History of Education - Levi Seeley (top novels to read .txt) 📗
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[47] Laurie, "Rise of the Universities."
[48] No longer in existence
Literature.—Warner, Library of the World's Best Literature (see article on the Koran); Johonnot, Geographical Reader; Lane-Poole, Story of the Moors in Spain; Lord, Beacon Lights of History; Thalheimer, Mediaeval and Modern History; Stillé, Studies in Mediaeval History; Irving, Mahomet and his Successors; Church, The Beginnings of the Middle Ages; Andrews, Institutes of General History; White, Eighteen Christian Centuries; Myers, Mediaeval and Modern History; Mombert, Great Lives; Clarke, Ten Great Religions; Ferris, Great Leaders; Laurie, Rise of the Universities; Walker, John Brisben, The Building of an Empire ("Cosmopolitan," Feb.-Sept., 1899); "North American Review," Vol. 171, p. 754.
We have thus far described the work of Christian education. Parallel with this and almost entirely independent of it grew the educational work of the Moslems. This was a very important movement most valuable to civilization.
History of Mohammedanism.—Mohammedanism dates from the time of the Hegira, or flight of Mohammed from Mecca, A.D. 622. From this date Moslems reckon their time, as the Christian world reckons from the birth of Christ. Mohammed first appeared as prophet when forty years of age. The religion of the Arabs was a most degraded one, and there was great need of the reformation which Mohammed undertook. The prophet was not well received at first, and, being obliged to flee from Mecca, he retired to a cave at Medina, where he meditated and studied. It was during this retirement that he wrote the Koran, the Bible of the Mohammedans. He claimed that the angel Gabriel appeared to him, giving him a new revelation, which was more significant than that of the Christians. Indeed, these so-called revelations were strangely suited to the varying ambition of the founder of this religion. The Koran teaches that as Jesus was greater than Moses, so Mohammed was greater than Jesus.
There is no doubt that the new religion was an improvement upon the degraded form of worship that Mohammed found among the Arabs, or that in the beginning of his activity he did much to purify and elevate his people. But as he gained great numbers of adherents, and as he acquired power, Mohammed became a warrior, and attempted by the sword to compel belief in his doctrines. Moslemism met with such wonderful success that already, during the life of Mohammed, all Arabia was conquered to this belief, while his successors spread his teachings into northern Africa, western Asia, Spain, and Turkey. They carried their triumphant arms into France, until they were checked by Charles Martel; they overran Austria and threatened the complete subjugation of southeastern Europe, until John Sobieski dealt them a crushing blow before the gates of Vienna, and forever destroyed their ambition for northern conquest; they occupied Spain for seven hundred years, and still retain Turkey as their sole European possession; they have extended their power over many parts of Asia and Africa, until now they number about two hundred million souls.
The five chief Moslem precepts are:—
1. Confession of the unity of God. "There is one God, and Mohammed is his prophet."
2. Stated prayer.
3. Almsgiving.
4. The fast of Ramadan, the ninth month of the Mohammedan year.
5. Observance of the festival of Mecca. Every Moslem is expected to make a pilgrimage to Mecca at least once in his lifetime.
Education.—When Mohammedanism became secure in its power, it turned its attention to education. The successors of Mohammed were called caliphs, and the caliphs of Bagdad and Cordova rivaled each other in fostering learning. Schools were established in all large Moslem cities and in many smaller towns. Their scholars translated the works of Aristotle and other Greek authors. They taught mathematics, astronomy, philosophy, and grammar. They originated the science of chemistry, and made great advances in the study of algebra and trigonometry. They also measured the earth, and made catalogues of the stars. Every branch of knowledge was studied, and students were attracted from all parts of Europe to their schools, especially to Cordova.
Students lived in colleges with the professors, and there was an atmosphere of culture and investigation not equaled in any of the Christian universities of the Middle Ages.
Spain reached the summit of Moslem education during the reign of King Hakem III. (961-976). This king fostered education, being himself a man of learning. He had a private library of six hundred thousand volumes.
Education was not confined simply to the higher schools and universities. There were also a great many elementary schools. The first work of these was to teach the Koran, which was used as a reading book. The Koran gives us the most perfect picture of the oriental mind that we possess. Children of the poor attended school from their fifth till their eighth year, when they were allowed to go to service. Children of the rich entered school at their fifth year and remained till their fourteenth or fifteenth year. After that, if parents could afford it, boys traveled until their twentieth year, under care of a tutor. This completed their education. Any person could teach who chose to do so, no authority fixing the qualifications of teachers.
The Mohammedan schools began to decline in the eleventh century. At the present time, but little attention is paid to education in any of the countries under the sway of Islam.
GENERAL SUMMARY OF EDUCATIONAL PROGRESS DURING THE MIDDLE AGES
1. Paganism gave way to Christianity, and the benign influence of the latter began to be felt in the recognition of the importance of the individual.
