Introduction

This exhibit displays several places and objects that are representative of broad changes in the education of Early Modern Europe, starting with an overview of Medieval education in the 12^th century, and ending with the writings of Mary Wollstonecraft in 1792. Throughout this time, education itself becomes much more diverse, growing to include humanistic subjects and the sciences. It also became available to an increasingly wider circle of people, from a tiny intellectual circle in the early Renaissance to European elite patrons, all the way to the general public in the 18^th century. Women had difficulty securing a place in the history of education throughout this era, and education continued to have strong ties with religion. Despite the fact that many influential scientific thinkers were incredibly devout, science came into conflict with religion. The history of scientific development is intrinsically intertwined with that of education, as scientific development pushed the boundaries of what could be taught. Education itself proved to be dangerous to the established Church, as one purpose of education is to teach people to think for themselves, which caused some to question the established order. The Church found that the best way to respond was to educate people in their own way. In general, the ideological trends of the Early Modern period slowly bring more and more importance to education in society, and in doing so bring more and more members of society to education.

Credits

Benjamin Wightman