Education In The Canterbury Tales

The late Middle Ages, period from 1150 to 1500, was the time when the first universities were forming in Europe. Establishment of universities stemmed from the 12th century intellectual renaissance, combined with the spread of mercantilism, urbanization, development of bureaucratization and middle-class. These social trends created a strong need for educated professionals: administrators, priests, clerks, and scientists, which was satisfied with the establishment of universities, focused on educating and preparing human resources. After getting the university degree, alumni were able to start their career in municipality or church, while the master’s degree in arts was equivalent to a teaching license, allowing students to become masters at universities and lower schools. On the other hand, depending on the country, some universities were under the jurisdiction of church and could benefit from legal protection, including exemption from military service, property taxes, right to

In general, students were described as young men who could spend days and nights in singing songs for beloved women or battling with miller (Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales). However, this stereotype is quite arguable for me based on three reasons. First of all, the master was ultimately responsible for his students’ behavior, which implies that such immoral behavior could lead to legal punishment not only for the student, but also for his master (let us remind that upon admission, a contract was brought between the master and his student). Besides, the master was able to communicate to student’s parents in case of poor behavior, as demonstrated in the letters of Ponce de Provence (Haskins. The Life of Medieval Students as Illustrated by their