REFORMATION INFLUENCE on HESSIAN EDUCATION. the Ohio
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This dissertation has been microfilmed exactly as received 70-6921 WRIGHT, William John, 1942- REFORMATION INFLUENCE ON HESSIAN EDUCATION. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1969 History, modern University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan REFORMATION INFLUENCE ON HESSIAN EDUCATION DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By William John Wright, B.A., M.A The Ohio State University 1969 Approved b, Department of History PREFACE While much detailed work has been done on the ef fect of the Reformation on conditions in the Church, church constitutions, order of divine service, and•political con ditions in Germany, little has been done with education. Most of the important reformers had a great deal to say about the importance of education. The purpose of this study will be to examine the influence of the Reformation on education in the important German principality of Hesse. An attempt will be made to determine to what extent Philip the Magnanimous, Landgrave of Hesse, followed the advice of the reformers on education and how he went about it. A cursory inspection of the state of education before the Reformation reveals that there were secondary or primary i schools in most Hessian cities. Therefore, the effect of the Reformation will, not be seen in the number of schools established in cities. However, there were apparently no village schools before the Reformation. On the other hand, the visitors reported in 1556 that there were seven village schools in the middle principality a l o n e ^ (this area con- ^Wilhelm Wolff, Die Sntwicklung des Unterrichtswesens in ITessen-Kassel vom 8 . bis T^. JahrhundertsfTXassel: IT. G. Elwertsche, 1911), pp. 99-100. 2Ibld., pp. 101, 109. slsted of two visitation districts, Kassel and Rotenburg). Furthermore, there was no consistent concern for the support of schools or quality education,, While the documents reveal that there were schools in most cities at one time or anoth er during the course of three centuries before the Reforma tion, they do not indicate that these cities maintained schools constantly from the first date they were mentioned. In fact, the concern of the reformers for the "establishment" of schools in the cities indicates that the contrary was true. The cities themselves contributed little to the sup port of schools prior to the Reformation, they were support ed mostly by monastic and religious endowments. 3 Finally, while three or four cities might be named which employed humanist trained schoolmasters in the last two decades of if the fifteenth century, this by no means indicates that there was a consistent concern for quality education. An attempt will be made in this study to determine how and to what extent the Reformation.changed these conditions in Hesse. This examination will begin with what certain re formers had to say about education. Martin Luther, Philip Kelanchthon, Martin Bucer, and Francis Lambert of Avignon were the religious advisors upon whom the Landgrave relied 3Ibid., pp.. 67-99. **Ibid., p. 100. Wolff names the following cities and schoolmasters: Johannes Mahessen in Gemtinden, Jakob Karle in Fraakenberg.. (and later at Wetter), and Asklepius Barbatus in Homberg. iii most in all matters, in addition to his own Hessian advisor, Adam Krafft of Fulda. The direct influence of the reformers upon the educational ideas of Philip will be described by using personal correspondence and other sources. A thorough examination of the internal administra tion of the church and school system in Iiesse during the Reformation will reveal the extent to which Philip in corporated the reformers’ ideas on education. The official correspondence of the territorial officials concerned with school affairs, the protocol of church and school visita tions, administrative orders of the Landgrave, and territor ial church and school orders contain important information for this analysis. Finally, instruction and conditions in the schools will be examined. An attempt will be made to determine to what extent these things complied with the advice of the reformers and the administrative policies of Philip. The same sources are used here as in examining the administra tion of the church and school system. This study would be impossible without the marvelous resources of The Ohio State University Library, which has a superior collection of material, both primary and secondary, for the period of the Reformation. Printed collections of church and school orders and the internal Hessian documents (the Urkundlichen Quellen zur hessischen Reformationsge- schichte) are available here. Additional materials are made available through the inter-library loan