The Medieval English Universities by Alan B. Cobban

Author:Alan B. Cobban [Cobban, Alan B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, General
ISBN: 9781351885805
Google: 7zorDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2017-07-05T04:57:36+00:00

II

THE HUMANIST IMPACT

The traditional curriculum was to some degree modified by the onset of humanist learning. Humanist infiltration of the English Universities should not, however, be exaggerated. It was a gradual process which began in a superficial and piecemeal manner in the second half of the fifteenth century and became more entrenched and institutionalized in the course of the sixteenth century.110 The humanist impact was probably greatest within the arts faculties of Oxford and Cambridge. But even in arts, the most flexible of the faculties, humane elements had, by c. 1600, constituted only a minority ingredient of the curriculum.111 In general, the English Universities incorporated those aspects of continental humanism which were most compatible with the inherited corpus of learning. That is, Oxford and Cambridge absorbed humanist features into the mainstream of English intellectual life without effecting a major deflection of traditional intellectual horizons. For this reason, the English Universities cannot be reckoned to have been humanist centres comparable in importance with many of the contemporary universities in continental Europe.

Humanist interests are detectable at Oxford earlier in the fifteenth century than at Cambridge.112 Before humanism became anchored in the form of endowed lectureships or in collegiate foundations with humanist leanings, it was advanced at Oxford through the individual efforts of influential patrons such as Duke Humphrey, brother of Henry V, and John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester; through visiting Italian and Greek scholars and secretaries; and through a series of Oxford scholars who travelled in Italy and attended the schools of the celebrated humanists, notably that of Guarino da Verona at Ferrara.113 Duke Humphrey played a key role in the advancement of humanist interests in England in the 1430s and 1440s until his death in 1447. He employed Italian humanists such as Tito Livio Frulovisi and Antonio Beccaria as secretaries; he commissioned Latin translations from the Greek of seminal works, including Plato’s Republic and Aristotle’s Politics by Pier Candido Decembrio and Leonardo Bruni respectively; and he secured many valuable books for his library through his written contacts with scholars in Italy.114 His bequest of just under 300 manuscripts to Oxford University, which were received in instalments between 1435 and 1450, was a powerful stimulus to humane studies within the University. For his splendid library included not only modern editions of classical works in common circulation, but also copies of recently discovered classical texts, as well as a range of works by Italian authors, including Petrarch, Boccaccio and Salutati.115 Although Duke Humphrey had intended all of his books for Oxford, a proportion of them found their way into King’s College, Cambridge,116 where they were less accessible than they would have been had they been deposited in a more-central university collection. Duke Humphrey’s patronage activities were complemented on a large scale by John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester,117 who had read arts at Oxford and had amassed a considerable library on his Italian journeys. Part of this collection, which was scattered after his execution in 1470, probably came to rest in both Oxford and Cambridge, although much uncertainty surrounds this matter.

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