Durham E-Theses Wolfgang Ratke (Ratichius) and his educational writings Walmsley, John Brian How to cite: Walmsley, John Brian (1990) Wolfgang Ratke (Ratichius) and his educational writings, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/6048/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk ABSTRACT John Brian Walmsley Wolfgang Ratke (Ratichius) and his educational writings Wolfgang Ratke (Ratichius, 1571-1635) presents something of a paradox in educational history. Born in Holstein, he first came into prominence through the Memorandum he presented at the election of the Holy Roman Emperor in Frank• furt in 1612. The Memorandum contained a brief proposal for reforming schools and bringing about unity of government, language and religion throughout the empire. Apart from these few facts, there is almost nothing concerning Ratke on which historians agree. For some, Ratke was a reformer of central importance — the first in history to dedicate himself exclusively to the cause of education (hence his self-given title ' Didacticus1. For others, he was a man who developed fruitful ideas, but failed to demonstrate that they could be implemented in practice, — a man sincere but incapable. For still others, he was not only incapable but not even sincere — a cheapjack, a charlatan. This thesis takes up the paradox of Ratke's treatment in educational history, and tries to discover how it arose. Starting with a sketch of Ratke's life, it examines Ratke's attempts to implement his reforms in Augsburg, Kothen and Magdeburg, and the reasons for his failure. It also examines Ratke's contribution to the areas in which he invested his reforming energy for over twenty years — the curric• ulum, educational policy and administration, learning-theory and teaching-method. Finally, an attempt is made to find an answer to the question of whether Ratke's ideas did indeed prove fruitful for the educational reforms which spread through seventeenth-century Germany, or whether they disappeared without trace. WOLFGANG RATKE (RATICHIUS) AND HIS EDUCATIONAL WRITINGS The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. A thesis submitted by John Brian Walmsley to the University of Durham for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy April 1990 2 4 JUL 1990 No material contained in this thesis has previously been submitted for a degree in Durham University or any other university. The author is willing that this work, if approved and deposited in the university library, may, at the discretion of the librarian, be made available for consultation by bona fide scholars after five years. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotations from it may be published without his written consent. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Acknowledgements First and foremost, I should like to express my gratitude to Professor Gordon R. Batho of the University of Durham, who supervised this work. I owe him both a professional and a personal debt. From him I learned most of what I know about writing educational history. At the same time, I owe much to his patience and encouragement over the long period during which this work took shape. Secondly, the work would have been impossible without the assistance of librarians in many parts of Europe. To all of these go my grateful thanks for answering written enquiries and allowing access to rare books and documents. In particular, I should like to thank the librarians of the forty-four libraries of the German Federal Republic, the thirteen libraries of the German Democratic Repub• lic, the librarians and research-workers of Det Kongelige Bibliotek in Copen• hagen, the Royal Society of London, the Samuel Hartlib Papers Project in the University of Sheffield, the Kungl. Biblioteket in Stockholm, and the University Library in Wroclaw, for their responses to my written enquiries. Further, special thanks go to the archivists and librarians of the Staatsarchiv Basle, the Staats- bibliothek Preuflischer Kulturbesitz Berlin, the Palace Green Library Durham, the Niedersachsische Landesbibliothek Gottingen, the Forschungsbibliothek Schlofl Friedenstein Gotha, the Stadtarchiv and Institut fur Lehrerbildung "Wolfgang Ratke" in Kothen, the Universitatsbibliothek Leipzig, the British Library London, the Staatsarchiv Magdeburg, the Bodleian Library Oxford, the Wurttembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart, the Universitatsbibliothek Tubingen and the Herzog August Bibliothek Wolfenbuttel for their expert help, given with courtesy and patience. For his skill and efficiency in producing maps, tables and illustrations I am indebted to Raymond Kitching. Finally, I am grateful to