Universities
Fultar has a rich tradition and wide number of universities that are well known and attract pupils from the various lands of humans and occasionally dwarves, elves and gnomes.
The Fultonian universities came into existence from: 1) the Monastic Schools in monasteries; 2) Temple Schools, which educated the priesthood; 3) Palace Schools, which educated the young men and women of the ruling class on military and court tactics; and 4) Scholastic Guilds.
Universities are one the greatest intellectual and cultural innovations of current age of Fultar. They broadly impact society as most priests, many sages, the secular and religious bureaucracy, and other specialists are typically trained at a university. University Student/Professors are core to the functioning of modern society.
Foreign Students
The University of Fulton, the Library of the Muses and the University of Atlan receive the vast majority of foreign students, which are also carefully regulated. For example, the University of Atlan requires them belonging to a specific college. Many of these foreign students are drawn to Fultar due to the university's high reputations, or family’s mercantile or political interests in the realm. It is also possible that some of those among the visiting students are mainly there as spies, agents of enemy nations.
Monasteries.
Fultonian monasteries after the Guar Conquest, had a spiritual and ascetic focus than a scriptural or theological one. Among their numerous functions, was the education of the monks and a repository of ancient texts. The monastery played a large role in the preservation and continuation of science and knowledge after the Guar Conquest, the collapse of the imperial lands outside of Fultar proper, and the many barbarian, humanoid and monster invasions like the Arrival of the Great Worms and The Rise of the Undead. The largest part of their contribution was keeping the textual traditions of philosophers and classical literature. The monasteries became centers of learning and flurished, but declined after the rise of the universities while others evolved and became universities. One of their major contributions to the later universities was that the monasteries established the core nine liberal arts, which were arithmetic, geometry, astrology, music theory, religion, history, grammar, logic, and rhetoric. These nine liberal arts were eventually adopted by all universities.
Temple Schools.
Temple Schools were Fultonian schools run by temple clergy. Originally the function of such schools was to train priests, but later they taught lay students as well—usually children of noble families being prepared for high positions in church, state, or commercial affairs. Most temples had such a school, and typically had fewer than 100 students.
Prior this period to the establishment of Temple Schools, the intellectual life of Fultar was confined to solitary mages and to monasteries and temples, which were mostly concerned with performing religious rites and prayer. High priests formed Temple Schools to train the priesthood, but also in the more secular aspects of religious administration, including logic and disputation for use in preaching and theological discussion, and accounting to control finances more effectively.
In addition to King Magne, significant factors in the growth of the Temple Schools and, eventually, the universities, was the Matriarch Geneva's, the high priestess of Tya Nehru, mandate of the formal organization Temple Schools to educate the priests, and the establishment of the cult of Ohgma, the god of education and learning.
Palace Schools
In YR 250, King Magne recognized the importance of education to the priests and, to a lesser extent, to the nobility, set out to bolster the new temple schools by issuing several decrees requiring that education be provided at monasteries and temples. King Magne understood that the only way to keep his empire flourishing was through education. He started with the Palace Schools, where he expanded the curriculum to include the liberal arts and sciences, and funded the Temple Schools.
King Magne instituted several enactments to continue furthering education in his kingdom. One in particular, referred to as the “Charter of Letters”, instructed members of the clergy to teach not only religious matters, but also “letters” in order to perfect the clergy’s writing skills and interpretation of scripture.
Scholastic Guilds
Much later in the YR 600-700s, the many social and economic changes which came about in Fultonian society helped create an increased interest in education. Burgeoning bureaucratization within both civil and temple administration created the need for educated men with abilities in the area of law (both canon and civil).
Scholastic guilds formed not as institutions of higher education. These schools were not officially “founded”, but instead grew and evolved over time. Groups of teachers and students started to get together in groups known as ‘universitas’ without any express authorization from a Temple, Empress or Baron.
