Its pillars were the so-called seven liberal arts (“liberal” because they were once considered suitable for free people rather than the enslaved). These were subdivided into two groups. First came the trivium, the arts of expression and argument: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. Then came the quadrivium, which consisted of the arts of calculation: arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, and music. Although the trivium and quadrivium did not cover the whole scheme of human knowledge—eager young minds would also be expected to apply themselves to theology, medicine, and law—they were nevertheless the
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