Everything changed with the rise of humanism in the 15th century. Humanists celebrated the free man. The number one takeaway from the humanist movement is, in general, the increase in liberties for the individual. Italian city-states interacted with eastern cultures, which spread westward from there. Individualism and curiosity were propagated.
Because of this general change in the mindset, education was sure to follow. Humanists decried the medieval style of education as antiquated and unnecessary, that the medieval teaching of letter writing and rhetoric was too narrow. Letter writers had a huge scope of information and examples to look at, and need not have to memorize every single style possible. Things were changing. Around 1401 or 1402, Pier Paolo Vergerio wrote his treatise De ingenius moribus et liberalibus studiis adulescentiae (On noble customs and liberal studies of adolescents), the first and most copied of its kind for another 70 years. It celebrated the studies deemed more suitable for one, such as history and moral philosophy.
Because of this general change in the mindset, education was sure to follow. Humanists decried the medieval style of education as antiquated and unnecessary, that the medieval teaching of letter writing and rhetoric was too narrow. Letter writers had a huge scope of information and examples to look at, and need not have to memorize every single style possible. Things were changing. Around 1401 or 1402, Pier Paolo Vergerio wrote his treatise De ingenius moribus et liberalibus studiis adulescentiae (On noble customs and liberal studies of adolescents), the first and most copied of its kind for another 70 years. It celebrated the studies deemed more suitable for one, such as history and moral philosophy.
Pier Paolo Vergerio
Here is a translated passage from his treatise:
"Hence, for those with noble minds and those who must involve themselves in public affairs and the community, it is useful to study history and moral philosophy... From moral philosophy we learn what it is appropriate to do, while from history we extract the examples to follow. The one sets forth the duties of all men and is suitable to each person. The other narrates to us what has been said and done, teaching what we must do and say on a various occasions. To these two disciplines, if I am not wrong, comes next a third, eloquence, also part of the civil science... With eloquence, instead, one learns to speak gracefully, with gravity, in order to win over the hearts of the multitude"
Below are the first 15 pages of Vergerio's treatise De ingenius moribus et liberalibus studiis adulescentiae. The rest can be found here.
"Hence, for those with noble minds and those who must involve themselves in public affairs and the community, it is useful to study history and moral philosophy... From moral philosophy we learn what it is appropriate to do, while from history we extract the examples to follow. The one sets forth the duties of all men and is suitable to each person. The other narrates to us what has been said and done, teaching what we must do and say on a various occasions. To these two disciplines, if I am not wrong, comes next a third, eloquence, also part of the civil science... With eloquence, instead, one learns to speak gracefully, with gravity, in order to win over the hearts of the multitude"
Below are the first 15 pages of Vergerio's treatise De ingenius moribus et liberalibus studiis adulescentiae. The rest can be found here.
Throughout the 15th century, re-discoveries of important, educational, classical works were made, such as Quintilian's and Cicero's. These helped solidify humanists' view on education and finally throw the medieval style to wayside.
In a letter to his son, Guarino da Verona, a prominent teacher in middle-fifteenth-century Italy, wrote to his son, Niccolo:
"You are fortunate to have grown up in these blessed new times. For until our times, humanistic studies lay prostrate in a dark night, and writing had lost every splendor of elegance."
The educational principles developed by 15th-century Italian humanists are those that, at their roots, have lasted to this day.
In a letter to his son, Guarino da Verona, a prominent teacher in middle-fifteenth-century Italy, wrote to his son, Niccolo:
"You are fortunate to have grown up in these blessed new times. For until our times, humanistic studies lay prostrate in a dark night, and writing had lost every splendor of elegance."
The educational principles developed by 15th-century Italian humanists are those that, at their roots, have lasted to this day.