While the
Greeks and Romans had personifications of fate in their mythologies,
Christianity does not. However, the mindset still does not allow for free will.
Redubbed predestination, the idea is that God knows everything, past, present,
and future. For that to be the case, then everything has already been written.
Nothing can be changed. There is no choice.
A
consequence of this idea is that people can only be born to things. Every
circumstance of life is dependent upon the circumstances of birth. Those born
as peasants are peasants. They will never become anything different. Those with
royal blood are inherently better than others. They have the blood to rule. The
triumph of the merchant classes is slow in happening. Even by the time the
Italian Renaissance comes, the idea of hereditary station is still strong with
the European mind.
All of this
rambling is to say that the idea of education as a means to power doesn’t
exist. Merlin cannot get his power by mastering an ancient art. He does not
train to it, he is not apprenticed to another magician. He is born with certain
powers, which he uses to aid Arthur. Education, in general, is something very
difficult to come by. Various guilds safeguard information more closely than
the latest Apple products. The secrets of glassblowing, architecture, and many
more disciplines were kept from all in order to safeguard the knowledge and
skills from outsiders and competitors. For an interesting taste of this, look
at the builders in Ken Follet’s The
Pillars of the Earth (the book or the mini-series).
People with
knowledge are only a step removed from accusations of witchcraft, too. The
ability to create certain mechanisms, craft things in a new way, or use of
medical knowledge could get someone into trouble very quickly. The entire
medieval world was intolerant of such things, (not just the clergy, as some
would say).