Studies in Education During the Age of the Renaissance, 1400-1600
New York: Russel & Russel, 1965
The humanist idea of education is one of the most important legacies of the Renaissance. This study examines two centuries of modern Europe when the ideas and practices of humanist education were developed. In addition to the Quattrocento and the beginning of humanist education, Woodward included the works of such men as Agricola, Erasmus, Vives, and Melanchthon. Il Cortegiano and The Governour are also analyzed as important works in this field of study. Perhaps the overwhelming feature of this book is its relevance to the nature of education today.
Woodward believes that education is an evolutionary process and therefore, can be closely studied. The aim and curriculum of education reflects the ideals and interests of the particular age. During the Quattrocento, a revival of ancient learning found an enthusiastic audience among masters and students. During this period, progress did not mean the evolution of a new idea, but the restoration of a period which symbolized past perfection. The recreation of the Classical Period, complete with its culture, virtue, prosperity, and national pride, was believed to be attained by restoring the training found in Ancient Greece and Rome. In the Quattrocento, Woodward identified forces which were responsible for the spread of classical enthusiasm. De Ingenuis Moribus of P.P. Vergerius, Guarino's translation of Plutarch's tract on bringing-up children, and Leonardo Bruni and Francesco Barbaro's work on instruction suitable for women were among the forces cited for their significance. Quintilian's Education of the Orator was rediscovered in 1417 and the concepts of social service and the practical use of knowledge remained an ideal of humanist education.
Woodward began his study of humanist educators with Vittorino, the esteemed scholar and master of the Mantuan School. Vittorino's reconciliation of the moral and religious teaching of the Church with classical instruction, and his respect for the individuality of his pupils, enabled him to produce future statesmen, administrators, high ecclesiastics, and school masters who were guided by virtue, wisdom, and integrity. Guarino da Verona, a contemporary of Vittorino's, was also cited as an integral personality of the period. Guarino became famous for his mastery of Greek and his ability as a teacher of literary training. Guarino also supported the humanist belief that the end of humanist studies was the well-being of the community. Leonardo Alberti, author of educational treatises such as Trattato della Curra della Famiglia believed in man's capacity to use his "gift of intellect" and also be of service to the state. With the proper environment for the training of youth, young men would enter the world of affairs possessing " a seriousness of purpose, ambition of usefulness and fame, and a willingness to attack difficulties." In essence, Alberti believed excellence in family and in school resulted in a contribution to the state. Matteo Palmieri, a contemporary of Alberti, also wrote a work concerning the training of youth. Palmieri's Della Vita Civile was a dialogue which consisted of four books: the first book involved the mental and physical development of the student; books two and three explored man's moral life and supported the belief that the good citizen exhibited justice in all parts of life; and lastly, the interaction of the "useful" and the "virtuous" of motives to social well-doing and to individual perfection. In the estimation of Palmieri, the ultimate educational aim was to produce an individual who would secure the safety and property of the community. Like Alberti, Palmieri believed the home was the training ground of virtues, and in the classroom, Palmieri relied upon the works of Quintilian, Vergerius, and Guarino.
During the later half of the fifteenth century, Rudolph Agricola was a dominant influence in the transfer of the "new light" from Italy to northern Europe. Woodward stated that Agricola was considered by the German humanists of the sixteenth century as the forerunner of the New Learning. Erasmus believed Agricola to be " a man of recondite erudition, of remarkable power as a writer of pure, forceful, and translucent Latinity, worthy to be compared with Quintilian." To Erasmus, Rudolph Agricola was the founder of the new education in Germany. Agricola was a many-sided individual and was considered by Woodward to be the genuine son of the Renaissance. After ten years of Greek and Latin study, he left Italy and played a vital role in the introduction of Greek in German education. He was a scholarly musician who was credited for being a skilled singer. In addition to building an organ, Agricola was also cited as an accomplished painter. Upon his return to Holland in 1480, Agricola decided to travel once again to Heidelberg where he would form a circle of followers. Agricola didn't find a conflict between humanism and religion and he believed that conduct mattered most. De Formando Studio, a letter from Agricola to his friend, Barbirianus, expressed the belief that the place of letters to conduct was very important. Character was shaped and strengthened by the study of the wise men of antiquity. Agricola also produced a manual of logic which would be very influential to Melancthon. De Inventione Dialectica supported the belief that successful speech consisted of: intelligibility of the speaker; reason in the subject matter, and a favorable attitude on the part of the listener. Logic was perceived as an instrument of proof.
