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 SCHOOLS

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SCHOOLS

are not of their nature spiritual, truths of science, of history, matters of culture, in a word, profane learn- ing — these do not belong intrinsically to the pro- gramme of the Church's teaching. Nevertheless, they enter into her work by force of circumstance, when, namely, the Christian youth cannot attain a knowl- edge of them without incurring grave danger to faith or morals. They enter also into the Church's task by reason of a pedagogical principle which she has al- ways recognized in practice. Religion being the su- preme co-ordinating principle in education, as it is in life, if the so-called secular branches of knowledge are taught without reference to religion, the Church feels that an educational mistake is being made, that the "one thing necessary" is being excluded, to the detri- ment of education itself. Therefore she assumes the task of teaching the secular branches in such a way that rehgion is the centralizing, unifying, and vitahz- ing force in the educational process. Whenever there is positive and immediate danger of loss of faith, the Church cannot allow her children to run the risk of perversion; whenever religion is left out of the curric- ulum, she tries to supply the defect. In both cases she establishes under her own control schools which are called Cathohc and which, in the vicissitudes of historical development or from the particular circum- stances of their foundation, scope, or maintenance, are specifically known as catechetical schools, monastic schools, cathedral schools, chantry schools, guild schools, parochial schools, etc.

II. Catechetical Schools. — These flourished about the middle of the second century of the Christian era. They were brought into existence by the conflict of Christianity with pagan pliilo.sophy. They were, con- sequently, academics of liigher learning. Out of them grew the first great schools of theological controversy and also the schools for the special training of the clergy, although there were, almost from the begin- ning, schools attached to the household of the bishops (episcopal schools) where clerics were trained. We have reason to believe that in some instances, as in the catechetical school of Protogenes at Edcssa (about 180), not only the higher branches but also the ele- mentary branches were taught in the catechetical schools. Schools of this type became more numerous as time went on. In the Council of Vaison (529) the priests of Gaul are commanded to take boys into their household and teach them to read "the Psalms, and the Holy Scriptures and to instruct them in the Law of God". From these sprang the parochial schools of medieval and modern times.

As the conflict between Christianity and pagan philosophy gave rise to the catechetical schools, so the more general struggle between Christian and pagan standards of life gave rise to other provisions on the part of the Church for safeguarding the faith of Chris- tian children. In the first centuries great stress was laid on the importance of home education, and this task was committed in a special manner to Christian mothers. It is sufficient to mention the Christian matrons Macrina, Emmelia, Nonna, Anthusa, Monica, and Paula, mothers of saints and scholars, to show how successfully the home under the direction of the Christian mother was made to counteract the influ- ence of pagan schools. There were also private schools for Christian youth, taught by Christians, for instance the school at Imola, taught by Cassian.

III. Monastic Schools. — Monasticism as an insti- tution was a protest against the corrupt pagan stand- ards of hving which had begun to influence not only the public life of Christians but also their private and domestic life. Even in the fourth century, St. John Chrysostom testifies to the decline of fervour in the Christian family, and contends that it is no longer pos- sible for children to obtain proper religious and moral training in their own homes. It was part of the pur- pose of monasticism to meet this need and to supply

not only to the members of the religious orders but also to children committed to the care of the cloister the moral, religious, and intellectual culture which could not be obtained elsewhere without lowering the Christian standard of life. At the same time epis- copal schools, though instituted primarily for the edu- cation of clerical candidates, did not decline to admit secular scholars, especially after the State schools of the empire had fallen into decay. There were paro- chial schools also, which, while they aimed at foster- ing vocations to the priesthood, were expressly com- manded not to deny their pupils the right to enter the married state as soon as they reached the age of maturity (cum ad cetatem perfectam pervenerint). The explicit enactment of the Council of Vaison (529) in this matter is important because it refers to a similar custom already prevaihng in Italy. It remains true, however, that although the episcopal and presbyteral (parochial) schools thus contributed to the education of the laity, the chief portion of the burden of lay ed- ucation in the early Middle Ages was borne by the monasteries. The earliest monastic legislation does not clearly define the organization of the "internal" and "external" schools. Nevertheless, it recognizes the existence in the monastery of children who were to be educated, not for the cloister, but for the world. In Ireland, as Archbishop Healy says, the monks, "taught the children of the rich and poor alike" ("Ire- land's Ancient Schools and Scholars", 102), and to Ire- land went not only clerics but laymen from England and the Continent, to receive an education. On the Continent also the education of the laity, "gentle and simple", fell to the lot of the monks. It is difficult to saj' when the distinction between the "internal" school (schola clauslri) and the "external" {schola canonica, s. externa) was first introduced. We find it in St. Gall, Fulda, and Heichenau in the ninth and tenth centuries. In the internal school the pupils were novices, future members of the order, some of whom were offered up (oblati) by their- parents at a tender age. In the external school were the children of the neighbouring villagers and the sons of the no- bility; many of the references to this class of pupils in the monastic code lay stress on the obligation to treat aU with equal ju.stice, not taking account of their rank in life. There was a similar custom in regard to the reception of young girls in the convents, as ap- pears from several enactments of Bishop St. Ca^sarius of Aries and his successors. At Aries, moreover, ac- cording to Muteau (see bibliography) open schools (ecoles ouvertes) were held by the nuns for the benefit of the entire neighbourhood. The curriculum of studies in the monastic schools comprised the trivium and qiiadrivium, that is to say, grammar, rhetoric, dialec- tic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and the theory of music. Besides, the monks cultivated the science and art of healing; they devoted attention to agri- culture, building, and the decorative arts. They took pains to transcribe the Classics as well as the distinctly ecclesiastical works that had come down to them; and in doing this they developed the art of penmanship and that of illumination to a high degree of perfection. They were annalists also, noting dowm year by year the important events not only in the life of their own community but also in the Church at large and in the political world. Finally, by example and precept they dignified manual labour, which in pagan Rome was despised as fit only for slaves.

The head of the mona.stic school was called magister scholce, capiscola, proscholus, etc. By the end of the ninth century, however, the usual name for the head of the school was scholasticus. His assistants were called seniores. The method of teaching was influ- enced largely by the scarcity of books and the need of handing down without diminution the heritage of the past. The master dictated (legsre was the word used to signify the act of teaching), and the pupils wrote