SR
← De eruditione filiorum nobilium (On the Education of Noble Children)/Book 1 · De eruditione filiorum nobilium
Chapter 4Erud.1.4

De impedimentis addiscendi.

Two Great Questions About Learning

After discussing the teacher, the text turns to two key questions about the discipline of children: what hinders learning and what advances it, distinguishing hindrances that arise from life and those that arise from study or teaching.

Having spoken about the teacher, two things must first be considered concerning the discipline of children, namely: what hinders it and what advances it. Some hindrances come from the side of life, some from the side of study or teaching. From the side of life, seven vices are hindrances.

Pride, Envy, and Anger

The text begins listing the vices that hinder learning, starting with pride, then envy, then anger, showing how each clouds or corrupts the soul and mind.

And first, pride, which, while it inflates the soul, blinds it.1 Whence Augustine, in the book of Confessions, speaking about his former condition, says this: 'My pride shrank from the measure of Scripture, and my outward appearance too much kept me from seeing evil.'2 The second is envy, about which the wise man says in the book of Wisdom: 'No,' he says, 'with envy wasting away the path, I will have a journey, because such a person will not be a partaker of wisdom.'34 The third is irascibility, about which the poet also says: Anger clouds the mind so that it can't see what's true.

Sloth, Avarice, and the Love of Money

Sloth is presented as a spiritual hindrance with scriptural and patristic support, followed by avarice, which divides the heart between wealth and Scripture.

The fourth impediment is sloth or laziness. Ambrose, commenting on Genesis, says that no lazy person is found in the house of a wise man. As we read in the book of Wisdom: 'The Holy Spirit of discipline' —✦ — that is, 'the giver of discipline will flee from deceit' —✦ — that is, the lazy person. So it is rightly said to the lazy person in Proverbs chapter 6: 'Go to the ant, you who are lazy, and learn wisdom.'✦ The fifth impediment is avarice. Jerome, writing against Vigilantius, says: 'The same person cannot approve both gold coins and the Scriptures.'

Luxury and Gluttony

Luxury and gluttony are described as carnal hindrances, with Boethius’s analysis of luxury and Jerome’s critique of gluttony showing how bodily excess dulls the mind and weakens learning.

Sixth is luxury, about which Boethius says in his book on scholastic discipline: 'Let the student strive to be estranged from the fervor of luxury, which satirists divide into a threefold member, namely:' one consisting in adornment, another in intercourse, and a third as the handmaid of gluttony.' Seventh is gluttony, about which Jerome says against Jovinian in book two: 'Galen...' . . He also says that those whose life and art is gluttony... . . They can neither live long nor be healthy, and their souls, so enveloped in excessive blood and fat as if in mud, think of nothing fine, nothing heavenly, but always of meat and belching and the gluttony of the belly. The same Jerome also says elsewhere that 'a fat belly does not produce a keen mind.' Boethius also says, in the same place, that 'wine taken in moderation seems to bring sharpness to the intellect, but taken in excess it disturbs reason, dulls the mind, and weakens memory.'

The Seven Hindrances and the Entry of Wisdom

The text summarizes the seven impediments—five spiritual and two carnal—and cites Wisdom to show that wisdom cannot enter a soul enslaved by such vices.

These, then, are the impediments to life, by which — namely — the perception of knowledge or of wisdom is impeded, of which five are spiritual — namely — pride, envy, anger, sloth, and greed; and two are carnal — namely — gluttony and lust. Whence in the book of Wisdom it is said, 'Wisdom will not enter a malicious soul'; on account of spiritual vices, nor will it dwell in a body subject to sins — that is, in the gluttonous and the lustful.

Negligence, Imprudence, and the Hardships of Fortune

From life’s moral hindrances, the text moves to study and teaching, identifying negligence, imprudent method, and external hardships such as poverty, weakness, or lack of books and teachers.

When it comes to study or teaching, Hugh says in his book *Didascalicon* that there are three obstacles, namely: negligence, and imprudence, and fortune. Negligence, I mean, in learning; imprudence in order and method; the fortune of poverty or of weakness; or the lack of books or of a teacher. So the student must be warned about the first, instructed about the second, and, if need be, helped with the third. On the first point Boethius says, as cited above, that 'negligence is the stepmother of all discipline,' and, he adds, 'it is better to serve mechanically than to burden a student with the yoke of negligence.' So says Boethius. And similarly Ennodius: 'Of the arts,' he says, 'the mother —' .

