The eternal struggle of teachers, students and their parents
Parents demand that their children spend their money wisely and perform well, and teachers demand performance and respect. And for most students, as now, partying, games and entertainment were more interesting than studying itself.
Let's read several letters that show the relationships of students with others in the Middle Ages.
Dear dad, send some money
Even in the Middle Ages, even now, if your child is a student, then he probably sometimes asks you for money. Here, for example, is a letter from the beginning of the 13th century:
B. to his venerable master A.
This is a greeting to inform you that I am studying at Oxford with the greatest diligence, but the question of money is greatly hindering my advancement, since two months have passed since I spent the last of what you sent me.
The city is expensive and has many demands; I have to rent a place to live, buy basic necessities, and provide for many other things that I cannot specify right now.
Therefore, I respectfully ask your fatherhood, that, prompted by divine compassion, you will help me so that I can complete what I began well. For you must know that without Ceres and Bacchus, Apollo grows cold.
This is a greeting to inform you that I am studying at Oxford with the greatest diligence, but the question of money is greatly hindering my advancement, since two months have passed since I spent the last of what you sent me.
The city is expensive and has many demands; I have to rent a place to live, buy basic necessities, and provide for many other things that I cannot specify right now.
Therefore, I respectfully ask your fatherhood, that, prompted by divine compassion, you will help me so that I can complete what I began well. For you must know that without Ceres and Bacchus, Apollo grows cold.
[Center]
One of the oldest parts of Oxford
Sometimes students first “beautifully laid out” their progress in order to smoothly lead to asking for money.
To the very dear and respected parents of M. Matre, the knight, and M. his wife, M. and S., their sons, convey greetings and filial obedience.
This is to inform you that by divine grace we live in good health in the city of Orleans and devote ourselves entirely to our studies, remembering the words of Cato: “To know anything is worthy of praise.” We occupy good housing just one door from the schools and market place, so we can go to school every day without getting our feet wet.
We also have good companions in our house, well advanced in their studies and of excellent habits—an advantage which we highly value, for, as the Psalmist says, “With an honest man you will show yourself to be honest.”
Therefore, so that the study does not stop due to lack of material, we ask your fatherhood to send us, through Bearer B., money to buy parchment, ink, a desk and other things that we need, in sufficient quantities so that we do not need -for you, finished their studies and returned home with honor.
We ask you to take care of the shoes and stockings that you must send us.
This is to inform you that by divine grace we live in good health in the city of Orleans and devote ourselves entirely to our studies, remembering the words of Cato: “To know anything is worthy of praise.” We occupy good housing just one door from the schools and market place, so we can go to school every day without getting our feet wet.
We also have good companions in our house, well advanced in their studies and of excellent habits—an advantage which we highly value, for, as the Psalmist says, “With an honest man you will show yourself to be honest.”
Therefore, so that the study does not stop due to lack of material, we ask your fatherhood to send us, through Bearer B., money to buy parchment, ink, a desk and other things that we need, in sufficient quantities so that we do not need -for you, finished their studies and returned home with honor.
We ask you to take care of the shoes and stockings that you must send us.
In addition to letters home, we received several replies from parents in which they sent money along with warnings not to spend it too quickly.
Let's read a letter from the French writer Eustache Deschamps (1346–1406). He first studied at the University of Orleans, and later entered the service of the King of France. In 1400, Eustache wrote this imaginary letter from a student to his father. Even if it is fictional, it well reflects the realities of those times.
Beloved Father, I have not a penny, and I cannot save anything, because everything in the university is so expensive, and I cannot study my Code or my Compendium (these are legal texts) because their pages are affected by the epileptic disease. Moreover, I owe ten crowns to the rector and cannot find anyone who would lend it to me. I'm asking you for money.
A student needs many things if he wants to be prominent here; his father and his relatives should supply him freely, so that he will not be forced to pawn his book, but will have cash in his wallet for dresses, furs and decent clothes. Otherwise he will be cursed as a beggar. Therefore, so that people do not take me for an animal, I ask you for money.
The wines are expensive, as are the hostels and other nice things. I am in debt on every street and it is difficult for me to get out of such traps. Dear dad, deign to help me! I'm afraid of being excommunicated; I've already been cited, and there's not even a dry bone in my pantry. If I cannot find money before this Easter holiday, the church doors will be closed in my face; therefore fulfill my prayer. I'm asking you for money.
