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
