Ways of thinking and educating Flashcards
Who wrote the lives of Becket and why
William Fitzstephen, Benedict of Peterborough, and William of Canterbury were among the writers who documented the miracles associated with Thomas Becket to promote his veneration as a saint
what did medieval people believe a miracle to be?
an extraordinary event beyond natural or scientific explanation, often interpreted as divine intervention or a manifestation of God’s power or the power of a saint
Why did they believe in miracles?
bolstered by the reported posthumous power of Thomas Becket, recorded by custodians of the shrine and others, leading to a growing faith in the miraculous powers associated with the saint
is there a functional case for miracle stories? what purpose did they serve?
various functions:
- inspiring faith and devotion
- attracting pilgrims to holy sites
- justifying the veneration of saints
- building religious communities
- validating religious practices
- providing explanations for uncertainties in life, death, health, and illness.
they also had social, economic, and didactic implications, contributing to community cohesion, pilgrimage tourism, and moral teachings.
William and Dorothy Thomas on miracles (sociologists response)
‘if people define situation as real, they are real in their consequences’.
self-fulfilling prophecies.
John Calvin on Miracles:
‘the swaddling bands of the primitive church, the mother’s milk on which it had been initially weaned God expected people to believe the trust as preached and revealed in scripture, rather than wait for astonishing visual spectacles to be sent down from heaven’
miracles having a purpose for the church.
What is an ordeal?
When god is called upon in any form of legal dispute, called to judicate.
Ordeals explained in twelfth century ‘Constitutions of the Forest’, England
‘the ordeal of hot iron is not to be used except where the plain truth cannot otherwise be explored.’
Peter Brown on Ordeals
‘the ordeal was a controlled miracle, bought to bear on the day-to-day needs of the community’
Patrick Geary on Relics
‘they were part of the sacred, the numinous, but incarnated in this world’.
‘he who has remained in school up to twelve years without mounting a horse is no longer good for anything but the priesthood”
German Poet
What are writers of hagiography fond of noting when talking about education?
fond of contrasting the mother of the future saint, anxious to give education to her son, and the father, who wanted to harden his son at an early age to the chase or to war.
Why do some historians coin this period ‘the renaissance of the 12th century’?
- rediscovery of studies originating in the 11th century
- papacy took over the direction of christianity and organised the crusades in the East
- monarchies regrouped the political and economic forced of feudal society
- cities reanimated and organised into communes
- merchants traced out the great European trade routes.
Pierre de Celle on monastic schools:
“divine science ought to mould rather than question, to nourish conscience rather than knowledge”
Primary source for miracles
William Fitzstephen - The Lives of Thomas Becket
what was the function of miracles?
inspire faith, devotion, attract pilgrims, justify the veneration of saints
What miracles were associated with Thomas Becket?
paralysed woman healed, cult grew in 1171, belief he was the saint of London
How does this link to secular power?
killed on order from Henry III, he wanted control over the population, control of the church finances, clerics going to church law where there was no death penalty, king wanted control of status.
How does 12th century schools link to urban growth?
increased population, new education in towns, before in monasteries, now commercial, travelling to France & Italy,
Universities - organisations of teachers operating as guilds setting up rights and liberties from the king.
What important piece of writing was John of Salisbury the author of?
Policraticus
What were John of Salisbury’s attitudes to education
pleasurable, universal, rids ignorance, survival of the arts, laws, divine compassion from God
How does John of Salisbury’s writings link to secular power?
challenged the kings power - written to Becket - ideas reflect dissatisfaction with his present political world.
which author writes about lay literacy?
Nicholas Orme
What is Dr Michael Clanchy’s perspective on illiteracy?
in his fundamental study of literacy in Medieval England, the illiterate were not necessarily out of touch with literature, they could possess written documents and be present when reading went on.
What changes in the 12th century?
there is corresponding increasing of writers who recommend literacy as a useful and even necessary attribute to kings & nobles
What does John of Salisbury write in the Politraticus about literacy?
that the king should be able to read and write
Which King had his son taught to read and write?
Henry II had his son Henry have a literacy education
What did Peter Alfonsi believe about education?
that knights should be versed not only in letters but in all seven arts.
What does Poet hue de Roteland think of literacy
he observed that a man was better thought of if he had mastered literacy.
What was changing in the late 12th century?
increased literature in England
more fiction and religious works
fuelled by the desire for the laity to read
Gerald of Wales addressing his writing of the conquest of Ireland to King John - suggested it should be translated into French to be more accessible
Livia Gershon’s take of chivalric culture
‘chivalry was established to keep thuggish, medieval knights in check’
What does wollock argue about chivalry?
that chivalric culture encouraged knights to develop their own sense of morality rather than simply relying on church authorities
led to some questions on slaughter of muslims on the crusades.
Richard Kaeuper on chivalric culture:
knights thought of themselves as generous, merciful, but they didn’t always follow religious rulers rules:
on the 4th crusade, Pope Innocent III in 1202 told them to seize Jerusalem, instead holy knights sacked the Christian city of Constantinople.