Dearly beloved father, in order to relieve my debts to the tavern, bakery, professors, and also to pay my subscriptions to the laundress and barber, I ask you for money.
A student needs many things if he wants to be prominent here; his father and his relatives should supply him freely, so that he will not be forced to pawn his book, but will have cash in his wallet for dresses, furs and decent clothes. Otherwise he will be cursed as a beggar. Therefore, so that people do not take me for an animal, I ask you for money.
The wines are expensive, as are the hostels and other nice things. I am in debt on every street and it is difficult for me to get out of such traps. Dear dad, deign to help me! I'm afraid of being excommunicated; I've already been cited, and there's not even a dry bone in my pantry. If I cannot find money before this Easter holiday, the church doors will be closed in my face; therefore fulfill my prayer. I'm asking you for money.
Dearly beloved father, in order to relieve my debts to the tavern, bakery, professors, and also to pay my subscriptions to the laundress and barber, I ask you for money.
Teacher complaints
You can often find teachers talking about how bad their students are. However, even during the Middle Ages there was a lot to complain about when it came to academic performance.
The 13th-century bishop and theologian Jacques de Vitry said of the students in Paris:
Some studied simply to gain knowledge, which is curiosity; others to achieve fame, which is vanity; still others are still for profit, which is greed. Very few studied for the edification of themselves or others. They weren't arguing just over some discussion; but the differences between the countries also caused discord, hatred and violent enmity between them, and they brazenly uttered all sorts of insults against each other.
Meanwhile, in the 14th century, Alvaro Pelayo, studying at the University of Bologna, lamented:
They attend classes, but make no effort to learn anything... The spending money they receive from their parents or churches is spent in taverns, on festivals, games and other excesses, and therefore they return home empty, without knowledge , conscience or money.
When rumors of poor performance reached the ears of parents, they reproached their children. In this letter from 12th-century France, a father named Bescanson writes to his son, who was studying in Orleans:
He who is lazy in his work is the brother of one who is also a great spendthrift. Recently I discovered that you led a dissolute and lazy lifestyle, preferring promiscuity to restrictions, play to work. You strummed the guitar while others were busy studying, so it happened that you read one volume of the law, while your more industrious comrades read several. Therefore, I have decided to hereby demand from you a complete repentance of your debauchery and carelessness, that you may no longer be called a spendthrift, and that your disgrace may be turned to a good reputation.
Even the medieval librarian had reasons to complain about students. Around 1345, Richard de Bury, who was studying at Oxford and tutoring the young Edward III, complained about the way books were handled by students:
You may happen to see some stubborn young man lazily sitting at his studies, and when there is severe frost in winter, snot flows from his nose from the piercing cold, and he does not even think of wiping it with a handkerchief until he splashes the book lying in front of him .
His fingernails are covered in stinking mud, black as pitch. He leaves a lot of straws (we're talking about bookmarks), which he inserts so that they stick out in different places and remind him of what he cannot remember himself. These straws, since the book has no stomach to digest them and no one takes them out, stretch the book, causing it to spoil.
The student likes to eat fruit or cheese over an open book, or casually lifts a cup to his mouth and takes it away from his mouth. Constantly chattering, he never tires of arguing with his comrades, and, making a lot of meaningless arguments, he wets the book lying open on his lap with splashing streams, or stains it with leftover food. And then, hastily crossing his arms over his chest, he leans forward over his book to take a nap.
To remember the required page, he folds the margins, causing considerable damage to the book.
His fingernails are covered in stinking mud, black as pitch. He leaves a lot of straws (we're talking about bookmarks), which he inserts so that they stick out in different places and remind him of what he cannot remember himself. These straws, since the book has no stomach to digest them and no one takes them out, stretch the book, causing it to spoil.
The student likes to eat fruit or cheese over an open book, or casually lifts a cup to his mouth and takes it away from his mouth. Constantly chattering, he never tires of arguing with his comrades, and, making a lot of meaningless arguments, he wets the book lying open on his lap with splashing streams, or stains it with leftover food. And then, hastily crossing his arms over his chest, he leans forward over his book to take a nap.
To remember the required page, he folds the margins, causing considerable damage to the book.
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