About this Book

The disciplines now known as the humanities emerged in their modern form during the Italian Renaissance as the result of an educational movement begun by humanist teachers, writers, and scholars in the early fourteenth century. These educators argued for the usefulness of classical literature as an instrument for training young men and women, not only in the arts of language and eloquence, but also in civic virtue and practical wisdom. This volume provides new translations, commissioned for the I Tatti Renaissance Library, of four of the most important theoretical statements that emerged from the early humanistsâe(tm) efforts to reform medieval education:,Pier Paolo Vergerio, âeoeThe Character and Studies Befitting a Free-Born Youthâe ,Leonardo Bruni, âeoeThe Study of Literatureâe ,Aeneas Silvius Piccolomini (Pope Pius II), âeoeThe Education of Boysâe ,Battista Guarino, âeoeA Program of Teaching and Learningâe