Pedagogical Treatises

The pedagogical treatises of a classical Greek author, assumed by humanists to be Plutarch, and of

The classical Roman author Quintilian helped to prompt the new philosophy of education in early 15th-century Italy. The Greek text On Educating Children was translated into Latin by Guarino Guar-ini (1374-1460) in 1411 as De pueris educandis. In 1417 at the Saint Gall monastery, Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459) discovered Quintilian’s Institutio orato-ria (On the education of an orator). Both texts were disseminated in manuscript copies, teaching educators and upper-class parents alike that children would benefit from what we now call positive reinforcement. The curriculum was to be appropriate for various levels of age and ability, and broader, with recreational activities balancing more serious study. Quintilian’s work became a Renaissance bestseller: More than 100 editions were published. This was also one of the basic texts for rhetorical training,

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Which became an important element of humanistic education.

In addition to Quintilian’s work and the pseudo-Plutarchan Greek text, four treatises originating in the 15th century were seminal guides for humanistic educators. Their authors were Piero Paolo Verg-erio the Elder (1370-1444), Leonardo Bruni, Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (1405-64, who became Pope Pius II in 1458), and Battista Guarini (b. 1434). Vergerio and Bruni studied Greek in Florence near the close of the 14th century with Manuel Chrysoloras (c. 1350-1415), a diplomat and friend of Emperor Manuel Il’s. Chrysoloras helped to found humanistic Greek studies in Italy, and he taught Greek in Constantinople to Guarino Guar-ini and other foreigners residing in the city. Leonardo Bruni began his career in Rome, working for the papal secretariat between 1410 and 1415. Returning to Florence, he eventually became chancellor in 1427 and used that position to promote humanism and other aspects of Renaissance culture. Bruni was famous as a translator, including of major works by Plato and Aristotle. Piccolomini was given a humanistic education in Siena and Florence; one of his teachers was Francesco Filelfo (1398-1481; see later discussion). He became involved in papal politics and worked as a diplomat for Emperor Friedrich III, at the same time writing humanistic essays such as the treatise discussed in this section. Guarini, the son of Guarino Guarini, was educated at his famous school in Ferrara (discussed later). Battista Guarini’s educational treatise describes the curriculum of his father’s school.

Pier Paolo Vergerio’s treatise, completed circa 1403, was entitled De ingenuis moribus et liberalibus adulescentiae studiis liber (On the character and studies appropriate for a free-born adolescent). Written for a young nobleman, this treatise emphasized that the virtuous, educated man must excel in both physical prowess (bearing of arms) and intellectual endeavors. One of Vergerio’s most important pedagogical points was that the curriculum must be adapted to the strengths and weaknesses of the student. Among the physical activities to be learned and practiced were wrestling, boxing, throwing of the javelin, shooting of arrows, rolling of rocks, breaking of horses, and swimming. Relaxation, however, with caution, was also necessary: “Dancing to music and group dances with women might seem to be pleasures unworthy of a man. Yet there might be certain profit in them, since they exercise the body and bring dexterity to the limbs, if they did not make young men lustful and vain, corrupting good behavior” (Kallendorf 2002, p. 87). For the study of texts Vergerio insisted that students must memorize as much as possible: “In this regard we should know that memory apart from intellect is not worth much, but intellect without memory is worth almost nothing, at least as far as learning disciplines is concerned. Yet such a mind can have value in matters of action, since it is possible to write down things that have been done or must be done to compensate for poor memory. Nevertheless, in the case of book-learning, whatever we do not have by heart or cannot easily recall we seem not to know at all” (Kallendorf 2002, p. 57).

Leonardo Bruni’s De studiis et litteris liber (On the study of literature, c. 1424) was the only one of these treatises dedicated to a woman, Battista Malatesta of Montefeltro. Although he cautioned her that oratory was not fitting for women, who would not be expected to speak in public, Bruni otherwise outlined a comprehensive program of classical reading and study: “In sum, then, the excellence of which I speak comes only from a wide and various knowledge. It is necessary to read and comprehend a great deal, and to bestow great pains on the philosophers, the poets, the orators and historians and all the other writers. For thus comes that full and sufficient knowledge we need to appear eloquent, well-rounded, refined, and widely cultivated. Needed too is a well-developed and respectable literary skill of our own. For the two together reinforce each other and are mutually beneficial” (Kallendorf 2002, p. 123). Finally, Bruni recommended that her humanistic education be undertaken with the assumption that moral philosophy and religion are paramount, and indeed that the classical authors must be subservient to those two superior subjects. Authors whose works might encourage vices of any sort were to be avoided.

Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini wrote De liberorem educatione (On the education of boys, 1450) for Ladislaus V (1440-57), king of Hungary, Austria, and Bohemia, born a few months after his father had died. Ladislaus’s mother, Elizabeth, was the daughter of Emperor Sigismund. Had he lived beyond the age of 17, the young king could have

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Become a powerful figure in European political affairs and in spreading of humanistic education to northern Europe at an early date. This lengthy treatise was written at the request of Ladislaus’s teacher. Piccolomini instructed the boy-king to focus on his religious education, then on a curriculum balancing physical exercise and training with study of the classical authors. At the beginning of his text, the author praises Ladislaus’s noble lineage; he then explains that Ladislaus must be deserving of such ancestors: “You are succeeding to men of noble rank: take care that you become likewise their heir in virtue. Nobility clothed in holy morals is deserving of praise. Nothing vicious is noble. For who would call a man noble who is unworthy of his family and distinguished only by a famous name?” (Kallendorf 2002, p. 129). The entire purpose of the treatise was to help make Ladislaus a better king, learning enough in each subject but not so much as to distract him from the overall goal: “You should know what the duty of an orator is, and you should learn how properly to discover, arrange, embellish, memorize, and deliver the parts of an oration. But since our desire is that you be a perfect king more than a good orator, we do not require of you the eloquence of a Cicero or a Demosthenes” (Kallendorf 2002, p. 245). This concept of moderation in education would become a general principle during the Renaissance, except in schools run by the Jesuits and other strict orders.

Battista Guarini’s De ordine docendi et studendi (On a curriculum of teaching and learning) was written in 1459. This treatise documented the program of learning instituted by his father, Guarino, at the court of Ferrara, which influenced much of the humanistic teaching in western Europe as his students established schools of their own. Because Guarino was the first Italian to place as much emphasis on the Greek part of the curriculum as on the Latin, his son’s treatise is an important record of pedagogical methodology. Many words in Greek are explained, including their context, and grammar is highlighted as a major component of humanistic learning. He recommended orderly, regular work habits: “Students should not engage in indiscriminate reading of miscellaneous books. They should establish fixed hours for particular readings. This is the single most useful practice for achieving a range of reading and for finishing tasks” (Kallendorf 2002, p. 301).