Studies of Free Individuals

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Matthew Phillips

“We call those studies liberal, then, which are worthy of a free [liber] man: they are those through which virtue and wisdom are either practiced or sought, and by which the body or mind is disposed towards all the best things.  From this source people customarily seek honor and glory, which for the wise man are the principal rewards of virtue.  Just as profit and pleasure are laid down as ends for illiberal intellects, so virtue and glory are goals for the noble.” Piero Paolo Vergerio, “Character and Studies Befitting a Free-Born Youth,” in The Great Tradition: Classic Readings on What It Means to Be An Educated Human Being, ed. Richard M. Gamble. Wilmington 2007, p. 313. [Italics in original]

Vergerio, the great teacher of the early Renaissance, describes the nature of true liberal studies and their purpose.  Liberal derived from the Latin word, liber, meaning free.  Notice how Vergerio connects virtue and wisdom and identifies them as the goals of true learning.   Following classical tradition, Vergerio points out that true virtue and glory are the noble goals to which the liberal person strives through the liberal arts.

 

 

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Christ and Cicero

Posted on February 11, 2013 by Matthew Phillips

“If to admire Cicero means to be a Ciceronian, I am a Ciceronian.  I admire him so much that I wonder at people who do not admire him.  This may appear a new confession of my ignorance, but this is how I feel, such is my amazement.  However, when we come to think or speak of religion, that is, of supreme truth and true happiness, and of eternal salvation, then I am certainly not a Ciceronian, or Platonist, but a Christian.” Francesco Petrarch, “On His Own Ignorance,” in The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, ed. Kenneth R. Bartlett, 2nd edition (Toronto 2011), p. 35.

Petrarch sought to reconcile his devotion to the writings of Cicero and his faith as a Christian in this work.  He argued for a Christian humanism that became the foundation of Renaissance thought.

 

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He almost loved Luther

Posted on January 30, 2013 by Matthew Phillips

“I know of no one who loathes the ambition, the avarice, and the sensuality of the clergy more than I–both because each of these vices is hateful in itself and because each and all are hardly suited to those who profess to live a life dependent upon God.  Furthermore, they are such contradictory vices that they cannot coexist in a subject unless he be very unusual indeed.

In spite of all this, the positions I have held under several popes have forced me, for my own good, to further their interests.  Were it not for that, I should have loved Martin Luther as much as myself–not so that I might be free of the laws based on Christian religion as it is generally interpreted and understood; but to see this bunch of rascals get their just deserts, that is, to be either without vices or without authority.”  Francesco Guicciardini, “Selections from Maxims and Reflections,” in The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, ed. Kenneth R. Bartlett, 2nd edition (Toronto 2011), p. 268.

Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540) lived in Florence and received an education in the Renaissance humanist tradition.  He served as a papal governor in the Papal State under the two de’ Medici popes, Leo X and Clement VII.  In the 1530s he returned to Florence to advise the duke of Florence, Alessandro de’ Medici.  He also wrote a famous history of Italy that focused on the political events since Charles VIII’s French invasion of the peninsula in 1494.

This quote above comes from Guicciardini’s collection of maxims that examined a variety of subjects.  Here he expresses an unflattering opinion concerning his papal bosses.  The reference to Martin Luther also displays the importance the Lutheran Reformation played in international and ecclesiastical affairs.

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Bringing Back What Happened

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Matthew Phillips

“It is a noble exercise to recount accurately the deeds of princes.  To do so is to consider generously all that is subject to time, to celebrate the dead, to entertain the living, and to set out a past life as a model for later generations.  It is to bring back what has happened in the past.  When it displays victories, it confers them on the victorious.  It eliminates sloth, conveys honesty, presents virtues and draws a crowd.  We should, therefore, press forward with the greatest effort to read what has been written and to write down what ought to be read.  Thus, in reading old things and writing new things, antiquity may be able to satisfy our needs and we may be able to nourish to the fullest the requirements of our posterity.”   Ralph of Caen. Gesta Tancredi, Preface. Translated by Bernard S. Bachrach and David S. Bachrach (Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2005), p. 19. [Emphasis added]

Ralph of Caen wrote one of the chronicles of the First Crusade in the second decade of the twelfth century.  Here he captures the essence of the classical and Christian understanding of the purpose of history.  The writers of history should seek to bring back past events to recount great deeds and give examples of virtuous behavior.

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Transformed Noncorformity

Posted on January 21, 2013 by Matthew Phillips

“When an affluent society would coax us to believe that happiness consists in the size of our automobiles, the impressiveness of our houses, and the expensiveness of our clothes, Jesus reminds us, ‘A man’s life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possessth.’

When we would yield to the temptation of a world rife with sexual promiscuity and gone wild with a philosophy of self-expression, Jesus tells us that ‘whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart.’

When we refuse to suffer for righteousness and choose to follow the path of comfort rather than conviction, we hear Jesus say, ‘Blessed are they which are persecuted for rigtheousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.’ ”

Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love (Philadelphia 1963), pp. 22-23.