service. This researcher must also express his gratitude for the award of a dissertation grant, which made it possible to travel to the Foundation for Reformation Research at St. Louis and to reduce various expenses related to the dissertation. The Foundation provides the opportunity for those students who cannot go to Germany to study a large collection of unpublished manuscripts. The entire political archives of the Landgrave Philip of Hesse and related ma terials are available there on positive and negative.micro film copies. I would also like to express my deep appreciation to Professor Harold J. Grimm who went far beyond the call of duty in helping me to prepare this dissertation. He has been both a friend and valuable advisor. Finally, I express appreciation to my loving wife who has been very patient through the seemlingly long years of graduate study. v VITA April. 7, 19*f2 . Born - Chicago, Illinois 1961* ........ B.A., Stetson University, DeLand, Florida 1965” ............ K.A., Stetson University- DeLand, Florida 1967-1969 ..... Teaching Associate, Department of History, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio FIELDS OF STUDY Major Field: Renaissance and Reformation; Professor Harold J. Grimm. Tudor-Stuart England. Professor R. Clayton Roberts. Early Modern Europe and the French Rev .lution. Professor John C. Rule. Sectionalism, Civil. War, and Reconstruction. Professor Merton L. Dnion. Vi TABLE OP CONTENTS PREFACE................ .................................. ii VITA....... Vi LIST OF FIGURES ............. ix Chapter I. THE REFORMATION AND CONDITIONS IN HE S S E ........1 Reformation and the need for education Conditions in Hesse Philip’s decision for Reformation II. THE HOMRERG S Y N O D ........................... ...... 2** Significance of the Diet and Recess of Speyer Prodedure at the Homberg Synod Result of the Synod and its committee Rejection of the outcome III. THE PERIOD OF LUTHERAN PREDONINANCE ................ 38 Advice from V/ittenberg Beginning of the Reformation in Marburg Administrative developments of 1530-1 531 Order of the Landgrave of 1537 Ziegenhain Order of 1537 IV. THE PERIOD OF BUCER'S PREDOMINANCE ......... 68 Struggle with the Anabaptists Bucer’s impact on church order, 1538-1539 Bucer’s advice concerning church incomes Philip's procedure with religious incomes Continued establishment of schools Summary of the program in Krafft's words V. INSTRUCTION AND CONDITIONS IN THE SCHOOLS.......... 98 Purpose of schools and subject matter Teachers in the schools VI.. CONCLUSION...................................... 131 vii APPENDIX ... BIBLIOGRAPHY viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. Print of Marburg .................................. 139 2. Title Page of an Apology of Philip’s Dealings with, the Monasteries .................. 1V0 3. A Page from Eisermann’s A p o l o g y .................. 1VI Kesse under Philip: Important Cities and Rivers ...................... 1^2 ix CHAPTER I THE REFORMATION AND CONDITIONS IN HESSE There were several types of schools in Germany be fore the Reformation in the sixteenth century. During the eighth century, monastic orders, especially the Benedict- tines,: had established schools in which religion and the trivium were taught. In the Middle Ages, however, relig ious instruction emphasized the outward forms of the faith rather than doctrine. ^ The trivium, the so-called encyclo pedia of medieval, knowledge, consisted of instruction in Grammar, rhetoric, and logic. In addition, some medieval schools taught the quadrivium which included arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. Whereas these monastic schools were probably the most important educational in stitutions during the Middle Ages, there were others. In fact, another important form of school developed almost simultaneously, which was associated with cathedrals and run by members of the cathedral chapters. The curricu lum in these schools was similar to that, of' the monastic schools. Schools developed quite naturally around cathe drals inhere there was the need to train boys for appoint- ■j Below Chapter V. 2 ments to high offices in the church* Since both the mo- nastic and the cathedral schools were intended to train boys for a life of service to the Church, they catered to the clergy, and not to the laity* V/ith the growth of cities in the late Middle Ages, a demand for a more secular education appeared* Citizens in towns demanded an education which would prepare people for secular careers* From this demand came city Latin schools., which were lay schools for boys. The subject matter in these schools, similar to that in monastic and cathedral schools, consisted of Latin grammar, religion, and music* 3 They dif fered from.the other schools in so far as they were free of clerical