Institutional Education

The thirteenth century is a great age of learning. Amor sciendi, the "love of knowing", has blossomed in the breasts of many, making learning itself valuable. People follow the path of reason to better themselves and to achieve a deeper understanding of their faith. Changing social values and the slight increase in social mobility have also allowed educated men to rise in importance. Church reforms and royal empires require the benefits of learned professions for their political well-being, making such men indispensable and highly regarded. Professional credentials are prestigious accoutrements. Academics are able to negotiate the tangled legal terrain of property rights and inheritances, important issues to any who hold land, as well as tackle the theological issues of differing faiths and differing opinions. Ecclesiastics seek to harmonize Christian philosophy with pagan philosophy through academic learning, creatively systematizing the two into a single body of knowledge. "Faith through Reason" are the bywords of the century.

There are a variety of educational opportunities in the thirteenth century. Learning is no longer in the sole possession of the clergy, and many laymen receive quality institutional educations. Universities, the acme of higher learning, will be discussed in greater detail in the next chapter. They are few in the thirteenth century, and most educated people have been taught at other institutions. Most of the institutions described here do not require a new Virtue or Flaw for a character to participate in them. Rather, they allow players to more accurately determine where their educated characters received instruction.

The Limits of Education

Most learned men follow a path of education, from humble beginnings to the great heights of university instruction. Non-university institutions are not set up to provide all the academic nourishment a scholar requires. Only certain types of instruction are taught in specific institutions. To reflect this, starting characters are limited in how high their Academic Abilities can be, depending on the type of institution they attended. Attending any of these schools demands that the character have the Virtue: Educated.

Some Academic Abilities are completely excluded from some institutions. For example, Philosophiae is not taught in parish schools. The following table shows how high the Academic Ability scores of a typical instructor are, which is the limit of a student's score, as well as the Academic subjects allowed him based on his character background. Each institution has a major and a minor course of academic subjects. Major subjects are those that the institution focuses on teaching, while minor subjects are those taught peripherally. Minor subjects are limited to half the regular score limit listed below, rounded up. Besides these score limits, beginning characters' scores are also limited by their age (ArM5, page 31).

Institution	Limit	Major Subjects	Minor Subjects
Rural Parish School	2	Artes Liberales, Latin
Urban Parish School	3	Artes Liberales, Latin	Theology
Cathedral School	6	Artes Liberales, Latin, Theology	Canon Law, Philosophiae
Monastic School	4	Artes Liberales, Latin, Theology	Medicine, Philosophiae
Municipal School (Italy)	5	Artes Liberales, Latin, Medicine or Civil Law	Philosophiae, Theology
Imperial School (Spain)	5	Artes Liberales, Latin, Greek, Hebrew	Medicine, Philosophiae
Private Tutor	6	Artes Liberales, Latin (usually)	Any Academic Ability
Royal Court	4	Artes Liberales, Latin	Philosophiae, Theology

Mythic Europe is divided up into thousands of parishes, the smallest division of ecclesiastical responsibility. Ideally, each has a small church and a priest responsible for the spiritual needs of the inhabitants. In practice, many parishes do adhere to this model. However, even in the heart of Western civilization there are still many wild lands, huge forests and vast marshes, tracts of waste land and hostile coasts, and miles of rough mountains. Many of these locales are inhabited, but the rustic, rough-necked residents live unaided by clerical sermon and advice. Others have fallen into the dire hands of Infernal agents, just as there are those too that have succumbed to faerie or magical interventions.

A parish priest is charged primarily with delivering the sacraments to his flock and shepherding them through the dangerous currents of human sin and vice. He must also administer the economic concerns of his parish, keeping it financially afloat by ensuring that his flock contribute their due tithes. He is presumed to be able to read and write, primarily so that he can correctly say mass and fulfill the other liturgical requirements of his post.

Since he is educated to a degree, a parish priest is required to teach able-minded boys and girls of his parish to read and write. Such apt pupils must also be able to pay for their education, meaning that only the sons and daughters of prosperous peasants enjoy this opportunity. Most students are children, but adults can be taught if the priest is amenable. The cost is not negligible; a priest of a rural parish will charge a student one-tenth of a Mythic Pound a year, while his urban counterpart charges up to one-fifth a Mythic Pound. Such fees are almost never in coin, rather coming as foodstuffs, livestock, or produced goods.

Parish schools provide a mere foundation for future learning. The priest teaches grammar and little else. All classes are taught in Latin. This practice was initially instituted to instruct future priests alone, but most priests realize that education has grown to such high status that many of his laity will benefit from even the smallest grasp of written letters. They encourage bright students to continue their studies and become clerics, but do not demand it nor base their agreement to instruct a child on such a decision.

Parish priests are often criticized in popular poetry as being uneducated, with only enough learning to be able to read mass and one or two of the other sacraments. Unfortunately for their pupils, this is true in some areas, with the priest having only paltry knowledge and being a horrible teacher.

