LEARNINGLaila Blumenthal-Rothchild

&Rebecca Kogen

Period 4Global 9H

LEARNING IN THE 1100S

Universities Emerge

Most churches wanted a better educated clergy. Royal rulers also needed literate men for their

growing bureaucracies. Education provided hope to qualify for high

positions in the church or with royal governments. By the 1100s schools sprung up around the great

cathedrals to train the clergy. Some of these “cathedral schools” evolved into the

1st Universities.

LEARNING IN THE 1100SStudent Life

The first bell rings at 5 am every morning to wake up the students for their daily prayers.

After their prayers, they have class until 10am.

They then go to their lunch and then go back to class until 5pm.

After their done with class they have a light dinner and then study for the rest of the night.

LEARNING IN THE 1100S

Classes

Most classes were held in rented rooms or in the choir loft of a church.

7 Liberal Arts: Arithmetic Geometry Astronomy Music Grammar Rhetoric Logic

LEARNING IN THE 1100SWOMAN AND EDUCATION

Able to go to school but NOT universities!

Women were NOT allowed to practice medicine and become doctors as well as many other “male jobs.”

A lot of women got their education in convents.

Those of noble families attended classes at Notre Dame de Paris which was located in the French capital.

Many men believed that women should leave books and writing to the men and believed that they should pursue their “natural” gifts at home. Such as raising the children and managing the household.

LEARNING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Europeans Acquire “New” Learning

Universities received a boost from knowledge that reached Europe in the High Middle Ages.

Many of the “new” idea had originated in ancient Greece but had been lost after the fall of Rome.

LEARNING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Europeans Acquire “New” Learning

Muslim Scholarship Advances Knowledge: Muslim scholars had translated the works of

Aristotle and other Greek philosophers into Arabic. Their translations and knowledge on these ancient

texts spread across the Muslim world. In the 1100s, these new translations reached

Western Europe, and they introduced a revolution in the world of learning.

LEARNING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Christian Scholars Struggle with New Ideas

The writings of the ancient Greeks posed a challenge to Christian scholars.

Aristotle thinking started conflict with Christian belief that the church was the final authority on all questions.

Some Christian scholars tried to resolve the conflict between faith and reason.

Their method, known as scholasticism, used reason to support Christian beliefs.

Scholastics also studied the works of Muslim philosophers and Jewish rabbis.

These thinkers also used logic to resolve the conflict between faith and reason.

LEARNING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Thomas Aquinas

Thomas Aquinas was a famous scholastic. One of his most famous pieces, Summa theologica,

he concluded that faith and reason exist in harmony.

He also concluded that both lead to the same truth, that God rules over an orderly universe.

Aquinas thus brought together Christian faith and classical Greek philosophy.

LEARNING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

New Approaches to Science and Mathematics Scientific works, translated from Greek and Arabic, also

reached Europe from Spain and the Byzantine Empire. Christian scholars studied Hippocrates on medicine and

Euclid on geometry, along with works from Arabic scientists.

As well as Hippocrates, they also studied Aristotle. Science made little progress in Europe because most

scholars still believed that all true knowledge must fit with church teachings.

It would take many centuries before Christian thinkers changed the way they viewed the physical world.

LEARNING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Science and math cont.

During this period, Europeans adoptedHindu-Arabic numerals. This number system was much easier to use than

the cumbersome system of the Roman numerals. The Roman numerals had been a tradition

throughout Europe for centuries. In time, the use of the Arabic number system

allowed both scientists and mathematicians to make extraordinary advances in their fields.

LEARNING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Medieval Literature

While Latin remained the written language of scholars an churchmen, a new writing began to appear in the vernacular.

Vernacular- the everyday languages of the ordinary people, such as French, German, and Italian.

These writings “captured the spirit” of the High and Middle Ages.

These writings included epics, or long narrative poems, about knights and chivalry as well as tales of the common people.

LEARNING IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Heroic Epics Captivate

Across Europe, people began writing down oral traditional in the vernacular. French pilgrims traveling the holy sites loved to hear

the chansons de geste, or “songs of heroic deeds.” The most popular was the Song of Roland, written

around 1100. There were also many written epics such as Spain's

Poem of the Cid.

LEARNING IN THE 1100S

Dante’s Divine ComedyEarly 1300s: Divine Comedy written by the Italian poet Dante

Alighieri These poems take the reader to an “imaginary

journey to hell.” Dante wrote mostly about hell but in his 3rd section

he did mention his visions of heaven. To these “journeys” to hell, he talks with people from

history who tell how they got to hell. All of these journeys summarize Christian ethics,

showing how peoples actions in life determine their fate in the afterlife.

LEARNING IN THE 1100S

Chaucer’s CanterburyTales

Geoffrey Chaucer was another famous writer of this time. English writer Geoffrey Chaucer describes a band of

pilgrims traveling to St. Thomas Beckett’s tomb. Each character in his story represents each social class. These characters included:-a knight-a plowman-a merchant-a miller-a monk-and a nun

THE END!!!