The Role of Riddles in Medieval Education
By Jean Lauand
Revista Internacional d’Humanitats, Vol.16 (2009)
Introduction: All children love riddles and in every society, guessing games have their place in education, but in the Middle Ages riddles play a special role in Pedagogy. Besides the usual educational importance of riddles – as a ludic and highly motivational activity – in Middle Ages they are involved with religious values. And religion education is – if we want to use the pedagogical terminology of today in many countries – the great “transversal theme” in medieval education: every subject is deep down religious; beneath Arithmetic, Biology or whatever you will find messages of God. One of the main purposes of the medieval study of the liberal arts is that they are not, after all, considered profane: like everything in this world they are allegorical messages from God. In this context – as we will see – the aenigma is specially appreciated.
The allegorical mentality, that had been strong already in the Christianity of the Ancient World – for example in Alexandria or in an Augustine -, threw deep roots in the Middle Ages: for a medieval teacher – mainly in the early centuries of that era – a thing in the world is not only that thing that it is, but it is first of all a sign from God, a hint for better understanding the revelation of God, the Word of God: like a riddle to be solved.
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