2. The Church undertook the direction of education, which, though necessarily limited chiefly to the ecclesiastics, had also a great influence upon the masses at large.
3. The Church Fathers were the leaders in intellectual as well as in spiritual matters, while monks and priests were the principal teachers.
4. The monasteries were the centers of educational activity, both in fostering scholarship and in preserving classic literature.
5. Secular courses of study were established, the most important being the "seven liberal arts."
6. Education was based on authority, and free investigation found but little encouragement, except among the scholastics.
7. The State assumed no part in the training of the young. Charlemagne's educational work is an exception to this rule. He asserted the prerogative of the State to control education, recognized the necessity of universal education, and the principle of compulsory attendance.
8. The crusades checked the growth of feudalism, aroused the intellectual as well as the spiritual energies of the people, led to a broader conception of man's duty to his fellow-man, and prepared the way for greater religious and political freedom.
9. As an important result of the stimulated educational activity, both among Christians and Mohammedans, many universities were founded.
10. "The Middle Ages," says Emerson, "gave us decimal numbers, gunpowder, glass, chemistry, and gothic architecture, and their paintings are the delight and tuition of our age."[49]
FOOTNOTES:[49] Emerson, Progress of Culture in "Letters and Social Aims," p. 204. Boston, 1895.
Literature.—Williams, History of Modern Education; Quick, Educational Reformers; Bryce, The Holy Roman Empire; Andrews, Institutes of General History; Fisher, History of the Reformation; Reeve, Petrarch; Symonds, Renaissance in Italy; Seebohm, Era of Protestant Revolution; Spofford, Library of Historical Characters; Hegel, Philosophy of History; Draper, Intellectual Development of Europe; Azarias, Philosophy of Literature; Schwickerath, Jesuit Education; Dr. Ludwig Pastor, History of the Popes, Vol. I, p. 54, etc.
As the fifteenth century drew to a close there were unmistakable evidences of the dawn of a better day, and the long period known as the "Dark Ages" was to be succeeded by a brighter and more glorious era. The sway of the Church over the consciences, lives, and material interests of men was disputed; the feudal system had begun to disintegrate; the world had been aroused to new enterprise by the discovery and exploration of distant continents, by the invention of paper, the printing press, gunpowder, and the mariner's compass; the Ptolemaic system of astronomy had been superseded by that of Copernicus; the great empires of the Middle Ages had disappeared, and upon their ruins had been constructed smaller nationalities which spoke a language of their own. The period in which these remarkable changes were taking place is known as that of the Renaissance. It cannot be confined to definite chronological limits, but is the period of transition from one historical stage to another, in which there was a "gradual metamorphosis of the intellectual and moral state of Europe." The Renaissance must be viewed as "an internal process whereby spiritual energies latent in the Middle Ages were developed into actuality and formed a mental habit for the modern world." It prepared the way for the Reformation, and introduced the era of wonderful progress upon which modern civilization has entered. It was the new birth, the regeneration (renascence) of the world.
A most important instrumentality for carrying forward the great work thus inaugurated was the Teutonic race. The despised northern barbarians, who had conquered Rome, had become civilized and Christianized, and were found to possess the sterling qualities which made them capable of bearing the great responsibilities of progressive civilization. The proud Roman Empire had at last succumbed to its internal weaknesses and vices, and had disappeared forever from the face of the earth.
With the greater enlightenment of men had come once more an appreciation of the value of the classic languages, and Greek, the language of the Eastern Empire, was no longer regarded with antipathy. The revival of learning, which had its inception in Italy and spread northward, found its most important expression in the new interest awakened in the classic languages. It is in this, the so-called humanistic phase of the Renaissance, that the student of education is chiefly interested. To this we turn our attention.
We have already alluded to the social conditions, the inventions, and discoveries, which prepared the way for the revival of learning. New and powerful impulses were shaping the progress of the world, and the leaders of the humanistic movement were not slow to utilize the instruments thus opportunely furnished them. Chief among these was the art of printing, which enabled them to multiply and distribute copies of the classics, that had been consigned to comparative oblivion.
Another important element must be considered if we are to understand this revival. We have seen that during the Middle Ages the ecclesiastics largely shaped the intellectual activity of Europe, that mystery was made of science, and that the authority of the Church was supreme on all questions of education as well as of religion. A new and vital doctrine was taught which had much to do with the intellectual and spiritual emancipation of man. This new doctrine may be stated as follows:—
Man is a rational, volitional, self-conscious being, born with capabilities and rights to enjoy whatever good the world offers.
This doctrine, it will readily appear, is capable of being perverted to an excuse for unbridled license, as was done by the Italians; or, rightly interpreted, of being productive of great good, as in the case of the Germans.
Another new doctrine taught was that there was goodness in man and his works even previous to the Christian era, and that a study of the writings of all who have contributed to human progress is essential to culture, and of value to mankind. This was an argument for the revival of the study of Greek, which had
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