A character can become a student at a parish school if he or his parents (if he is a child) can convince the priest that such instruction is deserved. The character, and his parents, should be in good standing with the community, since notorious malcontents will be reprimanded rather than taught. Using the character's parent or guardian's Characteristics and Abilities, the player makes a Presence + Bargain or Charm or Guile + stress die roll against an Ease Factor of 6 for a rural parish and 9 for an urban parish. Success allows entry into the priest's classroom, and failure equals the priest's denial, although the character can try again in the following year. Botching this roll means that the particular priest will never accept the character as a student.

Attending a Parish School: Presence + Bargain or Charm or Guile + stress die vs. 6 (rural parish) or 9 (urban parish)

If the parent or guardian is wealthy, the storyguide may allow a +1 to +3 bonus to the player's roll, depending on the size of the contribution the applicant is willing to make.

A student character studies two seasons out of the year from the parish priest. His length of stay at a parish school depends on his personality and his tenacity with his studies. If he is eager, the priest will teach him for three to six years, depending on the skills of the teacher. If the student is idle, the priest will teach him for as long as the student's parents pay him, perhaps two to four years.

Cathedral schools were the acme of institutional learning in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, serving both as intellectual havens for brilliant scholars and their attendant students, and as a training facility for the academic skills essential to upcoming clerics. They still perform these functions, but have been surpassed as the definitive educational model by the universities, which are emancipated from direct ecclesiastical control. Many famous scholars received their education at cathedral schools, and most continued their careers teaching at their alma mater or other cathedral schools. They provided islands of learning in the haphazard wanderings of scholars, who would wring as much knowledge as they could from one cathedral school's instructor before moving on to the next. Several cathedral schools became famous for the topics they taught and the teachers they attracted. For example, the cathedral school of Chartres is still known for its courses on natural philosophy.

The great church reformer, Pope Gregory VII, decreed in 1079 that all cathedrals must make schooling compulsory for priests. This laid the foundations for such scholastic luminaries as Peter Abelard, who taught at the cathedral school of St Geneviève in Paris; William of Conches and Thierry of Chartres, both of whom taught at Chartres; Peter Lombard, who taught at pre-university Bologna and Paris; and John of Salisbury, another graduate of the Parisian cathedral schools. Later ecclesiastical pressure strove for a singular, systematic approach to cathedral school teaching, including subjects useful for the new-trained cleric who had to navigate the involved legal and theological aspects of Pope Gregory's reforms. When the secular interest in learning and law developed in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, cathedral schools began accepting non-clerical students. Cathedral schools are still beacons of intellectual activity, despite the emphasis the burgeoning universities receive in papal and secular attention.

The cathedral is the physical center of the religious community of the diocese. Besides its primary function as a religious centerpiece for the faithful, it serves as a building to instruct interested pupils. This differs from universities, which are more of a corporation of men than a built structure. Teaching happens in the cathedral, when it is not being used for other religious purposes. Some of the more famous cathedral schools in 1220 are Toledo in Castile; Bordeaux, Poitiers, Chartres, Rouen, Reims, and Tournai in France; Milan, Ravenna, Florence, and Rome in Italy; Monreale and Palermo in Sicily; Canterbury and York in England; and Utrecht, Worms, Mainz, Metz, Speyer, Bamberg, and Magdeburg in the Holy Roman Empire. Most university cities with a cathedral also have a reputable cathedral school.

Female Scholars

In the medieval world, the educational options for women are limited. Monastic schools never accept women students, nor do cathedral schools or universities. Parish and urban schools accept women students, but the majority of students will be male. Private tutors are available depending on the character's background, and royal courts teach royal and noble vassals' children, with no distinction being made for the student's gender.

Despite these restrictions, opportunities for female scholars exist. Convents will teach female students, following the limits for monastic schools. The medical school at Salerno accepts female students desiring to become physicians. Exceptions could also be made in Mythic Europe that do not mirror actual medieval history; you could allow a cathedral school to accept female scholars if it benefits your saga. If you decide to allow women students into otherwise-restricted institutions, keep in mind that the ruling authorities would keep the men separated from the women.

Cathedrals are monumental works of art, requiring decades to be built. It is not uncommon for one part of the cathedral to be under construction while other parts are in use. This hub of activity is a good place for academic characters to meet artist characters, painters, sculptors, and the hundreds of other specialists who supply art to beautify the building.

Attending a cathedral is similar to being accepted at a parish school. If a character desires to join a cathedral school, the player makes a Presence + Bargain, Charm, Guile, or Intrigue + a stress die against an Ease Factor of 12. Success, failure, and botching are determined as they are for attending a parish school (see above). The Ability used to determine success will set the tone of the student's academic career at the institution. Those that bargained their way in will continually have to "sell" themselves, while those that charmed their way in must continue to charm the headmaster. Because cathedral school teachers can afford to be choosy, the player must subtract the value of any Bad Reputation her character may have.

Attending a Cathedral School: Presence + Bargain, Charm, Guile or Intrigue + stress die – highest Bad Reputation vs. 12

Just as for parish schools, storyguides may allow a +1 to +3 bonus to the roll for exceptionally valuable contributions given to the cathedral school teacher.

