a.Drawing of Winchester College and its inmates by Warden Chandler of New College, Oxford, in 1460. The picture reveals the relationship of Winchester to the old monastic institutions, before it became humanistic.
a.Drawing of Winchester College and its inmates by Warden Chandler of New College, Oxford, in 1460. The picture reveals the relationship of Winchester to the old monastic institutions, before it became humanistic.
b.Eton College in 1688, from the drawing of David Loggan.Fig. 17.—Great English Public Schools.
b.Eton College in 1688, from the drawing of David Loggan.
Fig. 17.—Great English Public Schools.
The Aim and Institutions of Humanistic Education.—It can now be seen how far the ideals of humanism had departed from those of the mediæval period. The ‘otherworldly’ aim, the monastic isolation, and the scholasticInterests of this life.discussions had given way to the interests of this life, personal and social development, and a study of the classics. In the North the movement took on rather a different color from what it did in the peninsula that gave it birth. While Northern humanism was narrower in not concerning itself so much with self-culture, personal expression, and the various opportunities of life, it had a wider vision through interesting itself in society as a whole and in endeavoring to advance morality andMore social and moral in the North, and more individual in Italy.religion. It was democratic and social in its trend, where Italian humanism was more aristocratic and individual.
In Italy the chief educational institutions resulting from the humanistic movement were the schools that arose at the brilliant courts of the city tyrants. These institutions were sometimes connected with the universities, and gradually the universities themselves were forced to admit the new learning to the curriculum. InOrganization,the North a number of new institutions—Hieronymian schools, princes’ schools, gymnasiums, and grammar schools—were developed from humanism, and the existing institutions soon showed the influence of the movement, but all of them stressed moral and religious studies, as well as classical. Everywhere the curriculum of thecontent,humanistic foundations consisted mostly in the mastery of Latin and Greek, but in the North the renewal of Greek meant also a study of the New and Old Testaments and the Church Fathers. Where the Italian Renaissance re-created the liberal education of Plato and Aristotle, Cicero and Quintilian, the movement in its Northern spread found in the classical revival a means of moral and religious training. But just as humanismmethods,in Italy by the beginning of the sixteenth century had degenerated into mere Ciceronianism, so the humanistic education in the North, after about a century of development, began to grow narrow, hard, and fixed. By the middle of the sixteenth century the spirit of criticism, investigation, and intellectual activity had begun to abate, and by the opening of the seventeenth humanismand effect.had been completely formalized. In the study of the classics all emphasis was placed upon grammar, linguistics, and style; form was preferred to content; andmethods becamememoriterand imitative. Humanism had largely performed its mission, and a new awakening was needed to revivify education and society in general.
Graves,During the Transition(Macmillan, 1910), chaps. XII-XIV; Monroe,Text-book(Macmillan, 1905), chap. VI. An interesting interpretation of the Renaissance both in Italy and the North is found in Adams, G. B.,Civilization during the Middle Ages(Scribner, 1894), chap. XV. An account of the movement, including its educational aspects in Italy, is found in Burckhardt, J.,Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy(Sonnenschein, London, 1892; Macmillan), vol. I, especially part III; Symonds, J. A.,Renaissance in Italy(Holt, Scribner), vol. II, especially chaps. III-VIII; or Symonds’Short History of the Renaissance(Holt, 1894), especially chaps. I and VII, and IX-XI. Woodward, W. H., gives us a vivid account of the educational work ofVittorino da Feltre and Other Humanist Educators(Cambridge University Press, 1897), and ofErasmus concerning Education(Cambridge University Press, 1904), and ofEducation during the Renaissance(Cambridge University Press, 1906) as a whole.Peter Ramus and the Educational Reformation of the Sixteenth Century(Macmillan, 1912), by Graves, F. P., furnishes some idea of conditions in France.The Italian Renaissance in England(Columbia University Press, 1905), especially chap. I, is succinctly described by Einstein, L.; and an account of Colet and St. Paul’s School can be found in Barnard, H.,English Pedagogy, second series, pp. 49-117.