Like Agricola, Erasmus refused to hold himself down to one particular place. An ordained priest, he traveled to Italy, France and England where he learned Greek and Latin as well as conversed with leading humanist scholars of the period. According to Woodward, Erasmus gained recognition as an acknowledged leader of European learning. He was credited with giving standard to the new learning and more than any other person, created an atmosphere where humanism could flourish. Erasmus is perceived as a reformer; not a fanatic. In lieu of fighting against Papal courts and policy, Erasmus decided to go to Basel where he could pursue classical and patristic studies. At Basel, Erasmus wrote several treatises on education. Similar to the Italian humanists, Erasmus saw himself as a man of letters. Antiquity was a golden age and if one should take a stand against the claims of antique learning, one was thus taking a stand against human progress. For northern humanists, the ancient culture lacked a sense of patristic feeling. Not accepting this view, Erasmus put forth four lines of proof which would enforce the acceptance of humanism as the one possible training for life in the modern world. Erasmus claimed that classical religion and literature strengthened religion. He believed that only through a study of the ancient writers could human knowledge be advanced. De Pueris Statim ac Liberaliter Instituendis was an educational writing by Erasmus which was devoted to the first steps in education. The first foundation of instruction was to be laid in the home and the child's mother was responsible for the development of a moral basis as well as an introduction to the elements of the Christian faith. At the age of seven, systematic instruction began and Erasmus preferred the father to oversee the education of his son. Since most fathers could not direct the studies of their sons, and Erasmus possessed a low opinion of most schoolmasters, careful selection of tutors was recommended. The beginnings of schoolwork began with Latin but not with Latin grammar. Unlike his medieval predecessors, Erasmus did not treat grammar as an end to itself. Grammar was not disregarded , but proportioned strictly to the actual needs at each stage. Erasmus treated Latin as a living language in which the events of modern life as well as those events of classical times, were capable of expression. De Ratione Studii was an educational work by Erasmus in which he sketched a reading program conducive to a humanist education. Moral instruction was highly praised and students were encouraged to read proverbs and the Gospels. Selections from Plutarch, Seneca and Aesop were also to be included in the program. In De Ratione Studii, Woodward found Erasmus deficient in historical perception. By examining the themes Erasmus recommended for senior pupils, Woodward claimed that this scholar imperfectly realized the proper content of history. Erasmus was believed to have possessed the habit of treating history as a body of moral illustrations. Erasmus also addressed the issue concerning the education of girls. Though the Italian ideal was familiar to him, Erasmus was aware of the reasons for neglect of girls' education in the German lands. Erasmus decided to uplift the home influence which shaped the young boy's early years. In order to accomplish this task, he demanded a new standard of training for motherhood. As a result, girls began to receive some education based upon classical lines.
In 1516, Guillaume Bude, a contemporary of Erasmus, wrote L'Institution du Prince which he addressed to the young Francis I of France. Bude wanted Francis I to become a supporter of humanist thought and he tried to convince the king that the interests of France would be better served if the leader was also a philosopher. Francis I recognized Bude's skill and intellect as a great scholar, and in 1530, the new College de France was established as a center of humanist scholarship. Commentari Linguae Graecae, Bude's great work, included a vast collection of solid yet unorganized material in Greek studies. This work was also a dictionary and did contain criticism and syntax in one; Woodward believed this work established Bude as the first Greek scholar in Europe.
Mathurin Cordier was a French humanist noted for his work at Le College de Guyenne. The college became a famous teaching institution in 1556, and Cordier developed the methods of organization and instruction of the lower forms of the school. Mathurin Cordier's book, De Corrupti Sermonis Emendatione Libellus, was intended to help French students recognize the standard purity in classical education.
Juan Luis Vives was born in Valencia in 1492 and would mature as one of the most influential humanists of his time. In comparison to Erasmus, Woodward perceived Vives as a more thorough scholar, a more skilled teacher, and an individual who possessed a stronger grasp of the needs of his age. While Vives received his early instruction in Greek and Latin studies in Spain, as a young man he would travel to the University of Paris and continue to spend the remaining part of his life outside his native land. Vives was the author of a number of works which included: Liber in Pseudodialecticos a criticism of the studies and methods at the University of Paris; De Ratione Studii Puerilis, written upon the request of Queen Catherine to serve as a plan of study for Mary Tudor; De Institutione Feminae Christianae work commissioned by Queen Catherine which would become the leading theoretical manual on women's education of the sixteenth century; and Satellitium, a book of maxims for Princess Mary. Finally, in 1531, Vives' monumental work, De Tradendis Disciplinis was published in Antwerp. Woodward believed that this book made Vives a standing authority in the field of education for the next century. De Tradendis Disciplinis, a comprehensive work, was compiled upon the basis of men such as Aristotle, Plutarch, and Quintillian, and also has drawn from the masters of the fifteenth century, particularly from Erasmus.
