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Education

The rise of humanism* had a great impact on education during the Renaissance. Schools began to focus more on the language and literature of the ancient world. They also adopted teaching methods based on classical* texts, with the study of rhetoric* occupying a particularly important place in the classroom. The spread of humanist education helped promote a common culture among people of different nations, languages, and religions. However, this change was limited mostly to the upper classes.

FOUNDATIONS OF RENAISSANCE EDUCATION

Most Renaissance schools based their educational practices on the theories of ancient Greece and Rome. Italian educators were the first to adopt the models offered by ancient writers. Their approach to education later spread to all corners of Europe.

Beginnings in Italy. In 1350 the early humanist PETRARCH unearthed parts of a work called Instruction in Oratory, by the ancient Roman teacher Quintilian. The full text, discovered in 1416, inspired a new humanist approach to education. It outlined a training program that lasted from birth to adulthood and aimed to provide both excellent public speaking skills and sound morals. Quintilian suggested that teachers begin with simple exercises and progress over time to more complex ones, with constant support tailored to the student's specific needs. He also believed that children should balance their studies with recreation. Rigid rules and harsh punishment had no place in Quintilian's program because he believed that young people are naturally inclined to learn.

Quintilian focused on reading, composition, and especially rhetoric. This focus carried over into Renaissance education. A complete copy of the Instruction was one of the first printed books in Italy. One hundred editions of the work appeared over the next 80 years.

Another work that had a great influence on education was On Noble Customs and Liberal Studies of Adolescents, by Pier Paolo VERGERIO. Written in 1404, it argued for the importance of history, moral philosophy, and poetry. Vergerio's ideas echoed Quintilian's in several ways. He advised instructors to consider the different characters and mental abilities of students and to avoid harsh punishments. He also stressed the importance of physical training as well as study. In Vergerio's system, students had to master each lesson before moving on to the next. Students could also act as teachers to other students.

Many Italian writers claimed that humanist education could benefit the community by improving the character and culture of its future leaders. They believed that an ideal citizen should be familiar with classical culture and able to speak with grace and style. Knowledge of the humanities became the mark of an educated person and a basic requirement for political posts in Italy.

Educational Practice. Humanist education began among private tutors in wealthy households in Italy but soon spread into Latin grammar schools. In 1423 VITTORINO DA FELTRE founded one of the first humanist schools at the court of the Duke of Mantua. He taught the children of the duke and other noble families as well as promising students from poor families. They began their instruction with reading and spelling as young as age four or five.

Vittorino's goal was to teach students to write and speak Latin and Greek. He taught all lessons in Latin and expected his students to memorize large amounts of text. Pupils read works by Latin poets and historians to learn vocabulary, syntax (word usage), and pronunciation. The curriculum also included philosophy, mathematics, astronomy, and geometry. Vittorino stressed the development of the mind, body, and character of his pupils. Physical exercise and religious services were part of their daily routine.

Guarino GUARINI, another noted Italian educator, opened a humanist school at the court in Ferrara. Like Vittorino, he required his students to memorize passages, but he focused more on understanding the meaning of the works. He worked through texts carefully, defining terms and explaining background. The ideas of Vittorino and Guarini spread to towns throughout northern and central Italy in the mid-1400s. By the end of the 1400s nearly all Latin schools in Italy followed the humanist program.

Textbooks. In the early 1400s, teachers were still using grammar texts that had been popular during the Middle Ages. The shift to classical Latin texts during the Renaissance created a demand for new grammars. One of Vittorino's students published a Latin grammar in Rome in 1473. In 1487 Antonio de Nebrija wrote a Latin grammar that featured columns of Spanish text alongside the Latin. This work was used widely throughout Europe and was the only Latin grammar allowed in Spain or Portugal. Nebrija later compiled the first Spanish-Latin dictionary.

Johannes Despauterius of the Netherlands produced the most popular Latin grammar text of the Renaissance. His 1520 book Grammar became the model for all Latin grammars in France, Scotland, and the Netherlands until the 1900s. In Germany, Philipp MELANCHTHON produced a basic Latin grammar in 1524 that remained in use until the 1700s. The leading grammar text in England was William Lily's Rudiments of Grammar, which became the basis for later Latin grammars approved by the crown. These descendants of Lily's work were used long after the end of the Renaissance.

