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=Elizabethan Grammar Schools and Education=

Elizabethan grammar schools were schools for learning Latin grammar during the Elizabethan Era for lower or middle class students. The schools had harsh punishments and long hours, all in preparation for university, the general understanding being that education had to be beaten into children (Pierce). The schools were often very tied to religion, and it was not uncommon for school to take place in a chapel or church (Ross 23). At the time they were called public schools, although they were not paid for by the government. Public was for the fact that the students were taught in public (Pierce).

**Class and Education** During the Elizabethan Era the majority of the population was illiterate, only 1/10 workers in North England being able to sign their own name, although by the end of Elizabeth’s prosperous reign literacy had improved. Those who were able to attend school were mostly farmers and above, not for common workers (Ross 23). Certain standing in the community could earn a free education for one’s children. For example, John Shakespeare’s position as Alderman would have earned his son William a free education (Elizabethan). Education for noble children was quite different. Most nobles were taught by tutors, although some were sent to boarding school. At the age of twelve they were sent to a “great household” in order to learn riding, hunting, shooting, hawking, manners, and soldiering (Ross 23). = = School starts || 7:00 AM (Winter); 6:00 AM (Summer) || A typical school day for an Elizabethan grammar school (Pierce).
 * Prayers & Work || 6:00AM/7:00AM - 9:00AM ||
 * Breakfast || 9:00AM ||
 * Work || 9:30AM - 11:00AM ||
 * Dinner || 11:00AM - 1:00PM ||
 * Work || 1:00PM - 5:00PM/5:30PM ||

= = For comparison, the schedule of the young earl of Essex (Pierce).
 * Dancing || 7:00AM - 7:30AM  ||
 * Breakfast || 7:30AM - 8:00AM  ||
 * French || 8:00AM - 9:00AM  ||
 * Latin || 9:00AM - 10:00AM  ||
 * Writing and Drawing || 10:00AM - 10:30AM  ||
 * Prayers, Recreation, Dinner || 10:30AM - 1:00PM  ||
 * Cosmography || 1:00PM - 2:00PM  ||
 * Latin || 2:00PM - 3:00PM  ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">French || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">3:00PM - 4:00PM  ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">Writing || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">4:00PM - 4:30PM  ||
 * <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">Prayers, Recreation, Supper || <span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',serif; font-size: 10pt; text-align: center;">4:30PM - 5:30PM  ||

As a young girl the likelihood that you would be able to attain an education was dependent on how rich you were, although most girls would learn some basic arithmetic and language at home (Pierce). It was also much more likely for nobles to attend university, which, for poorer children, was a way for them to break into the academic world and make a good living for themselves (Ross 23).

**Levels of Education** Education started, for non-nobles, at the age of five at a “petty school,” (petty coming from the French word for small, petit) where one learned English and simple math. Petty schools were taught by an educated midwife. Over the course of two years at a petty school a student was expected to learn morals, society, religion, and behavior, as well as master the English language (Elizabethan; Brown 45). Grammar school was entirely focused on teaching Latin, with no English allowed, speaking it would earn the student a punishment. This was because to learn other subjects you had to go to university, which was taught entirely in Latin (Pierce). Latin was also simply more practical for careers such as diplomats, lawyers, civil servants, physicians, naturalists, philosophers, explorers, and military commanders (Brown 10). The schoolmasters were particularly interested in making sure that their students got into university because the greater their success rate, the more prestige they would gain, and the more money they would be able to charge for tuition. Students graduated at the ages of 15 or 16 (Brown 11, 44). University was always the ultimate goal for children attending grammar school, a way to become a scholar and not be forced into a trade. The options for university were Oxford, Cambridge, or the London Inns of Court or Chancery, which acted as a law school. Universities taught exclusively in Latin, justifying its emphasis in grammar school. At a university students would learn Geek, classical teachings, math, philosophy, astrology, alchemy, and medicine. In order to learn more practical, skills one would have to attend less prestigious and more niche colleges (Pierce). After university the wealthiest men were given permits which allowed them to become a traveling scholar (Elizabethan).

**Student Life at a Grammar School** Students went to grammar school year round, further excluding families which needed their children to work. School went for five-and-a-half days, with an exam on Sunday’s sermon on Monday, and weekly exams and punishments on Friday (Elizabethan). Punishments were extremely harsh, usually being carried out with a birch whip or a ferula, a piece of wood with a hole in it designed to raise blisters. The punishment for being late was so severe that students had to be dragged to school once they knew they were going to be late (Brown 45, 90). The day began and ended with prayers (Brown 55), the day lasting from dawn until dusk, with bells calling the students from home (Pierce; Brown 23). Most of the curriculum involved memorizing classical literature or Bible passages (Ross 23). Children also carried around a “horn-books,” which were pieces of parchment pasted on a small wooden board and covered with a thin layer of transparent horn. It had the alphabet as well as “The Lord’s Prayer” and a picture of the cross, which is why the alphabet on the horn-book was called “Christ-cross-row,” where the word crisscross comes from (Elizabethan). There were not many fun things about Elizabethan grammar school, but older boys were allowed to participate in the first school plays, performing classical drama (Elizabethan).

**Faculty and Facility** Across England there were only 300 grammar schools, with 11 in London. The intent of the schools was particularly religious, one founder of a grammar school, Dean Colet, said, “My intent is by this school specially to increase knowledge and worshiping of God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and good Christian life and manners in the children” (Brown 7, 9). In fact it was not uncommon for parishes to run and fund the grammar schools, the idea that some schools were not run in this fashion was fairly new in the Elizabethan Era (Ross 23). School either took place in the town schoolhouse or in a chapel in the parish church. The schoolmaster had to be appointed by a bishop, and teaching without a license could lead to a year in prison, because the unlicensed teacher might teach the wrong things about religion. Inside, long rows of desks would have faced each other with an instructor and his desk on a raised platform at the end of the room, the ushers’, who were essentially apprenticed teachers who helped keep students in line, at the other end (Brown 15, 20, 25, 26).


 * Works Cited **

Brown, J. Howard. //Elizabethan Schooldays//. Oxford: Kemp Hall, 1933. Print.

“Elizabethan Education.” //William Shakespeare Info//. N.p., n.d. Web. 6 Oct. 2010.

Ross, Stewart. //How It Was: Elizabethan Life//. London: BT Batsford, 1991. Print.

Secara, Maggie Pierce. “What Every Schoolboy Knows.” //Life in Elizabethan// //England//. 10th ed. N.p., Mar. 2008. Web. 6 Oct. 2010.