Note 45 — Chapter XXIV
Reading edition
The cathedral schools were institutions connected with each cathedral for the purpose of training priests for their sacred office, but they were not limited entirely to priests. Instructions in the seven liberal arts was imparted, and also in religion. Parochial schools were established in many places for the purpose of training children in the doctrines of the Church. Thus, as early as the ninth century, the Church sought to extend the benefits of education to the people as well as to the priesthood. While the parochial schools were limited in their instruction, somewhat after the manner of the early catechumen schools, the changed conditions of Christianity permitted a much broader training than formerly.