Part 10 (1/2)

The growing interest of the laity in education did not result in apathy on the part of the Church On the contrary, the Church was stireat church_ Wykehanificence, but a large nuiate churches were established in various parts of the country, and there exists considerable evidence (which we shall consider in a subsequent chapter) to show that the iate churches provided special facilities for education

The change in the attitude of the nation towards education is the direct outcome of its social and economic conditions, and if we are properly to understand the educational developments, it is necessary that we should consider briefly the changes in the econoes, whichcenturies of the Middle Ages

The date of the pestilence ter point froes The factors contributory to the results, which we propose to describe, may be traced to an earlier date, but as we are concerned in this chapter with general tendencies rather than with ations, the year 1349 will admirably serve our purpose

The economic effects of the Black Death were particularly evident in the rural districts The decay of the manorial syste was thrown into confusion and newsysteer possible In the towns the influence of the pestilence was not so ht suffer, yet the relative importance of towns in the life of the nation was increased, and the as prepared for that industrial and coan to manifest itself in the early years of the fifteenth century[374]

In addition to the economic effects, the Black Death had iy was considerable, and consequently the number of men ere qualified to act as schoolmasters was appreciably diminished The reduction in the number of priests, as a result of the Black Death, is indicated by a letter which Pope Clement V

wrote in 1349 to the Archbishop of York, and in which it is stated that ”in consequence of the Plague, there are not enough priests to administer the sacraments”[375] A statute of 1362 also refers to the fact that ”the priests be becorievance and oppression of the people”[376]

This diminution in the number of schoolmasters, for so century Willia in 1439 for the purpose of obtaining per of teachers for grahout the country, stated that, ”on the East of the way between Hampton and Coventry and no further north than Ripon, no less than seventy grammar schools had fallen into desuetude because of the scarcity of teachers”[377]

It is also extremely probable that the Black Death contributed considerably to the ale from the schools One effect of the Norrowth of French as the spoken language; after the pestilence period, the use of the native tongue of the English nation again became common This is directly evidenced by stateden's _Polychronicon_ After showing that French was at one tie in coentil e from the time they were ”i-rokked in here cradel,” Trevisa states that after the Black Death the knowledge of French had disappeared to so great an extent that ”now children of gramer scole conneth na more Frensche than can hir lift heele”[378]

The fifteenth century witnessed iland The es was connected with the development of manufactures At the close of the fourteenth century, we learn that as ”la Sovereigne Marchandise and Jewel

d'Angleterre”[379]; a century later, it is said that ”theof the poor people of the land”[380]

Various enactrowth of the woollen industry, and to the efforts which were h the manufacture of cloth was the most important industry, yet it was not the only form of industrial occupation Before the close of the fifteenth century, the manufacture of silk had been established in London, coalwas carried on to a considerable extent, theof bricks had been renewed, guns were being ress[381]

The developes in the organisation of industry Owing to the operation of the principle of division of labour, new crafts came into existence, and these, in their turn, were also sub-divided into other new crafts Gradually, all the various classes of the industrial world--the artisan, the e As a result, the ”rude beginnings of a factory system” manifested themselves,[382] and there are even traces of a movees in the industrial systericultural industry, which previously had been the principal occupation of the people The Black Death had been responsible for a great diricultural labourers, and as a result, it was scarcely possible to find sufficient labour for the cultivation of the soil This scarcity of labour was intensified by the fact that e industries proved to many a more attractive form of occupation than service on the land The Central Govern people to work on the land, and an attempt was even ricultural labourers fron of Richard II, it was enacted that any person as engaged on agricultural labour up to twelve years of age, was to be co the remainder of his life[384] Other Acts of Parliament, with a similar object, were passed in 1406 and 1444[385] This repressive legislation failed to secure its purpose, as the steady flow of labour fro scarcity of labour led naturally to the gradual substitution of sheep far for the cultivation of wheat, a developrowth of the cloth industry necessarily contributed The delish reat an extent that sheep-farradually became more profitable than the cultivation of the soil and, as a result, the enclosureyears of the fourteenth century,the fifteenth century, there occurred ”the greatest of those agricultural changes which have in successive ages swept over this country--the transition fro”[386]

Even es were the co the fifteenth century These arose out of the developn trade with its natural effect upon the growth of a shi+pping industry The records of the tilish merchants visited all the civilised maritime countries of Europe, notably Holland, Zealand, Flanders, and the shores of the Baltic Trade was also carried on with Iceland, Spain, Portugal, the countries of Southern Europe, and, in spite of the Hundred Years' War, with France

These developriculture, and in coes in financial es a system of barter had been common Such a systes Not only did the use of e becoan to be e hoarded or used for unproductive es could not occur in the econo important effects in the social life of the community One of the most important of these resulted from an appreciation of the power of wealth Formerly, rank and birth had been the main mark of distinction between one h birth, the Church had previously been the only avenue by which a man of ability could attain to a position of is, the possession of wealth proved to be a passport to social recognition, and the old ideas of status and class began rapidly to disappear

The social standing thus gained by men of wealth naturally hastened the decline of the Feudal System; the failure of the Feudal System involved the decay of chivalry, which was closely associated with it Outwardly chivalry continued to flourish, but the tournaments which now took place were held for political purposes on occasions of po to war

The closing century of the Middle Ages not only witnessed the rise of the capitalist class, but it also saw the rise of the middle class, which has been described as the ”land in the late fourteenth and the early fifteenth century”[387] The various changes in the econoh successful trade, and abundant evidence exists that the h esteem Socially, these men seem to have ranked with squires and in consequence ”Merchaundes and Franklonz, worshi+p fulle and honourable, they may be set semely at a squyers table”[388]

The educational development of a country is closely connected with its social and econoress, and it is necessary clearly to bear in es of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries if we are properly to understand the educational adjustments which resulted

CHAPTER II

THE RISE OF THE UNIVERSITIES[389]

It is possible to trace a rapid advance in the intellectual life of England after the eleventh century A the contributory factors may be mentioned the restoration of social and political order, resulting in the greater security essential for intellectual life, and the influence of the Crusades The Crusades were not only a sign of the reawakened energy of Europe but were also a cause of increased intellectual activity and change Those who took part in the Crusades were brought in contact with new people and new ideas; new interests were created, and a more human conception of the world developed Moreover, the deeds of the Crusades supplied new material for historical literature, and stiht The intellectual effect of the Crusades was manifested in every departreatly increased; studies of law, reater attention; scholastic philosophyOf these effects, the development of scholasticism and the rise of the universities are closely connected, and are of special importance for our present purpose

The developht known as scholasticisht in the medieval schools These subjects were the Trivium,[390] and the more advanced Quadriviue (of which the chief were founded on the works of five authors--Orosius, Martianus, Boethius, Cassiodorus, and Isidorus) enable us to estimate as known of these subjects of instruction

Music included little ; arithmetic was discussed chiefly with reference to the eometry consisted of a few propositions froether with arithmetic, found its way into the curriculu Easter

The Trivium was the real basis of the secular education of the period