lligence. All of these have the same
purpose, and all are necessary to human enlightenment. Petrarch broke
down the unfruitful methods of the scholastics, and laid the foundations
upon which modern education is based; namely, intellectual freedom,
self-consciousness, and self-activity.

BOCCACCIO (1313-1375)

The third of the great Italian leaders in the humanistic movement was
Boccaccio. At the age of twenty-five, while standing at the grave of
Vergil, he decided to devote himself to a literary career. He admired
the great work of Petrarch, and was proud that, "at his own expense, he
was the first to have the works of Homer and other Greek authors brought
to his native land; that he was the first to call and support a teacher
of Greek; and that he was the first among all Italians who could read
Homer in the original."

THE GERMAN HUMANISTS

The German mind is more earnest, disputative, and practical than the
Italian, therefore the trend of German humanism was at first chiefly
theological, and the study of the classic languages, especially Hebrew
and Greek, was undertaken for the purpose of better understanding the
Holy Scriptures. Only a few scholars, however, were interested, and not
until a violent attack was made upon Reuchlin, was general attention
attracted.

AGRICOLA (1443-1485)

Rudolphus Agricola was the first to prepare the northern countries for
the reception of the classic revival. After studying for some time under
the great Italian masters, he returned to Germany and accepted a
professorship at Heidelberg, where he delivered courses of lectures on
the literature of Greece and Rome. He lectured also at Worms at the
request of the bishop, and drew around him a large number of students in
both places. Hallam says of him, "No German wrote so pure a style, or
possessed so large a portion of classic learning." He prepared the way
for the introduction of humanistic teachings and some of his pupils
became the great leaders of that movement among the Teutonic peoples.

The testimony of Erasmus concerning Agricola is as follows: "There was
no branch of knowledge in which he could not measure himself with the
greatest masters. Among the Greeks, he was a pure Greek, among the
Latins a pure Roman.... Even when he spoke _ex tempore_, his speech was
so perfect and so pure that one could easily believe that one heard a
Roman rather than a German. United with his powerful eloquence was the
broadest erudition