The socio-educational significance of the revival of interest in the works of Juan Luis Vives

319 Pages·015.62 MB·English

by  Mecredy, Mary Florence

THE SOCIO-EDUCATIOML SIGNIFICANCE OF THE
REVIVAL OF INTEREST IN THE WORKS OF
JUAN LUIS VIVES
A D issertation
Presented to
the Faculty of the School of Education
U niversity of Southern C alifornia
In P artial F ulfillm ent
of the Requirements for the Degree
Doctor of Philosophy
by
Mary Florence Mecredy
June 1942
UMI Number: DP23464
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This dissertation, written by
Haiy Horence Mecredy
under the guidance of h§¥... Faculty Committee
on Studies, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by the Council
on Graduate Study and Research, in partial ful­
fillment of requirements for the degree of
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
Secretary
April 10, 19^2
Committee on Studies
Chairman
TABLE OF CONTESTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I . THE POINT OF VIEW AND THE PROBLEM.......................... 1
In tro d u c tio n ............................................................................. 1
The problem . ..................................................... . . 5
Importance of the s t u d y .............................................. 6
Related litera tu re . • .8
Scope of the problem . . . . .................................... 13
Source m aterials ♦ . . ..................................... • • 14
Method o f t r e a t m e n t ........................................................ 25
Organization of the s t u d y ......................................... 27
I I . VIVES* BOYHOOD IN VALENCIA (1492-1509) . . . . 31
Introduction ............................................................................. 31
Vives* Spanish heritage . . 33
Spain as a Roman p r o v in c e .................................... 35
Spain as a Gothic t h e o c r a c y ............................... 36
Spain as a center of Moslem culture . . . 37
C hristian crusades against the Moors . . . 38
Regional culture in S p a i n .................................... 38
National unity under Ferdinand and
I s a b e lla ............................................................................. 39
Vives* fam ily background . . . . .......................... 40
Vives* h o m e .............................. 42
Valencian s e t t i n g ........................................ 44
i i i
CHAPTER PAGE
The U niversity of V a le n c ia ......................................... 48
The New Learning in S p a i n ......................................... 50
Summary of chapter . . . .............................................. 55
I I I . STUDENT DATS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF PARIS
1509-1514 57
Introduction . . . . ......................................................... 57
French h u m an ism ................................................................... 59
S c h o la s tic is m ........................................................................ 61
The U niversity of Paris . ......................................... 64
Vives* student lif e .................................... 64
Bazoche and Enfans Sans S o u c i ........................ 68
Vives debut as an author ............................... 70
Vives departure for F la n d e r s.................................... 72
IV. VIVES IN FLANDERS (1514-1540) 74
Introduction . . ........................................ 74
Contemporary events ........................................................ 75
The Northern R en aissan ce.............................................. 76
Brethren of the Common L i f e .................................... 79
U niversity of Louvain . ................................... 80
Vives break with scholasticism ......................... 82
Bruges ........................................................................ 86
English experiences • . • • • . . . • • • . 87
Return to Flanders • « . • • • ............................... 90
Sum m ary............................................. 91
lv
CHAPTER PAGE
V. THE SOCIAL BACKGROUND OF VIVES1 TIMES . . . * 97
In tro d u ctio n ................................................................... 97
Chronological orien tation ......................................... 98
The R e n a is s a n c e .......................................................... 101
Social ch aracteristics of theR enaissance. . 102
Social i l l s .................................................................... 104
Summary .................................................................................. 105
VI. SURVEY OF VIVES1 SOCIOLOGICAL WORKS............ 107
D efin ition s ........................................................ 107
V ives1 w r i t i n g s .......................................... 110
Sociology ..................... 113
W a r .................................................................................... 113
Poverty ............................................................ 119
VII. SURVEY OF VIVES1 EDUCATIONAL ??0RKS . . . . . . 128
Introduction ........................................ 128
P h ilo so p h y ............................................. 129
P sy ch o lo g y ......................... 132
H i s t o r y ....................................................................................... 137
M eth o d o lo g y ...................................• • • • • • • 144
Moral education .................................... 150
Summary of Chapter VI and VII . .................... 184