A cathedral is run by a strict hierarchy of clerics called the cathedral chapter. The chapter differs in its membership throughout Mythic Europe. Chapter members are either priests or canons — laymen who have taken minor orders and been appointed by the bishop or the ruling sovereign to administer to the cathedral's needs. The division between priests and canons is not universal. In some areas, such as Spain and southern France, the chapter is staffed by twelve to twenty canons while only a handful are actual priests. In England, half of the cathedral chapters are comprised of only canons, and the other half are run by monks, a rare instance of the regular clergy overseeing its secular clerical brethren. The cathedral chapter and their staff meet daily to chant the liturgical hours, deal with the administrative needs of the diocese, and manage the political interests of the cathedral, the bishop, and the archdeacon. There are four posts or "dignitaries" that make up the organizational leadership of the cathedral chapter, regardless of the exact division between regular and secular clergy. The treasurer records and manages the finances, and guards the treasures of the cathedral: the relics, documents, and religious items. The chanter oversees the choir. The provost heads the chapter as the bishop's right hand man, responsible for his religious duties in his absence, and for guiding the cathedral as a whole. The fourth post is that of the chancellor.

The chancellor is the second most powerful chapter position and the one directly responsible for overseeing the cathedral's educational programs. His primary duty is to sign and seal all of the cathedral's official documents, hence he must have an understanding of their intent and purpose. In many cases, the chancellor is university trained, familiar with that model of education. He is rarely a priest. The chancellor hires the teachers who will teach in the cathedral school. He has ultimate authority in selecting teachers, and while the cathedral chapter might raise issues with any particular teacher, the chancellor is not bound to heed their concerns. Theoretically, he can be overruled by the bishop, but particular relationships vary. If the chancellor was appointed by a king rather than the bishop, he might ignore the bishop's authority.

In many instances, the chancellor appoints a sole master to teach at a cathedral school, lecturing during the morning to the group of students who have pledged themselves to the master. If the cathedral is large or very popular, a second master will be hired, and the students split up between lay and clerical students. There is also the possibility that the chancellor will hire men and women to teach basic grammar to young students. This is one of the few roles for trained academic women in the medieval systems of education. The students do not take examinations but do participate in disputationes, and the students stay with the master until he determines that their studies are finished. Usually this is after a set number of years spent studying under a single master. Cathedral school students are not supposed to pay for their education. Instead, the teacher receives a benefice for his efforts, which can be quite lucrative. In practice, students can expect to pay for their education through subtle bribes, living expenses, and the cost of supplies.

The chancellor selects the cathedral school teacher based on the teacher's reputation, authorship, and teaching experience. Political motivations, family ties, and prestigious patronage can all affect a chancellor's decision. To become a cathedral school teacher, a character will have to impress the chancellor. Such a goal makes a good story if the character is an academic looking for a teaching job, and can draw in other types of characters as well. If other stories are more pressing, or the troupe does not wish to roleplay such an event, a mechanic for acquiring a cathedral teaching position is provided at the end of this chapter.

Like a magister in artibus, a cathedral school teacher must teach two seasons out of every year, with two "free" seasons in which he can pursue his own interests. Generally, he will seek to improve his academic credentials and knowledge. Unlike his university counterparts, a cathedral school teacher is easily replaced. Besides staying in the chancellor's good graces, he also faces the danger of other scholastics, who may threaten his position. The most common method is for a new teacher, recently arrived in town, to attract a number of students through his luminescent lectures. He tries to steal as many cathedral school students as possible. Resident cathedral school teachers usually demand a public disputatio with this newcomer, to settle the question of who is the better teacher once and for all.

A charismatic cathedral teacher will attract a number of students. Once he gains the position, the storyguide rolls a simple die for every point of Presence + highest Good Academic Reputation the teacher has. The total of these simple dice is the number of students who arrive for instruction. Every time the teacher's highest Good Academic Reputation increases, the storyguide rolls a simple die and adds it to the number of students already attending. Academic Reputations are explained in the next chapter. A teacher can teach a number of students equal to five times the character's Teaching Ability (ArM5, page 164). If the teacher attracts more students than he can teach, he is in a bind, and must find some means, usually an assistant, to aid him.

There is no set standard length of time any single student remains at a cathedral school. Since there is no license to be gained, there is no set curriculum, although most teachers adhere to teaching the authorities of any individual discipline. It costs a character one Mythic Pound to attend a cathedral school for one year.

Holy Orders

The Catholic Church is divided into orders — ranks of positions that hold authority and importance over those beneath them. In 1220, there are eight orders of the clergy — three major orders and four minor. The major orders are bishops, priests, deacons, and subdeacons. The minor orders are acolytes, exorcists, lectors, and porters (sometimes called "doormen"). Other than priest and bishop, these orders are not exactly defined, and the duties, description, and obligation of each has yet to be settled by canon law. In fact, it was only recently that Innocent III recognized subdeacons as part of the major order, where they had previously been considered minor.

Taking major orders means a vow of chastity, receiving the tonsure, and adhering to the breviary, the canonical books of the Mass, liturgical hours, and the Psalter. Those in the major orders must remain celibate. Taking minor orders means that a man becomes tonsured, dresses like a cleric, and promises to maintain a Christian lifestyle. Minor orders grant ecclesiastical privileges, but do not demand that the recipient remain celibate or continue in a career in the clergy. An unmarried man in minor orders can receive a benefice, but must give it up if he becomes married. Critics claim that it is deceptively easy to take minor orders, and that being so bound is not a guarantee against ill behavior.

