'Ad fontes!' in the Classroom: Teaching Latin, Greek, and Hebrew Texts in the Early Modern Southern Low Countries

Whereas the spread of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew texts in the Renaissance has been extensively studied, the didactic praxis involved in teaching these languages and their literatures at European universities and institutes has not yet met with systematic and in-depth focused research. Studying the teaching practices used in the early modern auditoria is, however, quintessential to a correct understanding of the transmission of linguistic and literary knowledge, to university history, and the impact of the new linguistic education on intellectual history. In this project, the teaching of the three ‘sacred’ languages is investigated through detailed case studies - starting from the Louvain Collegium Trilingue and from unique student notes in extant text books - and is framed in its broader European context. By relying on largely neglected primary sources and an innovative methodology it can be shown how ‘revolutionary’ the humanist linguistic education, especially that at the renowned Collegium Trilingue, actually was.

Keywords:Early Modern Humanist Pedagogy, Renaissance Humanism, Early Modern Student Notes, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, History of Universities

Disciplines:Language studies, Literary studies