Throughout the Middle Ages, great intellectuals from Jerome to Jean Gerson all commented on education. What was its purpose? What practices best achieved the intended aims? This volume introduces the central themes that ran through literature on education, from its fixation on moral instruction to recommendations on playtime. It explores writing from the first century to the educational treatises of Renaissance Italy and discusses the important place that education, even of small children, held in medieval thought. Contents: Introduction; 1) Authors and Works; 2) The Beginning and End of Elementary and Grammar Education; 3) Organizing the School Day and Schoolroom; 4) Corporal Punishment; 5) Natural Ability; 6) Morals and Religion; 7) Being a Teacher; 8) Education of Women; 9) Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography
