Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-gbm5v Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-03T13:11:36.713Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

8 - Christian education

from PART II - CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THE EUROPEAN WORLD, 1660–1780

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2008

By
Dominique Julia
Edited by
Stewart J. Brown  and
Timothy Tackett
Stewart J. Brown
Affiliation:
University of Edinburgh
Timothy Tackett
Affiliation:
University of California, Irvine
Get access

Summary

Literacy, reading, and faith

One of the fundamental characteristics of the Protestant and the subsequent Catholic Reformations was the assertion that no one could claim to be a Christian unless they could account for their belief. Thus, Luther viewed the catechism as ‘something each Christian must absolutely know, so that anyone not knowing it will not be considered a Christian and will not be admitted to any of the sacraments’. Indeed, a strong link was established between religion and teaching among Protestants and Catholics alike. This link persisted throughout the early modern period, with the catechism, a unique expression in question-and-answer form of the dogmatic truths essential to belief (the Ten Commandments, the creeds, the principal prayers) viewed as an essential work, laid out for easy memorization by children. Luther had even maintained that it should be displayed on tablets (Tafeln), hung both in church, and in the school and home. Based on quotations from the gospel and the Pauline apostles, the Haustafel defined the Christian’s social obligations not only towards church authorities, but towards the prince, towards the father or master of the household, and towards the husband on the part of the wife. Over time, the compulsory nature of such religious education led to the development of writing and, more importantly, of reading skills – even if the nature of this apprenticeship varied by region and by country. In certain cases, the learning of Christian truths remained strictly church-centred and oral, memorized solely during Sunday catechism without the intermediary of books or school.

Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge History of Christianity , pp. 147 - 165
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brizzi, Gian Paolo, La formazione della classe dirigente nel Sei-SettecentoBologna: Il Mulino, 1976.Google Scholar
Caspard, Pierre, ‘Examen de soi-mêeme, examen public, examen Etat de l’admission á la Sainte-Cène aux certificats de fin d’études, XVIe–XIXe siécle’, Histoire de l’éducation, 94 (May 2002).Google Scholar
Caspard, Pierre, ‘Pourquoi on a envie d’apprendre. L’autodidaxie ordinaire à Neuchâtel (XVIIIe siècle)’, Histoire de l’éducation, 70 (May 1996).Google Scholar
Chisick, Harvey, The limits of reform in the Enlightenment: Attitudes towards the education of the lower classes in eighteenth-century FrancePrinceton: Princeton University Press, 1981.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Delgado Criado, Buenaventura (ed.), Historia de la educación en España y América vol. 2: La educación en la España moderna (Siglos XVI–XVIII)Madrid: Fundación Santa Maria, 1993.Google Scholar
Der Grosse Katechismus, in Martin Luthers Werke (Weimar: Böhlau, 1910), vol. 30.
Engelbrecht, Helmut, Geschichte des östereichischen Bildungswesens, vol. 3: Von der frühen Aufklärung bis zum Vormärz (Vienna: Osterreichischer Bundesverlag, 1984).Google Scholar
Engelbrecht, Helmut, Geschichte des östereichischen Bildungswesens. Erziehung und Unterricht auf dem Boden Österreichs vol. 2: Das 16. und 17. Jahrhundert; vol. 2: Von der frühen Aufklärung bis zum Vormärz, Vienna: Osterreichischer Bundesverlag, 1983–84.Google Scholar
‘Examen de soi-même, examen public, examen Etat de l’admission à la Sainte-Cène aux certificats de fin d’études, XVIe–XIXe siècle’, Histoire de l’éducation, 94 (May 2002).
Eygun, Jean, Au risque de Babel. Le texte religieux occitan de 1600 á 1850Bordeaux: Association d’étude du texte occitan, 2002.Google Scholar
Frago, Antonio Viñao, ‘Aprender a leer en el Antiguo Regimen: cartillas, silabarios y catones’, in Benito, A. Escolaño (ed.), Historia ilustrada del libro escolar en España. Del Antiguo Reimen a la Segunda Republica (Madrid: Ed. Pirámide, 1997).Google Scholar
François, Etienne, ‘Die Volksbildung im ausgehenden 18 Jahrhundert. Eine Untersuchung über dem vermeintlichen "Bildungsrückstand” der katholischen Bevölkerung Deutschlands im Ancien Régime’, Jahrbuch für westdeutsche Landesgeschiechte, 3 (1977).Google Scholar
François, Etienne, ‘Die Volksbildung im ausgehenden 18 Jahrhundert’, Jahrbuch für west-deutsche Landesgeschichte, 3 (1977).Google Scholar
Frijhoff, Wilhelmus Theodorus Maria, La société néerlandaise et ses gradués 1575–1814Amsterdam: Holland University Press, 1981.Google Scholar
Graff, Harvey J.The legacies of literacy: Continuities and contradictions in western culture and societyBloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991.Google Scholar
Graff, Harvey J. (ed.), Literacy and social development in the West: A readerCambridge: Cambrige University Press, 1981.Google Scholar
Hammerstein, NotkerUniversitäten und Aufklärung, Göttingen: Wallstein, 1995.Google Scholar
Hammerstein, Notker (ed.), Handbuch der deutschen Bildungsgeschichte vol. 1: 15. bis 17. Jahrhundert. Von der Renaissance und der Reformation bis zum Ende der GlaubenskämpfeMunich: C. H. Beck, 1996.Google Scholar
Hans, Nicholas, New trends in education in the eighteenth centuryLondon: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1951.Google Scholar
Houston, R. A., Literacy in early modern Europe: Culture and education, 1500–1800London and New York: Longman, 1988.Google Scholar
Johansson, Egil, ‘The history of literacy in Sweden’, in Graff, Harvey J. (ed.), Literacy and social development (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1981).Google Scholar
Kistenich, Johannes, Bettelmönche im öffentlichen Schulwesen. Ein Handbuch für die Erzdiözese Köln, 1600 bis 1850 2 vols., Cologne: Böhlau Verl, 2001.Google Scholar
Konrads, Norbert, Ritterakademien der frühen Neuzeit. Bildung als Standesprivilag im 16 und 17 Jahrhundert (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck and Ruprecht, 1982).Google Scholar
Lawson, John and Silver, H., A social history of education in EnglandLondon: Methuen, 1973.Google Scholar
Motley, Mark, Becoming a French aristocrat: The education of the court nobility 1580–1715Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Neugebauer, Wolfgang, Absolutischer Staat und Schulwirklichkeit in Brandenburg-Preussen (Berlin: W. de Gruyter, 1985).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Norden, N., ‘Die Alphabetisierung der oldenburgischen Küstenmarsch im 17 und 18 Jahrhundert’, in Hinrichs, Ernst and Norden, Wilhelm (eds.), Regionalgeschichte. Probleme und Beispiele (Hildesheim: Lax, 1980).Google Scholar
Paulsen, Friedrich, Geschichte des gelehrten Unterrichts in den deutschen Schulen und Universitäten vom Ausgang des Mittelalters bis zur Gegenwart 2nd edn, 2 vols., Leipzig: Veit, 1896.Google Scholar
Roggero, Marina, Il sapere e la virtù. Stato, Università e professioni nel Piemonte tra Settecento e OttocentoTurin: Diputazione subalpina di storia patria, 1987.Google Scholar
Roggero, Marina, Scuola e riforme nello stato sabaudoTurin: Diputazione subalpina di storia patria, 1981.Google Scholar
Rüegg, Walter, A history of the university in Europe vol. 2: Universities in early modern Europe (1500–1800) ed. Ridder-Symoens, H., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1996.Google Scholar
Salle, Jean-Baptiste , Conduite des écoles, in Œuvres complètes (Rome: Frères des Ecoles Chrétiennes, 1993).Google Scholar
Schindling, Anton, ‘Die protestantischen Universitäten im Heiligen Römischen Reich deutscher Nation im Zeitalter der Aufklärung’, in Hammerstein, Notker (ed.), Universitäten und Aufklärung (Göttingen: Wallstein, 1995).Google Scholar
Schmale, Wolfgang and Dodde, Nan L., Revolution des Wissens Europa und seine Schulen (1750–1825): Ein Handbuch zur europäischen SchulgeschichteBochum: Verlag Dieter Winkler, 1991.Google Scholar
Stone, LawrenceSchooling and society: Studies in the history of educationBaltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1976.Google Scholar
Stone, Lawrence (ed.), The university in society vol. 1: Oxford and Cambridge from the fourteenth to the early nineteenth century; vol. 2: Europe, Scotland, and the United States from the sixteenth in the twentieth centuryPrinceton: Princeton University Press, 1974.Google Scholar
Viñnao Frago, Antonio, ‘Aprender a leer en el Antiguo Regimen: cartillas, silabarios y catones’, in Benito, Agustín Escolaño (ed.), Historia ilustrada del libro escolar en España. Del Antiguo Regimen a la Segunda RepublicaMadrid: Ed. Pirámide, 1997.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×