Page:History of the German people at the close of the Middle Ages vol1.djvu/73

61 CHAPTEE III ELEMENTARY EDUCATION AND THE OLDER HUMANISTS The intellectual condition of the German people was most beneficially influenced by the schools of the society called ' The Brethren of the Social Life,' founded by Gerhard Groot 1 in the Netherlands. The settlements of the ' Brothers ' spread gradually along the Ehine as far as Suabia, and by the end of the fifteenth century they reached from the Scheldt to the Vistula, from Cambrai, through the whole of Northern Germany, to Culm, in Western Prussia. In these schools Christian education was placed high above mere learning, and the training of children in practical religion and active piety was considered the most important duty. The whole system of instruction was permeated by a Chris- tian spirit ; the pupi'is learnt to look upon religion as the basis of all human existence and culture, while at the same time they had a good suppy of secular knowledge imparted to them, and they gained a genuine love for learning and study. Youths eager for know- ledge flocked from all parts to these schools. The number of scholars at Zwolle rose often to eight hundred or a thousand ; at Alkmaar to nine hundred ; 1 This great man will be best understood when his writings, particu- larly his letters, have been published. See Grube, Get-hard Groot, pp. 45-47. For particulars regarding ' The Brethren of the Social Life,' see K. Hirsch in Herzog's Real Ency clop ee die, ii. b, 678-760; Kamniel, Gcschichte des deutsclien Schulivesens, pp. 207-231.