Trivium

The page says that in medieval universities the trivium was the first set of subjects taught: grammar, logic, and rhetoric. It presents the term as Latin for “the three ways” or “the three roads” and places it at the foundation of medieval liberal arts education.

Reading notes

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• In medieval universities, the trivium was taught first and consisted of grammar, logic, and rhetoric.
• The term is Latin and means “the three ways” or “the three roads.”
• It was the basis of medieval liberal arts education.
• The trivium prepared students for the quadrivium, which included geometry, arithmetic, astronomy, and music.
• Together, the trivium and quadrivium made up the seven liberal arts of classical study.
• The page says the trivium was implicit in Martianus Capella’s De nuptiis but the term itself was not used until the Carolingian era.
• Petrus Ramus later systematized it as part of Ramism.
• Grammar is described as the mechanics of language, logic as the mechanics of thought and analysis, and rhetoric as the use of language to instruct and persuade.
• Another description gives grammar as the thing as-it-is-symbolized, logic as the thing as-it-is-known, and rhetoric as the thing as-it-is-communicated.
• The page says the trivium was often the main undergraduate course in medieval universities.
• The contrast between the trivium and the more difficult quadrivium gave rise to the word “trivial.”