An oblate is a person, usually a child, offered to a monastery and who has dedicated himself to God. Such a person is tonsured and receives ecclesiastical benefits, like his counterpart in the minor orders of the secular clergy. An oblate has not yet taken vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Furthermore, having been an oblate does not guarantee that a person will be accepted as monk and asked to take vows. In 1220, the status of oblates is being legislatively phased out of canon law.

Story Seed: The Unbearable Professor

Following the advice of his king, the local chancellor has appointed a master to teach in the cathedral. He is disliked by the bishop and the rest of the cathedral chapter, and the students find him polemical and troublesome. The bishop, however, has greater concerns in his diocese and is not available to listen to the students' concerns. With no one listening to their complaints, the students send one of them to the covenant, ostensibly to see if the magi can help them, but secretly looking for a new master. At the covenant, the student remarks that the magi seem just as odd or "tainted" as the cathedral's master.

The master has The Gift, which should alone prove interesting enough to draw the player character magi's attention. A Gifted teacher in his thirties, with all sorts of academic knowledge, could make an excellent apprentice. Players should wonder if there is more to the story. How is the master connected to the chancellor and the local king, to warrant such a position despite the social consequences of his Gift? Has any magus before noticed him, and if so, why isn't he somehow affiliated with the Order? Perhaps he is a rogue or orphan magus, hiding out in the middle of the town under this innocuous disguise.

St Dominic and St Francis

As a canonical Ars Magica saga begins, both St. Dominic and St. Francis are alive. Dominic is preaching against heresy in Lombardy, converting thousands of heretics with his heartfelt sermons and miracles, and Francis is living near Assisi, helping his newly found order grow. Both of the mendicant orders are recent. Dominic's Order was established in 1216 by Pope Innocent III, the same pontiff who gave Francis the verbal sanction to begin his Franciscan Order. While they are a practicing mendicant order, the Franciscans have not yet received the pope's official approval for formation. Historically, this happens in 1223.

Dominic, a trained scholastic from the cathedral school of Palencia, has decided that the members of his Order should receive an exemplary education, and has taken steps to ensure that happens. He created a hospice in Paris in 1217, a small building used to house a handful of Dominican scholars attending the university. A year later, he traveled to Bologna and did the same. Following their leader's zeal, the Dominicans have an appetite for education, and hungrily wring academic knowledge from whatever source available. The Franciscans have not yet been bitten by the scholastic bug, but they will be, and in the years ahead Franciscan scholars will be at the head of academia.

These are recent developments, and misdirection and false starts are entirely possible. Curious Dominicans might show up at a covenant, especially one known for prolific book creation or trading, interested in the many tomes available. Focused on theology and proper Christian doctrine, they will still be interested in nearly any written manuscript. Interactions could lead to a meeting with Dominic himself. Historically, he dies 6 August 1221, but in your saga, anything could happen.

Separated from society, a monastery provides all the needs of its community and its success. Having already served as isolated pockets for the protection of biblical and ecclesiastical literature, it was a small step to educating current and future members. Monasteries became an early leader in education, and for several centuries the clergy were the only members of society with the reputation for writing and reading.

Of the several monastic orders in the early thirteenth century, the Benedictines are most interested in academic learning and teaching. Among the friars, Dominicans are also interested in education. Their order is based on preaching religious sermons to the laity, in the vernacular, based on exacting theological reasoning. Founded to combat heresy, a proper understanding of the liberal arts and theology is essential. The Franciscans become as academic as their blackrobed brothers in the years to come.

All monks take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, but learning is not part of a monk's obligation. Some of the stricter orders, Cistercians especially, place manual labor over education. Monastic leaders do need an education, however, to successfully interact with the pope and their ecclesiastical and secular neighbors.

Monastic schools are reluctant to accept laymen as students, preferring to concentrate on their own brothers. Some extend this prohibition to the regular clergy, insisting that only members of their order benefit from their educational program. This is not a universal rule. Many Benedictine monasteries allow laymen to study, although none provide an open invitation or accept large numbers of such students. Most students who study at monasteries continue as monks, either at the monastery where they were instructed, or at another similar institution. To determine if a character is accepted to a monastic school, use the formula for gaining entrance to a cathedral school, but lower the Ease Factor to 9.

Monasteries are even more reluctant to let their members leave to gain an education. The Carthusians are strictly cloistered, and perhaps the extreme example, but the other monastic orders are similarly insular. In the late eleventh century, the pope forbade monks to leave their monasteries to pursue arts and letters, but this is changing. As a canonical saga begins, Dominican friars are forming hospices in university towns, houses designed especially to allow the friars to benefit from an education.

The teacher is always a brother monk, as are the librarians and copyists who may assist students. Students are typically boys who have not taken monastic vows, having merely received the tonsure and agreed to participate in the religious services of the brothers. There is little interaction with outsiders, barring the occasional visitor. Students learn Artes Liberales and Latin using the Bible and biblical exegeses, with a diminishing emphasis on classical authors. Instruction in Canon Law has moved to the university. Monastic learning focuses on preparing the individual for church services and setting the groundwork for a student who may wish to further his education at a university.

