Concetti Chiave
- Becoming a monk in the Middle Ages was a personal choice or a family decision, leading to the growth of monastic pedagogy.
- Monasteries focused on the character formation and education of young novices, integrating them into the monastic community.
- Anselm of Canterbury emphasized that children are like softened wax, moldable and impressionable, requiring careful guidance.
- A good teacher's role is to shape young monks into virtuous and civilized spiritual individuals.
- Dialogue is preferred over punishment for correcting behavior, allowing for understanding and appropriate action.
What does it take to become a monk?
Becoming a monk in the Middle Ages could be the result of a personal choice made by an adult or the decision of a family that left his son as a child in the hands of the abbot. So in monasteries lived many novices, children and teens, who were to be instructed: which bought to the birth of the monastic pedagogy.
The monastic world was taking special care of the young monks and was involved in the details of their character formation and their education.
Anselm's view on education
Most especially the Rules of St. Benedict, the main monastic rule throughout the Middle Ages, as the testimonies of great personalities, such as Anselm of Canterbury (1033 / 34-1109), show the efforts and care for young people. According Anselm the child is not a child nor an adult already, comparino the child to be a softened wax that is used to give the seals on letters.
The child can be shaped and can maintain the shape he or she receives just like the Wax. The good teacher therefore has a hard task and must work to shape the young monk and make him the model of the spiritual man, virtuous and civilised.
Most times punishment is not the correct way to educate or correct the child from its bad habits and behaviour; sociologists condemn this act and rather recommend teachers should use the dialogue method in order to understand the character in question and therefore take accurate action, or in most cases consult the advice of the superior for proper punishment given.
Domande da interrogazione
- What were the two main pathways to becoming a monk in the Middle Ages?
- What educational method is recommended over punishment for correcting young monks' behavior?
In the Middle Ages, becoming a monk could result from a personal choice made by an adult or a family's decision to leave their son in the care of an abbot as a child.
Instead of punishment, the dialogue method is recommended to understand the child's character and take appropriate action, often consulting a superior for guidance on proper corrective measures.
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