OUTLINES FROM THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION. 751 



used an Englishman's book, called the Book of the Spheres. As is 

 well known, astronomy was very closely bound up with astrology, of 

 which there was a professorship in the University of Bologna. In the 

 lower schools all instruction in astronomy was confined to the reckon- 

 ing of the Easter feasts and the Church calendar. 



We have thus outlined the principal objects of pursuit during the 

 middle ages. History had no place in the course of study. Juris- 

 prudence, as it came from Rome, did receive, in some places, special 

 attention from the priestly orders. At York it took the place of dia- 

 lectic and was studied for the cultivation of the judgment. Physics 

 and chemistry were pursued secretly, if at all, and the former degen- 

 erated into magic, the latter into alchemy. 



Possibly this review of the middle-age studies may have obscured 

 the leading idea with which we started, and by which the entire 

 period is characterized that is, the idea of religion. 



The following words from a leader in middle-age education will 

 show the grasp of the Church upon all the training of the time : 



"Grammar discloses the art of explaining the old poets and writers ; 

 at the same time it gives ability to read and write without mistake. 

 By grammar alone we understand the figures and unaccustomed modes 

 of speech of the Sacred Scriptures and seize the true meaning of the 

 divine words. 



" Prosody, also, one should not neglect, because in the Psalms there 

 are many kinds of verses ; for this reason the fluent reading of heathen 

 poets and frequent practice in poetry are not to be disregarded. But 

 the old poets must first be very carefully purified, that nothing remain 

 in them which has reference to love and love ceremonies, or to the 

 heathen deities. Rhetoric, which gives the different classes and chief 

 parts of speech, together with the accompanying rules, is important for 

 such young persons only as have nothing more serious to attend to, 

 and it must be learned only out of the holy fathers. Dialectic, on 

 the other hand, is the queen of all the arts and sciences. In her 

 dwells reason. Philosophy alone can furnish knowledge and wisdom ; 

 she alone declares what and whence we are, she alone teaches us our 

 destination, through her alone we learn to know the good and the evil. 

 How necessary she is for the priestly man, that he may contend with 

 and overcome the unbeliever ! Arithmetic is important because of the 

 secrets which are contained in numbers, and Scripture requires arith- 

 metic to be learned, in that the Holy Word speaks of numbers and 

 measures. Geometry is necessary because, in Scripture, at the build- 

 ing of Noah's Ark and Solomon's Temple, circles of all kinds appear. 



"Music and astronomy are necessary for divine service, which, 

 without music, could not be conducted worthily and impressively, and 

 without astronomy could not be held on set and appointed days." 



We have now, in our outline, reached that period to which history 

 gives the name Reformation. Up to this time, young men were study- 



