Subjects for Academic Education. During the Middle Ages the word education could have several different meanings. Professionals such as artists were most frequently educated through apprenticeship, a system whereby a boy was contracted to work for a craft master for a specified number of years. In return, the master craftsman provided the boy with food, shelter, and sometimes even a small salary and trained the boy in his craft. Women were rarely apprenticed, and a young woman who received this sort of training generally did so because a near male relative took it on himself to train her. Writing, reading, and other basic academic skills were generally taught at home by a member of the household or a private tutor or in a village by a local clergyman. More-advanced academic education focused on subjects deemed important to medieval administration, philosophy, and...