Monastic schools are more interesting to Hermetic characters for their libraries than their educational programs. The head of the library and the scriptorium is the precentor, an older monk with other religious duties. The scriptorium is busy, with monks at various stages of their education copying books. Monasteries have many books in their collections, and permission to read any particular volume must be given by the precentor. Precentors don't catalog their collection, relying on memory alone to find a text, so many sorts of literary treasures may exist in their libraries. More than one magus has been caught attempting to rifle these sequestered tomes.

Brother Julian

Characteristics: Int +2, Per +2, Pre +1, Com +3, Str –4, Sta +2, Dex 0, Qik 0

Size: 0

Age: 20 (20)

Decrepitude: 0

Warping Score: 0 (0)

Confidence Score: 1 (3)

Virtues and Flaws: Mendicant Friar; True Faith; Academic Concentration (rhetoric), Aristotelian Training, Clear Thinker, Educated, Improved Characteristics, Strong-Willed; Driven (knowledge), Monastic Vows; Fragile Constitution, Hunchback, Lame, Poor Strength

Personality Traits: Driven +3, Boisterous +2, Polite +1

Combat:

Dodge: Init –1, Attack n/a, Defense –1, Damage n/a

Fist: Init –1, Attack +2, Defense +2, Damage –4

Soak: +2

Fatigue Levels: OK, 0, –1, –3, –5, Unconscious

Wound Penalties: –1 (1–5), –3 (6–10), –5 (11–15), Incapacitated (16–20), Dead (21+)

Abilities: Artes Liberales 2 (rhetoric), Athletics 2 (running), Awareness 2 (searching), Brawl 2 (fist), Church Lore 2 (offices), French 5 (directions), Folk Ken 3 (peasants), Greek 2 (rhetoric), Languedoc Lore 2 (geography), Latin 4 (church ceremonies), Medicine 2 (anatomy), Occitan 3 (directions), Philosophiae 2 (moral philosophy), Preaching 3 (charity), Teaching 2 (rhetoric), Theology 3 (heresy)

Equipment: Monk's habit, sandals, walking stick

Encumbrance: 0 (0)

Appearance: Hook-nosed and hunchbacked, Brother Julian is an ominous figure. Draped in his black habit and clutching a walking stick, he casts a fearsome appearance despite his young age.

Born deformed, Brother Julian was given to a Benedictine abbey to be raised. He proved an able student, with a sharp mind and a natural inclination for rhetoric. A rambunctious youth, Julian flew from text to text as quickly as the preceptor would allow him. Devouring the academic learning at hand, he craved more than the monastery could provide. Because of this appetite, his abbot allowed him to leave the monastery and join Dominic's burgeoning Order of Preachers.

Brother Julian has spent the last two years wandering the roads of Languedoc, traveling with his brothers and preaching against heresy. While a reasonable preacher in central France, Julian's Occitan is too poor to effectively preach in Languedoc. He hopes to improve his language skills as he travels. Currently, he preaches in central southern France to stem the spread of the Cathar heresy.

Julian's desire for knowledge is insatiable, and he desperately desires to attend a cathedral school or, better yet, the University of Paris. To improve his chances, he wishes to write, knowing that authorship will improve his reputation with his superiors. This is impossible on the road, and Julian would like to find someplace where he could spend a season or two and be allowed to write tractatus.

Brother Julian can be used as a starting companion-level character.

The Rules of Silence and Reading

Monks live under a strict code, called a "Rule", dictating when they pray, sleep, eat, and speak. Consequently, many monks develop a sign language, to communicate to each other during times of silence. These effective signs can seem silly to others. The sign for "incense" is two fingers stuck up the nostrils, and the sign for "fish" is a hand wiggling like a swimming fish. Monastic characters can know the Ability: Sign Language, which is equivalent to a Living Language but not as accessible. Monastic sign language is not universal, and only understood by monks at a particular monastery. Still, a character who learned it at a monastery could teach it to other characters, importing it to a covenant, for example.

Benedictine monks are required to read one entire book during Lent. Since there are more books than monks, monasteries loan out copies of their books. The usual recipient is a Benedictine, but monasteries will loan out books to other people, provided that the proper sureties are provided in case the book doesn't come back. These loaning libraries offer a connection between any particular monastery and its secular and Hermetic neighbors.

Some towns never lost their inclination for public education, based in antiquity and the practices of the Roman Empire, and continue to run municipal schools in the thirteenth century. These are most common in the Lombard towns of northern Italy: Milan, Pavia, Bologna, Modena, and other large cities along the River Po. Municipal schools are primarily interested in the practical application of learning, and focus on law and the liberal arts. Study in medicine is sometimes available, but theology and canon law are not. Schools follow a very basic formula of students paying a salary to a single teacher, who is most probably a practicing jurist.

