Life in the Medieval University

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Life in the Medieval University by Robert S. (Robert Sangster) Rait "A Clerk ther was of Oxenford also, That unto logik hadde longe y-goAs lene was his hors as is a rake, And he was not right fat, I undertake;But loked holwe, and therto soberly, Ful thredbar was his overest courtepy, For he had geten him yet no benefyce, Ne was so worldly for to have offyce.For him was lever have at his beddes heedTwenty bokes, clad in blak or reed, Of Aristotle and his philosophye, Than robes riche, or fithele, or gay sautrye.But al be that he was a philosophre, Yet hadde he but litel gold in cofre;But al that he might of his freendes hente, On bokes and on lerninge he it spente, And bisily gan for the soules preyeOf hem that yaf him wherwith to scoleye, Of studie took he most cure and most hede, Noght o word spak he more than was nede, And that was seyd in forme and reverenceAnd short and quik, and ful of hy sentence.Souninge in moral vertu was his speche.And gladly wolde he lerne, and gladly teche." An account of life in the medieval University might well take the form of a commentary upon the classical description of a medieval English student. His dress, the character of his studies and the nature of his materials, the hardships and the natural ambitions of his scholar's life, his obligations to founders and benefactors, suggest learned expositions which might in judicious handsExtend from here to Mesopotamy, and will serve for a modest attempt to picture the environment of one of the Canterbury pilgrims. Chaucer's famous lines do more than afford opportunities of explanation and comment; they give us an indication of the place assigned to universities and their students by English public opinion in the later Middle Ages. The monk of the "Prologue" is simply a country gentleman. No accusation of immorality is brought against him, but he is a jovial huntsman who likes the sound of the bridle jingling in the wind better than the call of the church bells, a lover of dogs and horses, of rich clothes and great feasts. The portrait of the friar is still less sympathetic; he is a frequenter of taverns, a devourer of widows' houses, a man of gross, perhaps of evil, life. We are delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive Classic Library collection. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. The aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature, and our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. The contents of the vast majority of titles in the Classic Library have been scanned from the original works. To ensure a high quality product, each title has been meticulously hand curated by our staff. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with a book that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic work, and that for you it becomes an enriching e

Genre: Biography & Autobiography / General (fancy, right?)