Knights and Nobility

The Nobility

• They could own land, bringing political power and wealth.
• They were judges and members of councils.
• They attended a king during his journeys.
• They provided military support, collected taxes, and provided food and shelter for a king and people traveling with him.

The Knights

• Supposed to fight for their king and country.
• Educated and well-trained, it was guided by "Code of Chivalry".
• Code of Chivalry was a complex set of strict rules.
• Code of Chivalry promoted loyalty, bravery, and respectfulness.
• Knights who served in Code of Chivalry should loyal to a feudal lord, heavenly Lord, and a chosen lady.
• Code of Chivalry implied protection of the weak and the poor.
• Knights fought only against the men of the same rank.
• There were three stages of training and education: Page, Squire, Knight.
• Page age: 7-14.
• Boys usually lived at a castle of a knight.
• They practiced conduct, fencing, riding a horse.
• Squire age: 14-20.
• Boys became the attendants of a knight.
• They practiced launching arrows, hunting.
• Knight age: 21.
• Achieved a knighthood.

The Clergy

• The people who were anointed dedicated their lives to serving God.
• Members of clergy were supposed to provide religious services.
• Clergymen who held higher offices in the Church could own the land.
• Clergymen were wealthy and held political power.
• Many people lived in the special religious communities: monasteries (monks) and convents (nuns).
• The life of monks and nuns was guided by the strict and practical rules.
• Monasteries had three main functions: healthcare, administration, and education.
• Healthcare: monks in monasteries took care of sick people.
• Administration: priests wrote chronicles and took the record of the events.
• Education: Monks were usually the only educated people in a community and they provided the education for children.
• Benedict and Scholastica were authors of the rules for monks and nuns.

Education

• Education was in decline after the fall of the Roman Empire.
• Education was taken under the control by the Church.
• The Church established three types of the schools: Elementary-song schools, Monastic schools, and Grammar schools.
• Elementary-song schools were a part of the church in a town and boys were taught reading, writing, and singing.
• The Monastic schools were a part of monastery and the monks were the teachers, learning was by heart without actual understanding.
• The Grammar schools were a part of the cathedral or large church.
• Grammar schools were established by the bishops and basic subjects were taught.

The Universities

• Provided a higher education.
• Started as the small groups of scholars.
• Four Faculties: Faculty of Theology, Faculty of Law, Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Arts.

Septem Artes Liberals - The Seven Liberal Arts

• Trivium: grammar, rhetoric, logic.
• Quadrivium: arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy.
• Only wealthy people could afford to study, there were high fees and expensive books.
• The education was time-consuming.
• Noble boys attended schools and noble girls were taught at home.
• Education was expensive for the peasants and they had to have the approval of their lord if they wanted to attend school.
• The children of peasants were usually educated at home and they learned by simulation of the work of the adults.
• They practiced the skills in farming and technical skills.
• Traditions, folk-tales, proverbs and fairy-tales were important part of the education.
• The sermons and confession in the churches had educational purposes too.