VITTORINO DA FELTRE

original name Vittore Dei Ramboldini born 1378, Feltre died Feb. 2, 1446, Mantua Italian educator who is frequently considered the greatest humanist schoolmaster of the Renaissance. After 20 years as a student and teacher at the University of Padua, Vittorino was asked, in 1423, to become tutor to the children of the Gonzaga family, the rulers of Mantua. He agreed to do so if he could set up a school away from the court and, hence, from political influence. Enrolled in his school, La Giocosa (The House of Joy), besides his royal charges, were about 60 children, including boys of other noble families and poor boys chosen for their ability. The central features of the curriculum were the languages and literature of Rome and Greece. Other subjects included arithmetic, geometry, and music, as well as games and physical exercises, for the school followed the Greek ideal of development of the body as well as of the mind. Vittorino saw education, however, as a pathway to the Christian life. His pupils pictured him as a successful teacher who loved them, cared for their health and character, and adapted his methods to their abilities. Further, he used no corporal punishment. La Giocosa was possibly Europe's first boarding school. Vittorino not only educated future Italian rulers and professional men but also taught Latin to Greek scholars who came to him from the East, thus enabling them to translate the Greek manuscripts that were to inspire the great minds of the Renaissance. Additional reading William Harrison Woodward, Vittorino da Feltre and Other Humanist Educators (1897, reissued 1970), includes essays and an introduction to the history of classical education.