ABSTRACT
Early medieval Europe had many institutions common to all the new Germanic states, and to the eastern empire and new Balkan settlements as well; they were her common heritage from the Greco-Roman world and early Christianity. The Roman empire had paid the salaries of rhetors who educated boys for the civil service without fee. Education had an orthodox foundation: children were grounded in Christian doctrine and the sacred scriptures first of all, in the home of their parents. Christianity was a great transmitter of art-forms from the east to west. The question of the origin of Christian art-forms has been long debated, though it is accepted that, since Christianity arose in the east, the origin of her art-forms must be looked for in the Hellenistic art of the eastern provinces. The origin and history of Christian architecture has given rise to debate, but again modern scholarship would tend to find the origin of types of Christian building in the east.