Along with grammars, students used phrase books and grammar exercises created by their instructors. Many humanist schools also used commonplace books, notebooks of quotations from classical texts. Pupils often translated material from Latin to the vernacular* and back again. Many humanists believed that students should learn grammar by imitating classical authors, rather than by following "the naked rules of grammarians." The Dutch scholar Desiderius ERASMUS aimed to promote this method of learning in Foundations of the Abundant Style, a collection of texts by ancient writers. The work became a standard in schools throughout northern Europe.

The humanist curriculum also relied on colloquies, fictional dialogues in the classical style. These works provided models for speaking Latin outside of class, a practice that many schools encouraged. Erasmus published the first edition of his Colloquies in 1518, and it quickly became the most popular work of this type. Teachers also made extensive use of original Latin works by authors such as VIRGIL, Ovid, CICERO, and Livy. In addition, students read parts of the BIBLE and some works by early church fathers (figures who shaped Christianity in its early centuries).

SPREAD OF HUMANIST EDUCATION

The humanist educational system soon spread beyond Italy, although it took slightly different forms from one country to another. Each nation adapted the course of study to fit its cultural and religious needs.

Education in France. The elite* in French towns and cities quickly embraced humanist education, as did the French king FRANCIS I. During the 1520s and 1530s city leaders funded many classical grammar schools, called colleges. The French adapted the Italian-Latin tradition, adding elements of Christian philosophy and French culture to the curriculum. Students worked their way through a series of classes, beginning with basic Latin works before proceeding to more challenging texts. They also had lessons in Greek grammar and read the works of Greek authors such as PLATO, ARISTOTLE, and Xenophon. By the mid-1500s nearly every town of reasonable size had a public school with four to six instructors teaching several hundred students.

Town elites encouraged the rapid growth of humanist schools in France. They felt that a humanist education honored the king, strengthened the country as a whole, and was "of greater profit to a community than are all the hospitals in the world." Despite the enthusiasm for humanist education in towns and cities, it had almost no impact in villages or rural areas. It also failed to appeal to French nobles, who continued to prefer military and practical training.

By the 1570s France's classical grammar schools had fallen into decline. Funds ran short, and qualified teachers were scarce. Religious politics also affected schools as the state tried to enforce Catholicism at a time when many teachers were attracted to Protestantism. In the early 1600s Catholic priests and religious orders began to combine classical studies with religious training. However, by this time both the church and the crown felt that there were too many educated laypeople* in France. Renaissance education gradually gave way to an emphasis on French language and culture and on Christian thought.

Education in Spain and Portugal. Humanist education became popular at Spanish and Portuguese courts in the mid-1400s. Humanist ideas reached Spain largely through the court of Alfonso V in Naples, as well as through contacts with Rome and Florence. In addition, many Spanish students attended Italian universities, while the royal court of Portugal sent pupils to study in PARIS. By the late 1400s humanism had taken root in Spain, with the support of the queen, ISABELLA OF CASTILE. Spain's royal court hosted two schools of classical Latin, and noble families regularly hired humanist tutors. Humanist education in Spain and Portugal tended to place a heavy emphasis on Spanish Roman writers such as Quintilian.

By the year 1600, hundreds of Spanish towns boasted Latin grammar schools. However, church schools were also on the rise in the late 1500s. By 1600 the Jesuits* dominated Spanish education. There were more than 100 Jesuit colleges in Spain's major towns and cities, educating as many as 10,000 to 15,000 boys each year.

Education in England and Scotland. Erasmus was a major force in the spread of humanist education to England. He visited the country several times between 1499 and the early 1500s and wrote his text On the Method of Study there in 1511. He argued that children should begin life speaking Latin and read widely to improve their skills, not just memorize rules of grammar. In his last essay on education, Erasmus criticized the teaching practices of his day, particularly those used in monastery schools. He urged parents to send their children to public schools or educate them at home.

