Was there school during Medieval Times?

Answer 1

AnswerNo. About 90% of the population couldn't read or write. Those who did were taught/tutored by monks and these were the nobility. AnswerFor most children, there was no school, just chores. But there were many schools, of several different types. We do not have a lot of records about the openings and closings of schools during the Middle Ages, but there were schools opened in medieval times that remain open today.

There were some schools that remained in operation from antiquity. Cor Tewdws (Theodosius College), in Wales, for example, was opened before the Romans withdrew from Britain, and remained open until after the Middle Ages ended. It was closed by the English King Henry VIII.

Some schools of ancient Rome relocated to safer places when the Germanic peoples invaded, and stayed in operation. There were medical schools in Velia that relocated to Salerno as the Roman Empire was collapsing; they were united to form the Salerno Medical School in the Early Middle Ages, possibly during the 10th century, and are now the University of Salerno.

In the East Roman Empire, a system of primary education was founded in 425, as were institutions of advanced education in Constantinople and other cities. The primary education operated at the village level, and was intended to teach free men, though it also taught a number of women. These remained open until the Byzantine Empire fell in 1453.

The oldest school in the world is the King's School in Canterbury, Kent, England. It was opened in 597. Visigoths in Spain opened at least one school that we know of before that date, but of course it did not last through the disruptions of the ages.

The Beverley Grammar School, which opened in 700, is the oldest state run school in the world. It survived several decades during which the territory it was in was governed by Vikings. Vikings also had at least some other schools, as the oldest school in Iceland was opened in 1056, before the end of the Viking Age.

Latvia's oldest school was opened in Riga in 1211, only ten years after the city was first settled as a village.

The policies of King Alfred the Great of England are particularly interesting in regard to education. He made it a goal to see that every freeman in England who was capable of being educated be taught to read and write in English. The language of the Church was Latin, so Alfred's desire to use the vernacular is a clear indication that he perceived a need for secular primary education. Nor was the education to be limited to the nobility, as he specified all freemen. He also underwrote the translation of great books from Latin into English so they could be read by people with no Latin. He saw to it that his own children were educated in everything from letters to warfare, including his daughters. One of his daughters ruled her own kingdom in central England as its sovereign queen for a number of years, and was said to be a formidable tactician who kept the Vikings at bay.

A total of over 70 schools in Europe date to times before the end of the fifteenth century. In addition, 70 universities opened during that time. The early universities were formal institutions that replaced earlier, less formal, groups of schools for higher education in the same cities, most of which are unrecorded.

Two related links below are to lists of schools surviving since the Middle Ages and universities founded in the Middle Ages. There is also a link to the section of an article on Alfred the Great where his educational policies are discussed.

During the High Middle Ages, as the merchant class was rising, Arabic numerals were introduced to Europe. As their inherent advantages became obvious, the merchants wanted to learn how to use them, and to have their children taught as well. The result was a new kind of school, called an abacus school. In such a school, the children of merchants were taught mathematics, but they were also taught reading and writing in their own languages.

Answer 2

AnswerThere were no schools in this time. About 90% of the population couldn't read or write. Those that did were clergy or nobility. The nobility would often have a monk tutor a noble child in the basic skills. AnswerThere were schools all over Europe in medieval times. The first primary school in history was started in 425 AD, and the Byzantine Empire ran a system of primary schools at the village level from then until 1453. They taught both boys and girls.

The oldest extant school in Britain was founded in 597 (the King's School in Canterbury), and there are still several other schools in England from the seventh century. The Beverley Grammar School, which was founded in 700 AD is the oldest secular school in the world, as it was state funded from the start (and, interestingly enough, survived the Viking occupation of the area it is in, now part of Yorkshire, as some other schools did). There are more than seventy extant European schools dating from the middle ages, and there must have been many more schools during the time. To give an idea of how extensively far flung they were, the oldest school in Iceland, Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík, opened in 1056, which was before the end of the Age of Vikings. And the oldest school in Latvia, Riga State Gymnasium No.1, was founded when Riga had only been settled ten years.

The first formally chartered university was opened in 1088 in Bologna. This was quickly followed by universities in Paris and Oxford, and by the end of the Middle Ages, there were over seventy Universities in Europe. Nearly all of these are still open.

We should also note that in certain communities all children who had the ability to be educated were required to be educated. This was true in Jewish communities throughout the Middle Ages, which was part of the reason many rulers invited them into their countries.

Alfred the Great, in the middle of the ninth century, made it a goal to have all free Englishmen who were able to learn become educated. He had great books translated into English, and his family was educated, including his daughters.

Starting in the 13th century, a new type of school began to open, mostly in Italy. These were called abacus schools. They taught reading and writing in the vernacular, and arithmetic. They were intended to prepare young people for lives in business, and they taught boys and girls.

There are links to lists of medieval schools and universities below. The schools are those that are still open.

Answer 3

Yes they had schools inmedieval times. Schools were different back then they threw kids from k-5th in the same class. They didn't go as much as we do they only went a couple hours a day.

Answer 4

Schools were set up in the halls of churches.