belonging to and helping to fight the battles of their protecting lord.

For these peasants there was as yet no education aside from what the
Church gave through her watchful oversight and her religious services (R.
81), and but little leisure, freedom, wealth, security, or economic need
to make such education possible or desirable. Moreover, the other-worldly
attitude of the Church made such education seem unnecessary. It was still
the education of a few for institutional purposes, though here and there,
by the close of the twelfth century, the Church was beginning to urge its
members to provide some education for their children (R. 82), and the
world was at last getting ready for the evolution of the independent
scholar, and soon would be ready for the evolution of schools to meet
secular needs.

REPRESSIVE ATTITUDE OF THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. The great work of the Church
during this period, as we see it to-day, was to assimilate and
sufficiently civilize the barbarians to make possible a new civilization,
based on knowledge and reason rather than force. To this end the Church
had interposed her authority against barbarian force, and had slowly won
the contest. Almost of necessity the Church had been compelled to insist
upon her way, and this type of absolutism in church government had been
extended to most other matters. The Bible, or rather the interpretations
of it which church councils, popes, bishops, and theological writers had
made, became authoritative, and disobedience or doubt became sinful in the
eyes of the Church. [22] The Scriptures were made the authority for
everything, and interpretations the most fantastic were made of scriptural
verses. Unquestioning belief was extended to many other matters, with the
result that tales the most wonderful were recounted and believed. To
question, to doubt, to disbelieve--these were among the deadly sins of the
early Middle Ages. This attitude of mind undoubtedly had its value in