| Abstract | Paper -a:
Despite the Martha & Mary syndrome, intellectual labor is not necessarily considered worthy of remuneration. I examine attitudes towards and forms of labor and its rewards involved in taking a trip to study with an esteemed Christian ascetic, especially itineraries which move the student to more than one such expert. The texts come mainly from Vitas Patrum (ed. Rosweyde 1617), such as the History of the Monks in Egypt, Sulpicius's Dialogues, and Sayings of the Fathers.
Paper -b:
In the popular 12th-century learning manual, the Didascalicon, Hugh of St Victor argues, 'the wise student gladly hears all, reads all, and looks down upon no writing, no person, no teaching' (Book 3, Chap. 13, tr. Jerome Taylor). According to Hugh, the more the humble student learns the closer he comes to spiritual enlightenment. Only a few decades later, however, Hugh's successor Godfrey of St Victor openly condemns various contemporary masters and their methods of learning in his didactic poem, the Fons philosophiae. This paper explores Godfrey's pedagogical 'change of heart' and his critical attitude towards non-Victorine programs of learning in the late 12th century. Was it possible to maintain a humble attitude towards learning in a world of increasing intellectual competition?
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