Education During The Renaissance Period

The Renaissance is a period in European history beginning in about 1400 and following the medieval period. The term Renaissance is derived from a French word that means “rebirth” and is often marked to be the beginning of the “modern age.” The Renaissance is marked by the evolution period as major growth in the areas of philosophical, technological, and cultural advancements can be seen as it was a time of classical learning and great achievements. The main motive of education in this era is not only to teach but to further expand one’s knowledge intellectually.

The Subjects were largely concerned with humanities such as moral philosophy, poetry, and grammar as well as ancient authors during the Renaissance period. In general, most of the education at this time was based on humanists as it followed ideas, views, and teachings, which had taken over many universities as the standard practice. It is said that the standards of a “Renaissance man” rose as the value of education became more and more important. Education is considered to be the most valuable aspect of one’s standing in society in this period. Humanists believe that proper learning can be acquired when he or she becomes a proper being; a civilized society was built on the work of the most intelligent period. Because a proper Renaissance man would have to study Latin and Greek language, they also adopted numerous ancient philosophical ideas which gave them the knowledge and wisdom of classical learning.

It is also known that various new inventions that came to exist only because of the period of Renaissance such as the printing press which led to an increase in better education as the information was possible to spread widely among the masses. During the Renaissance period, the better education that came led to more curiosity and experimentation which brought many ideas amongst people in the society and allowed for more inventions and creativity. These creations, such as the compass, led to the exploration by the explorers and navigators of the world such as Columbus as the education was based more on science than simply on learning what ancient authorities had said.

Thus, Humanism played a significant role in education as it believed that human beings could be dramatically changed by education. The Humanists of the Renaissance period created schools to teach them moral values, and ideas and wrote books all about education which helped them to expand their knowledge in a broader aspect that led to intellectual development and made the Renaissance such a remarkable time because without humanism and the educational development that it brought about, the Renaissance would not be known as the explosion of culture that it is considered today.

By: Jashmeet Kaur