Читать книгу The History of Education - Ellwood Patterson Cubberley - Страница 57

THE LOW INTELLECTUAL LEVEL. As was stated in the preceding chapter, the lamp of learning burned low throughout the most of western Europe during the period of assimilation and partial civilization of the barbarian tribes. The western portion of the Roman Empire had been overrun, and rude Germanic chieftains were establishing, by the law of might, new kingdoms on the ruins of the old. The Germanic tribes had no intellectual life of their own to contribute, and no intellectual tastes to be ministered unto. With the destruction of cities and towns and country villas, with their artistic and literary collections, much that represented the old culture was obliterated, [2] and books became more and more scarce. [3] The destruction was gradual, but by the beginning of the seventh century the loss had become great. The Roman schools also gradually died out as the need for an education which prepared for government and gave a knowledge of Roman law passed away, and the type of education approved by the Church was left in complete control of the field. As the security and leisure needed for study disappeared, and as the only use for learning was now in the service of the Church, education became limited to the narrow lines which offered such preparation and to the few who needed it. Amid the ruins of the ancient civilization the Church stood as the only conservative and regenerative force, and naturally what learning remained passed into its hands and under its control.

The result of all these influences and happenings was that by the beginning of the seventh century Christian Europe had reached a very low intellectual level, and during the seventh and eighth centuries conditions grew worse instead of better. Only in England and Ireland, as will be pointed out a little later, and in a few Italian cities, was there anything of consequence of the old Roman learning preserved. On the Continent there was little general learning, even among the clergy (R. 64 a). Many of the priests were woefully ignorant, [4] and the Latin writings of the time contain many inaccuracies and corruptions which reveal the low standard of learning even among the better educated of the clerical class. The Church itself was seriously affected by the prevailing ignorance of the period, and incorporated into its system of government and worship many barbarous customs and practices of which it was a long time in ridding itself. So great had become the ignorance and superstition of the time, among priests, monks, and the people; so much had religion taken on the worship of saints and relics and shrines; and so much had the Church developed the sensuous and symbolic, that religion had in reality become a crude polytheism instead of the simple monotheistic faith of the early Church. Along scientific lines especially the loss was very great. Scientific ideas as to natural phenomena disappeared, and crude and childish ideas as to natural forces came to prevail. As if barbarian chiefs and robber bands were not enough, popular imagination peopled the world with demons, goblins, and dragons, and all sorts of superstitions and supernatural happenings were recorded. Intercommunication largely ceased; trade and commerce died out; the accumulated wealth of the past was destroyed; and the old knowledge of the known world became badly distorted, as is evidenced by the many crude mediaeval maps. (See Figure 46.) The only scholarship of the time, if such it might be called, was the little needed by the Church to provide for and maintain its government and worship. Almost everything that we to-day mean by civilization in that age was found within the protecting walls of monastery or church, and these institutions were at first too busy building up the foundations upon which a future culture might rest to spend much time in preserving learning, much less in advancing it.

[Illustration: FIG. 37. A TYPICAL MONASTERY of SOUTHERN EUROPE]

THE MONASTERIES DEVELOP SCHOOLS. In this age of perpetual lawlessness and disorder the one opportunity for a life of repose and scholarly contemplation lay in the monasteries. Here the rule of might and force was absent (R. 52), and the timid, the devout, and the studiously inclined here found a refuge from the turbulence and brutality of a rude civilization. The early monasteries, and especially the monastery of Saint Victor, at Marseilles, founded by Cassian in 404, had represented a culmination of the western feeling of antagonism to all ancient learning, but with the founding of Monte Cassino by Saint Benedict, in 529 A.D., and the promulgation of the Benedictine rule (R. 43), a more liberal attitude was shown. [5] This rule was adopted generally by the monasteries throughout what is now Italy, Spain, France, Germany, and England, and the Benedictine became the type for the monks of the early Middle Ages. To this order we are largely indebted for the copying of books and the preservation of learning throughout the mediaeval period.

The 48th rule of Saint Benedict, it will be remembered (R. 43), had imposed reading and study as a part of the daily duty of every monk, but had said nothing about schools. Subsequent regulations issued by superiors had aimed at the better enforcement of this rule (R. 44), that the monks might lead devout lives and know the Bible and the sacred writings of the Church. Imposed at first as a matter of education and discipline for the monks, this rule ultimately led to the establishment of schools and the development of a system of monastic instruction. As youths were received at an early age [6] into the monasteries to prepare for a monastic life, it was necessary that they be taught to read if they were later to use the sacred books. This led to the duty of instructing novices, which marks the beginning of monastic instruction for those within the walls. As books were scarce and at the same time necessary, and the only way to get new ones was to copy from old ones, the monasteries were soon led to take up the work once carried on by the publishing houses of ancient Rome, and in much the same way. This made writing necessary, and the novices had to be instructed carefully in this, as well as in reading. [7] The chants and music of the Church called for instruction of the novices in music, and the celebration of Easter and the fast and festival days of the Church called for some rudimentary instruction in numbers and calculation.

