Reckoning schools examples of practical vernacular education. Reckoning schools were a direct consequence of the development of commercial life, and were often identical with the writing schools. Although the Latin schools often taught arithmetic, the instruction was theoretical and was intended for cultural and disciplinary purposes. The German" vernacular schools sometimes taught the bare rudiments of number. Neither of these provisions was sufficient for the purposes of the business clerk, who needed skill in calculation and a knowledge of bookkeeping. At first this need was met by the business man instructing his sons and apprentices himself. Soon, however, professional "reckoners" developed, who were employed by the cities in the same way as "city clerks," the two functions very commonly being combined in the same person. Their duties are reflected in the kinds of problems found in the practical arithmetics, the first one published in Germany appearing in 1482. The reckoning book, in harmony with its purpose, was rich in applied problems. Problems involving denominate numbers, exchange, and merchants' rules occupied the greater part. Besides commercial problems, mensuration received much attention, because the reckoning master, who often performed the duty of surveyor in his town, included in his book the methods for finding heights and distances; and since as inspector of imports he had to measure the bales and casks, he gave in his book the theory and practice of the gauge. (13: 184.) The educational functions of the reckoning master are clearly expressed in the record of the appointment of one in Rostock in 1627, over a century after the close of the Middle Ages. It reads: We the Burgermeister and Council of Rostock . . . also command him to attend the Latin school every week an hour each on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays, and there to teach the youth without discrimination, and for a moderate monthly or weekly salary to teach others outside of the school, whether they be boys or girls who desire instruction, Latin and German writing, reckoning, bookkeeping, and other useful arts and good manners. (13: 179.) Vernacular schools in cities, but rarely in villages, at end of Middle Ages. -- This will close our survey of vernacular schools during the Middle Ages. We have seen that the conditions of literature were such that there was little stimulus for the establishment of vernacular schools for general reading or literary purposes. On the other hand, the commercial life of the large cities had resulted in the establishment of a variety of vernacular schools to train in the three R's for commercial purposes. But, according to Nohle, Regular instruction did not penetrate into the villages at the close of this period, and a people's or common-school education is nowhere to be found in the Middle Ages. As has been shown by examples, the idea was not uncommon that it would be laudable and becoming to every person to obtain useful knowledge at school; but the further idea to institute a general compulsion for that purpose was very remote. Only in modern history does this idea appear, first in the church, then in the state. (10: 26. Cf. 14, article entitled Church Schools.) BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES General statement. These bibliographical notes at the end of each chapter are intended to be selective, discriminating, and helpful, and to refer for the most part to books which will be found in most college or normal-school libraries. Sometimes, however, reference is made to books considered especially helpful for the instructor, although not commonly accessible in smaller libraries, such as the Paulsen (6) and Unger (12) mentioned below. For complete as well as discriminating and helpful bibliographies see 1. CUBBERLEY, E. P. Syllabus of Lectures on the History of Education. (The Macmillan Company, revised edition, 1904.) Concerning social background of medieval education. - 2. ADAMS, G. B. Civilization during the Middle Ages. (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1894.) I have always found this the most helpful interpretative account. 3. ROBINSON, J. H. History of Western Europe. (Ginn and Company.) One of the best of the textbook accounts. Most of the texts on medieval history are useful. 4. Encyclopædia Britannica. Article entitled Creeds contains a concrete account of the increase in the intellectual element in the Christian belief. 5. SCHOFIELD, W. H. English Literature from the Norman Conquest to Chaucer. (The Macmillan Company, 1906.) This is simply one of a dozen works on English literature by different authors, any one of which contains a satisfactory account of the retarding of the development of the English vernacular by the use of Latin and French. The same retarded condition of the German vernacular is described in numbers 6 and 6 a below. 6. PAULSEN, F. Geschichte des Gelehrten Unterrichts. See index under Deutsche Sprache. See also 6 a. 6 a. PAULSEN, F. German Education. (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1908.) Pp. 86-89. 7. GREEN, MRS. J. R. Town Life in the Fifteenth Century. (The Macmillan Company, 1894.) 2 vols. Good account of growth of English towns in relation to wool trade. Vol. I, chap. xi, contains an account of the conflict of town and ecclesiastical authorities. Concerning medieval schools.