The Negligence That Undermines Education

Negligence is condemned as the stepmother of education, with authorities showing that ignorance grows from carelessness and that even lowly sources of learning should not be despised.

. There is urgency here: negligence is the stepmother of education. Likewise, Peter in the third letter of Clement: 'Ignorance,' he says, 'is the mother of all evils, which is born indeed from carelessness and laziness, but is nourished and increased by negligence.' But because it has no substance, it is easily put to flight by those who are studious. As Apuleius says in his book on the god of Socrates: 'In some cases it is amazing that those who least wish to appear ignorant of certain things nevertheless neglect to learn them, and at the same time shrink from both the discipline of that art and the ignorance itself.' Against this, Clement the pope says in the thirty-eighth distinction of the canon: 'Let no bishop,' he says, 'on account of the reproach of old age or the nobility of his birth, neglect to inquire even from the very young or the least educated, if there is perhaps anything of usefulness and of salvation.' And rightly so. As Seneca says to Lucilius: 'What is more foolish than refusing to learn precisely because you haven't learned?'

Imprudence in Method and Order

The second study-related hindrance is imprudence in order and method, illustrated by Paul’s words on knowledge and Hugh’s observation that many are studious but few truly wise.

And as Jerome says in his commentary on the Gospel, that saying is confirmed which is sung among the Greeks: 'Ignorance breeds confidence; learning breeds fear.' On the second obstacle to learning, which is a lack of prudence in order and method, the Apostle says in the first letter to the Corinthians.✦ Chapter 8: 'If anyone thinks they know something, they do not yet know as they ought to know.'✦ For very few observe the right way of learning — that is to say, they do not keep to the proper order, affection, and intention in such matters, as will be discussed more fully below. Hence Hugh, in the third book of the Didascalicon: 'Our students,' he says, 'either do not know or do not want the proper method in learning; and so we find many indeed who are studious, but few who are truly wise.' On the third — that is, the obstacle of fortune — the student should be helped, according to Hugh, if need be, by being provided for in expenses, books, and a teacher.

Restlessness, Curiosity, and the Wandering Student

A fourth hindrance is added: bodily restlessness and curious eyes, with vivid images of students wandering through streets, taverns, and spectacles instead of remaining in disciplined study.

We can also add a fourth impediment to learning, namely restlessness of the body and curiosity of the eyes, which, as Aristotle says in the first book of the Metaphysics, 'are most necessary for learning, because they show us many differences.' Hence Boethius, in the passage cited above: 'Let not,' he says, 'the scholar be wayward' — that is, divided from the school. . . running through streets and alleys and taverns, through the chambers of prostitutes, through public spectacles as well, through processions and dances, through revels and public banquets, with wandering eyes and an unbridled tongue — . .

Lust and the Burning of Desire

The student must also be warned against lust, which is linked closely with gluttony and other bodily pleasures as a mutual cause and effect of inner disorder.

Let him also strive to be free from the burning heat of lust. . . And let him beware not only of those forms of it that consist in gluttony and sexual indulgence.5 . . Since they are linked to each other interchangeably as both cause and effect, let him be on his guard.6 .

Vanity in Dress and Bearing

The text turns to vanity in adornment and appearance, describing an elaborate portrait of someone obsessed with clothes, cosmetics, jewelry, and haughty posture.

. but she nonetheless gapes after adornments. . . she delights in constantly changing her clothes and in their elaborate, piece-by-piece adornment — polishing her hair with a comb, curling it in rows with a curling iron and an assortment of flowers; drenching her throat again and again with rouge; gaping at the punishment of the razor; filling her folds with perfumes; decking her neck with jeweled necklaces and her belly with Parthian belts, to show off to the rabble; and wearing beaked shoes with platform soles.789 . . to walk with her neck raised high, her throat puffed up, her brow shaved, her eye shameless, and her gait haughty — to proceed in a semicircular sweep.1011

Fastidiousness, Absence from Study, and Love of Profit

Fastidiousness in food, neglect of school, and the dulling effects of delicacies and greed are added as further hindrances, again drawing on Boethius.

