A. Medieval Life and the System of Feudalism Group 1

A. Medieval Life and the System of Feudalism group 1 1. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Western civilization was in turmoil 2. Feudalism evolves as a system of mutual protection as strong leaders emerge and carve out territory that they could control with their forces and resources 3. Built fortress (castle) and provided protection for subjects (from vassal to serf) in return for allegiance and domestic duties carried out to sustain life B. The Prevalence and Impact of Christianity group 2 1. Christianity swept through medieval Europe following the fall of Rome 2. People, including peasants, embraced Christianity because it brought hope to them during a difficult time filled with toil and strife 3. Religious orders emerged; monks and nuns shunned the secular world 4. Clergy and religious groups turned to asceticism; shunned secular world in favor of spiritual 5. As temporal leaders converted to Christianity, lords and clerics developed a relationship that solidified control over the populace 6. Lords, later kings, defended the faith and protected their subjects C. Chivalry and the Lure of Knighthood group 3 1. Feudalism precipitated knighthood in that the vassal’s eldest son generally trained for knighthood at the lord’s castle 2. Trainees learned military skills and courtly manners 3. Training also included elements of asceticism—fasting, solitude, prayer vigils 4. Literature idealizes knighthood, but few knights could reach that pinnacle 5. Knights participated in tournaments (jousts and melees) to keep their battle skills sharp D. Education during the Middle Ages group 4 1. Monastic schools – taught monks and novitiates to read scripture; some children from privileged families attended 2. Cathedral schools – trained clerics for bishopric; some lay students attended 3. Taught Seven Liberal Arts a. Trivium – grammar, rhetoric, logic b. Quadrivium – arithmetic, astronomy, geometry, music 4. No provisions for physical education in medieval schools E. Rise of Cities and Universities group 5 1. Cities were located at strategic sites—crossroads, sea port, river harbor a. Merchants located there to move and trade goods b. Peasants who were granted freedom or who had escaped went there to apply whatever craft of skill they may have had (carpentry, masonry, blacksmiths, etc) 2. Craftspeople joined together and formed guilds for self-protection, opportunities, and benefits 3. Scholars, too, formed guilds which led to the emergence of universities a. Initially master lecturers rented a room or made space in their own dwellings for learning b. Master lecturers got together and rented a storefront or part of a building; with more lecturers joining forces they acquired an entire building c. Eventually with additional revenue, they acquired several buildings, giving the institution its own identity, usually within a city d. There were no provisions for physical activity, so students frequently turned to rowdyism involving fights and violence, but also football (soccer) and other sporting contests came to be popular among students, leading to rivalries based on geographical origins of students F. Holidays and Festivals group 6 1. Holy days (later holidays) and feast days were frequent and common in medieval life; they helped the populace cope with the rigors and difficulty of everyday life 2. Initially scheduled around agrarian season cycles, holy days and festivals were associated with planting, harvesting, Christmas, and pre-Lenten celebrations 3. Following church services, people participated in gambling, dancing, sporting activities (football, animal baits, cock fights) and enjoyed entertainment from jugglers and minstrels G. Renaissance Thought and Humanistic Leanings group 7 1. The expansion of trade and the quest for knowledge and information prompted a renewed interest in Greek and Roman culture or Renaissance that swept across the European continent during the 14th to 17th centuries 2. Although the soul was still important for salvation, Renaissance thought admired and valued the human form—humanism (witness Renaissance art vs. medieval art) H. Humanist Leaders group 8 – major contributors to our history and their influence and contributions 1. Vittorino da Feltre – revived Greek gymnastics at court school that emphasized natural activities— running, jumping, hiking, ball games, fencing, riding 2. Pope Pius II (Piccolomini) – encouraged racing, dancing, and swimming for men and women to strengthen youth, improve posture, and promote dignity 3. Hieronymous Mercurialis – favored Greek gymnastics and stressed the value of exercise for hygienic purposes 4. Sir Thomas Elyot – served in court of Henry VIII; promoted running, hunting, wrestling, lifting and throwing heavy stones, tennis, swimming, dancing 5. Roger Ascham – tutor of Elizabeth I; promoted natural activities, weaponry, archery 6. Baldassare Castiglione – wrote Book of the Courtier in which he envisioned the ideal courtier as strong, flexible, quick, and elusive for wrestling, riding, jousting, and fencing I. Reformation and Realism 