Luther’s educational positions are most fully revealed in his well-knownLetterandSermon. He holds that education should prepare for citizenship, and should be state-supported, and these recommendations were somewhat embodied in actual schools by his associates.Zwingli was killed before he could greatly influence education, but the educational institutions of Calvin spread rapidly through Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Puritan England, and Scotland.In England Henry VIII and Edward VI confiscated the property of some three hundred monastic and other ecclesiastical schools, but subsequently many of these were refounded.The Jesuit colleges were organized to extend Catholic Christianity. The lower colleges were humanistic, and the higher taught ‘philosophy’ and theology. The teachers were trained, and the methods, thoughmemoriterand emulative, were effective. The influence of the Jesuit colleges was phenomenal, but they have failed to meet new conditions.The Port Royalists held that reason was more important than memory, but, while their ‘little schools’ stressed vernacular, logic, and geometry, they offered nothing beyond the best elements in the education of the past.Elementary and industrial education was given an impulse for the Catholics by the schools of the Christian Brothers. They also opened training schools for teachers, and perfected the ‘simultaneous’ method.Among the Protestants and some Catholics in Germany, Holland, Scotland, and certain of the American colonies, the Reformationinclined toward universal elementary education and control of the schools by the state. The secondary schools in Protestant countries also came largely under civic authorities, although the clergy still taught and inspected them; while Catholic secondary education was furnished mostly by the Jesuit colleges. In many instances the universities turned Protestant; and new universities, Protestant and Catholic, were founded.
Luther’s educational positions are most fully revealed in his well-knownLetterandSermon. He holds that education should prepare for citizenship, and should be state-supported, and these recommendations were somewhat embodied in actual schools by his associates.
Zwingli was killed before he could greatly influence education, but the educational institutions of Calvin spread rapidly through Switzerland, France, Netherlands, Puritan England, and Scotland.
In England Henry VIII and Edward VI confiscated the property of some three hundred monastic and other ecclesiastical schools, but subsequently many of these were refounded.
The Jesuit colleges were organized to extend Catholic Christianity. The lower colleges were humanistic, and the higher taught ‘philosophy’ and theology. The teachers were trained, and the methods, thoughmemoriterand emulative, were effective. The influence of the Jesuit colleges was phenomenal, but they have failed to meet new conditions.
The Port Royalists held that reason was more important than memory, but, while their ‘little schools’ stressed vernacular, logic, and geometry, they offered nothing beyond the best elements in the education of the past.
Elementary and industrial education was given an impulse for the Catholics by the schools of the Christian Brothers. They also opened training schools for teachers, and perfected the ‘simultaneous’ method.
Among the Protestants and some Catholics in Germany, Holland, Scotland, and certain of the American colonies, the Reformationinclined toward universal elementary education and control of the schools by the state. The secondary schools in Protestant countries also came largely under civic authorities, although the clergy still taught and inspected them; while Catholic secondary education was furnished mostly by the Jesuit colleges. In many instances the universities turned Protestant; and new universities, Protestant and Catholic, were founded.
The Relation of the Reformation to the Renaissance.—The series of revolts from the Catholic Church, generally known collectively as the ‘Reformation,’ may be regarded as closely connected with the Renaissance. As shown in the last chapter, humanism in the North led to a renewed study of the Scriptures and a reform of ecclesiastical doctrines and abuses, and took on a moral and religious color. Reformers arose, like Wimpfeling and Erasmus, who, while remaining within the Church, sought to purify it of corruption and obscurantism. But the Church at first stubbornly resisted all efforts at internalA series of revolts from the Church accompanied Northern humanism.reform. Its immense wealth, large numbers, and training enabled it for a long time to thwart the spirit of the age, and a condition of ecclesiastical upheaval followed. Revolts against papal authority ensued in various parts of Europe north of Italy, and were furnished support by the awakened intellectual and social conditions of the sixteenth century. The result was the establishment of a church, or rather a set of churches, outside of Catholic Christianity. While each revolt had some peculiarities of its own, there were underlying them all certain general causes that indicated their relation to the Renaissance.
The Revolt and Educational Works of Luther.—Even the attitude of Martin Luther (1483-1546) seems to havebeen bound up with the tendencies of the day. Apparently he had at first no idea of breaking from the Church, and supposed that the ninety-five theses he nailed to the church door at Wittenberg (1517) were quite consistent with Catholic allegiance. But even before this he hadIn his revolt, Luther relied upon the individualistic spirit of the times.attacked Aristotle and scholasticism with great vigor, appealing to primitive Christianity and the right of free thought, and thus identified himself in spirit with the Northern Renaissance. And two years later, in his contest with Eck, when he was actually led to deny the authority of both pope and council, he was evidently relying upon the humanistic and individualistic atmosphere of the times.
When once he had revolted, Luther gave much of his time to promoting the reform and education of the masses by writing. All his works, whether religious or pedagogical, were clearly intended, in a broad sense, to be educational. After his condemnation at the Diet ofHis translation of the BibleWorms (1521), when he had taken refuge at the Wartburg, he undertook to awaken the minds and hearts of the common people by a translation of the Greek Testament. Contrary to general opinion, a large number of translations had preceded that of Luther, and their popularity must have proved suggestive to him, but his edition was unusually close to the colloquial language of the times. A dozen years later, he had completed a translation of the entire Bible, which contributed greatly to education by getting the masses to read and reflect.and his catechisms.For the further instruction of the people, he also followed the fashion of the day in producing two catechisms, one for adults and the other for children, together with many tracts, addresses, and letters, filled with allusionsto the organization and methods of education. But the documents which most fully reveal his educationalHisLetterandSermon.positions are hisLetter to the Mayors and Aldermen of All Cities of Germany in behalf of Christian Schools(1524), and hisSermon on the Duty of Sending Children to School(1530).
