Education in the Republic of Venice

Abstract

Three key moments defined pre-university education in the Republic of Venice between 1400 and 1797. In the Renaissance, Venice created new state schools that lasted to the end of the Republic. Moreover, all Latin schools, whether state, independent, or clerical, adopted the humanistic curriculum, as humanism became the culture of the Latin-educated. Second, Venice did not participate fully in Catholic Reformation education, the pre-university schooling of the new religious orders that dominated Latin education in Italy from the late 16th century to 1773. Although the Somaschans operated schools in the Venetian Republic, the schools of the religious orders of the Catholic Reformation had less influence than in other Italian states. Third, in the late 18th century the Venetian government imposed major educational changes that reflected Enlightenment values. It expelled the regular clergy from the classroom and implemented a more utilitarian curriculum to be taught in the vernacular. Keywords: Catholic Reformation; humanism; pre-university education; Renaissance; republic of Venice; Somaschans