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Quadrivium: 1 Origins 3 Modern Usage

The quadrivium consisted of four subjects - arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These subjects followed the preparatory work of the trivium, which included grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The quadrivium was considered preparatory work for the serious study of philosophy and theology. It originated from classical Greek thought and was formalized in the medieval European universities as a course of study leading to a Master of Arts degree.

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192 views

Quadrivium: 1 Origins 3 Modern Usage

The quadrivium consisted of four subjects - arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These subjects followed the preparatory work of the trivium, which included grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The quadrivium was considered preparatory work for the serious study of philosophy and theology. It originated from classical Greek thought and was formalized in the medieval European universities as a course of study leading to a Master of Arts degree.

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Quadrivium

The quadrivium (plural: quadrivia[1] ) are the four sub- courses lead to the degree of Bachelor (the B.Phil and
jects, or arts, taught after teaching the trivium. The word B.Litt. degrees are examples in the eld of philosophy).
is Latin, meaning the four ways (or a place where
The study was eclectic, approaching the philosophical
four roads meet),[2] and its use for the four subjects objectives sought by considering it from each aspect of
has been attributed to Boethius or Cassiodorus in the
the quadrivium within the general structure demonstrated
6th century.[3][4] Together, the trivium and the quadriv- by Proclus (412485 AD), namely arithmetic and music
ium comprised the seven liberal arts (based on think- on the one hand,[9] and geometry and cosmology on the
ing skills),[5] as opposed to the practical arts (such as other.[10]
medicine and architecture).
The subject of music within the quadrivium was origi-
The quadrivium consisted of arithmetic, geometry, music nally the classical subject of harmonics, in particular the
and astronomy. These followed the preparatory work of study of the proportions between the music intervals cre-
the trivium made up of grammar, logic and rhetoric. In ated by the division of a monochord. A relationship to
turn, the quadrivium was considered preparatory work music as actually practised was not part of this study,
for the serious study of philosophy (sometimes called the but the framework of classical harmonics would substan-
liberal art par excellence")[6] and theology. tially inuence the content and structure of music theory
as practised both in European and Islamic cultures.

1 Origins
These four studies compose the secondary part of the 3 Modern usage
curriculum outlined by Plato in The Republic, and are
described in the seventh book of that work (in the or- In modern applications of the liberal arts as curriculum
der Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, Music.) [5] The in colleges or universities, the quadrivium may be con-
quadrivium is implicit in early Pythagorean writings and sidered to be the study of number and its relationship to
in the De nuptiis of Martianus Capella, although the term physical space or time: arithmetic was pure number, ge-
quadrivium was not used until Boethius early in the ometry was number in space, music number in time, and
sixth century.[7] As Proclus wrote: astronomy number in space and time. Morris Kline clas-
sies the four elements of the quadrivium as pure (arith-
The Pythagoreans considered all mathe- metic), stationary (geometry), moving (astronomy) and
matical science to be divided into four parts: applied (music) number.[11]
one half they marked o as concerned with This schema is sometimes referred to as classical educa-
quantity, the other half with magnitude; and tion but it is more accurately a development of the 12th
each of these they posited as twofold. A quan- and 13th centuries Renaissance with recovered classical
tity can be considered in regard to its charac- elements, rather than an organic growth from the educa-
ter by itself or in its relation to another quan- tional systems of antiquity. The term continues to be used
tity, magnitudes as either stationary or in mo- by the Classical education movement and at the indepen-
tion. Arithmetic, then, studies quantities as dent Oundle School, in the United Kingdom.[12]
such, music the relations between quantities,
geometry magnitude at rest, spherics [astron-
omy] magnitude inherently moving.[8]
4 See also
2 Medieval usage Andreas Capellanus

At many medieval universities, this would have been the Degrees of the University of Oxford
course leading to the degree of Master of Arts (after the
BA). After the MA, the student could enter for bache- Trivium
lors degrees of the higher faculties (Theology, Medicine
or Law). To this day, some of the postgraduate degree Four arts

1
2 5 REFERENCES

5 References
[1] Kohler, Kaufmann. Wisdom. Jewish Encyclopedia.
Retrieved 2015-11-07.

[2] The word quadrivium indicates a 4-way intersection (as


in a 4-way stop), while trivium refers to a 3-way junc-
tion.

[3] Part I: The Age of Augustine, ND.edu, 2010, webpage:


ND205.

[4] quadrivium (education)", Britannica Online, 2011, web:


EB.

[5] Gilman, D. C.; Thurston, H. T.; Colby, F. M., eds. (1905).


"Quadrivium". New International Encyclopedia (1st ed.).
New York: Dodd, Mead.

[6] Daniel Coit Gilman et al. (1905) New International Ency-


clopedia, lemma Arts, Liberal

[7] Henri-Irne Marrou, Les Arts Libraux dans l'Antiquit


Classique, pp. 6-27 in Arts Libraux et Philosophie au
Moyen ge, (Paris: Vrin / Montral: Institut d'tudes
Mdivales), 1969, pp. 18-19.

[8] Proclus, A commentary on the rst book of Euclids El-


ements, xii, trans. Glenn Raymond Morrow (Princeton:
Princeton University Press) 1992, pp. 29-30. ISBN 0-
691-02090-6.

[9] Craig Wright, The Maze and the Warrior - Symbols in


Architecture, Theology, and Music, Harvard University
Press 2001

[10] Laura Ackerman Smoller, History, Prophecy and the


Stars: Christian Astrology of Pierre D'Ailly, 1350-1420,
Princeton University Press 1994

[11] Morris Kline, The Sine of G Major, Mathematics in


Western Culture, Oxford University Press 1953

[12] Oundle School - Improving Intellectual Challenge. The


Boarding Schools Association. 27 October 2014.
Each of these iterations have recently been discussed in a
conference at Kings College London on "The Future of
Liberal Arts" at schools and universities.
3

6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses


6.1 Text
Quadrivium Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrivium?oldid=731149819 Contributors: Pinkunicorn, Andre Engels, Ray Van De
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NBUPolSci F40198, Helpful Pixie Bot, Sceptic1954, BG19bot, Acuteidea, TheNuszAbides, Consider42, Eteethan, Qzd and Anonymous:
53

6.2 Images
File:Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/Wiktionary-logo-v2.svg License: CC BY-
SA 4.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: Dan Polansky based on work currently attributed to Wikimedia Foundation but originally
created by Smurrayinchester

6.3 Content license


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