De Tradendis Disciplinis consists of twenty books. Seven books are on the corruption of the Arts and are included under the title of De Causis Corruptarum Artium; five are on the transmission of the Arts (De Tradendis Disciplinis); and the remaining eight books consist of treatises on the Arts. In the first part of his work, Vives takes a critical look at the reasons of the slow progress of knowledge in an age of rapid and social change. Vives wanted to know why knowledge as a whole degenerated from its active search for truth. He attributed this situation to the following causes: avarice, arrogance of the unlearned, wars, and corruption of the University; a lack of true instruction in Latin and Greek; perversion of logic as an instrument of inquiry; a want of trained powers of expression; ignorance of natural science; a decline of the true study of moral philosophy; and a degenerate method of the study of law. Vives believed in an educational setting which would include a comprehensive curriculum and an environment suitable for the instruction of the student. Vives studied psychology and approached education from the point of view concerning effectiveness of instruction. To Vives, psychological analysis was a specific aid to the right adjustment of instruction. The ideal school of Vives would include: a fitting site and surroundings; the training of the staff, the duty of the master to adjust instruction to individual ability and bent; and the importance of systematic games. According to Vives, curriculum was regarded as a preparation to professional training. Though Vives would agree with Erasmus on such issues as the law of heredity and the responsibility of parents, he would differ with his predecessor over the role which a mother would play in the rearing of her child. Vives believed that women could learn Latin and Greek and continue to a level in which they could assist their sons in preparation. A more fundamental difference between Vives and Erasmus involved the function and worth of the vernacular tongues. Woodward cites that Vives was brought up by Spanish humanists to be proud of his Castilian. Vives spoke Flemish, French, and English and believed that it was "the duty of the parent and master to take pains that children speak their mother tongue correctly." Vives taught Latin through the vernacular. However, though Vives supported the vernacular, he realized the need for the universal language of Latin. Like Valla, Vives insisted upon the abandonment of medieval concepts of grammar and vocabulary which destroyed Latin as the standard tongue. He denounced the old dialectic grammars and wrote appropriate aids in the forms of colloquies in order for the young student to speak Latin. Vives also held a different belief on the treatment of history. He taught students to deal with civil history and in the process, become aware of policy worthy of political lessons. Thucydides, Plutarch, and Livy were selected as subjects and Vives believed that students would in turn become enlightened and dedicated servants of the state.
In Woodward's estimation, Philip Melanchthon supplied to the German Renaissance what Erasmus or Agricola lacked: a genius for system. This German humanist became known as the organizer and reformer of the German schools. Melanchthon was skilled in the systematic organization of school instruction coupled with a correspondence with the logical relations of the subjects themselves. He was dismayed at the poor instruction which the medieval schools of Germany had practiced, and his work De Miseriis Paedagogorum, gives a disappointing account of actual instruction in a less distinguished school which lacked proper method and organization. Melanchthon set up a school in his own house where he conducted an experiment for ten years. Characteristics such as a sound foundation in Latin, an introduction to Greek, and a system of promotion and competition were valued. Melanchthon also wanted to raise the status of the school master and provide him with the proper guidance and power. Before his death in 1560, Melanchthon was credited for the reformation and extension of the German university system which produced mostly schoolmasters, civil servants, and preachers.
During the first half of the sixteenth century, two books were written which addressed the education and training of young gentlemen. In 1528, Castiglione wrote Il Cortegiano, a work that echoed the ideals and values of the Quattrocento. Castiglione's book spoke of the refurbishing of the ideal behavior in order to correspond to the revolution in learning and to the new adjustments in moral standards. The courtier, a man who was unaffected, natural and temperate, aspired to the new types of excellence that were revealed to him from Antiquity. He was thus attracted to the roles of the democratic statesmen, the orator, the learned advisor, and the provincial governor. In regard to the function of the courtier, Castiglione wrote,"So to direct and persuade his Prince to good and to dissuade him from evil, that his lord may understand good and ill, and love the one and hate the other, is the true fruit of the art of the courtier." The Governour was the English aspect of the ideal Italian courtier. In 1531, Thomas Elyot wrote this work to instruct men so that they may fulfill the higher calls of citizenship and public service. Elyot was well versed in the ideals of the Quattrocento, and he realized the age he was living in necessitated a sound concept of training for the sons of the governing class. Elyot supported such educational ideals as a sound background in Latin, intellectual and physical advancement, and the adoption of values which stressed temperance, justice, and civic responsibility.
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