absolute temporal as well as absolute spiritual dominion. Opposition to the Church was punished with excommunication; sometimes with the interdict, which forbade the exercise of every religious function within a given territory; and, in extreme cases, with the crusade, which exposed whole provinces to utter destruction.

With the crusades, during which great multitudes rushed with fanatical zeal to the Holy Land to rescue the sepulchre of our Lord from Mohammedan hands, there began a noteworthy change in the social relations of Europe. The crusades, though at an almost incredible cost of life, contributed largely to the progress of civilization. They enlarged the contracted sphere of human knowledge. Foreign lands, and new customs, sciences, and arts were introduced into the circle of popular thought. The knightly class was brought into a new importance, was largely increased in numbers, and admirably ennobled in its aims. The crusades led to the emancipation of many serfs, and elevated them to the rank of free peasants. They quickened commerce, trade, and manufacture; increased and strengthened the burgher class; and extended the power and influence of the cities. The knightly and burgher classes attained to a feeling of self-consciousness and independence. They emancipated themselves, to some extent at least, from ecclesiastical tutelage; and this naturally led to a change in education.

(E.) KNIGHTLY EDUCATION.

Knightly education stood in the sharpest contrast with that of the Church. It attached importance to

what the Church schools neglected and condemned. Physical culture received great attention; polished manners were carefully cultivated; and a love of glory was constantly instilled. Women were held in worshipful regard as the embodiment of honor and virtue. The native tongue was cultivated. Nature was not made to stand in unnatural opposition to spiritual interests, but, on the contrary, inspired the noblest sentiments and purest joys.

Knightly education was usually divided into three equal periods. For the first seven years, the young candidate for knighthood remained in the paternal castle under the care of his mother. After that age, he was usually sent to live with some friendly knight, where, in constant attendance upon the chatelaine or her lord, he learned music, chess, and knightly manners. At fourteen he was made squire or attendant, and his physical and military education became more exacting. Everywhere, in the pleasures of the chase, the excitement of tournaments, and the dangers of battle, he was the faithful companion of his master. Having proved himself worthy during a long probationary period, the young squire, at the age of twenty-one, was formally elevated, with solemn and imposing ceremonies, to the knightly order. After a season of fasting and prayer, and the celebration of the Lord's Supper, he took the vow to speak the truth, defend the right, honor womankind, and use his sword against the infidels of the East; and then he received, at the hand of a knight or noble lady, his spurs, gauntlets, and suit of armor.

Such was the education of the knight. Almost the sole intellectual element entering into it was music and

poetry. At one time, this was very prominent; and one of the richest literary treasures coming down to us from the middle ages is the large collection of knightly songs comprehended under the term Minne, or lovepoetry. These songs were employed, during the long nights of winter or the prevalence of stormy weather and deep snows, to relieve the monotony of life within the castle walls. The newspaper, works of fiction, theatrical or literary entertainments, and highly developed music-the great resources of modern life against ennui -were then wanting. Apart from tales of adventure and a few rude games, minstrelsy was the only resource left the company of the castle. Accordingly, they were accustomed to gather at night in the principal hall around the great log-fire; and as the men sat by their ale-cups or worked at replenishing their quivers, and the ladies apart stitched their embroidery, some knight, perhaps one just welcomed to friendly shelter, took up the lute, and, with rude accompaniment, poured forth song after song, or related by the hour his rhythmical tales.

As a specimen of the Minne-songs-the most beautiful flower of knightly education-the following lines will suffice:

The woodlands with my songs resound,

As still I seek to gain

The favor of that lady fair

Who causeth all my pain.

My fate is like the nightingale's,
That singeth all night long,
While still the woodlands mournfully
But echo back her song.

What care the wild woods, as they wave,

For all the songster's pains?
Who gives her the reward of thanks

For all her tuneful strains?

In dull and mute ingratitude
Her sweetest songs they hear;
Their tenants roam the desert wild,
And want no music there.

(F.) BURGHER SCHOOLS.

The growth of the cities and the increasing power of the trading and artisan classes have already been noticed. With the growing importance of these two classes, there came the conscious need of an education that would have immediate reference to the practical wants of life. Reading, writing, and arithmetic were indispensable. Out of this need arose a class of schools which have borne different names, as town, burgher, or writing schools. In addition to the elementary studies just mentioned, geography, history, and natural science were pursued, in a small way, in connection with the mother-tongue. Latin also was early introduced. Notwithstanding the fact that the burgher schools were secular institutions, both in origin and aim, the clergy as the only authorized teachers claimed the right to control them. This claim, which was often resisted by the civil magistrates, frequently occasioned strife, in which sometimes the one party and sometimes the other was successful. Where the civil authorities maintained ascendency, they appointed teachers whose duties were prescribed by a contract. The principal teachers, who were engaged for one year at a time, em

ployed and paid their assistants. The salaries were so small that they barely sufficed to procure the necessaries of life. The teachers generally led a wandering life, moving from city to city in search of employment. The itinerant teacher, known as bacchant or vagrant, was sometimes accompanied by a crowd of pupils called A B C shooters, whose habits of purloining fowls and other articles of food did not contribute to their popularity, nor to the elevation of the profession of teaching. As there were no school-houses at this period, instruction was given in churches, municipal buildings, or other houses rented for the purpose. The first schoolhouse was built in Berne, in 1481.

(G.) FEMALE EDUCATION.

During the middle ages, female education, outside of the knightly order, was generally neglected. Here and there, in connection with nunneries, a few women attained distinction by their learning, but these cases were exceptional. Among the knightly class, where women were held in high honor, great attention was paid to female culture. Not only were the young women instructed in the feminine arts of sewing, knitting, embroidery, and housekeeping, but they also received an intellectual training which, in addition to reading and writing, often included an extended acquaintance with French and Latin.

The peasant class, during all this period, were almost entirely neglected. The only provision made for their instruction was in the parochial schools, which were de voted almost exclusively, as we have seen, to religious instruction. The peasants were indeed wanting in the