Education and Humanism

Learning Objective

  • Define Humanism and its goals as a movement in education

Key Points

  • The Humanists of the Renaissance created schools to teach their ideas and wrote books all about education.
  • One of the most profound and important schools was established and created by Vittorino da Feltre in 1423 in Mantua to provide the children of the ruler of Mantua with a Humanist education.
  • Humanists sought to create a citizenry able to speak and write with eloquence and clarity, thus capable of engaging in the civic life of their communities and persuading others to virtuous and prudent actions.
  • Humanist schools combined Christianity and classical texts to produce a model of education for all of Europe.

Terms