Chapter 22 Religious College

With the printing technology, books must be printed, and people must read them, which is considered the dissemination of knowledge.

If you want to spread knowledge, education is the fastest way. And if you want to train officials, lawyers, etc., these are all professions that require reading and writing, so you must have educational institutions to be responsible for training.

In the Middle Ages, education was monopolized by the church. In order to train monks, the church established monastic schools in local areas and bishop schools in dioceses. After the rise of Western European cities in the 11th century, due to the development of handicrafts and commerce and the struggle of cities against lords, there was an urgent need for talents who could read and write and had knowledge in all aspects. The original monastic schools were far from meeting the needs of social development. So from the 11th century, some cities' handicraft guilds and merchant guilds, as well as municipal authorities, broke the church's monopoly on education for hundreds of years and spontaneously established secular schools. Schools offer grammar and calculation courses based on the needs of urban production, exchange and social life to cultivate talents in all aspects.

Medieval universities start basic courses at the age of 14, and study for 6 years to obtain a bachelor's degree at the age of 20. The next 5 years are spent studying medicine and law. Only after obtaining a master's degree in arts can one study medicine. After 6 years of study, you can get a doctorate in medicine. Finally, you can study the most advanced theology. It usually takes another 15-16 years to complete the entire course. Therefore, students who can enter university generally need financial support from their families for a long time, which is not an expense that ordinary people can afford.

Education in Dobruja has a history of more than 2,000 years. Organized educational institutions appeared in ancient Dacia and Greek settlements on the Black Sea before the birth of Christ. After that, it was abandoned.

Peter came to a place similar to a monastery, where someone was waiting for him.

"Your Highness, God bless you."

"God bless you!"

The person who talked to Peter was named Nicholas, a monk and the dean of the college.

As a province of the former Roman Empire, the people of Wallachia and Dobruja believed in Christianity earlier. After the Great Schism of the Eastern and Western Churches, this place was consistent with Constantinople and believed in Orthodoxy. Many Orthodox churches began to be built in the late 13th century. Some churches also display Romanesque architecture. Some were painted with pious portraits depicting the founder of the church.

After conquering Dobruja, the bishops here immediately expressed their loyalty to Peter. And Peter did not make it difficult for them. You know, even the Orthodox Church, which obeyed the lord, was powerful.

During this period, the church mastered most of the knowledge. Although the Orthodox bishops could not call the shots like the Catholics, churches and monasteries also helped the economic development.

When Peter first arrived in Dobruja, the population here was still very sparse. There was only a small church and several monasteries. Although the Dobruja autocracy worked hard to develop, its focus was still on the capital Varna.

After Peter became the lord here, its population soared. This also increased the number of believers in the church, because the immigrants who came here were all from the Balkans and Moldova, and they were all Orthodox Christians.

The former small church in Constanta has been expanded and is under construction in other towns. But all this is tied to Peter. These bishops did not dare to confront the lord, because the entire church obeyed the lord or the emperor.

Peter and the church reached a deal. Peter could fund the church's renovation of the church, and the church needed to send some people to join the academy he built for teaching. At the same time, a room was also provided for use as a library.

The bishop was puzzled by Peter's actions. He didn't know why the lord did this. The only answer that could convince himself was that he wanted to train more officials and artists.

"Your Highness, the expansion of the academy has been completed, and more people will come to this academy to study in the future."

The current academy has three disciplines: theology, literature, and medicine, with about 100 students. Don't think it's too little, this is the most resources this place can offer.

Peter was also a headache to find books. He asked the Chamber of Commerce to pay attention to opportunities to sell books when doing business, and bought some books from the Holy Roman Empire and Trebizond.

Of course, Peter also obtained some books from the Golden Horde, such as the "Medical Canon" and "Healing" by the famous Persian physician Avicenna, the "Optical Book" by the Arab scientist Hashim, and the works of famous scientists such as Jabir, al-Kindi, al-Biruni, and Ibn Hull. Since the Middle East is in a chaotic period, these books have been sold by others for money. This also allowed Peter to pick up a loophole.

Now the people studying in the academy are translating these books and manuscripts purchased from abroad. This workload is very large, so the academy has expanded its enrollment.

Among the scholars recruited, the most scholars came from Constantinople. Because their mayor of Constantinople could not resist the Ottomans and had to pay tribute to them, and their own income was limited, so their salary was not that much or they had to find a way themselves. In the final analysis, it was all about money.

Some Greek scholars came to Dobruja, and they found that the lords here were too good to intellectuals. Not only can they have enough money, but they also support various academic research.

Isn't that enough? As long as they can survive, they can do research. What's more, when they came out of Constantinople, they took a lot of manuscripts from the Greek and Roman periods. They can be used for publicity and research.

After receiving the news that the expansion of the academy was completed, Peter asked the Bishop of Dobruja next to him.

"Bishop, how are the new immigrants?"

"Your Highness, they are all poor people who don't want to live under the pagans, and now they come here. Just like lost lambs returning home."

The bishop talked about the situation incessantly, and Peter listened quietly. Now the Orthodox Christians in Dobruja are the absolute majority, and if the Ottoman invades, they can gather the greatest strength.

In addition to religion, most of the immigrants here also make a lot of money. They don't have to worry every day, just do their own business honestly. For the invasion, I believe they can also share the same hatred of the enemy.