ERASMUS (1467-1536)

Though not a Ger

Erasmus was born at Rotterdam. man, he belonged to the Teutonic race. He has well been called a "citizen of the world," as he lived in so many countries, and came to be the most learned man of his time. He was left an orphan at an early age, and his guardians placed him in a convent. They wished to make a monk of him so that they could inherit his patrimony, but this plan was resisted by the boy for a long time. The life of the convent was very distasteful to him, and though he afterward took vows, he never was in sympathy with asceticism. Possibly the corruption in the monasteries at that time may have had something to do with the repugnance of Erasmus to the monastic life. He was certainly greatly relieved when the Pope absolved him from his vows.

Erasmus was precocious as a child, and it was early predicted of him that he would be a great man, a prediction which he fully verified. Through the influence and help of the Bishop of Cambray, he was enabled to go to Paris for study, though the means furnished were not sufficient for his support. He took pupils and gave lectures, thereby supplying the deficiency in his funds. It is recorded that, in his eagerness for books, he said, "When I get money, I will first buy Greek books, and then clothing." He also studied at Oxford, and afterward at Turin, where he took the degree of Doctor of Divinity. Though many high offices in the Church, and many positions in universities, were offered to him, he refused them all, preferring to be an independent man of letters. Erasmus was recognized as the supreme literary authority of the world, and this lofty position was the summit of his ambition. Nothing

HIST. OF ED. - II

could turn him aside from the path that led to that eminence, and, once attained, nothing could attract him away from it.

Basel had become the center of the new printing industry. This led Erasmus to choose that city as his home for the latter part of his life, and here he furthered the cause of humanism as no other man had done, by editing and giving to the world many of the classic treasures of the monasteries. He translated Greek works into Latin, thereby making them available to the world, as Latin was better understood than Greek. His translation of the Greek Testament was his most eminent service, though his "Colloquies" are better known. His "Praise of Folly" is a satirical work, in which he holds up to ridicule the ignorance and vice of the monks.

Though he never broke away from the Church, without doubt his sympathies were with the reformers. But neither the persuasions nor the denunciations of Luther could bring him to take a decided stand on either side. He thought that the reform could be wrought within the Church. He accepted the dogmas of the Church, and remained within it as long as he lived.

Erasmus was the exact counterpart of Luther. He appealed to the limited few, Luther to the masses; he to the educated and higher classes, Luther to the ignorant and lowly; he was a man of reflection, Luther a man of action. The apparent vacillation of Erasmus may have been due to ill health, to the influence of the Pope, to the ties of the Church in which he had been reared, to the satisfaction he found in his eminent literary position, and to his dislike for controversy.

Erasmus gives us some very valuable pedagogical teachings, which may be summed up as follows:

Pedagogy of Erasmus. 1. The mother is the natural

educator of the child in its early years. The mother who does not care for the education of her children is only half a mother.

2. Until the seventh year the child should have little to do but play, in order to develop the body. It must have no earnest work, but must be taught politeness.

3. After the seventh year earnest work must begin. Latin and Greek (which should be studied together) must be taught early so that right pronunciation and a good vocabulary may be attained.

4. The first subject to be learned is grammar. Language is necessary before a knowledge of other things can be gained.

5. Teachers should be better trained and better paid, and suitable places must be furnished for the schools.

6. The religious side of education must not be neglected.

7. Great attention must be paid to the cultivation of the memory: (a) by a proper understanding of the subject; (b) by logical order in thinking; (c) by comparison.

8. As the bee collects honey from many flowers, so knowledge is gathered from many sources.

9. The foundation of all training of children must be laid in the home. Parents should know what their children ought to be taught. Above all things children must be taught to obey.

10. The first care with girls is to inculcate in them religious feelings; the second to protect them from contamination; the third, to guard them from idleness.

CHAPTER XXVIII

THE REFORMATION AS AN EDUCATIONAL INFLUENCE

Literature. White, Eighteen Christian Centuries; Taylor, History of Germany; Draper, Intellectual Development of Europe; Guizot, History of Civilization; Lord, Beacon Lights; Seebohm, The Protestant Revolution; Fisher, History of the Reformation; Bryce, The Holy Roman Empire; Morris, Era of the Protestant Revolution; Hurst, History of the Reformation; Lewis, History of Germany; Myers, Mediaeval and Modern History; Schiller, The Thirty Years' War; Hallam, Literary History; Kiddle and Schem, Cyclopaedia of Education; Dyer, Modern Europe; D'Aubigné, History of the Reformation; Yonge, Three Centuries of Modern History; Mombert, Great Lives.

Historical Conditions. At the beginning of the sixteenth century we find the stage of political, religious, and educational activity transferred from the shores of the Mediterranean to the north of the Alps. We have seen the great work of civilization taken from the Greek and Latin races and committed to the Teutonic race. We have traced the humanistic movement from its birthplace in Italy to Germany, where it found a more congenial atmosphere and a more suitable soil. The world was ripe for a great revolution, which was destined to advance the interests of mankind with gigantic strides.

The invention of printing by Gutenberg, in the middle of the fifteenth century, must be mentioned as the primary material agency in forwarding this advance. It was said

of this art that it would "give the deathblow to the superstition of the Middle Ages." It multiplied readers a hundredfold; it stimulated authorship; it revolutionized literature, because it made the preservation and dissemination of thought easy; it was a mighty influence in bringing about universal education, a principle for which the Reformation stood.

Another event of great importance was the discovery of America, which stimulated various European enterprises. Thus, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, the world awakened from its long sleep, and educational enterprise was born anew.

The German Reformation had been preceded by similar movements in other lands. Huss and Jerome of Prague, in Bohemia, Wyclif in England, Zwingli in Switzerland, the Waldenses in Italy, and the Albigenses in France, had raised their voices in solemn protest against the abuses of the Church, and many of the reformers had paid for their temerity by martyrdom. But the German Reformation, under the leadership of Martin Luther, was destined to exert a mighty influence throughout northern Europe, and to set in motion impulses which were to shape all later history.

The chief rulers of Europe were Frederick the Wise of Saxony, known as Luther's friend, Henry the Eighth of England, Francis the First of France, and Charles the Fifth, king of Spain, Naples, Sicily, and Austria, and afterward emperor of Germany. Leo the Tenth was Pope, and he had great influence in temporal affairs. Emperor Charles V. was the most powerful ruler of this period. Though a foreigner in manners, customs, and sympathy, and unacquainted with the German tongue, he became emperor of Germany by bribing the electors who had a