. . Even when food is set before them, they disdain everything. . . And lastly, they rarely take part in the schools.' These things Boethius says. He also touches briefly on certain other hindrances in the same place, saying afterward: 'One must beware lest a love of delicacies dull the mind with appetite, lest the pursuit of profit enervate it.'

Flattery, General Obstacles, and the Obscurity of Things

Flattery is briefly warned against, then two general impediments are named: the inherent difficulty or obscurity of what is to be learned, and the natural weakness of the learner.

. . Rarely does faithful flattery cheat, lest a close companion drink in by sight or by hearing something sinister that weakens the right hand of the writer or the learner. These are Boethius's words. Furthermore, there are two general obstacles to learning. One concerns the things to be learned—namely, obscurity or difficulty, echoing the words of Ecclesiasticus 1: 'All things are difficult.' The other concerns the learners—namely,

Weakness of Understanding and the Causes of Obscurity

The chapter closes by reflecting on the weakness of human understanding, the difficulty of all knowledge, and the three sources of obscurity in texts: the greatness of the subject, the teacher’s inexperience, and the listener’s dullness.

A slowness of natural ability or a weakness of understanding — as Aristotle puts it in the second book of the Metaphysics: 'Just as,' he says, 'the sight of owls is in relation to the light of day, so also our understanding is in relation to all the manifest things of nature.' For this reason Cicero says in the dialogue addressed to Hortensius: 'All knowledge is blocked by many difficulties.' For there is both obscurity in the things themselves and weakness in our judgments. Likewise Jerome, in the thirteenth book on Isaiah: 'This,' he says, 'I briefly admonish from the rhetorician Victorinus — you should know that the obscurity of books arises from three things: either from the magnitude of the subject matter, or from the teacher's inexperience, or from the listener's dullness.'

Read the original Latin

Dicto de magistro, de puerorum disciplina primitus consideranda sunt duo, scil. quid eam impediat et quid eam promoueat. Impedimenta quedam sunt ex parte uite, quedam ex parte studii uel doctrine. Ex parte uite impediunt vii uicia. et primo superbia, que dum animam inflat, excecat. unde augustinus in libro confessionum de statu suo pristino loquens, ita dicit: ‘Tumor meus refugiebat scripture modum et facies mea nimis non sinebat me videre malum.’ Secundum est inuidia, de quo dicit sapiens in libro sapiencie vio: ‘Non,’ inquit, ‘cum inuidia tabescente iter habebo, quoniam talis homo non erit particeps sapiencie.’ Tercium est iracundia, de qua eciam dicit poeta:

Ira impedit animum, ne possit cernere uerum.

Quartum est accidia siue pigricia, de quo dicit ambrosius super genesim, quod nullus piger inuenitur in domo sapientis. ut enim legitur in libro sapiencie io: Spiritus sanctus discipline,’ i. e. dator discipline, ‘effugiet fictum,’ i. e. pigrum. unde recte dicitur pigro in prouerbiis vi: ‘vade ad formicam, o piger, et disce sapienciam.’ Quintum est auaricia, de qua dicit Jeronimus contra uigilancium: ‘Non est eiusdem hominis aureos nummos et scripturas probare.’

Sextum est luxuria, de qua dicit boecius in libro de scolastica disciplina: ‘luxurie feruore studeat discipulus alienari, quam triplici membro diuidunt satyrici, scil. unam consistere dicentes in ornatu, alteram in choitu, terciam uero gulositatis assistricem.’ Septimum est gula de qua dicit Jeronimus contra iouinianum libro iio: ‘Galienus . . . etiam illos, quorum uita et ars est sagina, dicit . . .

nec uiuere diu posse, nec sanos esse, animasque ipsorum ita nimio sanguine et adipe quasi luto inuolutas nichil tenue, nichil celeste, sed semper de carnibus et ructu et ventris ingluuie cogitare.’ Idem eciam Jeronimus alibi dicit, quod ‘uenter pinguis sensum tenuem non gignit.’ Dicit et boecius, ubi supra, quod ‘uinum quidem modice sumptum intellectui videtur acumen inferre, non modice uero potatum racionem perturbat, intellectum hebetat, memoriam eneruat.’ Hec sunt ergo impedimenta uite, quibus scil. impeditur percepcio sciencie uel sapiencie, quorum v sunt spiritualia, scil. superbia, Inuidia, ira, accidia et auaricia, duo uero carnalia, scil. gula et luxuria. unde in libro sapiencie io dicitur, quod ‘in maliuolam animam non introibit sapiencia’; propter uicia spiritualia nec habitabit in corpore subdito peccatis, id est in gulosis et luxuriosis.

