, the ceremony
of dubbing the squire a knight took place in the presence of
the court. He gave his sword to the priest, who blest it
upon the altar. He then took the oath "to defend the Church,
to attack the wicked, to respect the priesthood, to protect
women and the poor, to preserve the country in tranquillity,
and to shed his blood, even to its last drop, in behalf of
his brethren." The priest then returned him the sword which
he had blessed, charging him "to protect the widows and
orphans, to restore and preserve the desolate, to revenge
the wronged, and to confirm the virtuous." He then knelt
before his lord, who, drawing his own sword and holding it
over him, said: "In the name of God, of our Lady, of thy
patron Saint, and of Saint Michael and Saint George, I dub
thee knight; be brave (touching him with the sword on one
shoulder), be bold (on the other shoulder), be loyal (on the
head)."
THE CHIVALRIC IDEALS. Such, briefly stated, was the
education of chivalry. The cathedral and monastery schools
not meeting the needs of the nobility, the castle school was
evolved. There was little that was intellectual about the
training given--few books, and no training in Latin.
Instead, the native language was emphasized, and squires in
England frequently learned to speak French. It was
essentially an education for secular ends, and prepared not
only for active participation in the feuds and warfare of
the time, but also for the Seven Perfections of the Middle
Ages: (1) Riding, (2) Swimming, (3) Archery, (4) Fencing,
(5) Hunting, (6) Whist or Chess, and (7) Rhyming. It also
represents the first type of schooling in the Middle Ages
designed to prepare for life here, rather than hereafter.
For the nobility it was a discipline, just as the Seven
Liberal Arts was a discipline for the monks and clergy. Out
of it later on was evolved the education of a gentleman as
distinct from that of a scholar.
That such training had a civilizing effect on the nobility
of the time cannot be doubted. Through it the Church
exercised a restraining and civilizing influence on a rude,
quarrelsome, and impetuous people, who resented restraints
and who had no use for intellectual discipline. It developed
the ability to work together for common ends, personal
loyalty, and a sense of honor in an age when these were
much-needed traits, and the ideal of a life of regulated
service in place of one of lawless gratification was set up.
What monasticism had done for the religious life in
dignifying labor and service, chivalry did for secular life.
The Ten Commandments of chivalry, (1) to pray, (2) to avoid
sin, (3) to defend the Church, (4) to protect widows and
orphans, (5) to travel, (6) to wage loyal war, (7) to fight
for his Lady, (8) to defend the right, (9) to love his God,
and (10) to listen to good and true men, while not often
followed, were valuable precepts to uphold in that age and
time. In the great Crusades movement of the twelfth century
the Church consecrated the military prowess and restless
energy of the nobility to her service, but after this wave
had passed chivalry became formal and stilted and rapidly
declined in importance (R. 80).
Ginny
ginnywagner@austin.rr.com