Womens Education during the RenaissanceWord格式文档下载.docx

Womens Education during the RenaissanceWord格式文档下载.docx

《Womens Education during the RenaissanceWord格式文档下载.docx》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《Womens Education during the RenaissanceWord格式文档下载.docx（13页珍藏版）》请在冰豆网上搜索。

ABSTRACT

EducationwasofcentralinteresttotheRenaissancehumanists.DifferentfromtheMedievaleducation,thepurposeofRenaissanceeducationwastoact,ratherthantomeditate.Thisbringsforwardthequestionofwomen’slearninginthisgreathistoricalchange,sincethatpurposeseemscontradictorytowomen’svirtueatthattime,whichwaschaste,silent,andsubservient.Humanistsresolvedthisprobleminsuchawayastolimiteducationtolimitednumberofwomen,andthelimitationwasstrict.Latinwastaught,butrhetoricwasnot;

noblewomenandupper-classedreceivedtheeducation,butasanornamentratherthantolearnttoassertthemselves.Despitetheserestrictions,Renaissancedidseeburgeoninglearnedwomenandtheyhadtheirworkspublish,onlythattheywerecelebratedasexceptionstotherule.

Keywords:

Renaissance,women’seducation,restrictions,notionofwomen

ThetermRenaissancederivesinpartfromthesuccessofJakobBurckhardt’sbook,TheCivilizationoftheRenaissance.Theoriginalmeaningofthistermis“rebirth”,fortheartistsandintellectualsatthattimeassertedtorevivethevirtuesoftheantiquity.Later,itsmeaninghasextended,aseverlastingtermsrequireselasticity.“Nowadays,itconveys,tosaytheleast,ageneralnotionofartisticcreativity,ofextraordinaryzestforlifeandknowledge…ofspectacularindividualachievement,”（Mack,p.1200）thusextendingbeyondtheliteralmeaningofrebirthandthestrictidealofarevivalandimitationofantiquity.

DuringtheMiddleAges,WesternsocietyandeducationwereheavilyshapedbyChristianity,particularlytheRomanCatholicChurch.Theschoolsatthattimewereprimarilyattendedbypersonsplanningtoenterreligiouslifesuchaspriests,monks,ornuns.Thevastmajorityofpeoplewereserfswhoservedasagriculturalworkersontheestatesoffeudallords.Theserfs,whodidnotattendschool,weregenerallyilliterate.

VariouswerethereasonswhypeoplebegantoactivelypursueknowledgeduringtheRenaissance.Economicallyspeaking,theburgeoningbourgeoisieclassdemandedasayinthepoliticalfield.Sohugewastheobstacleofbeingilliteratethattheyfounditnecessarytobeeducated.Besides,thegradualdeclineofreligiousinfluencealsocatalyzedthedemand.ThecorruptionsofthechurchmensetpeopletofindrealinterpretationandunderstandingoftheBiblebytheirown.Moreover,theinventionoftheprintingpressinthemid-15thcenturymadebooksmorewidelyavailableandincreasedliteracyrates.Thetechnologicaldevelopment,aswellasthisyearningforknowledgeandindividualachievementprosperedtheinstitutionofeducation.

Thissocialdevelopmentissodelightingandoverwhelmingthatmostpeopleholdthebeliefthatmen’scultivationismankind’scultivation;

however,someothersdoubtthemeaningofRenaissanceforwomen.JohnKelly,inherarticle“DidWomenHaveaRenaissance”,pungentlypointedout“yetpreciselythesedevelopmentsaffectedwomenadversely,somuchsothattherewasnorenaissanceforwomen-atleast,duringtheRenaissance.”（Kelly,p.19）KellynotedthatcomparedwithwomenintheMedieval,duringtheRenaissance,noblewomen,wereincreasinglyremovedfrompublicconcerns---economic,political,andcultural-althoughtheydidnotdisappearintoaprivaterealmoffamilyanddomesticconcernsasfullyastheirsistersinthepatricianbourgeoisie.Hence,theirlossofpublicpowermadeitfeltinnewconstraintsplacedupontheirpersonalaswellastheirsociallives

Thispaperdoesnotgosofarastoquestiontheacceptedschemeofhistoricalperiodization.Inotherwords,itrecognizestheexistenceofRenaissance,forbothmenandwomen.Thepurposehereistotakewomen’seducationduringtheRenaissanceasastartingpoint,andtoinvestigateinto“thewidelyheldnotionoftheequalityofRenaissancewomenwithmen.”（Kelly,p.20）First,aholisticviewwillbetakenabouttheRenaissancewomen’seducation,withcomparisonwiththeMedieval.Thesecondfocusonthewomen’seducationduringtheRenaissance,mainlydealingwithsuchquestionsaswhatweretaught,andtheintendedpurposeofthiseducation.Inthispart,wewillhaveacloserviewofRenaissance,bystudyingDesideriusErasmus,arenownedRenaissancescholar’sthoughtsandworks.“ThereisagreementamongscholarsthatthisdifferenceinmomentandapproachtotheeducationofboysandgirlscanbeexplainedinlightofErasmus（andbyextensionthehumanists）viewsonthepurposeofeducation.”（Rummel,pp.8-9）AsErasmusproducedworksthatareesteemedasliterarycanon,suchasThePraiseofFolly,women’simagewillbeexaminedinthesecanons,toglimpseatthequestionthatwhetherthesearecanonsforwomen.Thelastpartconcernstheproductoftheeducation,thatis,thelearnedwomen.Wewillhaveatrytoprobethelifeofsomewomenwriters-or,tobemorespecific,ofthosewomenwhoseworkshavesurvived–duringtheRenaissance.