Students are not clerics but laymen sons and daughters of townspeople who can afford the teacher's salary. Teachers are notable citizens, generally not known outside the town's walls. They lecture from a text, usually one of the authorities, and the students take notes. Municipal schools do not have large libraries, relying on the personal library of the instructor, nor do they have extensive codes and statutes for the participants. Students and master are citizens of the commune, and already have a body of regulations that they must adhere to. Foreign students are rare, and although they may be accepted in a school, they have no legal rights in the city. Municipal governments simply don't care about the treatment of foreigners within their walls. This was one of the primary reasons that lead to the formation of student guilds and ultimately universities. To determine if a character is accepted into an urban school, use the formula for gaining entrance to a cathedral school, but lower the Ease Factor to 9 if the prospective student is a citizen of the school's town. If he is a foreigner, make the Ease Factor 12.

Masters do not have rights beyond those of the normal citizen. A master teaches for as long as he can attract students and remain in the good graces of the town's government — the podesta in the Italian communes. A master will try to have as many students as he can capably teach (the teacher's Teaching score times five). Other masters may start their own schools, and a master has no say over the matter. New masters commonly try to steal students away from the other masters, with the podesta becoming involved only if these confrontations erupt into violence.

Municipal schools are interesting to Hermetic magi who have an inclination to learning civil law, primarily. While the Code of Hermes prohibits magi from interfering with mundanes, it would be ludicrous to think that magi won't interact with them. Some magi are interested in mundane legal practices, especially when those practices encroach upon their covenants and income properties. Urban schools are less expensive to attend — a quarter or third of a Mythic Pound a year — and the attending magus does not have to live with students or swear an oath of matriculation (a formal oath sworn to a master to be his student). The only drawback is overcoming the negative aspects of a magus' Gift.

Story Seed: An Unlikely Connection

A monastic teacher has become convinced that there are similar styles and themes between Peter Lombard's biblical glosses and the commentaries of a famous Hermetic writer. He is collecting all the works of the Hermetic magus he can find, and discovers that the players' covenant houses an excellent copy of one of these works. Through letters and a personal visit, he asks the magi if he can borrow the book to make a copy.

Characters should be suspicious. However, there are larger ramifications at play than the interests of a monk. Is there a connection between a prominent magus and a clerk famous throughout Mythic Europe? The monk suggests they may be the same person. If so, could reading Peter Lombard's Sentences lead to a breakthrough regarding the Divine realm's suppression of magic? Even if this connection is spurious, letting the monk borrow a book might allow one of the magi into the monastery's library, and who knows what can be found within.

Story Seed: A Plague of Dogs

An urban school has been placed under a curse by a town faerie, which turns the students into dogs at night. Transformed, they leave their homes and congregate at the master's house before roaming the streets. The master believes his students are cursed by a demon, but all attempts by exorcists to stop the transformations have failed. The dogs are a nuisance, but the master hopes that the curse will pass with time. Recently, one of the dogs was slain. At sunrise, the corpse changed back into the body of a son of one of the town's minor nobles, who has accused the master of witchcraft and murder. The master's wife beseeches the characters to help free the imprisoned master, proclaiming his innocence. Investigation may reveal the faerie's curse, which the characters should deal with to successfully complete the adventure.

There are many private instructors in Mythic Europe — men and some women who earn their livelihood working for a patron instructing his children, usually, or members of his court. Teachers are often university men who have gained an education but have not received a license to teach at a university. They are also younger jurists and lawyers augmenting their income as a private tutor. Elder teachers are hired by kings to instruct their sons, teaching them manners as well as the basics of reading. The idea of the chivalrous knight — that princes should be trained in letters as well as warfare — is growing in social acceptance.

Private instructors are also the most common type of teacher found living in a Hermetic covenant. Freed from his bonds of cathedral school or university, he has the freedom to pursue his own studies while earning a steady income teaching Latin and Artes Liberales to apprentices. With a little instruction, he could also teach Magic Theory and other Arcane Abilities, and most covenant libraries contain books to assist him in his initial learning.

There is no specific Virtue for a character desiring to be a private instructor. Any storyguide teacher character bought through covenant Build Points is considered a private instructor (ArM5, page 72). Players who wish their character to be a private instructor should create an appropriately educated character, and simply determine who his employer is. The character will need to work for his employer for two seasons out of every year. Characters who want to become a private instructor during play may follow the rules listed below.

Translations

The twelfth century saw a great number of lost works of philosophical knowledge regained, through the artful craft of various translators working in the West. Favorite by far were the works of Aristotle, whose newly translated works were dubbed the New Aristotle by scholastic leaders. A large body of other texts was also translated, most of them thought to be written by Aristotle but in fact commentaries on the Philosopher's works by other authors. Spain is the center for works translated from Arabic, Italy and Constantinople for Greek texts, and Sicily is famous for both.

Translating academic texts is extremely difficult. The translator has to know the distinctions between the different meanings of common words; for example, the Greek word for "but" can be translated into several Latin words meaning slightly different things. He must also invent new words for foreign words, and try to capture complicated ideas in words not meant to express the same concept. Owing to this, translations take time and considerable skill.

To translate a text from one language to another, a character has to be fluent in both languages, requiring scores of at least 5. He must also have a minimum Artes Liberales of 2, since Latin-Greek and Latin-Arabic translations use two different scripts and alphabets. It is possible, with an Artes Liberales of 1, to translate a text into a language that uses the same alphabet, Latin to English for example. While this is not a common practice, instances have arisen where a patron commissions popular Latin texts to be translated into his native language.