Luther’s Ideas on Education.—The purpose of education, Luther everywhere holds, involves the promotion of the State’s welfare quite as much as that of the Church.Civic aim.The schools were to make good citizens as well as religious men. Educational institutions should, on that account, be maintained at public expense for every one,—rich and poor, high and low, boys and girls, alike, and attendance should be compelled by the civic authorities.Industrial and academic training.Realizing that some pupils may find it hard to give the time to school, Luther planned that “they should spend an hour or two a day in school, and the rest of the time in work at home, learn some trade and do whatever is desired, so that study and work may go on together.” But he also desired a more academic course “for the brightest pupils, who give promise of becoming accomplished teachers, preachers, and workers.” In any case, Luther naturally believed that the chief studies should be the Bible and the catechism. But, as a Northern humanist, he recommended the ancient languages—Latin, Greek, and Hebrew—for the light they would throw on the Scriptures and the patristicEnlarged content.writers. He likewise approved of rhetoric and dialectic, which were very valuable subjects in those days of controversy; and he made a decided advance in advocating history, natural science, vocal and instrumental music, and gymnastic exercises. History is advised,not only, as was common with the humanists, for the sake of illustrating moral truth, but also for the purpose of understanding social institutions. The study of nature was intended to reveal “the wonders of Divine Goodness and the omnipotence of God.” Gymnastics he considered of value both for the body and the soul, and music a means of “driving away all care and melancholyRational methods.from the heart.” The methods he recommended were equally rational. He would utilize the natural activity of children and not attempt to repress them, and would make use of concrete examples, wherever possible. Languages he would teach less by grammar than by practice. This belief in the importance of selecting the proper content and method in education led him to rate the function of the teacher as higher, if anything, than that of the preacher.
The Embodiment of Luther’s Ideas in Schools by His Associates.—These recommendations of Luther were largely embodied in actual institutions by his associates. The year after hisLetter to the Mayorswas published, the Protestants were requested by the Count of Mansfeld to establish in Luther’s native town, Eisleben, a school that should put his educational theories into practice,Melanchthon and Sturm.and this was performed by Melanchthon. The subsequent organization of Latin schools throughout the Electorate of Saxony, and the foundation of the gymnasium of Sturm at Strassburg upon the Protestant basis have already been touched upon (pp. 114ff.). But of fully as much importance were the educational foundationsBugenhagen in Northern Germany.of Bugenhagen (1485-1558). While engaged in reorganizing the churches in the cities and states of Northern Germany, by his general ‘church orders’ toeach, he made ample provision for schools of the Lutheran type. For instance, at Hamburg in 1520 he organized a single Latin school with a rector and seven teachers, together with a German school for boys and one for girls in every parish. Eight years afterward, the ‘church orders’ of Brunswick provided two classical schools, two vernacular schools for boys, and four for girls, so located in the city that all children could conveniently reach a school. Within a half dozen years he made similar requirements for Lübeck, Minden, Göttingen, Soest, Bremen, Osnabrück, and other cities, and throughout some entire states of Germany, such as Holstein and hisOther associates.own native duchy of Pomerania. The educational theories of Luther were also put into practice in a number of schools taught by Trotzendorf, Neander, and other pupils of Melanchthon.
The Revolt and Educational Ideas of Zwingli.—The revolt under Zwingli (1484-1531) was more directly theSprang from Northern humanism.outcome of Northern humanism than was that of Luther. Through Erasmus and others he had come to believe that there was little basis in the Bible for the traditional theology, and he carefully read the accounts himself in the original Greek and Hebrew. After he took charge of the cathedral at Zurich, he began his attack upon the dogmas and traditions of the Church, and, by securing the support of the town, managed in a fairly peaceful way to drop one form of the Church after another, until, within five years, he had abolished even the mass. Zwingli likewise made the extension of educational facilities a part of his reform. He founded a number of humanistic institutions, and introduced elementary schools into Switzerland. He also published aBrief Treatiseon the Christian Education of Youth(1523), which recommended a course of studies not unlike that ofSchools and course similar to Luther’s.Luther, except that, from his practical temperament, he did not mention history, but did add arithmetic and surveying.
