The Renaissance period was a change in the training goals of English universities, the education system.
As the influence of the Renaissance spread, some humanists turned from literature and art to education, hoping to produce new people with new values and worldviews through schooling.
In the Middle Ages, the Catholic Church had a long monopoly on education, and most of the students were religious people who could only memorize dogmas, while Renaissance education required the educated to actively participate in social and cultural activities, industrial and commercial activities, and become talents really needed by the state and society.
The change in the purpose of education in England began in the 15th century, when British universities were influenced by the Renaissance on the European continent and the study of classical ** began to become popular. Scholars from the continent were often invited to teach at universities, scholars were sent to work on the continent, and new scholars from the continent returned to Oxford and Cambridge.
At the end of the 15th century, Erasmus, the great humanist of Europe, came to England and began teaching at Oxford and Cambridge universities. In the 16th century, a new academic atmosphere was formed in British universities. This new academic atmosphere influenced traditional knightly education and promoted the development of English gentleman's education.
The honor of medieval knights was not earned by blood, but served in the lord's army and fought on the battlefield. This requires the knight to be physically strong, proficient in cavalry, and trained to use various ** and tactics, which are the basic requirements of a true knight. In addition, the most important part of knight training is to develop loyalty to the lord.
There were various legends of knights in medieval Europe, and the image of loyal and brave knights was deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. With the spread of chivalry, chivalric education also arose. Knights are still a permanent social group in British society, but knightly education has surpassed the knightly group and has become a common form of education in British society, especially aristocratic society.
The English aristocracy suffered heavy losses after the Wars of the Roses:"In 1485 there were 55 nobles;Between 1485 and 1547, 30 nobles disappeared due to the destruction of their families, and 13 nobles were naturalized. The knights, as an important military force, continued to decline even on the actual battlefield, as the Tudor monarchs tried to weaken the military power of the great nobles from the beginning.
The Prohibition of Aboriginal Soldiers Act of 1504 put an end to the practice of detaining Aboriginal soldiers that prevailed during the reign of Henry VII in the 14th and 15th centuries. The Act of 1504 also provided for a ban on the use of Aboriginal soldiers and for the use of Aboriginal soldiers in the courts. By confession, interrogation, testimony, or otherwise"。Through a series of decrees, Henry VII declared that subjects were to be loyal first to the monarch and secondly to their master.
For this reason, he also strictly restricted the dress of noble servants and avoided wearing ** with special family significance, so that the servants had a strong sense of belonging and unlimited loyalty to their masters. In the late 15th and early 16th centuries, the severe crisis faced by the traditional English aristocracy led directly to the decline of chivalry and chivalry.
Traditional knightly training was more practical than academic, serving the medieval aristocratic ruling class. After the War of the Roses, the Renaissance began, and people gradually realized that bloodshed alone was not enough, but also the cultural education of public officials, and this cultural requirement for the gentleman was perhaps the most important contribution of the Renaissance to the formation of the modern ruling class.
In addition to the change in the training content, the most important difference between gentleman training and knight training is the change in the purpose of training. The most important feature of gentleman training is that the purpose of the training is clear, the purpose of gentleman training is to cultivate people who can take on social leadership tasks and be competent for work, followed by elegant ambition and extensive interpersonal communication, the content of this kind of training is usually beyond the reach of ordinary people, which is why over time, British gentleman training has become a real aristocratic training.
Elliott was a well-known English educational thinker during the Tudor period, a Renaissance humanist, and a close friend of his father, Moore, a pioneer of English classicist aviation. In 1531, Elliott published the Book of Sovereigns, dedicated to King Henry VIII. The Book of Sovereigns does not propose a specific strategy for managing the institutions of the state, as Thomas More did, nor does it envisage a utopian kingdom;Rather, it focuses on how to cultivate a new ruler of the ruling class, an entirely new ideal and strategy for consolidating power. This is a new ideal and strategy for consolidating power from the bottom up.
Eliot argued"The main purpose of education is to enable the ruling class to fulfill its duties as servants of the state"。Eliot inherited Erasmus's humanist ideas in some teaching methods and curriculum, but he was very different from Erasmus, the most important of which was Eliot's nationalist ideas. First, Eliot's Book of Sovereigns was written in English, and he also emphasized the importance of using one's own language, advocating the use Xi of one's own language while learning Latin and Greek.
In short, under the influence of humanist education, the national self-confidence of the British people was very strong, especially in the Elizabethan era, and the English gentlemen who grew up under the influence of humanist education were mostly patriotic, and they said the same thing as Macbeth:"I love Rome, but I love London even more;I love Italy, but I love England even more;I know Latin, but I prefer English. "
Under the influence of the Renaissance, the image of the king also changed: he was no longer just a symbol of the strong defense of the kingdom, but was also expected to be a symbol of national culture, as Jacques Vergès said:"Good knights and good apprentices are no longer enough to make a good king;His authority must be everywhere, in the judicial, economic, educational, and all spheres of life in the kingdom. A good monarch must also be cultured, eloquent, and surrounded by philosophers to advise him"。
The humanists of the Renaissance were particularly concerned"Good ruler"Machiavelli and Erasmus are among them, who wrote "On the Ruler" and "On the Education of the Ruler" respectively, explaining how to become one"Good ruler"。
At the same time, the rights and duties of the monarchy were constantly expanding, and the king strengthened his control over education on the one hand, and patronage of it on the other. Thus, in Renaissance England, the relationship between the king and the university became increasingly close, both in terms of royal control of the university and its patronage.
The importance that Tudor kings placed on the new sciences was closely related to the education they received in the context of Renaissance culture. Henry VIII, for example, was educated under the influence of the new sciences, was fluent in many Chinese, had a keen interest in classical culture, and was himself close to the humanists, being close friends of Erasmus, Thomas More, Colette, and Linnaeus.
Queen Elizabeth, another important ruler of the Tudor dynasty, also grew up in an environment of humanist education, and she was able to provide a cultural atmosphere conducive to humanist education.