It takes a season to translate a tractatus. To translate a summa, the character accumulates a number of points equal to his Communication + Language score, using the Language that he is translating from, not to. Once the accumulated points equal the level of the summa, the text is translated. Translated texts have their Quality reduced by 2, one for language differences and one for cultural differences. If the character only has the bare minimum qualifications for translation — Greek 5, Latin 5, Artes Liberales 2 for a Greek text — translated texts have their Quality reduced by 1. If the translator has an elegant command of both languages (Language 6), the Quality of the translated text is not reduced for language differences. If the character has not lived in the culture from which the text is translated — does not have an (Area) Lore of at least 3 — the translated copy loses 1 point of Quality. Thus, if a character has Greek 6, Latin 6, Artes Liberales 2, and Greece Lore 3, he can translate Greek texts into Latin without a reduction in the texts' Quality scores.

Texts on Hermetic Arts translated by magi are easier, since many of the concepts and theories are already familiar to the translator. Latin is the original language of the Order of Hermes, but Greek translations exist in eastern Mythic Europe and Arabic copies are in the Levant and sections of lower Italy and Spain. The above rules apply, but the quality is only reduced by 1 if the translator has the minimum language scores, and living in the culture of the original author's language is not necessary.

In general, Islamic culture has a higher appreciation for learning than its Western neighbors, although this is changing in the thirteenth century. The Prophet said, "Attainment of knowledge is a must for every Muslim", and medieval Islamic society embraces this to the fullest. Muslims have long thought that the population should be educated, an idea still foreign to Westerners, and have a long history of educational institutions to address this need. Muslim thinkers debate the importance of faith, reason, and the ideas of ancient philosophers as vehemently as Western philosophers do, although in general they seem more tolerant of ideas foreign to their faith than their Western counterparts. This is not universal. The eleventh-century writer al-Ghazali firmly rejected the ideas of Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates in his book, The Incoherence of the Philosophers, claiming the ancient Greeks were unbelievers whose ideas were harmful to the faithful. In the twelfth century, Averroes refuted al-Ghazali's claims in his book, The Incoherence of the Incoherence, but this did not end the debate with Muslim scholars.

Ideally, every Muslim child receives an education. At the age of seven, children gather at the house of a teacher, who is always a religious man, to sit at his feet and memorize the Qur'an. They do not take notes or make their own copies, but listen and recite back the daily lessons. Lessons are always conducted in Arabic, with the students learning the foundations of grammar and rhetoric as well as religious instructions. The teachers are privately funded, with the community paying their salary rather than any individual student's parent. Spreading the financial burden across the entire community makes it easier to bear for any single family, and allows the majority of children the foundations of reading and writing. In reality, not every child attends school. Poorer families will bring their children into the family business, rather than sending them to school. Compared to Western society, however, many more common peasants can read and write.

Higher education in the Muslim world mirrors the university structure, without the recurring episodes of violence and unrest. It also has a much longer tradition, having existed since the tenth century, as an educational extension of the ruling caliph's political power. The school, called a madrasah, is attached to a mosque, and run by religious leaders. The madrasah is privately endowed, sometimes with the founder's tomb placed within it, and supported by student tuition fees. Jami'at al-Qarawiyyin in Morocco is the oldest madrasah in existence, while the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikma) in Baghdad is the most famous. The House of Wisdom is a center for the translation of Syriac, Persian, and Greek texts into Arabic, focusing on science. Historically, the House of Wisdom is destroyed in 1258 by invading Mongols.

Madrasah masters follow a religious organization, which avoids many of the tensions found in Western universities between masters and cathedral chancellors, bishops, and secular lords. Students begin their studies in the hifz course, memorizing the Qur'an if they have not yet done so, then continuing in the 'alim courses. 'Alim students study Artes Liberales, Islamic Law, and Theology: Islam, as well as optional courses in Latin, Greek, Medicine, and Muslim history. Other academic interests are natural philosophy, natural magic, alchemy, astrology, and divination, all of which are perceived as suitable topics of erudite exploration. No licenses or degrees are conferred, even though Muslim students study for the same length of time as Western students. At the end of his studies, a student is accepted as a scholar, and may teach in a madrasah or perform other religious roles.

Muslim scholars are much more interested in Western science and religion than Westerners are interested in them. It is not unusual to find a Muslim 'Alim (scholar) learned in Christian Theology, or willing to debate theological points with a cleric. Their acceptance of foreigners makes them focal points for translated texts, translating the ancient Greek books into Arabic and Latin. Few other academic institutions translate texts, although some cathedral schools are beginning this practice. Aristotle's writings have been available to Muslim scholars since the sixth century, making them more Aristotelian in their views than their Western counterparts, having rejected many Platonic and Neoplatonic ideas in favor of The Philosopher's arguments.

Warring Faiths

Scholars' respect for education and learning allows them to openly discuss theology with those opposed to their respective faiths. Because of the elevation of reason, schoolmen believe they can convert intelligent heathens through logical arguments. This has led to several books explaining why any particular faith is the "correct" one. Characters can engage in these debates, motivated by love of their God or the acclaim that comes from such interactions. Christians, Muslims, and Jews all participate in these dialogues.