Calvin’s Revolt and His Encouragement of Education.—While endeavoring to spread his reforms, Zwingli was slain in the prime of life. His positions were maintained by his successor in the cathedral, but the work was soon overshadowed and merged in the movement of Calvin (1509-1564). Calvin’s break with the Church, like that of French Protestants generally, also beganAlso began through Northern humanism.through the influence of Northern humanism and the study of the Greek Testament. He had, however, received an excellent legal and theological education, and did not content himself with merely attacking Catholic doctrine, but was the first Protestant to formulate an elaborate system of theology. The call of Calvin to reorganize the civil and religious administration of the city of Geneva gave him an excellent opportunity for working out his theories. Although he was much engrossedCalvin’s collegesin religious disputes, he established ‘colleges’ at Geneva and elsewhere, and in other ways undertook to found schools and promote education. He succeeded,and Corderius.too, in persuading his former teacher, Corderius (see p. 111), to come to Switzerland, and organize, administer, and teach in the reformed colleges.
The Colleges of Calvin.—Corderius here wrote four books ofColloquies, with the purpose of training boys by means of conversation on timely topics to speak Latin with facility, and from this work we can learn much of the character of the Calvinistic colleges. ClearlyAim, content, and organization.the ideal was the ‘learned piety’ of Melanchthon, Sturm, and the other Northern humanists and Protestants. An attempt seems to have been made to teach Latin in such a way as to cultivate a moral and religious life, and psalms were sung, public prayers offered, and selections from the Bible repeated each day. We also know that in the seven classes of a college at Geneva the pupils learned reading and grammar from the Latin catechism, and then studied Vergil, Cicero, Ovid, Cæsar, Livy, and Latin composition. Greek seems to have been begun in the fourth year, and, beside classical Greek authors, the Gospels and Epistles were read. Likewise, as in the other Reformation schools, logic and rhetoric were studied in the higher classes. The colleges of this type notSpread in Switzerland, France, Netherlands, England, and Scotland.only spread rapidly among Calvin’s co-religionists in Switzerland and France, but, as Geneva became a city of refuge for all the oppressed, a regard for humanistic, religious, and universal education was absorbed by the persecuted Netherlander, the English Protestants of Mary’s time, and the Scotch under the leadership of Knox in the days of Mary, Queen of Scots (1505-1572).
Henry VIII’s Revolt and Its Effect upon Education.—In England a revolt from the Church likewise occurred.Due to personal reasons.This also may have been due in part to the investigative spirit of Northern humanism, but the immediate cause of the breach was the desire of Henry VIII (r.1509-1547) to control the national Church, that he might divorce his wife, and there was at first little change in doctrine. Once in ecclesiastical power, Henry began in 1536 to confiscate the monastic lands and property, and enlarged the scope of his operations until he had suppressed a large number of monastic, cathedral, collegiate, hospital,and other schools. During the reign (1547-1553)Suppression of grammar schools.of his successor, Edward VI, the acts of suppression were extended to chantry and gild foundations, and it is estimated that, of the three hundred grammar schools that had come down in England from the Middle Ages, but few were not destroyed under Henry and Edward. Some, however, remained by the terms of the parliamentary acts of suppression, and popular sentiment caused others to be refounded. And during the reign of Elizabeth (1558-1603) and of the first two Stuart kings (1603-1649) these foundations were greatly increased out of royal funds or through the philanthropy of wealthy men. All of these schools, as we have seen (p. 118), following the example of St. Paul’s, adopted the Northern ideals of humanism and furnished a curriculum of classics and religious training. The latter became based, of course, upon the teachings of the Church of England.
Foundation of the Society of Jesus.—We may now turn back to the Mother Church and see what efforts she was putting forth in behalf of education during the period of Protestant revolts. Both before and after the time of Luther there were reformers inside the Church who wished to improve its practices without changing its administration, but the Catholics in general felt it their chief duty to crush the Protestant heresy and recover the ground they had lost. This resulted in a number of religious wars, in which both sides displayed great bitterness and cruelty. But a more effective and constructive instrument in advancing the interests of Catholicism was the organization of the ‘Society ofAimed to strengthen the authority of the pope.Jesus.’ This order was founded by Ignatius de Loyola (1491-1556) in 1534. He persuaded six fellow-studentsat Paris to join with him in devoting themselves to the conversion of the heathen, and to strengthening the authority of the pope. Six years later, after considerable opposition, the new order was recognized by the pope and began to add rapidly to its numbers. The Jesuits have always striven first through missionary labors to extend Catholic Christianity throughout the world, and then by means of schools to hold their converts and educate all peoples to papal allegiance.
