Vol. 58 (2018): Sophie Caflisch: Spielend lernen Spiel und

This study shows that play and games were much more significant in medieval education than previously assumed. Teachers in ecclesiastical schools as well as teachers of young princes and princesses agreed that movement games were necessary for their students’
physical health. This also applied to the training of young scholars at the universities. Play and games of all kinds also contributed to moral, language and science instruction. Moreover, according to Aristotle and Thomas Aquinas, well-educated people should acknowledge the necessity of play for human life and at the same time be able to shape their conduct in play in a moderate and virtuous way.