Out of these needs rose the monastery school, the copying of manuscripts, and the preservation of books. Due to their greater security and quiet the monasteries became the leading teaching institutions of the early part of the Middle-Age period, and those who wished their children trained for the service of the Church gave them to the monasteries (R. 53 a). The development of the monastic schools was largely voluntary, though from an early date bishops and rulers began urging the monasteries to open schools for boys in connection with their houses, and schools became in time a regular feature of the monastic organization. From schools only for those intending to take the vows (oblati), the instruction was gradually opened, after the ninth century, to others (externi) not intending to take the vows, and what came to be known as "outer" monastic schools were in time developed.

[Illustration: FIG. 38. BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF A MEDIAEVAL MONASTERY (From an engraving by Viollet-le-Duc, dated 1718, of the Cistercian Abbey of Cîteaux, in France) This monastery was founded in the forests of what is now northeastern France, in 1198 A.D., and was the first of a reformed Benedictine order, known as Cistercians. For an explanation of the monastery, see the opposite page. (Note: explanation follows.)

Explanation of the Monastery opposite: The cross, by the roadside, indicates the entrance gate. Passing through the orchards and fields, the traveler reached the outer gate-house. At the almonry (C) food and drink were given out; on the second floor rooms for the night could be had; in the little chapel (D) prayers could be said; and in the stable (F) the traveler's horse could be cared for for the night. An inner gate through (E) opened into an inner court, around which were the barns, chicken- yards, cow-sheds, etc. The Abbot lived at H. G was a dormitory for the lay brothers who did the heavy work of the monastery, and who entered the church (N) at the rear through a special doorway (S). All of these buildings were considered as outside the monastery proper.

Inside were the great church (N), with the library (P) in the rear. Seven scriptoria are shown on the side of the library building. M was the large dormitory for the monks, and R the infirmary for old and sick brothers. I was the kitchen, K was the dining-hall (refectory), and L the stairs to the upper dormitory rooms. C and E are two cloisters with corridors on the four sides, somewhat similar to the cloisters shown for the monastery on Plate I. The copying of books often took place in these cloisters, though a scriptorium was usually found under the library, the library proper, as in Plate 2, being on the second floor (P) and reached by a winding stair. A wall surrounded the monastery grounds, and a stream of running water passed through them.]

The monasteries became the preservers of learning. Another need developed the copying of pagan books, and incidentally the preservation of some of the best of Roman literature. The language of the Church very naturally was Latin, as it was a direct descendant of Roman life, governmental organization, citizenship, and education. The writings of the Fathers of the Western Church had all been in Latin, and in the fourth century the Bible had been translated from the Greek into the Latin. This edition, known as the Vulgate [8] Bible, became the standard for western Europe for ten centuries to come. The German tribes which had invaded the Empire had no written languages of their own, and their spoken dialects differed much from the Latin speech of those whom they had conquered. Latin was thus the language of all those of education, and naturally continued as the language of the Church and the monastery for both speech and writing. All books were, of course, written in Latin.

Under the rude influences and the general ignorance of the period, though, the language was easily and rapidly corrupted, and it became necessary for the monasteries and the churches to have good models of Latin prose and verse to refer to. These were best found in the old Latin literary authors—particularly Caesar, Cicero, and Vergil. To have these, due to the great destruction of old books which had taken place during the intervening centuries, it was necessary to copy these authors, [9] as well as the Psalter, the Missal, [10] the sacred books, and the writings of the Fathers of the Church (Rs. 55, 56). It thus happened that the monasteries unintentionally began to preserve and use the ancient Roman books, and from using them at first as models for style, an interest in their contents was later awakened. While many of the monasteries remained as farming, charitable, and ascetic institutions almost exclusively, and were never noted for their educational work, a small but increasing number gradually accumulated libraries and became celebrated for their literary activity and for the character of their instruction. The monasteries thus in time became the storehouses of learning, the publishing houses of the Middle Ages (Rs. 54, 55, 56), teaching institutions of first importance, and centers of literary activity and religious thought, as well as centers for agricultural development, work in the arts and crafts, and Christian hospitality. Many developed into large and important institutions (R. 69).

THE COPYING OF MANUSCRIPTS. [11] The work of the more important monasteries and the monastic churches in copying books was a service to learning of large future significance. While many of the books copied were for the promotion of the religious service, such as Missals and Psalters (R. 55), and many others were tales of saints and wearisome comments on the sacred writings, a few were old classical texts representing the best of Roman literary work. A few monastic chronicles and histories of importance were composed by the brothers, and also preserved for us by the copying process.