Organization of the Jesuits.—The organization of the Society of Jesus was outlined in itsConstitution. This fundamental document of the order received its final revision shortly after Loyola’s death, but theRatio Studiorum,TheConstitutionand theRatio Studiorum.which was an expansion of Part IV of theConstitutionand described the educational administration in detail, was not finally formulated until 1599. It thus summed up the experience of the Jesuit schools during more than sixty years. The administration of the society has always been of a military type. Loyola had originally started upon the career of a soldier, and did not believe that any system could be effective unless it were based upon implicit obedience to one’s officialThe ‘general,’superiors. At the head of the order is the ‘general,’ who is elected for life and has vast administrative powers. As the society spread, the countries that came under its control were divided into provinces, and at the head of‘provincial,’the Jesuit interests in each of these districts is the ‘provincial,’ who is appointed by the general for three years. In each province there are various colleges, whose presiding‘rector,’ and other officials.officer, or ‘rector,’ is chosen for three years by the general, but is directly responsible to the provincial and reports to him. Similarly, within each college are‘prefects,’ immediately subordinate to the rector, but selected by the provincial; and under the inspection of the prefects are the ‘professors’ or ‘preceptors.’
The Jesuit Colleges.—The Jesuits have never engaged in elementary education, but have required that pupils know how to read and write before being admitted to any of their schools. This may have been brought about in the first place by the fact that the number of their teachers was limited, or that the public elementary school was just coming to be regarded as of importance, and secondary education of the humanistic type was everywhereThe lower colleges are secondary and humanistic,dominant. The Jesuit educational organization has, therefore, consisted of ‘lower colleges’ with a gymnasia course, and of ‘upper colleges,’ which are of university grade. Boys are admitted to the lower colleges at from ten to fourteen years of age, and spend five or six years there. The first three classes were at first devoted to a careful study of Latin grammar, and a little of Greek; in the fourth year a number of the Greek and Latin poets and historians were read; while the last class, to which two years were usually given, took up a rhetorical study of the classical authors. Only slight variations in thewith curriculum largely unchanged.curriculum have ever been allowed since theRatio Studiorumwas issued, until the revision in 1832. In that year work in mathematics, natural science, history, and geography was added in the lower colleges, but the classics still compose the body of the course.
The full course of the upper colleges lasts seven or nine years,-the first three in ‘philosophy,’ followed byThe upper colleges furnish training in ‘philosophy’ and theology.four or six in theology. The training in ‘philosophy’ now includes not only logic, metaphysics, psychology, ethics, and natural theology, but also work in algebra,geometry, trigonometry, analytics, calculus, and mechanics, and such natural sciences as physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, and physiology. A successful completion of the course leads to the degree of Master of Arts. After the course in philosophy, most of the Jesuits teach in the lower colleges five or six years before going on with the work in theology. In the theological course four years are devoted to a study of the Scriptures, Hebrew, and other Oriental languages, together with Church history, canon law, and various branches of theology. After this one may elect a further training of two years, to review the work in philosophy and theology, and to prepare a thesis. After a public examination and defense of his thesis, the successful candidate is awarded the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Hence a complete Jesuit training will take from eighteen to twenty years, and a member of the order may be from thirty to thirty-five years of age before completing his formal education.
The Jesuit Methods of Teaching.—The methods of teaching and the splendid qualification of the instructors were from the first distinctive features in the Jesuit colleges, especially when one considers how little attentionTrained teachers,up to their time had been given to the preparation of teachers. No one could teach in the lower colleges who had not passed through the course in philosophy, while professors in the universities had first to complete the theological course. Instruction was generally imparted orally, and then memorized or taken down inthe ‘prelection,’lecture notes. The method was the ‘prelection,’ which meant a preliminary explanation of the passage or lectures upon the topic under consideration by the teacher. It consisted in giving, first, the general meaning of thewhole passage or proposition; then, a more detailed explanation of the construction or phraseology; next similar thoughts in other authors; fourthly, ‘erudition’, or informational comment upon the passage; then, a study of the rhetorical figures; and finally, the moral lesson to be drawn. Obviously, with such a method,memorizing,great stress would be placed upon memorizing, especially in the lower colleges. To fix subjects firmly in mind, short hours, few studies, and brief lessons werereviews,early found to be necessary. Likewise, reviews have always been frequent and systematic, and the Latin motto of the Jesuit method declares that “repetition is the mother of learning.” Each day begins with a review of the preceding day’s work, and closes with a review of the work just accomplished. Each week ends with a repetition of all that has been covered in that time, and the last month of every year reviews the course of the year. To maintain interest in the midst of so much memorizing and reviewing, many devices to promote emulation are used. The pupils are arranged inand rivalry.pairs as ‘rivals,’ whose business it is to check on the conduct and studies of each other (Fig. 18); and public ‘disputations’ between two sides are engaged in each week.