A character can write a book arguing against a faith, using his understanding of his own faith and his posits of the falsity of the opposing faith. He must have a score in Theology, pertaining to his own faith, and a score in the Theology Ability of the other faith. For example, a Christian philosopher needs a score in Theology and Islam Theology to write a book about the errors of the Muslims. The subject of such a book is always the author's professed Theology, the one he is arguing for. Both summae and tractatus can be written, using the regular rules for writing these types of books (ArM5, page 165). However, the character must average the scores in the two Theology Abilities to determine the maximum level of the summa, or the number of tractatus he can write about arguments against another faith.

Characters can also engage in theological disputationes with scholars of another religion. Determine which Theology (Christian, Islamic, Judaic) will be discussed when determining which Ability to use to figure disputationes totals (see Chapter Seven: Universities).

Converting the opponent is rare, but challenging him in the first place is laudable. Whenever a character attempts such an endeavor, he receives double the normal amount of Academic Reputation experience points.

Jewish education is sufficiently detailed in the Ars Magica supplement Realms of Power: The Divine (page 132), and will only receive a summary in this supplement for completeness' sake. Like Muslim schools, Jewish schools are insular, operated by and for members of the Jewish community. Muslims are more tolerant of foreign students than Jewish schools are, which is not surprising considering the treatment Jews have received at the hands of crusaders and kings.

Jewish students receive their instruction from the local rabbi, at a school called a yeshiva, learning grammar and Jewish instruction by studying the Talmud and the Mishnah. Students are male and usually study with a partner. A master or advanced student works with them, offering a more one-on-one style of instruction than is common in medieval institutions. Large yeshivas can be found in Cordoba and Granada, as well as in other popular Spanish cities. The yeshivas of Arles in southern Provence, and Narbonne in Catalonia are also famous.

Jewish scholarship has produced many important figures in the study of philosophy. Dominating the group is Maimonides (Rabbi Moses ben Maimon), who wrote The Guide for the Perplexed in 1190, finishing it 14 years before his death. It is a great summa on Jewish philosophy and theology, heavily infused with Aristotelian ideas, and has led to controversy among Jewish scholars. Translated from Arabic to Hebrew by Samuel ibn Tibbon, it has caused French and German Jews, who have yet to read the New Aristotle, to vehemently argue with their Spanish colleagues. They have branded Maimonides a heretic and cast suspicions on all of his scholastic works. This Maimonidean Controversy will worsen once the book is translated into Latin.

A formal education does not guarantee work. Despite the accolades of teachers, most people are hired based on their social rank, parentage, and network of associates. Employers prefer to hire their friends' sons over other, perhaps more qualified, applicants. Clerics have an easier job of it, since the church accepts a certain amount of responsibility for its members. For laymen, finding a job can be frustrating, with savage competition and unforeseen rejections. Even the Order of Hermes follows similar hiring practices.

It is best to use a story for any player character seeking a job, rather than a die roll. Such a story would involve traveling to the area and meeting the prospective employer and his current staff. He is interested in the character's academic background, but even more so in his moral character, his loyalty, and his circle of friends. He will dine with the character, watching him as he moves through the court or household and witnessing his interactions with other courtiers. Hermetic interviews could be even weirder. Do the magi participate in the simple hiring of a scribe, or is that decision left to the covenant autocrat? Covenants and magic auras attract odd creatures and characters, and the prospective employee might wonder at the motley crew of staff members assembled at typical covenants.

Conversely, a troupe might decide that other stories are more fun, and that they would rather delegate a character's chances of employment to a die roll. In that situation, a player should have her character spend a season looking for a job, then make a Presence + appropriate Ability + stress die roll against a variable Ease Factor depending on the desired position. The appropriate Ability is based on the type of job he is seeking. Examples are Teaching for a teaching position in a municipal or secular school, Profession: Scribe for a copyist's job, and Artes Liberales, Philosophiae, or Theology for a university or cathedral school position (depending on the faculty position desired). University terms are fully explained in the next chapter, and provided here to facilitate future reference.

The player may add +1 to his roll for a Minor Social Status Virtue or General Virtue that represents education, privilege, or prestige, and +3 for such a Major Social Status Virtue. Only one bonus based on Virtues is allowed. Add the character's highest Good Academic Reputation and subtract his highest Bad Academic Reputation. If the roll succeeds, the character has found gainful employment. If the roll fails, the season is wasted. If the roll botches, the season is wasted and the character receives either a medium wound or a Bad Reputation when rejected by the employer.

Gaining a Clerkly Position: Presence + appropriate Ability + Good Academic Reputation + bonus for Virtues – Bad Academic Reputation + stress die vs. Variable Ease Factor

Ease Factor	Position
12	Secular jurist, copyist
15	Municipal, monastic, or royal court teacher
18	Magister in artibus, doctor in (faculty), or cathedral school teacher

The magister in artibus and doctor in (faculty) positions demand that the applicant have the proper license. Teaching at a monastic school requires that the teacher is a monk.