The production of a single book was a task of large proportions, and explains in part the small number of volumes the monasteries accumulated. After the raids of the Mohammedans across Egypt, in the seventh century, the supply of Egyptian papyrus stopped because of the interruption of communications, and the only writing material during the Middle Ages was the skin of sheep or goats or calves. Sheepskins were chiefly used, and a book of size might require a hundred or more skins. These were first soaked in limewater to loosen the hair, then scraped clean of hair and flesh, and then carefully stretched on board frames to dry. After they had dried they were again scraped with sharp knives to secure an even thickness, and then rubbed smooth with pumice and chalk. When finished, the clean, shining, cream-colored skin was known as vellum, [12] or parchment. This was next cut into pages of the desired size and arranged ready for writing. The larger pieces were used for large books, such as are shown in Plate 2, and the remnants to produce small books. The inks, too, had to be prepared, and the pages ruled.

The main writing was done with black, but the page was frequently bordered with red, gold, or some other bright color, while many beautiful illustrations were inserted by artistic monks. Sometimes an initial letter was beautifully embellished, as is shown in Figure 39; sometimes illustrations were introduced in the body of the page, of which Figures 39 and 40 are types; and sometimes a colored illustration was painted on a sheet of vellum and inserted in the book. Figure 44 represents such an illustrated page in an old manuscript. Finally, when completed, the lettered and illustrated parchment sheets were arranged in order, sewed together with a deerskin or pigskin string, bound together between oaken boards and covered with pigskin, properly lettered in gold, fitted with metal corners and clasps (R. 57), as shown in Plate 2, and often chained to their bookrack in the library with heavy iron chains as well. (See Figure 71 and Plate 2.) Still further to protect the volume from theft, an anathema against the thief was usually lettered in the volume (R. 58).

[Illustration: FIG. 39. INITIAL LETTER FROM AN OLD MANUSCRIPT This shows the beautiful work done by some of the nuns and monks in "illuminating" the books they copied. This was done in colors by a nun, who pictured her own work in this initial letter L.]

Such was the painfully slow method of producing and multiplying books before the advent of printing, and in days when skill in copying manuscripts was not particularly common, even among the monks. It required from a few months to a year or more to produce a few copies, depending on the size and nature of the work, whereas to-day, with printing-presses, five thousand copies of such a book as this can be printed and bound in a few days.

[Illustration: FIG. 40. A MONK IN A SCRIPTORIUM (From an illuminated picture in a manuscript in the Royal Library at Brussels) This picture shows the beautiful work done in "illuminating" manuscript books by mediaeval writers. Each copy was a work of art. This represents a better type of scriptorium than is usually shown.]

THE SCRIPTORIUM. An important part of the material equipment of many monasteries, in consequence, came to be a scriptorium, or writing-room, where the copying of manuscripts could take place undisturbed. In some monasteries one general room was provided, though it was customary to have a number of small rooms at the side of the library. In the monastery shown in Figure 38, seven small rooms for this purpose are shown built out on one side of the library. Sometimes individual cells along a corridor were provided. The advantage of the single room in which a number of monks worked came when an edition of eight or ten copies of a book was to be prepared. One monk could then dictate, while eight or ten others carefully printed on the skins before them what was dictated by the reader. [13] Figure 40 shows a monk at work, though here he is copying from a book before him. After an edition of eight or ten copies of a book had been prepared and bound the extra copies were sent to neighboring and sometimes distant monasteries, sometimes in exchange for other books, and sometimes as gifts to brothers who had longed to read the work (R. 55). New monasteries were provided with the beginnings of a library in this way, and churches were supplied with Missals, Psalters, and other books needed for their services.

The writing-room, or rooms, came to be a very important place in those monasteries noted for their literary activity. West gives an interesting description of the scriptorium at Tours, where the learned English monk, Alcuin, was Abbot from 796 to 804, and which at the time was the principal book-writing monastery in Frankland. Describing Alcuin's labors to secure books to send to other monasteries in Charlemagne's kingdom, he says:

We can almost reconstruct the scene. In the intervals between the hours of prayer and the observance of the round of cloister life, come hours for the copying of books under the presiding genius of Alcuin. The young monks file into the scriptorium, and one of them is given the precious parchment volume containing a work of Bede or Isidore or Augustine, or else some portion of the Latin Scriptures, or even a heathen author. He reads slowly and clearly at a measured rate while all the others seated at their desks take down his words, and thus perhaps a score of copies are made at once. Alcuin's observant eye watches each in turn, and his correcting hand points out the mistakes in orthography and punctuation. The master of Charles the Great, in that true humility that is the charm of his whole behavior, makes himself the writing-master of his monks, stooping to the drudgery of faithfully and gently correcting their many puerile mistakes, and all for the love of studies and the love of Christ. Under such guidance, and deeply impressed by the fact that in the copying of a few books they were saving learning and knowledge from perishing, and thereby offering a service most acceptable to God, the copying in the scriptorium went on in sobriety from day to day. Thus were produced those improved copies of books which mark the beginning of a new age in the conserving and transmission of learning. Alcuin's anxiety in this regard was not undue, for the few monasteries where books could be accurately transcribed were as necessary for publication in that time as are the great publishing houses to-day. [14]