RESONATING ACROSS TIME-ZONES
Latin or French , of which both languages he would have had at least a working knowledge . Perhaps he decided , with Dante in his De Vulgari Eloquentia , that reality can be better expressed in one ’ s native language ; or perhaps the use of the vernacular simply reflects his own English background as the son of ‘ an upper-level peasant , a yeoman , from Wickham ’.
In exploring what Wykeham meant by his motto , Yasu highlights his three purposes in founding Winchester ( and New College ): intercessionary , for his ‘ foundations to intercede on his behalf for his soul ’ s salvation ’; scholastic , in order to give young people scholarships as a way of distributing his own riches to the poor ; and thirdly , clerical , so that the beneficiaries of a Wykeham education might ‘ repay their debt by serving their peers and nation ’. The reason for intercession was possibly to highlight Wykeham as a pious Christian , but Yasu states that it was more likely the result of his devotion to the Virgin Mary ( to this day Winchester is formally called St Mary ’ s College ) than for any ecclesiastical ambitions ; the scholastic element continues to be reflected in the school today in the scholarships awarded to Collegemen and the bursaries enjoyed by many Commoners ; whilst the clerical component , which in the 14 th century was designed to nurture administrative skills for the running of the country by the clergy , now informs the political classes who long ago superseded their pious predecessors .
Yasu summarises his re-interpretation of the motto for today as ‘ Even if you were born into a wealthy family and get a good education at Winchester , this does not mean you can succeed in life without having Manners ’.
In analysing the meaning of ‘ Manners ’, Yasu studied an article in The Wykehamist by HE Salter ( Coll , 1876-82 ), who translated the motto into Latin as ‘ urbanitas componit homines ’: ‘ urbanitas ’ meant ‘ good manners ’ in the middle ages . This could settle the matter , but Thomas Chaundler ,
With a book given to leavers in which friends write messages
ex-Warden of New College , offered an alternative translation : ‘ mores componunt hominem ’: the word ‘ mores ’ introduces varied definitions ranging through ‘ moral habits ’, ‘ attitudes ’ and ‘ manners ’ to ‘ ways ’, ‘ character ’ and ‘ behaviour ’. All of these could imply a type of piety derived from Wykeham himself .
The definition of ‘ Manners ’ is therefore opaque , but Yasu argues that the Trusty Servant , arriving in 1580 , 200 years after the founding of the College , highlights the virtues of the perfect servant as a template for the Wykehamist , and can therefore , though perhaps not in the moral sense , provide a clarity which ‘ correlates with the motto-meaning of “ good manners ”’. Whether ‘ Manners ’ is defined in the moral sense , as is most likely in the 14 th century , or is based more on good character , Yasu said his research gave him an ‘ interesting insight … that Wykehamists are not affected by the motto itself , but by the education or culture shaped under its influence ’. He concludes : ‘ We might be advised to let ourselves be formed by the “ Manners ” that the school and Wykehamists established and have passed down for more than 600 years ’.
Yasu goes on to state that the definition of Man is derived from the Anglo-Saxon 31