dent. There was little in the schooling of the monasteries that could
appeal to them, and their ideas of manhood were very different from
those of the ecclesiastics. Prowess in the use of arms, skill in
horsemanship, acquaintance with the chivalric forms of politeness and
with knightly manners, were of far more importance to them than ability
to read and write. Indeed, they despised book-learning as something
beneath their own dignity, however suitable it might be for their
vassals. In such a school as this Charlemagne grew up. It was a school
of action rather than of thought; a school which looked to the present
rather than the future.

The education of the knights was in striking contrast with the
prevailing modes. Instead of the seven liberal arts, the seven
perfections of the knight were taught,--horsemanship, swimming, use of
bow and arrow, swordsmanship, hunting, chess-playing, and verse-making.
Their purpose was to prepare for the activities of the life in which
their lot was cast; that of the monasteries was to preserve learning to
fit men for the duties of the Church, and to prepare them for the life
to come. It must not be inferred, however, that the knight was unmindful
of religion, for he was inducted into knighthood by most solemn
religious ceremonies and vows.

The education of the knight was divided into three periods.

=First Period.=--The first seven years of the boy's life were spent in
the home under the mother's careful direction. Obedience, politeness,
and respect for older persons were inculcated, and stress was also laid
upon religious training. By the development of strong and healthy bodies
the boys were well prepared for the later education upon which they
entered after the seventh year.

=Second Period.=--After the seventh year the boy was generally removed
from home to the care of some friendly knight, in order that he might
receive a stricter training. Here he remained till his fourteenth year,
chiefly under the care of the lady whom he served as page. He was taught
music, poetry, chess, and some simple intellectual studies, besides the
duties of knighthood, especially in relation to the treatment of women,
and to courtly manners.

=Third Period.=--At fourteen the boy left the service of his lady and
became an esquire to the knight. He now attended his master upon the
chase, at tournaments, and in battle. He was taught all the arts of war,
of riding, jousting, fencing. It was necessary