Ex parte uero studii uel doctrine dicit hugo in libro didascallicon vo Tria impedimenta esse, videl. negligenciam et imprudenciam et fortunam. Negligenciam, inquam, addiscendi, inprudenciam ordinis et modi, fortunam paupertatis uel infirmitatis, aut defectus librorum aut magistri. Itaque de primo discipulus est admonendus, de secundo instruendus, de tercio, si opus sit, adiuuandus. De primo dicit boecius, ubi supra, quod ‘uniuerse discipline nouerca est negligencia, meliusque,’ inquit, ‘esse mechanice deseruire quam scolasticum onerari iugo negligencie.’ hec boecius. Hinc et ennodius: ‘Arcium,’ inquit, ‘mater . .

. est instancia; nouerca erudicionis est negligencia.’ Item petrus in epistola clementis IIIa: ‘Ignorancia,’ inquit, ‘est mater omnium malorum, que incuria quidem et ignauia gignitur, negligencia uero alitur et augetur.’ Sed quia substanciam non habet facile ab hiis, qui studiosi sunt, effugatur. ut autem dicit apuleius in libro de deo socratis: ‘In quibusdam mirandum est, quod ea, que minime uideri nescire uolunt, discere tamen negligunt et eiusdem artis disciplinam simul et ignoranciam detrectant.’ Contra quod in canone dicit clemens papa distinccione xxxviiia: ‘Nullus eciam,’ inquit, ‘episcopus propter obprobrium senectutis uel nobilitatem generis a paruulis etiam uel minimis eruditis inquirere negligat, siquid forte utilitatis est atque salutis.’ Et recte. ut enim dicit seneca ad lucilium: ‘Quid stultius est, quam quia non didiceris, ideo non discere.’

At ut dicit Jeronymus ad euangelum: ‘illud verissimum comprobatur, quod apud grecos canitur: “Impericia confidenciam, erudicio creat timorem.” ’ De secundo impedimento addiscendi, quod est imprudencia ordinis et modi, dicit apostolus Ia ad chorinth. viii: ‘Siquis existimat se aliquid scire, nondum cognouit, quemadmodum opporteat eum scire.’ Paucissimi namque rectum addiscendi modum obseruant, ut scil. ordinem et affectum et intencionem debitam in huiusmodi teneant, sicut plenius dicetur inferius. unde hugo in libro didascalicon iiio: ‘Scolares,’ inquit, ‘nostri aut nesciunt aut nolunt modum congruum in discendo; et idcirco multos quidem inuenimus studentes, paucos uero sapientes’. De tercio, scil. impedimento fortune, adiuuandus est secundum hugonem, si opus est, discipulus, ut ei prouideatur in expensis et libris atque doctore.

Possumus eciam addere quartum impedimentum, scil. inquietudinem corporis et curiositatem oculorum, qui, ut dicit aristoteles in methaphisica libro primo: ‘Maxime ad doctrinam necessarii sunt, quia multas nobis differencias ostendunt.’ unde boecius ubi supra: ‘Non sit,’ ait, ‘scolaris discolus, id est a scola diuisus . . . per vicos et plateas tabernasque discurrens ac meretricum cellulas, per publica quoque spectacula, per pompas et choreas, per commessaciones et publicas cenas, oculis vagis et effreni lingua, . . .

luxurie quoque fervore alienari studeat . . . nec illas solummodo species eius, que in gulositate choituque consistunt . . . et tanquam causatum et causa permutatim adnexe sunt, caueat . .

. sed illam nichilominus, que ornatibus inhiat . . . gaudet uestium frequenti variacione earumque membratim sigillacione, pectinis beneficio cesariem polire et calamistri tortuositate florumque diuersitate seriatim lasciuire, gulam fuco perfundere frequenti, nouacule castigacioni inhyare, sinus aromatibus implere, gemmatis colla monilibus parthorumque cingulis uentrem plebi ostendere, rostratis calceis et tabulatis . . . incedere, collo elato, gutture inflato, supercilio mutilato, oculo impudico incessuque fastuoso semicircularis procedere .

