THE EDUCATION OF THE SONS OF THE NOBILITY.

It is necessary to consider now the nature of the Education of those whose social position prevented them from sharing in the gratuitous Education, which was offered by the Church and freely accepted by the sons and daughters of “liberi tenentes,” or of villeins, cottars, or serfs. These educational facilities thus offered by the Church might possibly be utilised by the children of the manorial officials, the steward, or the bailiff; but they would never be shared by children of gentle birth.

In the Middle Ages, in England as on the continent, youths of noble parentage were not sent to schools for their education, but to the households of great nobles or great ecclesiastics. Thus, as we have seen, Odo, subsequently Archbishop of Canterbury, was taught as a boy in the household of the thane Athelhelm[352]; this custom was consequently already well established in the tenth century. Other instances that may be given are those of Stephen of Blois, who received his education at the court of his uncle, Henry I.; of Henry II., who lived at the house of Duke Robert of Gloucester; and of Henry VI., who was put under the care of Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. To that noble were also entrusted the heirs of baronies in the Crown’s wardship, so that his court practically became “an academy for the young nobility.”

Fitzstephen, the biographer of Thomas À Becket, tells us that “the nobles of England and of the neighbouring kingdoms used to send their sons to serve the Chancellor, whom he trained with honourable bringing-up and learning; and when they had received the knight’s belt, sent them back with honour to their fathers and kindred; some he used to keep. The king himself, his master, entrusted to him his son, the heir of the realm, to be brought up; whom he had with him, with many sons of nobles of the same age, and their proper retinue and masters and proper servants in the honour due.”[353]

The nature of the education which was given at the houses of the great nobles was determined by an ideal which grew out of the special circumstances of the time. Prominent among the contributory factors to the formation of this ideal were (1) the Feudal System, (2) the Crusades, (3) the Church.

(1) We have already dealt briefly with the origin and development of the Feudal System; hence it will be sufficient to point out here, that the Conquest had succeeded in establishing it more firmly in this country. Each fief now became in practice a separate court under its lord, whose eldest son could naturally look forward to succeeding to the position occupied by his father. It is in this connection that we find one need which the education of the young noble would be expected to meet. It was necessary that he should receive the training which would be of service to him in discharging effectively the position which in the ordinary course of things he would subsequently be called upon to fill.

(2) Without enquiring fully into the causes contributory to the Crusades, we may mention that they arose out of one of those outbursts of energy which in subsequent ages found expression in such movements as the Revival of Learning and the French Revolution. More definitely, the Crusades were the response made by the nobility to the appeal of the East for help against the infidel. This response was given the more readily because it was in harmony with the restless love of adventure and with the desire for glory and fame, which manifested themselves during this period.

(3) It is also important to notice that there existed at this time a widespread belief in the efficacy of penitence and ascetism, as a means of gaining religious virtue. This frequently took the form of a pilgrimage, and the Crusades furnished a “stupendous pilgrimage under specially favourable and meritorious conditions.” “The first Crusade was the marriage of War and Religion, the consecration by the Church of the military spirit, which was the first step in the creation of Chivalry.”[354]

These three factors contributed to the growth of those customs which prevailed among the noble classes in Western Europe during the greater part of the Middle Ages, and to which the term chivalry is usually applied. A certain ideal of the qualities which were essential to a “perfect knight” gradually evolved. Hence it was the business of the household to which the sons of the nobility were sent for training to endeavour, as far as possible, to equip their “pupils” with the knowledge, skill, habits, and qualities which custom had decreed should be possessed before admission to the grade of knighthood was obtained.

It is possible to trace four main elements in the chivalric ideal: (1) military prowess, (2) service and loyalty, (3) the “worship of woman,” (4) religion.

Taking each of these points in turn, we note first that the importance of military training at this period is a topic which scarcely calls for elaboration. The age was essentially warlike; the definite objective of the Crusades was one that could only be achieved through military skill. Hence, no slight amount of the training of the future knight was devoted to the acquisition of skill as a horseman and in the use of the weapons of war.

The second element to which we have referred—“service and loyalty”—may be described as the underlying principle of chivalry. The service, however, sprang from pride in the position occupied; no task was considered menial if it arose out of the service due from the squire to his liege lord. Loyalty is inherent in the idea of chivalry; it is an inseparable part of the knightly ideal.

Only a passing reference is necessary to the third element—the “worship of women”—even though it played a most important part in the development of the character of the prospective knight by refining his manners, checking coarseness of expression, and tending generally to the growth of the idea of courtesy which is now conceived of as the distinctive mark of a chivalrous man. Here we may simply say that to do the pleasure of ladies was regarded both as the chief solace of the knight and the mainspring of his actions.