St. Paul's, founded by John Colet, was the best-known humanist school in England. William Lily, a scholar who had studied classical Latin and Greek in Italy, served as schoolmaster. St. Paul's used texts by Erasmus and the instruction had a strong Christian emphasis. Colet considered school a sacred space, a view that contributed to the popularity of English schools. Colet's successor at St. Paul's favored a more classical program of education.

Humanism was not as popular in northern England and Scotland as it was in the south. Documents dating from the mid-1500s indicate that most schools in northern England were large public schools. Although they may have promoted classical studies, their teaching methods continued to focus on firm discipline. There is little solid evidence of humanist education in Scotland prior to the 1560s, although the Latin grammar of Despauterius was apparently popular. In 1563 educator George Buchanan proposed a humanist program for the University of St. Andrews. Parts of this program may have found favor at grammar schools in several Scottish cities. Overall, however, Scottish schools did not follow a consistent curriculum. Many grammar teachers created their own Latin texts based on classical models.

Education in Germany and the Netherlands. Humanism began to affect education in Germany and the Netherlands by the late 1400s and early 1500s. City schools throughout the Netherlands were modeled after Italian schools, although they sometimes showed French influences as well. Education in this part of Europe was very organized, with specialized subjects and classes divided into grades. Students began studying Latin in their first class. They added Greek in the second, and their lessons increased in difficulty with each level.

The Protestant Reformation* had little effect on the curriculum in German schools. However, both Protestant and Catholic schools added more religious instruction. Melanchthon introduced a model Latin curriculum that combined classical studies with Scripture, music, and some Hebrew. This program was particularly popular in Germany and Denmark. The school in the city of Strasbourg offered the most thorough humanist education in Germany. It had eight classes arranged according to a strict hierarchy*. Students had to pass a thorough exam to move from one level to the next.

Education of Women. Many humanist thinkers took a favorable view of the education of women. Quintilian's works had included examples of learned Roman women and had recommended that both fathers and mothers be as well educated as possible. The many female rulers throughout Europe, as well as the powerful women in the courts of northern Italy, may also have had an impact on humanist attitudes.

Most writers, however, saw education as a way to prepare women for their roles as wives and mothers, rather than an end in itself. One early letter addressing female education recommended all of the "new learning" as appropriate for girls, but noted that debate and public speaking "are of the least practical use, if indeed they are not positively unbecoming" to a woman. Despite this advice, some learned Italian women gave public speeches and corresponded on learned topics with men. Women in other nations also began to take on less traditional roles in society. In Spain, for example, Francisca de Nebrija, the daughter of Antonio de Nebrija, may have substituted for her father as a lecturer at the University of Alcala. Many learned women from Spain, Italy, and other parts of Europe entered convents.

Women in England had few opportunities for classical training. Education remained restricted to households and to elementary schools, where girls received instruction in English. Some women, such as the daughters of HENRY VIII, benefited from humanist tutors at the royal court.

(See also Academies; Classical Scholarship; Humanism; Latin Language and Literature; Literacy; Printing and Publishing; Science; Translation; Universities.)

* humanism

Renaissance cultural movement promoting the study of the humanities (the languages, literature, and history of ancient Greece and Rome) as a guide to living

* classical

in the tradition of ancient Greece and Rome

* rhetoric

art of speaking or writing effectively

Jesuits and Jesuitesses

In 1548 the Jesuits founded their first school for students outside of the religious order. Twelve years later, instructing others became part of Jesuit training. Students at Jesuit schools learned grammar, rhetoric, poetry, logic, philosophy, religion, mathematics, and astronomy from Latin texts. In 1609 a similar system of schools for girls, known as the Institute of the Blessed Virgin Mary, opened in England. By 1631 the Institute had 300 female instructors (popularly known as Jesuitesses). One of its schools, located in Vienna, had as many as 500 pupils.

* vernacular

native language or dialect of a region or country

* elite

privileged group; upper class

* laypeople

those who are not members of the clergy

* Jesuit

refers to a Roman Catholic religious order founded by St. Ignatius Loyola and approved in 1540

* Protestant Reformation

religious movement that began in the 1500s as a protest against certain practices of the Roman Catholic Church and eventually led to the establishment of a variety of Protestant churches

* hierarchy

organization of a group into higher and lower levels