that he should have a
watchful eye to avert danger, protect his master, and quickly anticipate
his every wish. The service of this period completed his education, and
at twenty-one he was knighted with imposing ceremonies. After partaking
of the sacrament, he took vows to _speak the truth, defend the weak,
honor womanhood, and use his sword for the defense of Christianity_.

This form of education was most potent in preserving knighthood for
several centuries and was a powerful factor in shaping the destinies of
Europe. It was faithfulness to the vow _to defend Christianity_ that led
finally to the overthrow of chivalry, as will appear in the study of the
crusades.

=Education of Women.=--The girls remained at home and were taught the
domestic arts, as well as the forms of etiquette which were practiced in
this chivalric age, and which the peculiar homage paid to woman made
necessary. They were also taught reading and writing, and were expected
to be familiar with poetry. Daughters of the better families were
sometimes collected in some castle, where a kind of school was
organized, in which they were instructed in reading, writing, poetry,
singing, and the use of stringed instruments, religion, and sometimes in
French and Latin. Among no other class during the Middle Ages was such
great attention paid to the education of women. It was the duty of
mothers to see that their daughters were carefully prepared to sustain
the peculiar dignity of feudal womanhood.

=Criticism of Feudal Education.=--1. It honored woman and gave her the
highest position afforded by any system during the Middle Ages.

2. It gave the world a splendid example of chivalry, teaching manliness,
courage, devotion to the right as it was understood, and the espousal of
the cause of the weak.

3. It contributed to literature through the compositions of the
_Minnesingers_.

4. It counteracted the ascetic tendencies of the monastics by
encouraging an active participation in life's affairs.

5. It restricted its advantages to the privileged class.

6. It despised intellectual training, while laying great stress upon
physical prowess.

7. It lacked the elements of progress.

FOOTNOTES:

[41] "Mediaeval Europe," p. 478.

[42] _Ibid._, p. 480.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE CRUSADES AS AN EDUCATIONAL MOVEMENT

=Literature.=--_Michaud_, The Crusades; _Stubbs_, Mediaeval and Modern
History; _Mombert_, Great Lives (see Godfrey); _Myers_, Mediaeval a