AND EDUCATION IN DENMARK. 215 
tule of their faith and conduct by increasing disciples. When, in 
the year mx1v, Canute the Great ascended the throne, the Christian 
religion had been well nigh established in Denmark. He now had 
only to maintain its ascendency, and he possessed the means of ac- 
complishing his purpose. Never was there, in the north, a monarch 
more powerful. He reigned, at the same time, over Denmark and 
England ; and, on the death of Olaf the Pious, he assumed the so- 
vereignty of the Norwegian dominions. Above the contemporary 
princes, Canute was distinguished for his wisdom and courage and 
humility. He built churches and endowed monasteries. With equal 
zeal, his Danish successors promoted the interests of Christianity. 
The worship of Odin was forgotten. In Denmark, as in other Eu- 
ropean countries, the clergy furnished their flocks with education. 
Secular knowledge found a quiet resting-place in the temple of God. 
Civilization emanated from cloisters and churches. 
During his episcopate, Saint Ansgard established an institution 
for learning at Hamburgh, and twelve young Danes were admitted 
into it as pupils. This isthe most ancient school in the North, as 
mentioned in history. There was another at Lund, in the twelfth 
century: in the thirteenth, one was founded at Ripen, one at Oden- 
see, and one at Roeskild. These were capitular seminaries, super- 
intended by bishops and regulated by canons: but, at Esrum and 
Soroe, others were conducted in the cloisters. All these institutions 
enjoyed particular endowments; but, for the most part, they were 
required to receive a certain number of free scholars. At Odensee, 
two bishops augmented the master’s salary, and restricted him from 
educating poor boys. For such, however, Eric Menved* built a spa- 
cious house, and bishop Navne afterwards erected another. At the 
school of Roeskild, twelve students were gratuitously lodged, 
boarded and instructed in the principles of grammar and music. 
But these endowments were insufficient for the wants of many scho- 
lars; and, on those who could not obtain exhibitions, the privilege of 
soliciting eleemosynary largesses was conferred. 
The same persons who founded establishments in cloisters for edu- 
cation, also founded libraries. ‘These consisted of five or six vo- 
* Eric Menved, says the chronicler, “ construxit domum divitem pro 
pauperibus scholaribus.” See Scriptores Rerum Danicarum medii svi, 
partim hactenus inediti, partim emendatius editi; folio, 6 Vol. Hafniz, 
1772—1786; Vol. 1v, p. 61. This valuable collection was edited by James 
Langebek and Peter Irederic Suhm, who added notes and introduced cor- 
rections of the text. 