Value and Influence of the Jesuit Education.—The Jesuit system, then, seems to have been in advance of that in the schools at the time of its foundation. It wasSystematic,organized upon a systematic and thorough basis, and was administered by a set of splendidly trained teachers through the best methods that were known in that day.interesting, and devoted,The schools were interesting and pleasant, and were free to all who had the ability and desire to attend. TheJesuit teachers, too, were indefatigable and devoted to their duty. The criticism that has been offered to this educational system is based on its insistence upon absolutebut authoritative and uniform.authority and the consequent opposition to the development of individuality. The Jesuit courses, subjects, and methods have become somewhat uniform and fixed. In the lower colleges they depend largely upon memory and appeal to interest through a system of rivalry, honors, and rewards. Such a system is likely to tend toward a reproductive attitude in the pupil.
a.Jesuit College at Regensburg in 1600.
a.Jesuit College at Regensburg in 1600.
b.Plan of a Jesuit schoolroom of the seventeenth century. B represents the teacher, C the monitors, and D, E, O, X, and I various student officials. The numbered lines represent rows of students, known asdecuriae. When a student was called upon, his ‘rival’ arose from the corresponding place in the other group; and as each recited, the other endeavored to correct him in some error.Fig. 18.—Education of the Jesuits.
b.Plan of a Jesuit schoolroom of the seventeenth century. B represents the teacher, C the monitors, and D, E, O, X, and I various student officials. The numbered lines represent rows of students, known asdecuriae. When a student was called upon, his ‘rival’ arose from the corresponding place in the other group; and as each recited, the other endeavored to correct him in some error.
Fig. 18.—Education of the Jesuits.
Nevertheless, the Jesuits furnished the most effective education during the latter half of the sixteenth, the entire seventeenth, and the early part of the eighteenthPhenomenal growth of the number of colleges and students.centuries. The growth of their schools was phenomenal. By the death of Loyola (1556) there were already one hundred colleges, and a century and a half later they had increased to seven hundred and sixty-nine institutions, spread throughout the world. The average number of students in attendance at any of these colleges during the seventeenth century was about three hundred, and in several of the larger centers there were between one and two thousand, and the famous College of Clermont (nowLycée Louis le Grand) at Paris is said to have run up to three thousand. At a modest estimate, there must have been some two hundred thousand students in the Jesuit colleges when they were at their height.Prominent graduates.Their graduates seem to have become prominent in every important activity of life, and included a large number of the noted authors, prelates, statesmen, and generals of the time. By the middle of the eighteenth century, however, the ideals and content of education had somewhat changed, and the Jesuits did not adapt their courseto the new conditions. Moreover, the Jesuits seem to have become powerful, ambitious, and somewhat arrogant.Quarrels and banishments.They quarreled frequently with bishops, other monastic orders, governments, and universities. Finally, after they had been banished from France, Spain, and Portugal, in 1773 the pope himself dissolved the Society of Jesus. Forty years later the order was restored, but, owing to the development of educational ideals and organization and the increase of educational institutions, their work has never since become relatively as effective or held as important a place in education.
The Organization of the Education of the Port Royalists.—A type of Catholic education radically opposed to that of the Jesuits was created by a group of men belonging to the religious body known as the Jansenists. The doctrines of the Jansenists were formulated in 1621 by Cornelius Jansen, a professor in the University of Louvain. While striving to retain their place within the Church, the Jansenists opposed the prevailing doctrinesAdopted rationalistic philosophy.of confession and penance, and adopted the rationalistic philosophy of Descartes. They also held that humanity is naturally corrupt, except as it is watched and guided, and that only a relatively few can be saved. These doctrines probably influenced a body of Jansenists that established a new departure in the way of education at the convent of Port Royal at Chevreuse. In 1643 the ‘Port Royalists’ endeavored to remove what few children they could from the temptations of the world to a school started in this convent. Similar institutions quickly sprang up in the vicinity and then spread through Paris. To carry out their ideal of careful oversight, these schools usually took only twenty to twenty-fivepupils, and each master had under him five or six boys, whom he never allowed out of his immediate supervision‘Little’ schools.day or night. Hence these institutions were known as ‘little schools.’