The remaining element in the chivalric ideal is that of religion. The Church looms large; the knight was brought up to use her sacraments, to obey her precepts, and to show reverence to her ministers. “The Crusader, the Hospitaller, and the Knights of Santiago were champions of the Church against the infidel. The knight’s consecration to chivalry was after the form of a sacrament, and to defend the Church was a part of his initiation. The least religious acknowledged the authority of religion and it was the imputation of impiety rather than of immorality which destroyed the Templar; for impiety was in those days a worse imputation than immorality.”[355]

To summarise the course of preparation for knighthood, it may be pointed out that for the first seven years of training, the aspirants were known as pages, varlets, or damoiseaux. Under their masters and mistresses they performed most humble domestic duties and practised at doing everything they saw done by the knights. After attaining the age of fourteen years, they were promoted to the rank of squire, a promotion that was celebrated by a religious ceremony. The training now became more severe and included ability in all matters relating to the art of warfare, together with duties in connection with the stables and horses, and skill in the art of heraldry.

The intellectual part of the training of the squire involved instruction in “sondry languages” and the acquisition of ability “to pipe, sing, dance” and to play the harp.[356] In the oft-quoted passage from Chaucer it is stated that the squire:—

“wel cowde ryde,
He cowde songes wel make and endite,
Justne and eek daunce, and wel purtray and write.”

The actual school curriculum followed by the squire would therefore resemble that of children of lower social grades, to the extent that “song” and “writing” were included in both. Among the “sondry languages,” it is certain that Latin would be numbered; in addition he would learn French and (possibly) Italian.

Chivalry began to decline about the middle of the thirteenth century. “Froissart characterises and describes with picturesque detail this tendency to decay which, as time advanced, gradually resulted in a complete transformation, so that the chivalric ideal became lost and the independence of the soldier, once the slave only of his God and of his lady, gave way to the obsequiousness of the courtier, and finally became a selfish and pitiful servility.”[357]

What place does chivalric education occupy in the evolution of educational thought and practice? In the first place, it contributed to the elaboration of the educational ideal. Though, as we have indicated, chivalric education was based on utility, just as was the education of the schools of the cloister or of the church, yet it resulted in a wider connotation being given to the term “education.” Chivalric education aimed at fitting a man to live a life in society; whereas the education given by the monk or priest aimed only at fitting a man to lead a religious life. A change was also made in the estimation of educational values: the intellectual element of education (though not entirely ignored) was yet relegated to a subsidiary position, whilst the care of the body, notoriously absent from the ecclesiastical education, was exalted to an important position. It is interesting also to note that the custom of sending boys of good family away from home directly contributed to the practice of sending boys to a residential school, which is characteristic of the present day, especially among parents of good financial means. In addition, we must note that some of the ideals of chivalry have tended to live on in our great public schools of to-day; further, they have influenced our secondary schools and, to a lesser extent, our elementary schools. Admiration for physical prowess, as exemplified on the playing fields, still occupies the highest place in the mind of the schoolboy; the ideal of service survives in the custom of “fagging”; loyalty, honour, courtesy, and deference to external ceremonial continue to be distinctive marks of the “schools of the nobility” of to-day.

There is a danger in assuming that all the ideals of chivalry were equally high, and that the contribution of chivalry to education was greater than it really was. “Chivalry,” writes Cornish, “taught the world the duty of noble service willingly rendered. It upheld courage and enterprise in obedience to rule, it consecrated military prowess to the service of the church, glorified the virtues of liberality, good faith, unselfishness, and courtesy, and, above all, courtesy to women. Against these may be set the vices of ostentation, love of bloodshed, contempt of inferiors, and loose manners. Chivalry was an imperfect discipline, but it was a discipline, and one fit for the times. It may have existed in the world too long; it did not come into existence too early; and with all its shortcomings, it exercised a great and wholesome influence in lifting the medieval world from barbarism to civilisation.”[358]

The practice of sending the sons of the nobility and gentry to the houses of other nobles continued even after “chivalry” itself as a mode of life had died out. Thus, Sir Thomas More was brought up at the house of Cardinal Morton;[359] Cardinal Wolsey had a number of young lords residing with him;[360] in the household of the Earl of Northumberland in 1571 were a number of young gentlemen.[361]

For the purpose of teaching these young nobles, it was customary that there should be a “Maistyr of Gramer” as a part of the establishment of the house, who was responsible for the instruction “which is necessary for song and the rules of grammatical construction.”[362] Various household books bear testimony to the presence of this tutor.[363] It is not suggested that the education given at the houses of nobles and other great men was very effective from an academic point of view. In fact, the opinion in which letters were generally held at the time was not sufficiently high to serve as an inducement for study to be taken up seriously by young members of the higher social classes.[364] The course of study followed included Latin, French, writing, fencing, accounts, and music,[365] but this enumeration of subjects does not imply that a high standard was attained. A further consideration of this subject will be necessary when the period subsequent to the Reformation is dealt with.