Medieval theories of education: Hugh of St Victor and John of Salisbury

Abstract

This paper offers an assessment of two 12th‐century theories of education, Hugh of St Victor’s Didascalicon and John of Salisbury’s Metalogicon, maintaining that their works both draw on traditional Christian teachings and respond to contemporary pedagogical interests in systematising knowledge and integrating classical learning. The two works are examined in the light of the significant influence of Augustine’s De Doctrina Christiana, and it is argued that both Hugh and John offer distinctive adaptations of Augustine’s thought that are less willing to subordinate the liberal arts to Scriptural study. Hugh’s treatise emphasises that all education, whether based on secular or sacred texts, contributes to the rebuilding of sinful humanity, while John promotes the teaching of wisdom and eloquence not so much for the improvement of preaching as for the building up of ‘happiness’ within the larger human community. The final section of the chapter focuses on the implications these ideas have for political thought by examining in particular the continuity between the Metalogicon and John’s other major theoretical work, the Policraticus.