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their death. For due to their avarice and acquired wealth
the sciences are coming to naught, so that they have almost
perished. And this is known to happen these days in the city
of Paris, more than any other city. [rubric] Of the three types
of people and how scholarship first came to France. [rubric]
These days scholarship has a leading position in
Paris, which is as Athens used to be, a very noble and
powerful city. The philosophers who lived there at that time, who studied and
taught others, identified only three kinds of people in the world, according
to their understanding. These were scholars, knights, and laborers.
The laborers, or those who worked on the land, were required
to provide to the scholars and the knights with whatever was
necessary for them to live honestly in the world. And the knight
was required to guard and defend them, as a good lord, so
that they should not harm each other. And the scholars
were required to teach the other two types of people and to
strive with their works to make sure that no one did
anything by which he would be lost to God or His grace. In this way,