Monasteries had both kitchen gardens and herb gardens to provide the practicalities of food and medicine. [For a look at the role of herbs in monastic life, read one of the excellent Brother Cadfael mysteries by Ellis Peters. Also, beds were set aside to grow flowers for the church altar.
The monastery cloister provided an open green space surrounded by covered walks, ge 313j924d nerally with a well, or fountain at the centre. These green spaces sometimes served as the burial place for the monks also.
Castles
sometimes made room for small courtyard gardens, with paths through raised
flower beds. Other common features of medieval castle gardens include turf
seats and high mounds, or mounts, which provided a view over the castle walls
or over some part of the garden itself. These mounts could have decorative
pavillions on top. Good examples of medieval mounts can be found at
As castles gave way to fortified manor houses in the later medieval period, the garden became a simple green space surrounded by hedges or fences. Games such as bowls or tennis took place on the lawn.
Education. There were many
different kinds of schools in medieval
Schools. In addition to the
schools listed above there were also privately endowed schools like
|
|
The term "public school" can be misleading. It refers to the fact that the school drew its students from all over the country rather than just the local area. In reality "public schools" are anything but public. They were, and still are, elite boarding schools for the rich or ambitious.
School Life. Most schools had no
books and the students were taught by rote and the skill of individual masters.
Most masters were minor clergy, who themselves were often indifferently
educated. Classes at some of the larger schools could be as large as 100 or
more boys (no girls, though they were accepted at some of the small local
schools), and the school day lasted as long as 13 hours with breaks for meals.
And to top it off students could expect to be beaten regularly with a birch
rod.
Students.
University students chose their own course of studies, hired their own
professors, and picked their own hours of study. They were free to leave one
professor if they tired of him, and join another, attending several lectures
before deciding whether to pay him or not. The only books were the professors,
and students wrote notes on parchment or, more commonly, on wax tablets.
|