Humanism and Protestantism in Early Modern English Education (St. Andrews Studies in Reformation History)

401 Pages·2009·3.81 MB·English

by  Ian Green

Humanism and Protestantism in
Early Modern English Education

Humanism and
Protestantism in Early
Modern English Education
Ian GrEEn
University of Edinburgh, UK
© Ian Green 2009
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored
in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission
of the publisher.
Ian Green has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents
Act, 1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Green, Ian M.
Humanism and Protestantism in early modern English education.
– (St andrews studies in reformation history)
1. Education – England – History – 16th century 2. Education – England
– History – 17th century 3. Humanism – England – History – 16th century
4. Humanism – England – History – 17th century 5. Protestantism – England
– History – 16th century 6. Protestantism – England – History – 17th century
7. reformation – England
I. Title
370.9’42’0903
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Green, Ian M.
Humanism and Protestantism in early modern English education / Ian M.
Green.
p. cm. – (St andrews studies in reformation history)
Includes index.
ISBN 978–0–7546–6368–3 (alk. paper) – ISBN 978–0–7546–9468–7 (ebook)
1. Education – England – History. 2. Education, Humanistic – England –
History. 3. Humanism – England – History. 4. Protestantism – England –
History. I. Title.
La631.5.G74 2009
370.942–dc22 2008051707
ISBn 978–0–7546–6368–3 (hbk) ISBN 978-0-7546-9468-7 (ebk.V)
Contents
List of Tables and Figures vii
Preface ix
Abbreviations xiii
1 Historiography and Sources 1
2 Grammar Schools and Grammar Teachers in Protestant
England 55
3 The Uses of Latin in the Lower Forms of Grammar
Schools 127
4 The Uses of Latin and Greek in the Senior Forms and
Universities 191
5 Protestant Influences in Grammar Schools and Universities 267
6 assessing the Impact 307
Index 365
ThIs PAgE hAs bEEn LEFT bLAnK InTEnTIonALLy
List of Tables and Figures
Tables
1.1 ‘School books’ entered into the ‘English stock’ by 1620 or
published for the Stationers’ Company c. 1620–1760. 40
Figures
1.1 advertisement of c. 1695 (British Library 1865, c.3, f. 132; 42
© British Library. all rights reserved).
1.2 advertisement of 1766 (Stationers’ Hall archives, Series 1,
Box M, Folder M, Miscellaneous Valuations, records and
Stock in the Treasurer’s Warehouse. With the permission
of the Worshipful Company of Stationers and newspaper
Makers). 43
ThIs PAgE hAs bEEn LEFT bLAnK InTEnTIonALLy
Preface
The core of this monograph consists of the set of Waynflete Lectures
delivered at Magdalen College Oxford, in February and March 2006. I am
extremely grateful to the President and Fellows for the invitation to give
those lectures, and for awarding me a Visiting Fellowship. I am also greatly
indebted both to the Fellows, especially Professor Laurence Brockliss and
Dr Christine Ferdinand, and to the other distinguished members of the
audience, especially Sir Keith Thomas, Professor John Bossy, Professor
Diarmaid MacCulloch and Dr Martin Ingram, for their helpful comments
and suggestions for further reading. I am also very grateful to the School
of History, Classics and archaeology in the University of Edinburgh for
making me an Honorary Research Fellow, and providing a quiet haven in
which the lectures could be turned into a monograph. For publication the
lectures have been annotated and amplified, especially in Chapters 2 and
6, and the sequence changed somewhat, but the gist remains the same.
The theme of these lectures was chosen, at least in part, with William
Waynflete and his foundations at Oxford in mind. Waynflete had begun his
career as a schoolmaster, and his success at Winchester College and then
as Provost of the recently founded Eton College led to his promotion to
the episcopate. But his early career left a strong mark on his later thinking,
notably in his determination to plough back many of the rewards of high
office into producing a supply of Latin teachers for grammar schools, which
in turn would supply recruits for the priesthood who would help stamp out
heresy in the parishes. accordingly he put much effort and considerable
resources into setting up his educational foundations in Oxford: Magdalen
College and Magdalen College School. But though his aims may have been
conservative, he was open to change in the organization and curriculum of
those creations, and especially the way in which Latin was taught – along
the lines of the classical roman writers rather than the usages of the later
Middle ages. as a result both College and School helped to open England
up to influences from abroad, especially humanist influences from Italy and
northern Europe.1 not only was an impressive and talented succession
of humanist scholars appointed to teach in Magdalen College School
from the 1470s to the 1560s, many of whom in turn became fellows or
teachers in schools scattered wide across southern England, but also a
1 Virginia Davis, William Waynflete: Bishop and Educationalist (Woodbridge, 1993).