The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius/Notes

by Maurice Walter Keatinge

NOTES

1. Gregory Nazianzen.—A Father of the Church in the fourth century. He was renowned for his eloquence, which he employed in combating the Arian heresy.

2. Wolfgang Ratich or Ratke (born at Wilster in 1571, died at Erfurt in 1635).—One of the immediate forerunners of Comenius in school reform. He enjoyed the patronage of Count Ludwig of Anhalt-Köthen, through whose liberality he was enabled to found a six-class school at Köthen, in accordance with his didactic principles. He also undertook the reorganisation of the schools at Augsburg, Weimar, Magdeburg, and Rudolfstadt. The lack of success that attended his efforts was due to his quarrelsome disposition and to his utter inability to establish a modus vivendi with his colleagues and assistants. For his Principles, see Intr. II. p. 136.

3. Eilhard Lubin (born in 1565, in the Duchy of Oldenburg; died in 1621).—Professor of Poetry and Theology at the University of Rostock. His Didactic, quoted by Comenius in sec. 17 of his introduction, has not been preserved.

4. Christopher Helwig (1581–1617).—Professor of Theology, of Greek, and of Oriental Languages in the University of Giessen. He was one of the Commissioners who examined Ratke’s didactic method in 1612.

5. Franciscus Ritter.—This may possibly have been a clergyman and mathematician of some repute the Palatinate in the early seventeenth century. Morhof mentions him under the name Franciscus Ridderus (Polyhistor, i. 1. 16).

6. Johannes Bodinus (1530–1596).—A lawyer at Toulouse, author of a treatise, Methodus ad facilem historiarum cognitionem.

7. Vogel.—Probably Ezechiel Vogel, a schoolmaster at Göttingen, and author of a work, Ephemerides linguæ Latinæ, in which he shows how a boy, by working two hours daily, may learn Latin in one year.

8. Glaum; Wolfstirn.—Of the owners of these names I have been unable to obtain any information.

9. John Valentine Andreæ.—Court-preacher at Stuttgart, where he died in 1654. He was a considerable power in the Church and in the school-room.

10. Janus Cæcilius Frey.—A German physician residing at Paris, where he died of the plague in 1631. On educational questions he wrote several books, remarkable for their sound common-sense.

11. This section is signed with Andreæ’s name, but cannot have been written by him, as in the original Bohemian version of the Great Didactic it appears in a considerably altered form. Possibly the last sentence is quoted from one of Andreæ’s works.

12. Stobæus.—A native of Stobi in Macedonia, where he lived about 500 A.D., and composed an Anthology of extracts from as many as 500 Greek authors.

13. Pittacus of Mitylene.—One of the seven wise men of Greece. Lived about 600 B.C.

14. Sextus Pompeius Festus.—A Roman grammarian who lived towards the end of the fourth century A.D.

15. John Ludovic Vives.—One of the great pedagogues of the sixteenth century. Was born at Valencia in 1492; professed the “Humanities” at Louvain and was afterwards invited by Henry VIII. to England, where he became the tutor of the Princess Mary. His best known works on education are: De ratione studii puerilis epistolæ dua; De tradendis disciplinis sive de institutione Christiana; De institutione fæminæ Christianæ; Introductio ad Sapientiam.

16. Bernhard.—Abbot of Clairvaux in 1115. A man of great ecclesiastical and political influence, and one of the instigators of the Third Crusade.

17. Lactantius.—For some years tutor to a son of the Emperor Constantine. Converted to Christianity in middle life, he wrote a voluminous treatise, Divinarum institutionum libri vii.; a plea for Christianity, intended for pagans who had received a philosophic education. He died about 330 A.D.

18. Matthew Dresser (1536–1607).—Was successively Professor of Greek at Erfurt, Professor of Rhetoric at Jena, Rector of the school at Meissen, and Professor of Greek and Latin at Leipzig.

19. Liebhard Camerarius.—A renowned sixteenth century scholar and editor of the classics. Sympathised with the Reformation and was a friend of Melanchthon’s. Died in 1574.

20. Gulartius.—Nothing appears to be known of this scholar or his works.

21. George Agricola (born in Saxony, 1490).—The founder of the modern school of mineralogy and metallurgy. Mining in Germany owed much to his researches, which were considered authoritative as late as the eighteenth century.

22. Christopher Longolius (1488–1522).—Born at Mecheln and resident in Paris. A renowned classic of his day. Died at Padua.

23. Hippolitus Guarino.—Lived in the first half of the seventeenth century. Was town physician at Speyer.

24. John Pico Mirandolo (1463–1494).—In early youth gave evidence of remarkable ability. When fourteen years old went to Bologna, where he studied canon law and philosophy. His memory was so retentive that if 20,000 words were repeated to him once, he could reproduce them in the same order. He published 900 theses and challenged the learned men of the whole world to dispute with him on any one of them. Accused of heresy, he was acquitted by Pope Innocent VIII. He died at Florence.

25. Joseph Justus Scaliger.—Flourished in France at the end of the sixteenth and beginning of the seventeenth centuries. Possessed a marvellous knowledge of the classics and of oriental languages. His learning was more than equalled by his vanity and quarrelsomeness.

