Vittorino da Feltre (1378 –February 2, 1446) was an Italian humanist and teacher. He was born in Feltre, Belluno, Republic of Venice and died in Mantua. His real name was Vittorino Rambaldoni. It was in Vittorino that the Renaissance idea of the complete man, or l'uomo universale — health of body, strength of character, wealth of mind — reached its first formulation. [1]
He studied under John of Ravenna [2] and at Padua under Gasparino da Barzizza. He later taught there, but after a few years he was invited by Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga, the marquis of Mantua, to educate his children. At Mantua, Vittorino set up a school at which he taught the marquis's children and the children of other prominent families — both sons and daughters [3] — together with many poor children whom he charged no fee, treating them all on an equal footing. He not only taught the humanistic subjects, but placed special emphasis on religious and physical education. Vittorino’s lessons in Greek and Latin, mathematics, music, art, religion, history, poetry and philosophy were so enjoyable that his school was known as La Casa Gioiosa, “The House of Joy”. It soon became famous all over Italy, and noble children from other cities came to Mantua to study with Vittorino. In fact, so many young nobles were educated at La Casa Gioiosa that it also came to be called the School of Princes.
He was one of the first modern educators to develop during the Renaissance. Many of his methods were novel, particularly in the close contacts between teacher and pupil as he had with Gasparino da Barzizza and in the adaptation of the teaching to the ability and needs of the child. He lived with students and befriended them in the first secular boarding school. [4] Vittorino's school was well lit and built of better construction than other schools of the time. Vittorino also made school work more interesting, adding field trips to his curricula. He watched the health of his students very carefully, and generally elevated the status of teachers. Schools throughout Europe (especially England) copied Vittorino's model. Many of fifteenth century Italy's greatest scholars, including Guarino da Verona, Poggio Bracciolini, and Francesco Filelfo, sent their sons to study under Vittorino da Feltre. Vittorino's other students included Federigo da Montefeltro and Gregorio Correr. Theodorus Gaza improved his studies in Latin and was a scholar especially for Greek. After Vittorino's death, Iacopo da San Cassiano took over direction of the school. [5]
Mantua is a comune (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the province of the same name.
Guarino Veronese or Guarino da Verona was an Italian classical scholar, humanist, and translator of ancient Greek texts during the Renaissance. In the republics of Florence and Venice he studied under Manuel Chrysoloras, renowned professor of Greek and ambassador of the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos, the first scholar to hold such course in medieval Italy.
Ludovico III Gonzaga of Mantua, known as the Turk, also spelled Lodovico was the ruler of the Italian city of Mantua from 1444 to his death in 1478.
Theodorus Gaza, also called Theodore Gazis or by the epithet Thessalonicensis and Thessalonikeus, was a Greek humanist and translator of Aristotle, one of the Greek scholars who were the leaders of the revival of learning in the 15th century.
Filippo Maria Visconti was duke of Milan from 1412 to 1447. Known to be cruel and paranoid, but shrewd as a ruler, he went to war in the 1420s with Romagna, Florence and Venice in the Wars in Lombardy, but was eventually forced to accept peace under Pope Martin V. He would return to the offensive again where another peace agreement was required to end the fighting. He married twice, the second in 1428 to Marie, daughter of his ally Amadeus VIII. When he died, he was the last of the Visconti male line and was succeeded by Francesco Sforza, husband to his daughter.
Giovanni Conversini, also known as Giovanni di Conversino or John of Ravenna, was an Italian educator, whose students included Vittorino da Feltre and Guarino da Verona. He is one of two individuals of that name in Petrarch's letters.
Feltre is a town and comune of the province of Belluno in Veneto, northern Italy. A hill town in the southern reaches of the province, it is located on the Stizzon River, about 4 kilometres from its junction with the Piave, and 20 km (12 mi) southwest from Belluno. The Dolomites loom to the north of the town.
Gasparino Barzizza was an Italian grammarian and teacher noted for introducing a new style of epistolary Latin inspired by the works of Cicero.
Francesco Barbaro (1390–1454) was an Italian politician, diplomat, and humanist from Venice and a member of the patrician Barbaro family. He is interred in the Church of the Frari, Venice.
Gianfrancesco I Gonzaga was Captain of the People from 1407 to 1433 and Marquis of Mantua from 1433 to 1444. He was also a condottiere.
Federico I Gonzaga was marquis of Mantua from 1478 to 1484, as well as a condottiero.
Niccolò Perotti, also Perotto or Nicolaus Perottus was an Italian humanist and the author of one of the first modern Latin school grammars.
Pier Paolo Vergerio was an Italian humanist, statesman, pedagogist and canon lawyer.
Giacomo or Jacopo d'Angelo, better known by his Latin name Jacobus Angelus, was an Italian classical scholar, humanist, and translator of ancient Greek texts during the Renaissance. Named for the village of Scarperia in the Mugello in the Republic of Florence, he traveled to Venice where the Byzantine emperor Manuel II Palaiologos' ambassador Manuel Chrysoloras was teaching Greek, the first scholar to hold such course in medieval Italy.
Battista Malatesta, also known as Battista di Montefeltro, forename also called Baptista, was an Italian Renaissance poet.
Barbara of Brandenburg was a Marchioness consort of Mantua, married in 1433 to Ludovico III Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua. She was referred to as a virago because of her strong character and forceful nature, and served as Regent of Mantua several times during the absence of Ludivico III between 1445 and 1455. She is regarded as an important figure in the Italian Renaissance and was a student of Vittorino da Feltre.
Giovanni Tortellli, also known as Tortellius was a Renaissance humanist, largely responsible for the creation of the Vatican Library, together with scholars such as Bessarion and Poggio Bracciolini.
Gregorio Correr (Corraro) was an Italian humanist and ecclesiastic from Venice. In the last year of his life he was elected Patriarch of Venice.
Iacopo da San Cassiano, also known as Iacobus Cremonensis, was an Italian humanist and mathematician. He translated from Greek to Latin the writings of Archimedes and parts of Diodorus' Bibliotheca historica.
Casa Gioiosa or The House of Joy was a 15th century house in Mantua, Italy, owned by the Gonzaga family where the Italian pedagogue Vittorino da Feltre in 1423, set up a humanist school. The Casa Gioiosa, was a pioneering educational institution that aimed to provide a holistic and humanistic education to its students and soon became a model for Renaissance education, influencing educational practices throughout Europe. It emphasized the ideals of humanism and the importance of education in fostering personal growth and civic responsibility.