The Port Royal Course and Method of Teaching.—Since the Port Royalists held that character was of more importance than knowledge, and reason was to beReason rather than memory.developed rather than memory, these ‘little schools’ sought to impart an education that should be sound and lasting, rather than brilliant. Unlike the Jesuits, they did not start their pupils with Latin, but with the vernacular, since this was within their comprehension. As soon as they possessed a feeling for good literature, they began the study of Latin through a minimum grammarLatin through the vernacular.written in French, and soon took up the Latin authors, rendering them into the vernacular. Greek literature was treated in similar fashion. To train the reason, theLogic and geometry.older pupils were also taught logic and geometry. The course of study, however, was mostly literary, and had no regard for science or investigation. Port Royal presented the best elements of the education of the past, but did not see beyond it. The methods introduced some striking innovations. The leaders in the Port Royal education departed from the alphabetic plan in teachingPhonetic method.their pupils to read, and developed a phonetic method. The Port Royalists also refused to permit the use ofIndifference.emulation and prizes in their schools, but their exclusion of rivalry resulted in indifference. They were never able to secure the energy, earnestness, and pleasing environment of the Jesuit colleges. They did, however, succeed in inculcating a general spirit of piety without the formal teaching of doctrine.
Closing of the Port Royalist Schools and Its Effects.—InJesuits lost sympathy.1661 the Port Royalist schools were closed by the order of Louis XIV through the influence of the Jesuits. But this act cost the Jesuits dearly. Not only did it lose them sympathy, but it furnished the Port Royalists occasion to issue tracts against Jesuitism that have injured its repute ever since. This closing of their schools also gave the Port Royalists the opportunity of becoming educators in a larger sense by producing a great varietyPort Royalists produced educational treatises.of writings upon their system. Later on, too, Rollin (1661-1741), who was twice elected rector of the University of Paris, summarized in hisTreatise on Studiesthe Port Royalist reforms wrought in that institution.
La Salle and the Schools of the Christian Brothers.—The Port Royalists were, however, like the Jesuits, engrossed with secondary and higher education, and gave little heed to the education of all the people in the rudiments. In fact, until toward the close of the seventeenth century, the Catholics generally did not succeed in inaugurating any effective or widespread movementLittle elementary education before La Salle.toward elementary education. Numerous attempts before this were made through catechism schools and various reformers and religious orders, but teachers were scarce and often ignorant and poorly trained, and there was little progress before the organization of the Brothers of the Christian Schools through the self-sacrificing efforts of Jean Baptiste de la Salle (1651-1719). The organization sprang out of a group of five masters engaged in teaching schools for the poor in the city ofDevelopment of the schools at Rheims:Rheims in 1679, but it was not until three years later that La Salle completed his regulations, founded the brotherhood, and moved the members into a permanenthome. The order flourished, and neighboring towns soon endeavored to secure its members as teachers in their schools for the poor. Within a year or two, four schools in and about Rheims were placed under masters trained in the house of the Christian Brothers, and a number of other institutions were soon organized in the vicinity upon the same basis.
But, being unable to supply the constant demands for his teachers that came from districts outside the towns, La Salle undertook to train boys who were sent him by the rural clergy, and were expected to return to their homes to teach after their training. To accomplish this, he established in 1684 a ‘seminary for schoolmasters’ in a wing of the house of the brotherhood, and two other seminaries were opened in neighboring towns the following year. Four years later La Salle opened a house forParis,the brotherhood near Paris, and the Christian Brothers were speedily requested to take charge of the schools of several parishes. Despite the jealousy and opposition of the established order of schoolmasters and of many parties in Church and State, the schools and seminaries of the Brothers greatly increased in Paris, and were rapidly extended throughout France. At Paris also La Salle started the ‘Christian academy,’ in which drawing, geometry, and architecture were taught ambitious poor boys on Sunday, and introduced boarding colleges for higher secondary training. And these institutions likewise spread through France and the rest of Europeand Saint Yon.(Fig. 19). In 1705 La Salle retired to the estate known as Saint Yon, near Rouen, and there opened a home for the brotherhood. Here he also founded a famous boarding-school in which he trained boys for soldiery, farming,trade, and various other vocations. Before long he likewise organized in conjunction an industrial training for youthful delinquents, and both the vocational school and the ‘protectory’ soon became models for many similar institutions in France and elsewhere.
The Aim, Curriculum, and Method of the Christian Brothers’ Schools.—The plan of the schools of the Christian Brothers was eventually worked out and crystallized in a fixed system under the title ofConduct of Schools. This code has not remained quite as definite and uniform as theRatio Studiorumof the Jesuits, for changes and revisions are permitted, and modern methods and subjects have from time to time been introduced. Considerable latitude, moreover, has been allowed to the individual houses by the Superior General at the head of the order, and by the Brothers Visitors, who have charge of the districts. The educational aim of the ChristianReligious aim.Brothers has been preëminently religious, and the chief means of attaining this have been strict vigilance, good example, and catechetical instruction. The course has included the studies of the best schools of the time, andBesides rudiments and religion, more practical subjects.added other more practical subjects. Besides the rudiments—reading, writing, and arithmetic—and religious instruction and good manners, mathematics, history, botany, geography, drawing, architecture, hydrography, navigation, and other technical subjects have often been taught, and in the industrial schools a manual and vocational training has been furnished. La Salle seems to have made a great advance, too, in educational‘Simultaneous’ method.economy by perfecting and applying the ‘simultaneous’ method, which had been practiced in a crude form by some of his forerunners. By this method is meant gradingthe children according to their capacity, and having those in each grade use the same book and follow the same lesson under a single master, instead of instructing each pupil individually, as was generally the custom then. Likewise, the seminaries or training schools of the Christian Brothers contributed much to the advancementTraining of teachers.of efficiency in teaching. For the first time teachers of ability and training were made possible for the elementary schools.
