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Information about Trivium (education)

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In medieval universities, the trivium comprised the three subjects taught first: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The word is a Latin term meaning “the three ways” or “the three roads” forming the foundation of a medieval liberal arts education.

Description

Grammar is the mechanics of a language; logic (or dialectic — logic and dialectic were synonymous at the time) is the "mechanics" of thought and analysis; rhetoric is the use of language to instruct and persuade. (As Latin was both a second language and the international language of scholarship and thought, it had to be learned intentionally and thoroughly.) These were considered preparatory fields for the quadrivium, which was made up of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. In turn, the quadrivium was considered preparatory work for the serious study of philosophy and theology. The trivium was the beginning of the liberal arts. At many medieval universities this would have been the principal undergraduate course.

Further reading

  • Joseph, Sister Miriam. The Trivium: The Liberal Arts of Logic, Grammar, and Rhetoric. Paul Dry Books Inc, 2002.
  • Winterer, Caroline. "The Culture of Classicism: Ancient Greece and Rome in American Intellectual Life, 1780-1910." Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2002.
  • Dorothy L. Sayers, essay, "The Lost Tools of Learning", presented at Oxford, 1947.

See also

Quadrivium
Middle Ages form the middle period in a traditional schematic division of European history into three "ages": the classical civilization of Antiquity, the Middle Ages and Modern Times.
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Grammar is the study of the rules governing the use of a given natural language, and as such a field of linguistics. Traditionally, grammar included morphology and syntax, in modern linguistics commonly expanded by the subfields of phonetics, phonology, orthography, semantics, and
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Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος logos; meaning word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle) is the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration.
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    Rhetoric (from Greek ῥήτωρ, rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral, visual, or written language; however, this definition of rhetoric
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    Latin}}} 
    Official status
    Official language of: Vatican City
    Used for official purposes, but not spoken in everyday speech
    Regulated by: Opus Fundatum Latinitas
    Roman Catholic Church
    Language codes
    ISO 639-1: la
    ISO 639-2: lat
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    liberal arts refers to a particular type of educational curriculum broadly defined as a classical education.

    History

    Definition

    The term 'liberal arts' is described in Encyclopædia Britannica
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    Grammar is the study of the rules governing the use of a given natural language, and as such a field of linguistics. Traditionally, grammar included morphology and syntax, in modern linguistics commonly expanded by the subfields of phonetics, phonology, orthography, semantics, and
    ..... Click the link for more information.
    Logic (from Classical Greek λόγος logos; meaning word, thought, idea, argument, account, reason, or principle) is the study of the principles and criteria of valid inference and demonstration.
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    In classical philosophy, dialectic (Greek: διαλεκτική) is controversy, Viz., the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments respectively advocating propositions (theses) and counter-propositions
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      Rhetoric (from Greek ῥήτωρ, rhêtôr, orator, teacher) is generally understood to be the art or technique of persuasion through the use of oral, visual, or written language; however, this definition of rhetoric
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      The quadrivium comprised the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities after the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning "the four ways" or "the four roads": the completion of the liberal arts.
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      Arithmetic or arithmetics (from the Greek word αριθμός = number) is the oldest and most elementary branch of mathematics, used by almost everyone, for tasks ranging from simple day-to-day counting to advanced science and business
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      Geometry (Greek γεωμετρία; geo = earth, metria = measure) is a part of mathematics concerned with questions of size, shape, and relative position of figures and with properties of space. Geometry is one of the oldest sciences.
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      Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects (such as stars, planets, comets, and galaxies) and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere (such as the cosmic background radiation).
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      Philosophy is the discipline concerned with questions of how one should live (ethics); what sorts of things exist and what are their essential natures (metaphysics); what counts as genuine knowledge (epistemology); and what are the correct principles of reasoning (logic).
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      God

      General approaches
      Agnosticism Atheism
      Deism Dystheism
      Henotheism Ignosticism
      Monism Monotheism
      Natural theology Nontheism
      Pandeism Panentheism
      Pantheism Polytheism
      Theism Theology
      Transtheism
      Specific conceptions
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      liberal arts refers to a particular type of educational curriculum broadly defined as a classical education.

      History

      Definition

      The term 'liberal arts' is described in Encyclopædia Britannica
      ..... Click the link for more information.
      The quadrivium comprised the four subjects, or arts, taught in medieval universities after the trivium. The word is Latin, meaning "the four ways" or "the four roads": the completion of the liberal arts.
      ..... Click the link for more information.


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