1. Protestant Reformation – reaction to abuses of papal authority and Catholic clergy group 1 a. Martin Luther – humanistic view of strong and healthy body to perform daily labor and help the infirm b. John Milton – English puritan who advocated martial skills (riding, wrestling) to fend off forces of Crown (Anglicanism) 2. Realists believed in preparing individuals for the secular world through education group 2 a. Francois Rebelais – influenced Montaigne, Locke, and Rousseau b. Richard Mulcaster – advocated equality of males and females in education and wanted education to focus on the child rather than the subject c. Michel de Montaigne – stressed vigorous exercise and strict discipline for developing manly traits; resurrected Sparta's stern training methods d. John Locke – incorporated Montaigne’s practices into his beliefs; believed one had to have a strong body to have a sound mind J. Age of Enlightenment group 3 # 1 & 2 1. Enlightenment thought embodied inalienable rights of individuals and humanity’s mastery of its own environment through critical analysis and scientific investigation 2. Jean-Jacques Rousseau – progenitor or ideas regarding education that stressed learning through the senses; he was a strong advocate of natural activities and interacting with nature in an outdoor environment; he wanted students to learn to think for themselves (cf his peasants—savages analogy) 3. Johann Basedow – first educator to apply Rousseau’s ideas in educational setting group 4 # 3 & 4 a. Opened Philanthropinum where Johann Simon served as instructor and developed curriculum of study, manual labor, and physical exercise b. Five hours of intellectual studies, 2 hours of manual labor, 3 hours of exercise c. Age-appropriate natural activities – running, jumping, throwing, wrestling – emphasized; older youth participated in fencing, riding, vaulting, dancing and music 4. Johann Guts Muths – Instructor of Schnepfenthal Institute founded by Christian Salzmann a. Constructed outdoor apparatus for climbing, swinging, and vaulting b. Natural activities of all types—walking, running, jumping, thrusting, pulling, pushing, throwing, wrestling, dancing, swimming c. Diet and nutrition considered, ventilation important, strengthen body first to accommodate maturing mind d. Advocated physical education for both boys and girls 5. Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi – carried Rousseau’s ideas to fruition at Yverdon group 5 # 5 a. Combined intellectual, moral, and practical components (manual labor and physical education) of education b. Wanted youth to develop to their fullest potential through improvement of all of their traits— intellectual, moral, physical c. Emphasized sense learning and “object teaching” through use of pictures d. Stressed natural activities for bodily development e. Had health and domestic programs for women and girls 6. Friedrich Froebel – viewed play an important component of child development group 6 # 6 a. Proclaimed self-activity through observation, discovery and creativity contributes to developing whole child b. Encouraged students and teachers to work together to help child become a productive adult c. Play and physical activity were precepts to intellectual development which he embodied in the notion of kindergarten. K. German Nationalism group 7 very important for us to known this for PRAXIS test 1. Friedrich Jahn promoted nationalism among the German-speaking states; he believed they should be united under Prussia 2. Prussia refused to support Napoleon, so the French invaded and defeated Prussia, occupying its territory 3. Resistance movement began in Prussia with Jahn becoming a principal agitator 4. He organized the turnverein (gymnastic clubs) among youth and instilled in them a sense of German pride 5. Following Napoleon’s defeat in 1815 and the Congress of Vienna, Jahn was imprisoned and the turnverein (as hotbeds of revolution) were suppressed; he was released from prison, but placed under surveillance for most of the rest of his life 6. Turnverein went underground, but two generations later, it surfaced and contributed to giving Prussia the strongest land army on the European continent L. Swedish and Danish Gymnastics group 8 very important for us to distinguish between German vs Swedish and Danish Gymnastics 1. Napoleonic wars extended nationalism to Sweden and Denmark 2. Franz Nachtegall brought Guts Muths’ gymnastics to Copenhagen in 1799 when he opened a gymnasium there a. He used rope and hanging ladders, climbing poles, balance beam, and vaulting horses b. Developed military gymnastics for Danish school children 3. Per Henrik Ling a. Learned German gymnastics from Nachtegall in Copenhagen b. Introduced the German system in Sweden during Napoleonic conflict and war with Russia c. Later, due to an inflamed arm stricken with arthritis, Ling gradually changed the focus of his gymnastics from military to medical d. Ling’s gymnastics were more free exercises without hand-held apparatus; he also used stall bars, window ladder, Swedish box, and oblique rope e. Ling’s gymnastics eventually became more popular in U.S. than in Sweden