Influence of the Schools of the Christian Brothers.—The work of the Christian Brothers has met with steady growth and development. By the time of La Salle’sSpreaddeath (1719), there had come to be twenty-seven houses of the order, with two hundred and seventy-four brothers, educating about nine thousand pupils. Before the close of the century these numbers had about quadrupled, and now they have increased nearly a hundredfold since the founder’s day. During the nineteenth century these institutions were established in all the states of Europe, Asia, Northern Africa, and America. The educational system has been much modified and expanded, and now includes colleges, technical and industrial schools, academiesand expansion of the work.and high schools, elementary and grammar schools, commercial schools, asylums, and protectories. Thus La Salle and his schools of the Christian Brothers have performed a great service for education in all lines, but especially in the promotion and enrichment of elementary training, which had previously been so neglected.
Aim and Content of Education in the Reformation.—It can now be seen that, as a result of the Reformation,Religious and theological.the religious and theological aim of education at allstages became very prominent with Catholics and Protestants alike. In the elementary schools, beside the rudiments, the Scriptures, the Lord’s prayer, the ten commandments, and the Catholic, Lutheran, Calvinist, or Anglican creed and catechism were taught, and, with the Protestants, also the hymns of the church. The courses in the secondary schools and universities contained large religious elements, as well as the formal humanism into which the Renaissance of the North had degenerated. Likewise, there was furnished in all universities a training in dialectic, rhetoric, and theology for the sake of efficient controversy with ecclesiastical opponents.
Effect of the Reformation upon Elementary Schools.—But while the Catholics were inclined to leave the organization of education in the hands of various religious bodies, the Protestants more often thought it wise to have its support and control administered by the princesCoöperation with civil officials.and the state. Owing to this secular management and their position on universal education, the Protestants, with the exception of the Anglicans, who had altered but little in doctrine, were inclined to establish state school systems and hold to the duty of providing and requiring elementary education at public expense. In this way the germs of the modern tendency toward universal, free, and compulsory education began to appear, although they did not ripen until much later.
Germany,
In the German states there were many illustrations of the spread of elementary education and civic control. As an immediate result of Luther’sLetter to the Mayorsin 1524, the city of Magdeburg united its parish schools under one management and adopted the Protestantideals. So, in 1525, the school at Eisleben, organized upon a Protestant basis (see p. 128), included elementary as well as secondary work. Similar ideals and organization appear in the provision for ‘German’ schools in the ‘Church orders’ sent out by Bugenhagen (seepp. 128f.) to the Protestant cities and states of Northern Germany. A further step was taken in 1528 when Melanchthon drew up a plan for schools throughout the entire Electorate of Saxony. This, the first state school system in history, was followed by one in Würtemberg, where in 1559 Duke Christopher adopted an improvement upon the Saxon plan, which called for a religious and elementary training for the children of the common people in every village of the duchy. Brunswick in 1569, and Saxony in 1580, followed the lead of Würtemberg in revising their school systems. Before the middle of the next century, a number of other states of Germany, such as Weimar, Hessen-Darmstadt, Mecklenburg, Holstein, Hessen-Cassel, and Gotha modeled elementary school systems after those of Saxony and Würtemberg. While the Catholics did not in general maintain public elementary education, the Christian Brothers and others undertook a great work in this direction, and Duke Albrecht V of Bavaria even ordered throughout his state the establishment of ‘German’ schools with instruction in reading, writing, and the Catholic creed. This organization of universal education continued its advance, despite the decimation and the general havoc upon finance and education wrought by the Thirty Years’ War (1618-1648), and by the end of the eighteenth century practically every village throughout the German states had itsVolksschuleor ‘people’s school.’ Theseinstitutions were under the direction of the pastor of each parish, and while actual conditions may often have been somewhat below the statutory level and in many cases were a wretched apology, every child not studying at a secondary school was in theory obliged, between the ages of six and thirteen, to attend one of these schools of the people (Fig. 20).