V III. SOCIAL AND EDUCATIONAL REFORMS. . . . . . . . 189
Introduction 189
D efin ition s • .............................. 189
CHAPTER PAGE
Y ives1 dedications . . .................................... 192
The role of the p o litic a l philosopher . . . 193
The rela tio n s of prince and philosopher . 194
The rela tio n o f prince and populace . • . 198
The keynote of Y ives1 sociological reforms . 201
W a r ........................................ 203
P o v e r t y ......................... 206
L a w .................................................................................................. 211
E d u c a tio n ............................................. 215
Sixteenth century decadence . . . . . . . 215
The h isto rica l development of education . . 216
Origin of k n o w le d g e .................................................... 216
The nature of m a n ......................................................... 217
The Seven Liberal Arts . . . . . . . . . 219
Education for the new age .................................... 220
The new philosophy . . . ....................................... 220
The science of e d u c a tio n .............................................. 225
Language— the medium o f communication . . . 232
The v e rn a cu la r ................................................................... 233
Latin . ...................................................................... . 234
Other la n g u a g e s .............................................................. 235
Educational g o a l s ................................................•... . . 235
Summary ........................................................ 238
v i
CHAPTER PA&E
IX. VIVES* PLACE IN EDUCATIONAL HISTORY..................... 243
Introduction ....................................................... 243
Ideology of today • • • • • • • • • • • * • 244
The Second Renaissance . . 244
Twentieth century decadence ............................... 248
Goals of the new age .............................. . 251
T ransition epochs ; 254
Vives* r e p u t a t io n .............................. 257
The trium virate of l e t t e r s .................................... 258
Vives: The "Second Q uintilian" . . . . . 261
The "Way-Breaker" ................................................... 262
The educational im plications of Vives*
reappearance in litera tu re . . . 265
Sum m ary.................................................................................. • 274
X. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS ..................................... 276
Sum m ary....................................................................................... 276
C o n c lu s io n s ............................................................................. 290
Future r e s e a r c h ........................................ 299
BIBLIOGRAPHY
V ives’ Works in the O r ig in a l.............................................301
Vives* Works in Translation .................... 301
Other .................................................................................. 304
CHAPTER I
THE POINT OF VIEW AND THE PROBLEM
INTRODUCTION
This study has as it s inception a challenging sta te ­
ment made by Michaud**- to the e ffe c t that the honor of
sponsoring the ideas o f Realism, hygiene, and physical
training as desirable educational goals belongs not to
R abelais, as has been thought, but to Juan Luis V ives.
Certain questions naturally come to mind in response to
th is sta rtlin g claim such as, "Who was Vives? What did he
write? What was his message? What place has he in the
history of education? Why is he om itted from the usual
textbooks? What has brought him back to public notice?*
That Vives has been brought back to public notice
cannot be denied. Iby and Arrowood devote considerable
space to him, cla ssify in g him not merely as a prophet of
Realism, but also as the f ir s t great modern student of
educational theory.2 They consider Vives the most
1
G. L. Michaud, "Luis Vives and R abelais’ Pedagogy,"
P ublications of Modern Language A ssociation , 38:419-24,
June, 1923.
2
Frederick Eby and Charles Flynn Arrowood, The
Development of Modern Education (New York: P ren tice-H all,
In c., 1923), p. 2(51.
2
democratic and humanitarian of the great Humanists.5
Twenty Centuries of Education, published in 1940, sta rts
it s fir s t chapter with an excerpt on the value of h isto rica l
perspective taken almost verbatim from the English tran sla­
tion of Vives* De Tradendis D isc ip lin is.4 Lynn Thorndike’s
a r tic le Juan Luis V ives: His A ttitude to Learning and to
L ife , suggests that Vives did not belong to the class of
those who " flattered princes and toadied to patrons” but
that he was, in th is resp ect, superior to Erasmus. Thorn­
dike says, in conclusion, that Vives had the im partiality
of the true scholar and showed the poise of a c itiz e n of
the world*5
Another proof of contemporary in terest is a book
just o ff the press, Catherine of Aragon, which gives Vives
footing among the English Humanists. The author G arrett
M attingly, says, in part, that, during the years of Vives*
residence in England, 1523-1528, h is w ritings and lectu res
did much to f i l l the gaps caused by the deaths 6f Linacre
3
I b id ., p. 206.
4
Edgar W allace Knight, Twenty Centuries of l o c a ­
tio n (Boston: Ginn and Company, 1940] , p. 3.
5
Lynn Thorndike, ”Juan Luis Vives: His A ttitude to
Learning and to L ife ,” Essays in In tellectu a l H istory (New
York: Harper Brothers, 1929), Chapter V III, p. 342.