Part 107 (1/2)
A very different sort of writer was the Frenchman, Montaigne. He lives to- day as the author of one hundred and seven essays, very delightful in style and full of wit and wisdom. Montaigne really invented the essay, a form of literature in which he has had many imitators.
CHAUCER, 1340(?)-1400 A.D.
Geoffrey Chaucer, who has been called the ”morning star” of the English Renaissance, was a story-teller in verse. His _Canterbury Tales_ are supposed to be told by a company of pilgrims, as they journey from London to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury. [16] Chaucer describes freshly and with unfailing good spirits the life of the middle and upper cla.s.ses. He does not reveal, any more than his contemporary Froissart, the labor and sorrows of the down-trodden peasantry. But Chaucer was a true poet, and his name stands high in England's long roll of men of letters.
SHAKESPEARE, 1564-1616 A.D.
This survey of the national authors of the Renaissance may fitly close with William Shakespeare, whose genius transcended national boundaries and made him a citizen of all the world. His life is known to us only in barest outline. Born at Stratford-on-Avon, of humble parentage, he attended the village grammar school, where he learned ”small Latin and less Greek”, went to London as a youth, and became an actor and a playwright. He prospered, made money both from his acting and the sale of his plays, and at the age of forty-four retired to Stratford for the rest of his life. Here he died eight years later, and here his grave may still be seen in the village church. [17] During his residence in London he wrote, in whole or in part, thirty-six or thirty-seven dramas, both tragedies and comedies. They were not collected and published until several years after his death. Shakespeare's plays were read and praised by his contemporaries, but it has remained for modern men to see in him one who ranks with Homer, Vergil, Dante, and Goethe among the great poets of the world.
[Ill.u.s.tration: WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE From the copper plate engraved by Martin Droeshout as frontispiece to the First Folio edition of Shakespeare's works in 1623 A.D. In this engraving the head is far too large for the body and the dress is out of perspective. The only other authentic likeness of Shakespeare is the bust over his grave in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford on Avon]
[Ill.u.s.tration: SHAKESPEARE'S BIRTHPLACE, STRATFORD-ON-AVON The house in which Shakespeare was born has been much altered in exterior appearance since the poet's day. The timber framework, the floors, most of the interior walls, and the cellars remain, however, substantially unchanged. The ill.u.s.tration shows the appearance of the house before the restoration made in 1857 A.D.]
PERSONALITY IN RENAISSANCE LITERATURE
Renaissance poets and prose writers revealed themselves in their books. In the same way the sculptors and painters of the Renaissance worked out their own ideas and emotions in their masterpieces. This personal note affords a sharp contrast to the anonymity of the Middle Ages. We do not know the authors of the _Song of Roland_, the _Nibelungenlied_, and _Reynard the Fox_, any more than we know the builders of the Gothic cathedrals. Medieval literature subordinated the individual; that of the Renaissance expressed the sense of individuality and man's interest in himself. It was truly ”humanistic.”
215. THE RENAISSANCE IN EDUCATION
HUMANISM AND EDUCATION
The universities of the Middle Ages emphasized scholastic philosophy, though in some inst.i.tutions law and medicine also received much attention.
Greek, of course, was not taught, the vernacular languages of Europe were not studied, and neither science nor history enjoyed the esteem of the learned. The Renaissance brought about a partial change in this curriculum. The cla.s.sical languages and literatures, after some opposition, gained an entrance into university courses and displaced scholastic philosophy as the chief subject of instruction. From the universities the study of the ”humanities” descended to the lower schools, where they still hold a leading place.
VITTORINO DA FELTRE, 1378-1446 A.D.
An Italian humanist, Vittorino da Feltre, was the pioneer of Renaissance education. In his private school at Mantua, the ”House of Delight,” as it was called, Vittorino aimed to develop at the same time the body, mind, and character of his pupils, so as to fit them to ”serve G.o.d in Church and State.” Accordingly, he gave much attention to religious instruction and also set a high value on athletics. The sixty or seventy young men under his care were taught to hunt and fish, to run and jump, to wrestle and fence, to walk gracefully, and above all things to be temperate. For intellectual training he depended on the Latin cla.s.sics as the best means of introducing students to the literature, art, and philosophy of ancient times. Vittorino's name is not widely known to-day; he left no writings, preferring, as he said, to live in the lives of his pupils; but there is scarcely a modern teacher who does not consciously or unconsciously follow his methods. More than anyone else, he is responsible for the educational system which has prevailed in Europe almost to the present day.
A ”CLa.s.sICAL EDUCATION”
It cannot be said that the influence of humanism on education was wholly good. Henceforth the Greek and Latin languages and literatures became the chief instruments of culture. Educators neglected the great world of nature and of human life which lay outside the writings of the ancients.
This ”bookishness” formed a real defect of Renaissance systems of training.
COMENIUS, 1592-1671 A.D.
A Moravian bishop named Comenius, who gave his long life almost wholly to teaching, stands for a reaction against humanistic education. He proposed that the vernacular tongues, as well as the cla.s.sics, should be made subjects of study. For this purpose he prepared a reading book, which was translated into a dozen European languages, and even into Arabic, Persian, and Turkish. Comenius also believed that the curriculum should include the study of geography, world history, and government, and the practice of the manual arts. He was one of the first to advocate the teaching of science.
Perhaps his most notable idea was that of a national system of education, reaching from primary grades to the university. ”Not only,” he writes, ”are the children of the rich and n.o.ble to be drawn to school, but all alike, rich and poor, boys and girls, in great towns and small, down to the country villages.” The influence of this Slavic teacher is more and more felt in modern systems of education.
216. THE SCIENTIFIC RENAISSANCE
HUMANISM AND SCIENCE
The Middle Ages were not by any means ignorant of science, [18] but its study naturally received a great impetus when the Renaissance brought before educated men all that the Greeks and Romans had done in mathematics, physics, astronomy, medicine, and other subjects. The invention of printing also fostered the scientific revival by making it easy to spread knowledge abroad in every land. The pioneers of Renaissance science were Italians, but students in France, England, Germany, and other countries soon took up the work of enlightenment.
COPERNICUS 1473-1543 A.D.
The names of some Renaissance scientists stand as landmarks in the history of thought. The first place must be given to Copernicus, the founder of modern astronomy. He was a Pole, but lived many years in Italy. Patient study and calculation led him to the conclusion that the earth turns upon its own axis, and, together with the planets, revolves around the sun. The book in which he announced this conclusion did not appear until the very end of his life. A copy of it reached him on his deathbed.
THE COPERNICAN THEORY