This article deals with the education of the young in Germany during the Lutheran Reformation. Philippe Ariès claimed that not until the late seventeenth century did children of Western Europe enjoy parental affection and a decent level of education. His assertion, based on massive research and a profound insight into the mentality of medieval and early modern parents, seems hardly applicable to the case of sixteenth-century Germany. In the 1520s Lutheran reformers encountered a series of unwelcomed accidents which revealed fallen discipline and widespread ignorance among the mass. By the mid-1520s the reformers came to the conclusion that without proper education the future of the reform movement would have failed. So began the so-called Second Phase of the Reformation. Attentive to the significance of the education of children, Lutheran reformers incessantly urged the secular authorities to establish schools where the young, they believed, would learn Protestant doctrines, academic subjects, and social ethics. Territorial princes and city councils willingly responded to reformers' appeal. A number of Latin and German schools were established throughout Lutheran regions, remarkably promoting children's learning and education. Child education was then virtually monopolized by secular authorities. They controlled almost all facets of school operation. Curricula, textbooks, and daily schedule were stipulated in detail in the school ordinances; capacity of masters and financial status were regularly checked by the visitors who were in turn responsible to the central governments. On the other hand, the new doctrine of 'salvation by faith alone' led to the rise of the pessimistic image of human beings and thereby drove the young to be obedient to the established order and rulers. Lutheran teachers and pastors inculcated on the young what they regarded as valuable Christian virtues: humbleness, acquiescence, passiveness, and obedience. In particular, the catechism instruction required in all Lutheran churches and schools played a leading role in indoctrinating the young mind with such traits. Civic authorities readily endorsed the educational endeavors of the reformers which contributed greatly to the rise of the modern state.

This article deals with the education of the young in Germany during the Lutheran Reformation. Philippe Ariès claimed that not until the late seventeenth century did children of Western Europe enjoy parental affection and a decent level of education. His assertion, based on massive research and a profound insight into the mentality of medieval and early modern parents, seems hardly applicable to the case of sixteenth-century Germany. In the 1520s Lutheran reformers encountered a series of unwelcomed accidents which revealed fallen discipline and widespread ignorance among the mass. By the mid-1520s the reformers came to the conclusion that without proper education the future of the reform movement would have failed. So began the so-called Second Phase of the Reformation. Attentive to the significance of the education of children, Lutheran reformers incessantly urged the secular authorities to establish schools where the young, they believed, would learn Protestant doctrines, academic subjects, and social ethics. Territorial princes and city councils willingly responded to reformers' appeal. A number of Latin and German schools were established throughout Lutheran regions, remarkably promoting children's learning and education. Child education was then virtually monopolized by secular authorities. They controlled almost all facets of school operation. Curricula, textbooks, and daily schedule were stipulated in detail in the school ordinances; capacity of masters and financial status were regularly checked by the visitors who were in turn responsible to the central governments. On the other hand, the new doctrine of 'salvation by faith alone' led to the rise of the pessimistic image of human beings and thereby drove the young to be obedient to the established order and rulers. Lutheran teachers and pastors inculcated on the young what they regarded as valuable Christian virtues: humbleness, acquiescence, passiveness, and obedience. In particular, the catechism instruction required in all Lutheran churches and schools played a leading role in indoctrinating the young mind with such traits. Civic authorities readily endorsed the educational endeavors of the reformers which contributed greatly to the rise of the modern state.

Child Education, Rise of the Modern State, Visitation, Catechism, Public Education