-8. WATSON, F. English Grammar Schools to 1660. (Cambridge University Press, 1909.) Chap. vii, pp. 137-147, is entitled Medieval Elementary Education. 9. LEACH, A. F. English Schools at the Reformation. (Constable, 1896.) A thorough account of medieval Latin schools, with a little incidental material concerning vernacular schools. 10. NOHLE, E. History of the German School System, Report United States Commissioner of Education (1897-1898). Vol. I, pp. 1–26. II. Azarias, BROTHER (pseudonym for MULLANY, P. F.). Essays Educational. (W. H. Young, New York, 1905.) A sympathetic, reliable Catholic account, but must be used carefully from standpoint of this chapter, owing to the fact that the author makes little distinction between elementary Latin schools and elementary vernacular schools, and does not distinguish carefully between real medieval conditions and those of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. 12. UNGER, F. Die Methodik der Praktischen Arithmetik. (Teubner, Leipsic, 1888.) Pp. 1-34. Contains best account of medieval reckoning schools. 13. JACKSON, L. L. Sixteenth Century Arithmetic. (Teachers College, New York, 1906.) Pp. 178-184. Some of this is practically a summarized translation of Unger. 14. MONROE, P. Cyclopædia of Education. (The Macmillan Company, 1911.) Article entitled Church Schools, by Leach. Suggests that schools kept by parish priests in England were more numerous than stated by Nohle for Germany in paragraph quoted at end of this chapter. PART II. ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS ON A RELIGIOUS BASIS CHAPTER III ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS FOR RELIGIOUS Main points of the chapter. -I. The Protestant Reformation introduced a new basis for elementary vernacular education, namely, the necessity of personal study of the Scriptures in order to secure salvation. 2. Martin Luther preached salvation through faith and direct appeal to God, as opposed to salvation through the Church, and thus became the leader of the German Protestant movement. 3. The Puritan movement represents the real spiritual (as opposed to the political) phase of the English Reformation. The Puritans were dominated by the ideas of John Calvin of Geneva, the great international leader of Protestantism. 4. In Protestant theory the circulation of the vernacular Bible was fundamental and necessary; in Catholic theory it was accessory or supplementary; but the Catholics did not oppose the circulation of orthodox vernacular translations. 5. Practically a new reading public was created by the extensive circulation of the controversial pamphlets issued by both parties during the Reformation. This circulation was made possible by the developments in the art of printing (1423–1480). 6. Contrary to what would be expected, there was in Protestant Germany no great increase in the provisions made for elementary schools. This was partially due to the fact that the need for such schools was overshadowed by the need for classical schools to train religious leaders. 7. In England neither church nor state made any extensive provision for elementary schools until the nineteenth century. 8. In Puritan Massachusetts we have the clearest and most consistent establishment of elementary schools based on the fundamental Prot estant principle of the necessity of studying the Scriptures. 9. Some of the earliest schools in Massachusetts were established voluntarily by the towns. 10. The General Court of Massachusetts, however, in 1647 required towns of a stated size to maintain schools and authorized support of these schools" by the inhabitants in general, by way of supply." This action, taken by what was practically a Church court, and based on Calvinistic precedents, established the basic principle of the development of American state school systems. II. In the colonies outside of New England provision for elementary schools was usually left to local churches or voluntary neighborhood organizations, without active interference from the central governments. Place of vernacular education in Catholic and Protestant theory. The previous chapter showed the status of elementary vernacular schools at the close of the Middle Ages. There was no strong demand for such schools except from the commercial classes in the larger cities. Consequently only a small part of the total population of Europe had the advantages of a vernacular education. The Protestant Reformation introduced a new basis for vernacular education, and in order to appreciate this innovation it is important to understand the attitude of the Catholic Church toward education in this period. Catholic Church encouraged education. It is fair to say that in general the higher authorities in the Church were interested in aiding the development of any kind of education which answered to some real social need, from the universities down to the reckoning and writing schools. This was not always true of local ecclesiastical authorities; but whenever universities appealed to the popes for privileges and support they usually received them; when the cities appealed to the popes to be allowed to maintain their Latin or their vernacular schools in spite of the opposition of the local cathedral school authorities, the popes usually sided with the city authorities. Moreover, as we have seen in the preceding chapter, Latin schools were very generally provided under ecclesiastical support and control,, |