Masiero, Francesca; (2024) Literacy and learning in Latin and abacus schools in Verona (1405-1509). Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).

Text Literacy and Learning in Latin and Abacus Schools in Verona - Francesca Masiero.pdf - Other Access restricted to UCL open access staff until 1 July 2025. Download (15MB)

Abstract

My thesis explores the teaching and learning practices adopted in Latin and abacus schools in Verona during the early Renaissance (1405-1509), the period when Italy became the most literate society in Latin Christendom. In particular, it describes the teaching practices used by private and public teachers in Verona, ones that, it was believed, would provide the city with an educated population that would encourage political and economic prosperity. First, it explores how schooling was organised, the types of schools and teachers in Verona and their location across the city. Second, it documents teachers’ financial conditions, including their salaries, taxes and benefits and assesses how teachers’ expectations and status changed over the years. Third, it outlines the movement of teachers to and from Verona, the reasons of their relocations and the professional and personal experiences of a few itinerant teachers. Fourth, it investigates the reshaping of the curriculum in Latin schools in the transition between the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance. It outlines the disciplines taught in Latin schools as well as the school texts and pedagogical treatises selected by humanist teachers in designing new humanist curricula. Fifth, it investigates how textbooks circulated in the Veneto and how itinerant teachers spread humanist ideas and practices across the region and beyond. Sixth, it explains how abacus schools were organised and what skills students needed to become tradesman and run their business. Finally, it outlines the role of female teachers in the education of girls in convents and private settings and investigates the extent to which female education was seen as important for the community. This study thus presents a detailed account, primarily based on archival sources, of how the personal and professional circumstances of teachers at different levels of society gradually changed mostly for the better in fifteenth-century Verona.

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