life,[1] but I think the readers of the "Labyrinth" will wish to find here a short account of the long and eventful life of its author. I shall do this as briefly as possible, except when dealing with Komensky's stay at Brandeis, where he wrote the "Labyrinth."
John Amos Komensky[2] was born in 1592 at Uherský Brod,[3] a small town in Moravia. He lost his parents when quite young, and received his earliest education at Uherský Brod, at the school that the brethren had established there. His family had long belonged to that community. Komensky's experiences at school were very painful. The almost inconceivable brutality of the teachers of that day, who looked down on corporal punishment not merely as a penalty for offences, but as a measure that was likely to stimulate the minds of the young to intellectual efforts, deeply impressed the high-strung nature of young Komensky. He has alluded to his school-days in the "Labyrinth" (chap. x.), and there is little doubt that the recollection of his early experiences influenced him when he endeavoured later in life to amend the educational system. After leaving
- ↑ I have referred to it briefly in my "Bohemia: an Historical Sketch," and more fully in my "History of Bohemian Literature."
- ↑ According to the latest researches, the name of Komensky's family was originally Milic; they adopted the name of Komensky (Latinised to Comenius) when they settled in the little village of Komna, in Moravia. Komensky's father afterwards moved from there to the neighbouring town of Uhersky Brod.
- ↑ I.e., "The ford of the Hungarians."