all those individuals who cannot be named here but who helped in typing, reading and commenting on the manuscript, and with technical and linguistic advice, - not least among them the members of my family, who now know more about Ratke than can possibly be good for them. CONTENTS i Contents List of Illustrations iii List of Maps iv List of Tables v List of Figures vi List of Brief References vii Preliminary note xi Frontispiece CHAPTER I : Landmarks in Ratke's life and work 1 CHAPTER II : Towards a historiography: Ratke's treatment in the literature 25 CHAPTER ni : Contexts of failure: Augsburg, Kothen, Magdeburg 45 CHAPTER IV : The seeds of Ratke's programme: The Memorandum of 1612 65 CHAPTER V : The key to the plan: Ratke's Encyclopaedia 90 CHAPTER VI : Education: Organisation and content 116 CHAPTER VH : The practice of teaching: Ratke on method 140 CHAPTER VIII : Success or failure? Ratke's influence on educational thought 166 ii Appendix I Memorandum, 1612. 190 Appendix II Thorough and reliable report, 1613? 193 Appendix HI : Articles, 1617. 197 Appendix IV : Aphorisms, 1617. 209 Bibliography 212 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS iii List of Illustrations I. Frontispiece Title-page of Ratke's Universal Grammar in German (Allgemeine Sprachlehr, Kothen, 1619), showing his motto 'RATIO VICIT. VETUSTAS CESSrT together with the words 'Nach Der Lehrart RATICHIT ('According to the Didactic of Ratichius'). II. The opening pages of the Little Reader (Lesebuchlein), Kothen, 1619. Following p. 14 III. Title-page of the Universal Grammar in Italian (Gramatica Universale, Kothen, 1620. Ratke's name, emblem and motto were omitted from books printed in Kothen after his imprisonment in Warmsdorf, though the words 'According to the Didactic' were retained. Following p. 15 LIST OF MAPS IV List of Maps Map I : Towns visited by Ratke up to his arrival in Kothen in 1618. Following p. 3 Map II : Towns visited by Ratke 1620-1635. Following p. 28 LIST OF TABLES V List of Tables Table I Genealogical Table of the House of Anhalt 1536-1675. (Extract). Following p. 6 Table II : The number of predications about Ratke shared by the authors listed. Following p. 32 Table m : Information about Ratke shared by eight authors listed in Table H. Following p. 34 Table IV The book-titles of Gesner's Pandectarum (1548) and Alsted's Encyclopaedia (1630). Following p. 94 Table V The Table from Ratke's Encyclopaedia, Kothen, 1619, showing the division of subjects. Following p. 96 Table VI The implementation of Ratke's programme. The Kothen Series. Following p. 113 LIST OF FIGURES vi List of Figures Figure I Outline quasi in synopsi of the curriculum. (Adapted from Vogt 1894, p. 35, fn.) Following p. 95 Figure II : Extracts from the Tables (a) Holy Scripture and (b) Of Knowledge, showing model dispositions for synthetic and analytic disciplines respectively. Following p. 108 LIST OF BRIEF REFERENCES Vll List of Brief References Full details are given in the Bibliography. Works not assigned to a named author are to be understood as Ratichian, i.e. as having been written by Ratke with or without other members of his team not explicitly named in the document in question. Adamson J.W. Adamson, Pioneers of Modern Education 1600-1700, Cambridge, 1905. Aphor 17 Aphorisms (Aphorismi), in, Rhenius, ed., 1617, pp. 175-178. Aphor 29 Aphorisms (Aphorismi), in, Vogt 1881, pp. 30-31. Archont Archontica (Regentenamtslehr — Of the Office of Sovereign). Art Articles (Artikel auf welchen), in, Rhenius, ed., 1617, pp. 179-206. AU 1 Wolfgang Ratke: Allunterweisung. Part I, edd., G. Hohendorf and F. Hofmann, Berlin, 1970. AU 2 Wolfgang Ratke: Allunterweisung. Part II, edd., G. Hohendorf and F. Hofmann, Berlin, 1971. Bowen J. Bowen, A History of Western Education, Vol. I, 1972; Vol. n, 1975; Vol. Ill, 1981. BMZ H. Bruckner, J.M. Meyfart and S. Ziegler,J/umWe Relation (Vntertanige Relation). BriefT Brief Treatment (Kurze Beruhrung). Didact Didactica (Lehrartlehr - On Teaching). DolR Dolium Ratichii (Ratke's Barrel). Encycl Encyclopaedia, Kdthen, 1619. Epist Epistemonica (Verstehungslehrartlehr — On Teaching Under• standing). Eutact Eutactica (Ordnungslehrartlehr — On Teaching Disposing). GC General Constitution (Allgemeine Verfassung). GID General Introduction to Didactic (Allgemeine Anleitung in die Didacticam). GIM General Introduction to Method (In Methodum Linguarum), in, Rhenius, ed., 1617, pp. 132-160. GR The Giessen Report — C. Helwig and J. Jung, Kurtzer Bericht von der Didactica (Brief Report on the Didactic), Frankfurt, 1613. GSuppR The Giessen Supplementary Report - C. Helwig and J.Jung, Nachbericht der newen Lehrkunst Wolfgangi Ratichii, Rostock, 1614.