disappeared, and various works had been preserved by the monks and others. To search out the manuscripts of the Latin and Greek writers, the monasteries, cathedrals, and castles were now ransacked from end to end. The manuscripts found were rapidly multiplied, and the greatest pains taken to secure the correct form of every passage. The devotees of the new movement were Humanists and generally called 'humanists,' and the training embodying the classics has since been termed 'humanistic education.'

humanistic education.

Causes of the Awakening in Italy.-While the general tendency toward an awakening was apparent throughout Western Europe, it first became evident in Italy. This was due to the fact that Italy was at the time a seat of intellectual activity resulting from several factors. It Political storm was a storm center for civic and interstate quarrels, and,

center.

activity.

as a result of this political unrest, the citizens were kept constantly on the outlook for their own safety and interests, and their wits were greatly sharpened. Even the exile, into which one civic faction or another was constantly forced, had the effect of broadening their vision and bringing out the greatest possibilities within Commercial them. Again, the commercial intercourse of the Italian cities with other countries had, for various physiographic and historic reasons, become extraordinarily active. This tended to open the minds of the Italians, break up their old conceptions, free them of prejudice, and increase their thirst for learning. Furthermore, the ghost of the classic ages still haunted its old home. A knowledge of the Latin tongue had never ceased to exist in Italy, and many manuscripts of the Latin and Greek authors had been preserved. There was only

Home of the classics.

Petrarch em

Renaissance

needed an intellectual awakening sufficient to shake off the thraldom to the Church and produce an appreciation of classical literature and culture, in order to bring back this spirit of the past into real pulsating life. The Revival of the Latin Classics.-The earliest of the great humanists was Petrarch (1304-1374). In bodied the him we find the very embodiment of the Renaissance spirit, spirit. He completely repudiated the 'otherworldly' ideal of mediævalism, and was keenly aware of the beauties and joys of this life. He did not hesitate to attack the most hoary of traditions, nor to rely upon observation, investigation, and reason. He likewise felt a kinship with the thinkers and writers of the classic age, when independence and breadth were given more scope, and held that their works must be recovered before their spirit could be continued. This led to a tremendous enthusiasm for the Latin classics, and he spent much of his life in restoring ancient culture. He devoted himself during his extensive travels largely to collecting manuscripts of the old Latin writers, which previously had been widely scattered, and endeavoring to repair in them the ravages of time. And he inspired every one he met with a desire to gather and study the works of the classic authors. He also wrote a number of Latin works that were filled with the classic spirit. Among them were several collections of Letters, a work of erudition On Famous Men, and an epic poem in honor of Scipio Africanus that he called Africa. Some of his letters were indited to Cicero, Homer, and other classical authors as if they were still living. After he had been crowned as poet laureate by the University His influence. of Rome in 1341, he spent most of his time visiting

and was an enLatin classics.

thusiast on the

Little was at

various Italian cities and spreading the humanistic spirit. Of the younger scholars and literary men influenced by him probably the most noted was Boccaccio (1313-1375). Through Petrarch this youthful poet developed a perfect passion for the ancient writers, and devoted the rest of his life to classical culture. He obtained a wide knowledge of the Latin writers, and searched out, preserved, and had copied as many manuscripts as possible.

The Development of Greek Scholarship.-With all this revival of Latin literature by the côterie of Petrarch, for some time there was little done with the Greek. That language had almost disappeared in Europe, and

first known of the greatest Greek authors were known only through

the Greek classics.

Latin translations. But a knowledge of the Greek language and literature still persisted in the Eastern empire, and the humanists of Italy were, through the works of the Latin authors, constantly directed back to the writings of the Greeks. They became eager to read them in the original, and several humanists began the study of Greek. Nevertheless, Petrarch pathetically confessed: "Homer is dumb to me, while I am most certainly deaf to him." And while, with the aid of his Greek teacher, Boccaccio made a translation of Homer, it showed little real appreciation of the original. Not until Chrysoloras (1350-1415) came as an envoy from the Eastern emperor and was induced in 1396 to settle in Italy and teach Greek, was any systematic training possible. During the next sixteen years this man of learning taught in the leading centers, established schools, made translations of Greek authors, and his pupils. and wrote a Greek grammar. From his efforts sprang

Chrysoloras

a number of famous scholars, such as Vergerio, Niccolo de' Niccoli, Bruni, and Guarino da Verona and his son. These men collected or copied hundreds of volumes, started libraries and schools, made excellent translations, wrote treatises on humanistic education, and trained a number of humanists, who became distinguished later.

fostered hu

started court

The Court Schools and Vittorino da Feltre.-A powerful support for the work of these humanists resulted from the rivalry of the Italian cities. The princes at the head of these centers were often usurpers, and depended largely upon city pride to maintain their power. To appeal to the classical enthusiasm of their people, City tyrants they did everything possible to propagate the humanis- manism and tic movement and make their cities illustrious. Prob- schools. ably the most typical examples of these humanistic tyrants are found among the Visconti at Milan and the Medici at Florence. In some instances these court circles promoted the new learning informally, but often, where a scholar had been taken into the family of a prince as private tutor, children of the neighboring aristocracy were associated and a regular school was started. 'Court schools' of this sort soon existed at Florence, Venice, Padua, Pavia, Verona, Ferrara, and several other cities, but the best known of all was that organized by Vittorino da Feltre (1378-1446) at Mantua.

The Court School at Mantua.-Vittorino undertook this school at forty-five, when he had received the best possible education of the times in Latin, Greek, and mathematics, and had greatly distinguished himself as a teacher and a man of piety. He received into the school not only the royal princes and the scions of the Types of pupils.

leading Mantuan families, but, by special permission, the sons of his personal friends and promising boys of every degree. He dwelt with his pupils, and was most strict in his selection of masters and of attendants, that the morals of his pupils might be of the highest. Likewise, 'the father of his pupils,' as Vittorino held himself to be, looked out for their food, clothing, and health, and shared in their games, interests, and pleasures. It was his intention to secure for his pupils that harmonious development of mind, body, and morals development of that the old Greeks had known as a 'liberal education,' but he emphasized the practical and social side of the individual's efficiency, and wished to prepare his pupils for a life of activity and service rather than to create mere rhetoricians and pedants.

The aim was harmonious

mind, body, and morals.

Course and methods.

Classics and mathematical subjects.

This he felt could be accomplished largely through a grammatical and literary study of the Greek and Roman writers. The pupils learned from the first to converse in Latin, and there were games with letters for the youngest and simple exercises to train them in clear articulation and proper accent and emphasis. Before they were ten, they were also drilled in memorizing and reciting with intelligence the easier portions of the classic authors. This elocutionary work, which was increased in length and difficulty as the boys grew older, gave them an excellent grasp of vocabulary, rhythm, and style. As they advanced, the pupils read a variety of Latin writers, and soon took up a study of the Greek authors and of the Church Fathers. The mathematical subjects were also taught with an enlarged scope, especially in their applications to drawing, mensuration, and surveying. Because of the lack of books, the teaching was carried