DuringtheMedievalperiod,aspointedoutearlier,educationwasreligiouslyoriented.Whilethemajorityofthepeoplewereilliterate,fewerwomenthanmenreceivededucationandtheywerenuns.Thechurchprovidedsomelimitedopportunitiesfortheeducationofwomeninreligiouscommunitiesorconvents.Conventshadlibrariesandschoolstohelppreparenunstofollowthereligiousrulesoftheircommunities.

Besidesthenunswhowereeducated,therewereanothergroupofwomenintheMiddleAgeswhocouldaffordeducation,thenoblewomen.Itwasnotararitythatyoungnoblewomenwereabletoreadandwrite.InLexSaxonum,alawintheeighthcentury,itillustratedwhatwomenwereallowedtoinherit:

PsalmsoftheBibleandotherreadingsfacilitatingwomentogotothechurch.（Bumke,p.424）

AstheMiddleAgesprogressedintotheRenaissance,women’seducationchanged.Ifmorewomenwereabletobeeducated,theproportionofeducatedwomendeclined.AstheMiddleAgesandtheRenaissancecovereddifferentperiodsoftimeoverawiderangeofcountries,itisdifficulttoconcludeademographicchangefromtheMiddleAgestotheRenaissance.WhatisdefiniteistheBlackDeathalmostendedtheMiddleAgesandendednearlyhalfoftheEuropeanpopulation.TheensuingRenaissanceprobablysawanincreaseinpopulation,althoughhowlargetheincreasewasremainsquestion.Anyway,onefeaturetodifferentiatetheRenaissancefromtheMedievaltimesisthegrowingsecularcultureandthedecliningofChristianity.（Xu,p.169）Thisunavoidablyaffectedthenuns’education,thenumberofwhichdecreased.

Thisinfluencemightaffectlessonnoblewomen,buttheeducationofthemandtherisingbourgeoisiewomenwasnobetterforotherreasons.Takewomenofthemiddleclassforexample.ScholarWilliamMontershows,inhisessay“ProtestantWives,CatholicSaints,andtheDevil’shandmaid:

WomenintheAgeoftheReformations,”howtheseextremelyclassicalideas（fromtheclassicalwritingsoftheancientGreeksandRomans）aboutwomenwhencombinedwiththeReligiousReformationincreasedthevalueofwomeninthedomesticrealmandsawtheirroleasmothersandwivesbecomeextremelyimportant,almosttotheexclusionofanyotherroles.（Monter,pp.203-219）Theexclusionpartlyresultedfromthedeprivationofeducationontheonehand,andontheother,worsenedthedeprivation.Itwasbecausemoreoccupationsrequiredacertainorevenuniversityeducation,towhichmostwomenweredeniedaccess.Forthosejobsthatdidnotrequirespecificeducation,menbegantodefinetheirjobs,astheprovincesofmenonly.Asthenumberofavailablejobsforwomendecreased,eventuallymorewomenbegancompetingforfewerjobs,usuallydomesticinnature,effectivelykeepingtheirwageslow.Eventuallyworkassociatedwithwomenandthedomesticarenabecamedevaluedinandofitselfinrelationtomen’swork.Thelessimportantwomenwereinpeople’seyes,thelessnecessitypeoplesawinwomen’seducation.

Womenlostmorerights,orgainedfewerrights,asthehistoricalfaceofEuropechangedfromtheMedievaltotheRenaissance.Although,theproportionofeducatedwomendecreased,hopefullyandprobablythebulkofeducatedwomenincreasedwiththebiggerpopulation.

Thewomen’seducationduringtheRenaissanceseemsdismaying,statisticallyorproportionatelyspeaking;

however,moreinformationisneededtounderstandtherealsituationofit.Arethecontentsofwomen’seducationthesameinthecourseoftime?

Advocatesofwomen’srightsinboththenineteenthandthetwentiethcenturiesmadeequalaccessforwomentoeducationalinstitutionsoneoftheirkeydemands.OnlyThrougheducation,theyargued,couldwomenbecomeknowledgeablecitizensorentercareersinwhichtheywouldbeeconomicallyindependent;

theyregardededucationasinseparablefrompoliticalandeconomicrights.TheRenaissanceperiodalsosawnumerouscallsfortheimprovementofwomen’seducation,butthelinesofargumentwereverydifferent.“Learning,bytheadvocatesofwomen’seducation,meanttraininginclassicallanguages,philosophy,thesciences,theology,andhistory,wasprimarilyforawoman’sindividualfulfillmentortomakeherabetterChristian;

itwasnotlinkedwithpoliticalorvocationalaims.”（Wiesner,pp117-118）

ThroughouttheMiddleAges,thesubjectofeducationforwomen,wasahotlydebatedissue.Aseducationwasdirectlyconnectedwiththechurchitwasinevitablethatthechurch'

sviewsofwomenshouldhaveledpredominated.St.ThomasofAquinas,1225-1274,whowasperhapsoneofthegreatteachersoftheperioddeclaredwhatwasclearlyawidelysupportednotionregardingwomen:

“Thewomanissubjectt