26. Pierre de la Ramée.—Professor of Mathematics and Humanity at the University of Paris in the middle of the sixteenth century. Was killed in the Massacre of St. Bartholomew, August 24th, 1572.

27. Gregory Cnapius (1574–1638).—A Polish Jesuit, Professor of Oratory, Mathematics, and Theology. Was author of a Thesaurum Polono-Latino-Græcum.

28. Not conjunctus but convinctus is now the generally accepted derivation of cunctus.

29. Joachim Fortius or Ringelberg (died in 1536).—Born at Antwerp and brought up at the court of Maximilian I. A man of varied talent, and a voluminous author, he attained success as a mathematician, a philologist, a painter, and an etcher.

30. Robert Flutt (1574–1637).—Born at Milgate in Kent. Travelled in France, Spain, Italy, and Germany, and finally settled in London, where he practised medicine. On physics he had the most fantastic notions, and imagined that the root principles of chemistry were to be found in the Bible. Was author of a Meteorologica Cosmica.

31. Andreas Hyperius (1511–1564).—A member of the Reformed Church, born at Ypres. He studied at Paris and lectured there on Dialectic and Rhetoric, afterwards becoming Professor of Theology at Marburg.

32. Fulgentius.—A Catholic Bishop who lived about 500 A.D. He defended the views of the Orthodox Church against the Arian and Pelagian heresies.

33. Priscian.—A grammarian who lived and taught at Constantinople in the sixth century. His Latin Grammar was the basis for much of the grammatical instruction of the middle ages.

34. Expulsion of pagan books.—It is difficult to reconcile Comenius’ denunciation of the classics in this chapter with his introduction of them into his scheme elsewhere. In this phase of mind he does but return to the distrust displayed by the Church for the new learning introduced by the Renaissance. It is curious to note that no stress is laid on the Utilitarian and “pressure-of-other-subjects” argument now so frequently made use of. Comparatively recently (1850 and 1851) two French writers, the Abbé Gaume and Bastiat, have condemned the use of the classics in schools from a point of view very similar to that of Comenius. Gaume in a pamphlet, Le ver rongeur, maintained that all literature prior to Christ’s coming was devoid of morality, and that the Fathers should be read in preference to Latin writers of the golden age. Bastiat, in a curious book entitled Baccalauréat et Socialisme, objects to any study that will introduce school-boys to a people who, like the Romans, lived by robbery and oppression. “Cette nation,” he declares, “s’est fait une politique, une morale, une religion, une opinion publique conforme au principe brutal qui la conserve et la développe. La France ayant donné au clergé le monopole de l’éducation, celui-ci ne trouve rien de mieux à faire que d’envoyer toute la jeunesse française chez ce peuple, vivre de sa vie, s’inspirer de ses sentiments, s’enthousiasmer de ses enthousiasmes, et respirer ses idées comme l’air.”

35. Cassiodorus (died 562 A.D.)—Held high office under Theodoric and his successor. After the fall of the Goths he retired into seclusion and employed himself in writing works of a philosophic nature on grammar and orthography.

36. Pietro Bembo.—A renowned Italian Cardinal in the sixteenth century. Was secretary to Pope Leo X., and wrote with elegance in both Latin and Italian.

37. Isidorus (died 635 A.D.)—Bishop of Seville. Was a student of the classics in an age when they were generally neglected. Compiled a kind of encyclopædia entitled Originum sive Etymologiarum libri xx.

38.Sketch of the Mother-School.—It is interesting to observe the development or rather the application at the present day of Comenius’ ideas on infant education. The following extracts from the French code of 1887 reflect the Comenian spirit very markedly:—

“L’école maternelle n’est pas une école au sens ordinaire du mot; elle forme le passage de la famille à l’école, elle garde la douceur affectueuse et indulgente de la famille, en même temps qu’elle initie au travail et à la régularité de l’école.” . . . “Une bonne santé; l’ouïe, la vue, le toucher déjà exercés par une suite graduée de ses petits jeux et de ses petites expériences propres à l’éducation des sens; des idées enfantines, mais nettes et claires, sur les premiers éléments de ce qui sera plus tard l’instruction primaire; un commencement d’habitudes et de dispositions sur lesquelles l’école puisse s’appuyer pour donner plus tard un enseignement régulier; le goût de la gymnastique, du chant, du dessin, des images, des récits; l’empressement à écouter, à voir, à observer, à imiter, à questionner, à répondre; une certaine faculté d’attention entretenue par la docilité, la confiance et la bonne humeur; l’intelligence éveillée enfin et l’âme ouverte à toutes les bonnes impressions morales; tels doivent être les résultats de ces premières années passées à l’école maternelle, et, si l’enfant qui en sort arrive à l’école primaire avec une telle préparation, il importe peu qu’il y joigne quelques pages de plus ou de moins du syllabaire.”

39. William Zepper.—A preacher at Herborn at the close of the sixteenth and beginning of seventeenth centuries.

40. John Henry Alsted.—See Intr. I. p. 4, and Intr. II. p. 137.

41. Simon Stevin (died 1633).—The author of numerous mathematical works and an inspector of dams in Holland.

42. Justus Lipsius (born 1574).—Resided at Louvain, where he wrote works of a philosophical nature. His learning and his literary style are greatly praised by Morhof.