During the
High Middle Ages
The High Middle Ages, or High Medieval Period, was the periodization, period of European history that lasted from AD 1000 to 1300. The High Middle Ages were preceded by the Early Middle Ages and were followed by the Late Middle Ages, which ended ...
, the
Chartres Cathedral
Chartres Cathedral, also known as the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres (french: Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Chartres), is a Roman Catholic church in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the Bishop of Chartres. Mostly con ...
established the
cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominations ...
School of Chartres, an important center of
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
scholarship located in
Chartres
Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as def ...
. It developed and reached its apex during the transitional period of the 11th and 12th centuries, at the start of the
Latin translation movement. This period was also right before the spread of
medieval universities
A medieval university was a corporation organized during the Middle Ages for the purposes of higher education. The first Western European institutions generally considered to be universities were established in present-day Italy (including ...
, which eventually superseded cathedral schools and
monastic school
Monastic schools ( la, Scholae monasticae) were, along with cathedral schools, the most important institutions of higher learning in the Latin West from the early Middle Ages until the 12th century. Since Cassiodorus's educational program, the st ...
s as the most important institutions of higher learning in the
Latin West.
[Natural Philosophy at School and University, (Lecture 18), in Lawrence M. Principe (2002) ''History of Science: Antiquity to 1700''. Teaching Company, Course No. 1200]
In the early 11th century, (c. 1020),
Bishop Fulbert established Chartres as one of the leading schools in Europe. Although the role of Fulbert himself as a scholar and teacher has been questioned, his administrative ability established the conditions in which the school could flourish.
Great scholars were attracted to the cathedral school, including
Bernard of Chartres Bernard of Chartres ( la, Bernardus Carnotensis; died after 1124) was a twelfth-century French Neo-Platonist philosopher, scholar, and administrator.
Life
The date and place of his birth are unknown. He was believed to have been the elder brot ...
,
Thierry of Chartres
Thierry of Chartres (''Theodoricus Chartrensis'') or Theodoric the Breton (''Theodericus Brito'') (died before 1155, probably 1150) was a twelfth-century philosopher working at Chartres and Paris, France.
The cathedral school at Chartres promote ...
,
William of Conches, and the Englishman
John of Salisbury
John of Salisbury (late 1110s – 25 October 1180), who described himself as Johannes Parvus ("John the Little"), was an English author, philosopher, educationalist, diplomat and bishop of Chartres.
Early life and education
Born at Salisbury, E ...
. These men were at the forefront of the intense intellectual rethinking that culminated in what is now known as the
twelfth-century Renaissance, pioneering the
Scholastic philosophy that came to dominate medieval thinking throughout Europe.
As with most monastic and cathedral schools, the school's teaching was based on the traditional seven
liberal arts
Liberal arts education (from Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as La ...
, grouped into the
trivium
The trivium is the lower division of the seven liberal arts and comprises grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
The trivium is implicit in ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury") by Martianus Capella, but t ...
(study of logic, grammar and rhetoric) and into the
quadrivium
From the time of Plato through the Middle Ages, the ''quadrivium'' (plural: quadrivia) was a grouping of four subjects or arts—arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy—that formed a second curricular stage following preparatory work in the ...
(arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy). There were, however, differences among the schools on the emphasis given to each subject. The Chartres school placed special emphasis on the quadrivium (the mathematical arts) and on
natural philosophy
Natural philosophy or philosophy of nature (from Latin ''philosophia naturalis'') is the philosophical study of physics, that is, nature and the physical universe. It was dominant before the development of modern science.
From the ancien ...
.
Chartres' greatest period was the first half of the twelfth century,
but it eventually could not support the city's large number of students and its masters lacked the relative autonomy developing around the city's other schools.
By the later 12th century, the status of the school was on the wane. It was gradually eclipsed by the newly emerging
University of Paris
, image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg
, image_size = 150px
, caption = Coat of Arms
, latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis
, motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin)
, mottoeng = Here and a ...
, particularly by the School of the
Abbey of St. Victor (attended by the '
Victorines
The school of St Victor was the medieval monastic school at the Augustinian abbey of St Victor in Paris. The name also refers to the Victorines, the group of philosophers and mystics based at this school as part of the University of Paris.
It ...
').
References
Bibliography
* Edouard Jeauneau, ''Rethinking the School of Chartres'', Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2009.
External links
The School of Chartresin A History of Western Philosophy Vol. II / by
Ralph McInerny
{{Authority control
Science in the Middle Ages
Medieval philosophy
Scholasticism
History of education in France
Medieval organizations
Chartres
Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as def ...
Chartres
Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as def ...
Chartres Cathedral
Educational institutions established in the 11th century