EDUCATION 00

The naive spirit of the ordinary handicraft workman
was often reflected in his work. The arts of the
goldsmith, silversmith, bell-founder, vestment-maker
(which required elaborate embroidery), and the
sculptor,s were practised in York with excellent
results. \

There has never been a university of York,
although under Alcuin the school of York was doing
work of high quality, work that gained European
fame. Even within the last hundred years, when so
many provincial universities and university colleges
have been established, York, one of the most
appropriate places, has not obtained a university.

News and information reached the citizens mainly
from personal intercourse. Merchants visiting other
cities discussed with fellow merchants not only their
immediate business but also past and current events.
Pilgrims, palmers, and sailors recited their adventures
on distant seas and lands, and told of the wonders
of the world. The ordinary citizen, who read
little, depended on conversations with better-
informed citizens and strangers. The city council
was continually in communication with the King and
the great officers of State : information filtered down
from the council to the citizens. The messengers
often supplied the latest semi-official news. Officials
and servants attached to the royal service or to that
of nobles or of ecclesiastics (like the Archbishop of
York), were the source of much political gossip.
The news of the country passed to and fro between
the city and the monastic lands, the castles, the
manors, and the forests by means of the xisits of
men who lived at those places. Markets and fairs
and public assemblies, whether the holding of assizes
or on State visits, were occasions for the dissemina-
tion of news. The ordinary citizen gathered news

F