g. soft or harsh),
its power (e.g. robust and strong sound), its inflection, and its
order; and avoiding obscurity and ambiguity in statements), and
rhetoric [art of public speaking, oratory, and debate]. The
teacher possessed the only complete copy of the Latin text, and
most of the school work was done orally. Though books were few and
precious, the students read several Latin works. Girls and boys of
high social position usually had private teachers for grammar
school, while boys of lower classes were sponsored at grammar
schools such as those at Oxford. Discipline was maintained by the
birch or rod.
There was no examination for admission as an undergraduate to
Oxford, but a knowledge of Latin with some skill in speaking Latin
was a necessary background. The students came from all
backgrounds. Some had their expenses paid by their parents, while
others had the patronage of a churchman, a religious house, or a
wealthy layman. They studied the "liberal arts", which derived its
name from "liber" or free, because they were for the free men of
Rome rather than for the economic purposes of those who had to
work. The works of Greek authors such as Aristotle were now
available; the European monk Thomas Aquinas had edited Aristotle's
works to reconcile them to church doctrine. He opined that man's
intellectual use of reason did not conflict with the religious
belief that revelation came only from God, because reason was
given to man by God.
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