They also learned arithmetic (solving arithmetical problems and
casting accounts). Disobedience incurred flogging by teacher as
well as by parents. Spare the rod and spoil the child was the
philosophy. Schools now guarded the morals and behavior of
students. There were two week vacations at Christmas and at
Easter. Royal grammar books for English and Latin were proclaimed
by Henry in 1543 to be the only grammar book authorized for
students. In 1545, he proclaimed a certain primer of prayers in
English to be the only one to be used by students.
The first school of humanist studies arose in Oxford with the
Foundation of Corpus Christi College in 1516 by Bishop Richard
Fox. It had the first permanent Reader or Professor in Greek. The
Professor of Humanity was to extirpate all barbarisms by the study
of Cicero, Sallust, Valerius Maximus, and Quintilian. The third
Reader of Theology was to read texts of the Holy Fathers but not
those of their commentators. Oxford University was granted a
charter which put the greater part of the town under control of
the Chancellor and scholars. The mayor of Oxford was required to
take an oath at his election to maintain the privileges and
customs of the university. Roman law and other Regius
professorships were founded by the king at Oxford and Cambridge.
Teaching of undergraduates was the responsibility of the
university rather than of the colleges, though some colleges had
live-in teachers as students.
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