Education In The Middle Ages Essay

The Elizabethan Era, the “Golden Age” of English history, ended with the death of Queen Elizabeth I, but its approach to education lingered centuries beyond that. During the Elizabethan times, education was completely dependent upon a person’s social status and gender, as well as the whims of the sitting monarch. Although that is not the case anymore, similarities can be drawn between Elizabethan and modern education. In fact, Elizabethan education and modern education share more similarities than differences.

According to dictionary.reference.com education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life, but to people in the 16th century education was the practice of learning skills for the future. Education in the 16th century was very different than what education is now in modern times. Many people in England were illiterate and uneducated. Some boys were educated and many girls in the upper class were given private tutors. Education in England in the 16th century can be summed up by saying

In the Middle Ages, children were treated as an adult in the family. Children went out to work just as the parents did to help provide for the good of the family and to provide for the family’s needs, whether it was economically or material based. The prosperity of the family came first. Because of this, many children were unable to read and were not provided with a formal education. They were provided with the education that was needed to survive everyday life and the education of religious beliefs. Books at this time cost too much for the common family to own, and were very rare at this time in history. In 1476 William Claxton was credited with learning the printing trade and taking it back to England with him and setting up a printing press at Westminster. From there he published 106 books of various genres. The books were put together with excellence, but were very costly, because of this they were owned mainly by the wealthy. (Kiefer, 2010, p.69) It is visible at this point to see how valuable the printing press really was. Due to the high expense that books were in this time, many did not own books because they could not afford them. Others would trade their valuable land or property to own a single book.

“The 21st Century” we approach in an accelerated way to the new millennium, some changes are already visual and some others we don’t even imagine what they are. We all have to be prepare for those changes full of opportunities but of uncertainties as well. Many changes in technology, and communications just to mention a few. The whole environment will be very different, the big challenge will be to prepare and learn to live in this new environment due to the fact that not all of us are prepare for the big step.

During the Medieval Times, merchants were just as important and wealthy as the lords and nobles. The way they would go about their wealth was getting an education to learn how to think, count, information about the world, interest rates, exchange rates, and many more information that relates to dealing with money and trade. Education has always been important to create opportunities to have successful jobs and it was interesting to read that in Medieval Times education was considered more of a hobby, but to be a merchant it became less of a hobby and more of an opportunity to be well-educated people and gave them a chance to be successful business men.

The Battle of Hastings, 1066, saw Harold Godwinson, King of England, defeated by William, Duke of Normandy. This historic battle was the result of Harold's predecessor, Edward the Confessor, not leaving an heir to the English throne. This led to over 9 months of fighting between the four claimants to the throne; Edgar the Atheling, Harald Hardrada, William, Duke of Normandy and Harold Godwinson. At last, only two remained standing; Harold and William. This essay will describe the events of the Battle of Hastings and explain the dominating factors of William's triumph: preparation & readiness, good & bad luck and leadership & tactics.

Throughout time, history has taken some strange turns. A single ruler establishing some new form of government can transform entire civilizations, or a single event can lead to the creation of a great new people. Whatever the case, history can repeat itself in time. One possible exemption of this could be Britain’s time period of the Middle Ages. Bearing a distinct and unique culture relative to the time period, some of the values and the customs held during this time have yet to be repeated in history. It is perhaps the most unique period of all time for the British Isles.

When one hear the words “Medieval Europe”, what would come to mind? The Bubonic Plague? Kings and Queens ruling over their kingdoms? The Dark Ages and loss of information? Though those things did play significant roles in the time period, they were certainly not the only occurrences. Within the 300 years of the high middle ages, there was a drastic shift in the daily life of citizens, a large power shift and fall to the church, and, yes, a variety of crises. By the end of the time period, society had changed for good.

Before the printing press was produced, education of people was rare and only clergy could read and own books because of the expense. Because of this, the middle class was not educated and did not own books. For example, one expert states that, “Books had been costly and education rare.” (The printing press.) This quote shows agrees that education was rare because of the expense and scarcity of books owned by people In the middle ages.

During the turn of twentieth century the public education system had no, or very few, school programs for low performing students. Over the years, education as we know it has been influenced by a number of different factors. Some of those factors are the evolving of federal laws, the civil rights movement, the changing of the social spectrum, political beliefs, and the increase number of immigrants into the United States. These factors coupled with students that are below grade level, on grade level, above grade level, and those that have a wide range of skills and abilities make it very difficult for one teacher to be completely effective in teaching multiple skills in the classroom.

The Medieval Period in Europe, or what some may call The Medieval times, lasts for centuries dating back as early as the fifth century. German and Roman individuals play a huge role during this time of European Civilization as they begin trading ideas, practices, and forming bonds between one another. Family is a key centerpiece to the lives of many in the German and Roman societies, as it was widely known that the males of the household served as the “dominant” and important decision makers, while women often stayed up home to care and provide essential needs for their family and children (Duiker, 325). This time in world history also features important roles from that of the monks, priests, and pope.

     In Saint Augustine’s deeply personal work, Confessions, he shares the story of his life up to his eventual conversion to the Christian faith. His odyssey through life is, at times, one of bitter inner conflict between his intellect and faith. Augustine’s classical education had a profound affect on the way he viewed the world, and eventually had a major affect on the way he approached Christianity. He is definitely an “intellectual” Christian, and viewed many aspects of his faith from this perspective. Augustine’s attitude towards classical literature and thought was at times slightly self-contradictory. It

The book by Nicholas Orme is an important study in the history of education of the medieval England. From the introduction, it mentions that this work has exceeded the expectations of many scholars who are familiar in this subject. The author presents a convincing case with a great understanding and hypothesis that education was relatively widespread in the times of medieval England. Orme believes that education was typically provided in the non-monastic settings and in most cases at the hands of teachers, and the subjects included many secular subjects such as business skills. However, many scholars before Orme thought that typical medieval schools were far and few with dominating focus’ in religion. Most of the common themes in historical discussions about medieval education made by Orme’s fellow scholars, now in the modern ages, have been proven false by Orme and his book. Particularly in reference to the thought that education was rare and an exclusive commodity that was typically available to the clergy and only very rich people. It is true that at some levels this happened to be unavoidable, but more specifically this happened in the times when the methods of production were primitive and the productivity of labor was extremely low. Orme shows that even bearing the smaller number of people in mind, for which education activities could be feasible, formal education was of good quality similar to modern education and readily available for any amount of students

A debate on whether education is still the driving factor to success in the 21st century has been blooming for some time now which has many of us asking, “Is education still necessary for one to succeed nowadays?” This issue of whether education still holds that value of being the primary aspect of achieving success is of particular interest because it could mean that it could potentially create depreciation in the demand for education in the future, and money spent on acquiring an education could be used to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

Education has been around for centuries. Since the beginning of time. All the way back to the time of Noah from the Bible. There have been many different styles, teaching and tactics of education. From learning the basics in the beginning of time like speaking languages, writing and the word of God, to what teachers are teaching today in normal schools like science, history, math, english, the list goes on. Throughout history people have been educated in very many numerous ways like being self taught, having a tutor, learning from family members, online school, home school, and also just plain old sitting in a classroom and being taught by a teacher with many students around one another. As time has gone by