. . appositis quoque cibariis omnia fastidire . . . et ultimo raroque scolis interesse.’ hec boecius. Qui eciam ibidem postea tangit breuiter et alia quedam impedimenta, dicens: ‘Cauendum est, ne deliciosus mentem appetitus excecet, ne lucrum eneruet .

. . raroque fidelis adulacio defraudet, ne familiaris sinistra uisu uel auditu ebibat, quod scribentis uel discentis dexteram emolliat.’ hec boecius. Ceterum duo sunt impedimenta discendi generalia. unum ex parte discendorum, sc. obscuritas uel difficultas, secundum illud ecclesiastici i: ‘Cuncte res difficiles.’ Aliud ex parte discentium, scil.

ingenii tarditas uel intellectus infirmitas, iuxta illud aristotelis libro methaphisicorum iio: ‘Sicut,’ inquit, ‘noctuarum uisus ad lucem diei se habet, sic et intellectus noster ad omnia nature manifesta.’ Ideo dicit tullius in dyalogo ad hortensium: ‘Omnis cognicio multis est difficultatibus obstructa. est enim et in rebus ipsis obscuritas et in iudiciis nostris infirmitas.’ Item Jeronymus super ysaiam libro xiiio: ‘Illud,’ inquit, ‘rhetoris uictorini breuiter admoneo, ut obscuritatem uoluminum ex tribus rebus fieri scias, uel rei magnitudine uel doctoris impericia vel audientis duricia.’

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Job.36.10-Job.36.11 — And he opens their ear to discipline, and commands them to turn from iniquity. Job.36.11 — If they listen and serve him, they will complete their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness.
  2. ↩Job.36.11-Job.36.12 — If they listen and serve him, they will complete their days in prosperity and their years in pleasantness. Job.36.12 — But if they do not listen, they will perish by the sword, and they will die without knowledge.
  3. ↩Prov.6.6 — Go to the ant, you lazy one; observe her ways and become wise.
  4. ↩1Cor.8.2 — If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know as he ought to know.
  5. ↩1Cor.8.2 — If anyone thinks he knows anything, he does not yet know as he ought to know.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩anima rendered as 'soul' per lexeme policy (interior person before God).
  2. 2 ↩Quotation attributed to Augustine, Confessions. Source anchor preserved; final Moses resolution deferred.
  3. 3 ↩Quotation attributed to the 'sapiens' in the book of Wisdom. Source anchor preserved; final Moses resolution deferred.
  4. 4 ↩cum rendered as 'with' (temporal/causal ambiguity in source); quoniam rendered as 'because' to preserve causal force.
  5. 5 ↩species eius ('forms/ kinds of it') refers back to luxuria in s1; the Latin is compressed. Rendered 'forms of it' to make the anaphoric reference clear in English.
  6. 6 ↩The subject of caueat is carried over from the preceding sentences (the student/learner). The referent of the implied object ('them') is the species of lust enumerated above. The reciprocal causal language (tanquam causatum et causa permutatim) is rendered to preserve the logical force of mutual reinforcement between gluttony and sexual indulgence.
  7. 7 ↩nouacule castigacioni inhiare: literally 'to gape at the punishment/castigation of the razor' — the sense is that she eagerly watches the barber's razor at work, treating even the trimming of her hair as a spectacle she greedily observes.
  8. 8 ↩rostratis calceis: 'beaked shoes' — shoes with pointed, upturned toes, a fashionable style in the medieval period.
  9. 9 ↩tabulatis: 'with platform soles' — elevated soles, another marker of vanity in dress.
  10. 10 ↩supercilio mutilato: 'with brow shaved/mutilated' — refers to the plucking or shaving of the eyebrows, a practice of personal vanity.
  11. 11 ↩semicircularis procedere: 'to proceed in a semicircular sweep' — a haughty, sweeping walk, curving as if to display oneself to onlookers on all sides.

De eruditione filiorum nobilium (On the Education of Noble Children) companion

Formation starts with the parents' own practice

Model a daily devotional habit your children can see — Chosen Portion makes it a free 10-minute routine.

Vincent taught that children are formed by the daily practices of their household; Chosen Portion gives parents the daily devotional practice that anchors that household rhythm.

  • A short daily devotional you can read before the kids wake up
  • Family-friendly portions from the same historic tradition Vincent drew on
  • Build a visible 30-day habit your children can imitate
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →