Renaissance and Humanism

Mary More, also known as Margaret Roper(born 1505. Died 1544) daughter of Thomas More was a leading [term::Humanist]] of the Tudor Renaissance period in England and follower of Cicero and Erasmus. Both Mary and Henry VIII were given a humanist education and were influenced by the enlightened astromoner Nicholas Kratzer who later became the King's Astromoner Royal.

Humanism and the Grammar Schools

Grammar schools were a major force in promotinh Humanism and it was allowed to inform all forms of society especially where the schools provided scholarships for less wealthy pupils. It was the eduaction that these pupils would receive that would lead to a educated class that would help to form a professional government in Henry VII's time and the creation on a Civil Service

An example of this is Robert Wolsey. He came from a modest family in Ipswich and when to the local Grammar school and received a Humanist education. He later became Lord Chancellor and Cardinal.

The schools rooms were often set out with benches along the wall on all four sides. This helped maintain discipline. There were no desks. Corporal Punishment was seen as part of the pupil's human development and development of Virtue

Mary More Publishes Book

Mary Moore published a translation of an Erasmus treatise but not under her own name. Using the still newly invented printing press she was the first non-royal woman to publish a book. Although humanism was in favor of women's education, women were still discouraged from opinions. Worse still no one was supposed to write treatises on clerical issues other than the clergy themselves. Mary Moore went to Wolsey to prevent its censorship. She succeded and you can still see Wolsey's seal printed on the book. The book was a hugek success, written as it was in the english venacular that literate English people could understand.

Humanism and the Reformation

The Reformation would see a reversal of fortunes for the pro-Catholic More family and Thomas Moore's conflict with Henry VIII. He was imprisioned and eventually sentenced to death in 1535. The Dissolution of the Monastries also threatened the Grammer schools that were often funded on run by the clergy. Many closed and Henry VIII tried to make amends by setting up a number of Kings Schools that would instil loyalty to the Church of England using humanist techniques and Catechisms. William Tindall's translation of the bible from the 1530's onwards facilitated the spread of the protestantism through the use of Catechism.