 

 

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Grammar is the Foundation

Posted on January 19, 2013 by Matthew Phillips

“From the first, stress must be laid upon distinct and sustained enunciation, both in speaking and and in reading.  But at the same time utterance must be perfectly natural; if affected or exaggerated the effect is unpleasing.  The foundation of education must be laid in Grammar.  Unless this be thoroughly learnt subsequent progress is uncertain–a house built upon treacherous ground.  Hence let the knowledge of nouns and verbs be secured early, as the starting point for the rest.  The master will employ the devices of repetition, examination, and the correction of erroneous inflexions purposely introduced.” Battista Guarino, “On the Means of Teaching and Learning,” in The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, ed. Kenneth R. Bartlett, 2nd edition (Toronto 2011), 191. [Emphasis Added]

Guarino followed ancient and medieval tradition in this emphasis on the importance of grammar for elementary students.

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Passion for Learning

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Matthew Phillips

“Let me, at the outset, begin with a caution.  No master can endow a careless and indifferent nature with the true passion for learning.  That a young man must acquire for himself.  But once the taste begins to develop, then in Ovid’s words ‘the more we drink, the more we thirst.’  For when the mind has begun to enjoy the pleasures of learning the passion for fuller and deeper knowledge will grow from day to day.  But there can be no proficiency in studies unless there be first the desire to excel.  Wherefore let a young man set forward eagerly in quest of those true, honorable, and enduring treasures of the mind which neither disease nor death has power to destroy.” Battista Guarino, “On the Means of Teaching and Learning,” in The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance, ed. Kenneth R. Bartlett, 2nd edition (Toronto 2011), p. 190.

Battista Guarino wrote this short treatise on classical, humanist education about 1459.  His father, Guarino of Verona, had served as a master (i.e. teacher) in the palace school of Ferrara since the 1430s.  In the 1450s Battista Guarino also began teaching in Ferrara and preserved their pedagogical methods for posterity.  For excerpts from the text see  http://history.hanover.edu/texts/guarino.html

 

 

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History is the Foundation of Sacred Learning

Posted on December 28, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“First you learn history and diligently commit to memory the truth of the deeds that have been performed, reviewing from beginning to end what has been done, when it has been done, where it has been done, and by whom it has been done.  For these are the four things which are especially to be sought for in history–the person, the business done, the time, and the place.”  Hugh of St Victor, Didascalicon, Bk 6, Chap. 3.

As we have seen previously, Hugh taught a trifold method of biblical interpretation. http://wp.cune.edu/matthewphillips/2012/11/20/hughs-hermeneutics/ However, he compared the exegesis of Sacred Scripture to building a house.  In order to establish a firm foundation Hugh exhorted his students to develop a thorough understanding of biblical history.  Then, upon this foundation the student of Scripture builds the metaphorical structure of intepretation through the use of allegory.  Lastly, one turns to moral instruction in Scripture and thereby paints the building with beautiful colors.

“But just as you see that every building lacking a foundation cannot stand firm, so also it is in learning.  The foundation and principle of sacred learning, however, is history, from which, like honey from the honeycomb, the truth of allegory is extracted.”  Ibid.

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Schools, Pastors, and Preachers

Posted on December 6, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“Now I have preached and written a great deal urging that good schools should be established in the cities in order that we might produce educated men and women, whence good Christian pastors and preachers might come forth so that the word of God might continue to flourish richly.  But people take such an indifferent attitude toward the matter, pretending that it might cost them their whole livelihood and temporal possessions, that I fear the time will come when schoolmasters, pastors, and preachers alike will have to quit, let the word go, and turn to a trade or some other means of stilling the pangs of hunger; just as the Levites had to abandon the worship of God to till the fields, as Nehemiah writes [Neh. 13:10].”  Martin Luther, “Exposition of Psalm 127, for the Christians at Riga in Livonia,” Luther’s Works, vol. 45, p. 318.

 

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Medieval University Students

Posted on November 29, 2012 by Matthew Phillips

“They attend classes but make no effort to learn anything….Such are the limbs of Satan rather than of Christ….And these persons who go to a university but do not study cannot with clear consciences enjoy the privilege of the fruits of benefices in a university.”

“They frequently learn what they would better ignore…such things as forbidden sciences, amatory discourses, and superstitions.”

“They defraud their master of their due salaries, although they are able to pay.”

“They have among themselves evil and disgraceful societies, associating together for ill.  And while in residence they sometimes are gulity of vices, against which their masters ought to provide and take action so far as they can.”

“The expense money which they have from their parents or churches they spend in taverns, conviviality, games and other superfluities, and so they return home empty, without knowledge, conscience, or money.”

Alvarus Pelagius (c.1275-1349), The Plaint of the Church, in The Middle Ages, Vol. 1: Sources of Medieval History 5th ed. (1992), 296-297.

Alvarus Pelagius, the Fransican friar and former canon lawyer, understood college students and their faults.

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