Roger Ascham (1515–1568)

[The Scholemaster] was published posthumously in 1570. In its preface it tells the reader that the book was written following a conversation with Richard Sackville over dinner one evening. Sackville wanted Ascham to either tutor his children or suggest someone else who could do the job, Sackville blamed his own lack of education on the beatings he received from his masters, that put him off scholarship for life. A traditional method of teaching at the time was to literally beat education into pupils, Ascham agreed that this was not the way to proceed and undertook to write a book on the subject. Persuasion rather than coercion became the watchwords of Ascham’s book.

Ascham abandoned the more traditional conversational style he had used for Toxophilus, but kept a similar format of two books, the first being a more general theory on education the second a more practical guide with examples of teaching methods. The first part emphasises the need for a change in the way children should be taught; he says:

“I have now wished twice or thrice, this gentle nature to be in a schoolmaster: and that I have done so, neither by chance, nor without some reason, I will now declare at large why, in mine opinion, love is fitter than fear, gentleness better than beating, to bring up a child rightly in learning”

He makes the point that the slower witted children need to be encouraged to learn and the schoolmaster may well find that a pupil who at first appears slow is perhaps more thoughtful, more careful and will in the end make the better scholar. He calls these type of children hard wits and says:

“hard wits tend to be kept from learning by fond fathers, or beat from learning by lewd schoolmasters”

It is no surprise that Ascham being a classical scholar himself should recommend that education should be based on the classics and his suggested method for learning is to translate a passage from a latin writer (he continually suggests Tully) and then retranslate that back into Latin with an attempt to imitate the perfect style of the Latin author. The highlights for the modern reader may well be the digressions that Ascham apologises for in his tract. He criticises the life style of some of the courtiers and suggests ways that they could improve themselves. He tells of a meeting he had with Lady Jane Grey (the young protestant queen who reigned for just a number of days before being overthrown and eventually executed by Queen Mary); he is lost in admiration to find the 15 year old woman hard at work at her Greek studies. He tells of his time in Italy where he found a degenerate nobility lost in the evils of Papistry, he rails against such rubbish as Morte D’arthur in which he says the noblest of knights kill men without any quarrel and commit adulteries by subtlest shifts, books written by idle monks or wanton canons that corrupt the mind. There is a lengthy passage about the truth of religion and honesty of living.

The second book is more technical but still has passages of interest, he reminisces fondly about his life at Cambridge and then goes on to tell of the corruption that came with the reign of Queen Mary. The hedge priests that held sway, the taking up of courtly gallantries, the idle games taking place in hidden corners. The book also contains a critique of Roman playwrights and pointers to those authors in England who attempt to write in the noble style. He has no truck with pointless rhyming, but his poem on the death of his friend John Whitney included here has some depth of feeling. The book ends somewhat precipitously and points to the fact that it was not quite completed when he died.

Michael Pincombe a sixteenth century historian has described the Schoolmaster as reading like a genial scholar, talking informally about a subject close to his heart. It would appear that Ascham traded on his geniality and this comes across in his letters, a few of which were written in English. These books would be of interest to those wishing to read primary sources from the sixteenth century, there are versions available where spelling and punctuation have been modernised and Ascham’s English is a delight to read. 4 stars.… (más)

[Toxophilus] (Lover of the Bow) was published in 1545 and was dedicated to Henry VIII. Its main aim was to commend the art of shooting the long bow: Ascham was an enthusiast but also he demonstrated the art of writing in English with such good style that it could compare with the more usual Latin compositions. The tradition of long bow shooting had been a staple of English life both as a leisure activity and as a weapon of war, ever since Edward III had made it a requirement that every able bodied man must learn to shoot. This was no longer the case in Tudor England although there was still much emphasis on archery as a weapon of artillery: muskets and the use of gunpowder were still in their infancy and were slow and cumbersome to use. Henry VIII had fixed the price of long bows for young people in a further attempt to encourage their use.

Ascham used the traditional conversational style in both of the two books that make up Toxophilus. In book one Toxophilus is in conversation with his friend Philogolus and Toxophilus is making the case for the shooting of the long bow and is also encouraging Philogolus to practice the art himself. Philogolus has his doubts and Toxophilus must persuade him that it is in his best interests to follow his example. Their conversation ranges far and wide, taking in music, education and touching on religion, but Toxophilus concludes that:

"Therefore to look on all pastimes and exercises wholesome for the body, pleasant for the mind, comely for every man to do, honest for all other to look on, profitable to be set by of every man, worthy to be rebuked of no man, fit for all ages, persons, and places, only shooting shall appear, wherein all these commodities may be found”

There is a large section on the pastime (or vice) of gambling, Toxophilus says that shooting cannot be done at night, it is an open and transparent activity, whereas gambling usually takes place in hidden corners or in the dark. This is interesting because Ascham was allegedly a keen gambler himself, almost addicted to the cockfighting rings.
Much of the rest of part one is taken up with a history of archery. Ascham as a classical scholar delights in telling his friend about decisive battles in Greek and Roman history won by archery, he describes the various types of bows used and their effectiveness in battle. This leads him of course into the famous battles in more recent English history where the long bow proved decisive. He reflects that the failure of the Scots to become skilled in archery has led to them suffering many defeats at the hands of the English. Finally Philogolus asks Toxophilus to teach him how to shoot.

Part two is a fairly detailed guide on how to shoot a long bow. As in many guides it falls into two parts; the equipment to be used and the skills to be employed. This reminded me of when I studied photography at night school, the students could be divided into two clear groups. One group were almost fanatically interested in the equipment; the latest cameras on the market, filters that enhanced the pictures, speed of the film etc. so much so that they hardly spent any time actually taking pictures. The other group were almost the opposite, they just wanted to get out and take pictures using whatever equipment that came to hand. I think perhaps Ascham would have fallen into the first category had he been in that night class. Most of part two of Toxophilus concentrates on the equipment, however his knowledge and enthusiasm makes it a fascinating read as he describes the types of wood that can be used for bow making, how they should be shaped and designed; he goes on to describe various types of arrows, how they are made and what to look for, when buying. Part two is very much like an instruction manual, perhaps one of the first of its kind.… (más)