Initially, these Scholastic Guilds or early Fultonian universities did not have physical facilities, and classes were taught wherever space was available, such as temples and homes. A university was not a physical space but a collection of individuals banded together as a universitas. In the early universities, lectures were usually held in the master's room, or a hired hall, as these universities owned no buildings of their own. Classes consisted of a master reading aloud and commenting on an established text, while the students copied down the lecture word for word. This gave the students both the original text and a learned commentary on the work. Lecturers who spoke too softly, or too quickly, were often shouted at by their students, and in some cases attacked. As the lecturers relied on the fees paid by their students, teachers could be boycotted, and driven by economic necessity to alter their teaching or leave. Soon, however, universities began to rent, buy or construct buildings specifically for the purposes of teaching. Over time, the Temple Schools primarily focused on younger students, but some formed into universities as did most of the Palace Schools. Universities All of the universities developed a more standardized curriculum and taught the nine liberal arts. At least some of the advanced topics of theology, law, medicine, and philosophy. Many universities began to include practical courses in response to public demand. Courses in the art of letter writing trained the clerks, money-counters, engineers, and administrators of the flourishing economy. Universities were generally structured along three types, depending on who paid the teachers: 1) the students hired and paid the teachers, 2) teachers were paid by a Temple, some of which originally were Temple or Monastic Schools but many were originally Scholastic Guilds; and 3) teachers were paid by a noble, town or powerful guild (some of which were originally Palace Schools, but most were Scholastic Guilds). Library of the Muses The only exception to the pattern above is the Library of the Muses in the capital city of Fulton. It was founded as an institution of higher learning five hundred years before the Guar Conquest, was the home of music or poetry, a philosophical school and library, and also a storehouse of texts. It was an institution that brought together some of the best scholars of the greater world of the Ancient Fultonian Empire. A prime goal over time was to educate graduates to take on posts of authority in the imperial service or within the temples. Nine Liberal Arts The nine liberal arts are arithmetic, geometry, astrology, music theory, religion, history, grammar, logic, and rhetoric, which were roughly and in part based on the Nine Muses, which were the inspirational goddesses of Ancient Fultonian literature, arts and sciences.
Initially, these Scholastic Guilds or early Fultonian universities did not have physical facilities, and classes were taught wherever space was available, such as temples and homes. A university was not a physical space but a collection of individuals banded together as a universitas. In the early universities, lectures were usually held in the master's room, or a hired hall, as these universities owned no buildings of their own. Classes consisted of a master reading aloud and commenting on an established text, while the students copied down the lecture word for word. This gave the students both the original text and a learned commentary on the work. Lecturers who spoke too softly, or too quickly, were often shouted at by their students, and in some cases attacked. As the lecturers relied on the fees paid by their students, teachers could be boycotted, and driven by economic necessity to alter their teaching or leave. Soon, however, universities began to rent, buy or construct buildings specifically for the purposes of teaching. Over time, the Temple Schools primarily focused on younger students, but some formed into universities as did most of the Palace Schools. Universities All of the universities developed a more standardized curriculum and taught the nine liberal arts. At least some of the advanced topics of theology, law, medicine, and philosophy. Many universities began to include practical courses in response to public demand. Courses in the art of letter writing trained the clerks, money-counters, engineers, and administrators of the flourishing economy. Universities were generally structured along three types, depending on who paid the teachers: 1) the students hired and paid the teachers, 2) teachers were paid by a Temple, some of which originally were Temple or Monastic Schools but many were originally Scholastic Guilds; and 3) teachers were paid by a noble, town or powerful guild (some of which were originally Palace Schools, but most were Scholastic Guilds). Library of the Muses The only exception to the pattern above is the Library of the Muses in the capital city of Fulton. It was founded as an institution of higher learning five hundred years before the Guar Conquest, was the home of music or poetry, a philosophical school and library, and also a storehouse of texts. It was an institution that brought together some of the best scholars of the greater world of the Ancient Fultonian Empire. A prime goal over time was to educate graduates to take on posts of authority in the imperial service or within the temples. Nine Liberal Arts The nine liberal arts are arithmetic, geometry, astrology, music theory, religion, history, grammar, logic, and rhetoric, which were roughly and in part based on the Nine Muses, which were the inspirational goddesses of Ancient Fultonian literature, arts and sciences.
