Daily Life During The Reformation (34 page)

Copious use was made of toothpicks, which came in various
shapes, sizes, and metals and were often worn in the hat as a decoration.

Various implements made of metal were employed to scrape
the teeth, after which nitric acid was rubbed on in an attempt to whiten them.
This frequently resulted in the teeth dropping out. Sir Hugh Platt warned that
such treatment could be calamitous for after a few applications a lady may “be
forced to borrow a ranke of teeth to eate her dinner.”

One cure for toothache was to rub urine on the gum; if that
did not work, the tooth was knocked out using a hammer and chisel. Throughout
Europe, mouthwashes were concocted and recommended for bad breath, some
believed that roasted turnip peel put behind the ear could get rid of it.
Recipes to freshen the breath included a mixture of spices such as cinnamon,
cloves, mint, nutmeg, anise, caraway, and fennel. A gargle made from tobacco
was supposed to cure toothache, and tobacco was also used to fill a hollow
tooth.

Going to the dentist was painful and dangerous; people
sometimes died from loss of blood and pain caused by the instruments that were
used. They included pliers, instruments with claws (for dislodging a tooth from
the socket), and an implement that pulled out the roots.

For toothache, Markham suggests a handful of dried daisy
roots be pounded, then half a nutshell of bay salt be sprinkled over them,
after which a clean cloth is used to strain the mixture. Add some grated herbs
and mix well together with the juice of the roots; then put in a quill and
snuff it up into the nose.

At this time, fillings began to be used, the most common
materials being gold leaf, molten lead, or scrapings of silver. But often a
tooth was just removed and replaced with a good one from a poor person in need of
money. Unfortunately for the donor, they would lose one tooth after another as
the dentist strove to find one that would fit the mouth of his patient. If no
one was available to supply a tooth, those of sheep, dogs, goats, and corpses
were used.

When false teeth eventually were constructed, they came
from sources such as animal bones, ivory, silver, porcelain plaster, or
inflammable vulcanite and celluloid. It seemed that whatever course was
followed, it was usually perilous for the patient.

15 – EDUCATION

BEFORE THE REFORMATION

Throughout
the Middle Ages, most literate people were clerics who were required to know
Latin for religious ceremonies. The Catholic Church endowed schools to teach
Latin that were attached to cathedrals, monasteries, and parishes to train
future clerics and administrators. Secular town councils and even great nobles
or the king sometimes founded their own schools for the betterment of their subjects,
officials, and managers. Nevertheless, prior to the Reformation, schools and
universities throughout Europe were firmly in the hands of the Catholic Church
who had the only literate teachers to run them.

By beginning of the sixteenth century, grammar (or Latin)
schools for young male subjects were well ensconced in most European countries.
At the most fundamental level of reading and writing, the Church conducted
classes in chapels and monasteries within the parish. At a higher level, Latin
was taught in monasteries and cathedrals. Girls could find a little religious
education from the sisters in convents that held libraries but generally only
if they lived there. Guilds of artisans and merchants also had schools for
young men prepared to follow the trade. On occasion a peasant boy might find
some elementary education at a monastery if the parents could pay the fee. In
general, the Catholic Church was little interested in educating the masses; it
was enough to educate the clergy who would then lead the masses to salvation.

VALUE OF EDUCATION

With the coming of the Renaissance and Humanist ideas, the
concept of the individual took on more importance. More attention was paid to
the here and now and less to a life hereafter. Under such circumstances, education
began to have more significance.

GIRLS’ EDUCATION

While tutors taught upper class girls social refinements
including foreign languages, those of the middle class received a little basic
education in reading, writing and arithmetic from family members, or from the
parish priest. A merchants’ daughter often learned to run her father’s
business.

CATHOLIC WOMEN

Some of the new religious orders of women in Catholic
Europe offered schooling for girls, many of whom boarded at the convent for a
number of years. Courses taught included good manners, singing, and sewing.
When a girl left, she was expected to be virtuous and ready to get married.
Those who made the decision to stay on and become nuns themselves often
continued with their education.

LOWER CLASSES AND MIDDLE CLASSES

A vast number of both urban and rural young men did not
attend school at all. Born into a commercial family, they might receive a
seven-year (or shorter) apprenticeship in order to learn a trade. If it
required reading and writing, they would learn the rudiments from the local
priest or the master. In towns where there were teachers, the sons of the
bourgeoisie might have had a little schooling in their early years, but the
study of Latin required in higher grades was considered much less important
than becoming an apprentice and learning a trade. There were craftsmen who
could read and write, but very few laborers were ever given such opportunities.

For the majority of people, the peasants, formal schooling
was not an issue. Their education came from their fathers and grandfathers and
consisted of how to manage the planting and harvesting, take care of the
animals, and participate in the trade of the local markets. Girls were taught
household chores from making butter, mending clothes, preparing food, to caring
for babies, from their mothers.

DISCIPLINE

In Tudor England, in Germany, and elsewhere infringement of
the school rules could lead to corporal punishment. Such methods of control
were sanctioned by the medieval Church that also encouraged self-flagellation
as a disciplinary activity. Even today in Catholic countries such as Spain,
self-flagellation, at least symbolically, can be seen among participants in
Holy Week parades.

