Latin School - Latin Church Schools

Latin Church Schools

Clergy often funded ecclesiastical schools where clerics taught. Many historians argue that up until 1300 the Church had a monopoly on education in Medieval Italy. Latin church schools seemed to appear around the 12th century, however very few remained after the 14th century as a vernacular, more definite form of Latin school emerged in Italy. In some areas in Spain during the late 15th century, the church encouraged priests and sacristans to train others in reading and writing.

After the Protestant Reformation, the Catholic Church tried to deal with the surfacing of Protestant Latin schools that involved itself with orienting church authorities and pastors. John Calvin, a reformer, taught Latin grammar along with the Geneva catechism. Nevertheless, there were some reformers who wanted to cease using Latin in worship, finding the vernacular a more efficient language to use. In the latter part of the 16th century, the Catholic Counter-Reformation supported the establishhment of municipal schools. Jesuits founded their own schools and offered free training in Latin grammar, Philosophy, Theology, Geography, Religious Doctrine and History for boys. It was important for Jesuits as well as the Catholic Reformation to instruct clergymen as well as laymen in this type of education. The Jesuits pursued the significance of education to their order and took over the teaching responsibilities in Latin schools and secondary schools along with other Catholic orders in several Catholic areas.