Grammar school at Skælskør Church

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Learning and punishment

By Keld Grinder-Hansen, Cand.mag., Ph.D. (18 stories)

Skælskør Latinskole is a well-preserved example of a Renaissance building from the early 1500s. Originally a church barn, it was used for storing the tithe grain. The tithe was a tenth of the parish crops. In 1537, the barn was converted into a grammar school, and had this function until 1739. A local merchant, Lorenz Pedersen, purchased the building, bequeathing it to the poor-law authorities as a house for impoverished and upstanding citizens". Until as late as 1956 it was used as emergency housing. The building is now under local authority ownership and houses a weaving workshop and classroom. "

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Latin swotting or a thrashing

Story written by Keld Grinder-Hansen

Time / Periode 1525

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The Danish schools were born out of the Church, and in the Middle Ages were annexed to churches and monasteries. The object of schooling was to educate priests for the Catholic church. After the Reformation, grammar schools were established in the Danish market towns for the sons of nobles and the middle classes. At the grammar schools, pupils learnt to read, write and speak Latin, skills that would be needed when they later became clergymen or officials. Tuition was in the form of reading and examination and the educational principles were uncompromising. It is telling that the word 'discipline' denotes both learning and punishment. Several illustrations reveal that Danish teaching props consisted of the birch rod and spanking paddle.