It was not uncommon for disorderly boys to be struck on the
buttocks or on the flat of their hands with a stick.

WEALTHY FAMILIES

Sons and daughters of well-to-do families were sometimes
taught by tutors in the home or received their first admission to education in
a school for young children. Boarding schools for both boys and girls were
introduced in many cities in the sixteenth century as students often had to
come from afar. Girls were taught music, reading, writing, and needlework. A
girl’s merit lay in her attainment and success in these matters rather than in
academic studies.

Catholic Church officials served as part-time teachers
while performing other ecclesiastical duties, but in Protestant cities teaching
became a full-time profession for some men that were trained as clerics before
adopting the Protestant persuasion.

Wealthy families also believed that young girls should not
be idle. They were allocated some playtime but otherwise were put to work on
tasks deemed suitable by their parents and the priest. The education of girls
was thus mainly for the privileged and the rich. Its aim was to produce wives
schooled in godly and moral precepts. It was not intended to promote
independent thinking.

TEACHERS AND SCHOOLS

More often than not, the local parish priest served as the schoolmaster.
There were also schools that taught basic arithmetic for the sons of merchants
and traders, so they could keep accounts. The elementary school was closely
associated with the Church as was the secondary or grammar school whose
students were generally admitted about age seven and trained to go on to
university to become clerics, lawyers, or doctors. The quality of teaching,
however, was often poor reflecting the mediocre education of many priests.

By the end of the sixteenth century in England, it had
become fashionable for the rich to found schools and endow universities and
students; and most towns could boast of a secular grammar school no longer
under the control of the Church. Religious instruction still played a large
part in the curriculum, and at many schools, was even more important than Latin
or Greek.

REFORMERS’ IMPACT ON EDUCATION

Major reformers agreed that schooling was important, it
should be available to everyone, and religion should be included in the
curriculum. An open letter sent in 1524 to town councilors in Germany by Luther
made his view clear. He stated in part:

‘If Christianity is to rise in its power we must surely
begin with the children . . . Family education must be assisted by the school .
. . For the sake of the Church we must have and maintain Christian schools . .
. Let everyone then send his children to school. It is only the devil who
desires the people to remain dull blocks.’

He added that it was the business of rulers to compel their
subjects to educate their children. If they could force a youth to go to war,
they could most certainly make them attend school. Luther also promoted the
teaching of the sacred languages (Latin, Greek and Hebrew) and claimed that
without them and the Bible,

‘Germany has sunk so low that her wretched people, like poor
dumb cattle, can neither read nor write good German, and have well nigh lost
the sense of their natural reason.’

Music, said Luther,

‘. . . is the best of all the arts, it dispels the sorrow of
the breast. If a schoolmaster does not know music, I have nothing to say to
him. Music is a beautiful divine gift of God, and next to theology.’

UNIVERSAL EDUCATION

A remarkable man who promoted education was Erasmus,
perhaps the most highly educated man of the period. Professor of Divinity and
lecturer in Greek at Cambridge University, his views on education promoted not
punishment for the lazy child but stimulus to arouse his interest. No threats,
blows, or scolding, but only praise, smiles, and encouraging words were the key
to learning. He also believed that girls as well as boys should be educated
instead of shutting girls up until they reached a marriageable age. Other
Protestant scholars agreed with this assessment.

Calvin turned the city of Geneva into a center of learning
(along the lines he desired). He promoted education for everyone, as did John
Knox in Scotland.

It was becoming more common in the schools to dispense with
the rod. At the school in Elbing (now in Poland), a regulation forbade the use
of the stick to beat the children; however, they could be slapped and their
hair, ears, and noses pulled.

In spite of such ideals, most children never entered the
doors of a school. Boys and girls from poor families were expected to start
working and contributing to the family income at an early age.

CATHOLIC EDUCATION

By the time of the Council of Trent, Catholic leaders were
also interested in increasing educational facilities. At the forefront were the
Jesuits who established universities and colleges throughout Europe and the
world. Thus, by the time of the Counter-Reformation, the Catholic Church was
gradually changing, raising the standards of education of the clergy, more and
more of whom were attending university. Both the Reformation and the
Counter-Reformation succeeded in creating more learned men of the Church, both
Protestant and Catholic.

Founded by the Basque, Ignatius Loyola in 1540, Jesuits
were well trained; and part of their success lay in the fact that instead of
flogging the children to force them to learn, they preferred to stimulate their
interest, as did many Protestant teachers. In addition, they made the
curriculum more interesting by promoting competition and giving prizes for
excellence. Students in Jesuit schools were required to attend Mass on a daily
basis; and by the time they left and went out into the world, they were not
only well educated, but they were also well indoctrinated in the faith. These
kinds of efforts helped Catholicism survive the Reformation.

Jesuit schools were, however, primarily for the well born
and wealthy. They played a large role in preserving Catholicism in Spain,
France, Italy, southern Germany, and Poland, as well as making converts around
the world. Jesuits were warriors in the forefront of the Counter-Reformation,
spreading the message of the Council of Trent.