[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [Science, technology and education](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science) › [Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918) › c2 # Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c2: To My Wife Ancient Indian Education: An Inquiry into its Origin, Development, and Ideals c2 - **Language:** English ### To My Wife ### [c2.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c2.1) WITHOUT WHOSE SYMPATHY AND ENCOURAGEMENT AT A TIME OF GREAT DIFFICULTY THIS BOOK WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN WRITTEN. ### [c2.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c2.2) the \*Gesta Romanorum\*, the \*Legenda Aurea\* of Jacobus de Voragine, and the \*Speculum Historiale\* of Vincent of Beauvais. These were the books that fed the imagination of the Middle Ages, and they were the books that the Church, in its wisdom, provided for the instruction and edification of the faithful. ### [c2.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c2.3) But the Church did not merely provide books; it also provided the means of their dissemination. The monastic scriptoria, where monks labored in silence to copy the sacred texts, were the precursors of the printing press. And when the press finally arrived, it was the Church that first harnessed its power, using it to spread the word of God to the corners of the earth. The Gutenberg Bible, the first major book printed in Europe, was a testament to the Church's commitment to the written word. ### [c2.4](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c2.4) Yet, even as the Church championed the spread of knowledge, it also sought to control it. The \*Index Librorum Prohibitorum\*, or List of Prohibited Books, was a tool used by the Church to suppress ideas it deemed dangerous or heretical. This tension between the desire to educate and the need to control would define the Church's relationship with literature for centuries to come. ### [c2.5](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c2.5) It is a complex history, one that is marked by both enlightenment and suppression. But it is a history that cannot be ignored, for it is the history of the very foundation of Western civilization. The Church, in its role as the guardian of knowledge, has shaped the way we think, the way we write, and the way we understand the world around us. --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.science.keay-1918.c2) · Pramāṇa