Medieval
Education
Education
in Medieval times was very different than it is today. Parents
were not legally obligated to send their children to school.
That does not mean, however, the children did not receive
education! What you were taught depended on two things - what
class your family belonged to, and whether you were a boy
or a girl.
Children
of Nobles
 Children
from the noble class (their parents are Lords and Ladies,
Dukes and Duchesses, even Kings and Queens!) were taught by
a priest and by their mother, or another high-ranking female
in the castle (depending on the topic). Because much of their
lives would be surrounded by strict rules on the proper way
to behave in any given situation, the most important thing
for a noble child to learn was manners.
Becoming
a Knight
This option was only available to males, and usually only
to sons of nobles. Boys leave home to be attached as a "page"
to a particular knight at the age of seven. Pages became "squires"
(short for "esquire") at the age of fourteen. While
pages and squires learned how to become proper knights, they
also took care of the knight they were beholden to, as well
as had other chores around the keep to deal with.
Pages
would:
- Bring
water into the keep for washing
- Sweep the floors
- Carve the meat
- Serve at the table
- Help in the kitchen
- Learn to fight with wooden swords
- Learn archery
- Learn riding
- Practice jousting
Squires
would:
- Dress
the lord
- Pray for guidance on how to be a good knight
- Lean to fight with maces and shields
- Teach riding to the pages
- Follow their knight into battle
- Look after the horses
- Clean armour
- Sharpen swords
- Aid their knight at tournaments-
Most squires
would be knighted by the age of 21. If a squire had demonstrated
great bravery during battle, he might be knighted on the battlefield.
Otherwise, the evening before becoming a knight, the squire
would be bathed and shaved, dressed in a simple robe, and
taken to the chapel, where he was to pray all night for guidance
on how to be a good knight. In the morning, he would put on
his finest clothes and be taken into the Great Hall. After
breakfast, the "dubbing ceremony" would take place.
The lord would lightly tap the squire on the shoulders with
a sword, then gave him a sharp blow with his hand. He was
then presented with a gift of his own sword and spurs, and
taken back to the chapel to be blessed by the priest. He was
now a knight!
Higher
Education
 Many
schools were established for local children by the parish
priests. If the child had a good singing voice, they could
take orders and become a priest, monk, or nun. Their singing
ability was more important than whether they could read, write,
or cook, as those were skills that could be taught and improved
upon, and because so much of the daily life in an abbey or
monastery involved singing!
The first
universities in Europe were established in the 12th century
(1100's), and were still connected with the Church, although
the students did not need to become monks to study there.
Universities were only open to male students (no girls allowed!).
Children
in the Towns and Villages
The towns and villages were where many merchants and guild
members lived and worked. Often the local priests would create
a school for the children of the area, where they were taught
how to behave properly and according to their rank and station
in life. They were told stories from the Bible, and what they
meant to everyday life. Children also learned about everyday
life from their parents, older siblings and neighbors. Young
girls helped their mother around the house by watching their
younger siblings, running errands, and doing household chores.
They learned practical skills such as sewing, cooking, and
cleaning. Young boys were often apprenticed to a member of
a local guild to learn a trade. After studying and working
under a master for seven years, the apprentice would be free
to leave and start his own shop.
Peasants
This was the class of people who worked the land (i.e. farmers).
They tend livestock and grow peas, beans, wheat, barley, and
oats, to name a few crops. Children are put to work in the
fields at an early age as "bird scarers". Their
job is to scare away the birds during the planting season
who would otherwise eat all of the seeds before they had a
chance to start growing. Once children were strong enough,
they would also head to the fields to help with the harvests
(hay in June and July, wheat in August and September). A poor
harvest season means that everyone would suffer for food over
the winter, so every available set of hands is put to work.
Children
are also used to tend to the livestock, especially to sheep
and goats. Other skills the boys are taught include how to
plow, sow, and harrow the fields. The girls are taught how
to sew, cook, clean, and tend to babies at a relatively early
age.
So
Where is the Mathematics in Medieval Education?
 -
The girls from noble families learn accounting, because the
Lady of the house is traditionally the one in charge of the
household finances.
- Pages and esquires must learn how to estimate angles and
quickly judge distances in order to be successful at jousting
and archery, among other tournament events.
- Scribes must be able to subdivide a parchment leaf so that
none of it is wasted. They use a tool called a "rastrum"
to create faint lines on the parchment, so their writing will
be in straight lines, but rastra come in different sizes.
Scribes must be able to estimate how many lines of text can
be put onto a page and still be legible.
- Women who worked with medicines, as well as alchemists and
apothecaries, had to be able to measure ingredients accurately
to create the desired effect.
- The type of mathematical skills required for an apprentice
was dependant upon which trade he was being trained.
- A smith must be able to accurately measure the temperature
in the furnaces, as well as how hot the metal he is dealing
with is burning. He must also be able to use tools to create
many different symmetrical and asymmetrical shapes.
- A baker or a chef must be able to measure his ingredients,
and mix them properly. He must also be able to recognise the
different temperatures in his ovens and know when it is hot
enough / too hot for a given dish.
- A tanner must be able to work with alternating patterns
in order to weave.
- A farmer must be able to "read" and interpret
the calendar in order to know the best time to plant and to
harvest. He must also have a sense of geometry and geography,
as well as be able to plow in a series of straight lines.
- An artisan must have an excellent sense of geometry, regardless
of the medium (paint, sculpture, stained glass, etc.) in which
he is working.
- A money-lender must be able to convert foreign currencies,
as well as work with a scale (when the coins become worn,
they are weighed to determine their worth). He will also be
able to determine interest rates very quickly.
- Wood-workers and masons must be able to determine angles,
as well as stresses and strains, else structures would be
falling down everywhere! Wood-workers also had to be able
to determine which way a tree would fall when cut, for their
own sake.
- Architects must have excellent geometrical and spatial awareness
in order to design the structures the masons and wood-workers
constructed.
- Troubadours must have a natural sense of rhythm and rhyme,
as well as some musical talent!
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