4 On the study of languages (1533) CR XI, 231–9
4 On the study of languages (1533)
CR XI, 231–9
Oration of Veit Dietrich, of Nuremberg, on the study of languages, held at the graduation of Masters, 15331
To begin with, I thank you, most learned men, for coming together here both in our honour and in order to adorn the study of the most important arts. As I assume that your duty is concerned with the honour of education, I hope that you have put yourself in such a frame of mind as to confer on us the kindness of not listening to us unwillingly. For we do not come on to the podium to announce anything that is worthy of your wisdom and authority – a task which should not be demanded from the witlessness of our youth. This whole talk is held for the benefit of these young men; you have joined us as spectators, so that the young will understand that these first studies are approved of by you. Although your kindness in all aspects is known and evident to us, it is nevertheless also our duty to ask you respectfully to listen to us with good will. Therefore I beseech you to consider my youthful oration favourably, and to lend me your authority in the cause which I have taken up to plead, a cause which I hope will be most agreeable to you.
I have determined to speak about the study of languages, as they call them. Although for the most part it is usually philosophy that is spoken about here, nevertheless this topic of languages is not so far removed from philosophy, if one considers it properly. Indeed, that part of philosophy that is most agreeable appears to me to depend chiefly on the knowledge of languages. In fact, I have not chosen this subject out of a desire for novelty, nor did I propose that, at my age, I could deal satisfactorily with a new subject. However, public necessity urges not only me but also all good men to rouse and stir up the young, as much as we all can, to the study of languages. In truth it would have been most appropriate to summon not a tongue-tied man but an eloquent one for pleading the case of languages, a man who could praise them for their dignity, and illustrate the great usefulness which results from the knowledge of them. Although I realised that this could not be done by me, I nevertheless judged that I should not neglect the public cause, especially on this topic, on which the university
1 Veit Dietrich (1506–49) was Dean of the arts faculty at Wittenberg and presided over the promotion of Masters on 6 February 1533.
magistrate has commanded me to speak. I hoped that there would be as much authority in this oration as you attribute to the entire assembly of most learned men, who consigned this duty to me and wished to state their opinion to you through my oration, of whatever quality the latter may be. Since they excel in teaching, judgement and experience, and furthermore wish with the greatest faith for a plan for your studies and for the entire state, it is most proper for you to prepare yourself willingly and studiously for their admonitions.
But now I come to the subject; since not enough can be said about it because of lack of time, I shall adduce briefly the special usefulness that incites us all to the study of languages – I am talking about Latin, Greek and Hebrew.
Since different people have different purposes in their studies, and not all follow the same kind of learning, it is necessary to speak about the different professions, as they call them, in turn. First, I do not think that there is a need for a long debate about theology, for it is clear that the sources of theology are contained in Hebrew and Greek writings. The languages cannot be translated in such a way that there is no need for the sources if we want to pass judgement on obscure passages, as one has to do in many very serious controversies. So many times the Scriptures themselves recommend to us the ministry of the word, and they admonish us never to see the will of God unless in these writings. It is therefore easy to understand how necessary it is to grasp perfectly the nature of discourse, which nobody can achieve without a knowledge of languages or without the practice of eloquence.
Therefore each one must aspire to a perfect knowledge of sacred discourse, both for his own salvation and for the common good of the Church. First we experience in private how the mind is strengthened in a wonderful way as, among such variety of opinions, we are led, as it were, to the present case, when we look at the genuine words of the Scriptures. Furthermore, teachers are hardly capable of proclaiming with a clear conscience in public regarding great and difficult controversies, if they do not understand the form of speech in the evidence from which the whole matter needs to be judged. Many heresies are the result of ignorance of languages and of the forms of speech; this can be demonstrated easily in the history of ecclesiastic strife. Although that is not the only important point, in the interpretation of the Holy Scriptures the first thing is to understand the form of speech; having understood that, one can come to a conclusion on many things, most
of which are disputed even now. Therefore there is no doubt that knowledge of languages is necessary for theology.
Do not let uneducated men deter you from that skill, who not only condemn the study of languages, but hate all the good arts bitterly, so that they alone will appear to have knowledge. If the case needs to be resolved by witnesses, oppose them with examples as well as the opinions of Jerome, Augustine and many others, who believed that knowledge of languages is necessary for explaining the Holy Scriptures. God Himself judges this to be so, who, by giving us the gift of languages with the Gospel, proves that the knowledge of languages is necessary.2 Truly, if anyone thinks that there is no use for it in the Church, he has an insolent opinion of the divine gift. If that evidence does not move the adversaries at all, then they should at least heed the canonical writings, whose authority is sacrosanct to them. There are decrees about languages, and also regulations composed in the synods, which enjoin the most famous universities to teach languages. Why would the synod decree this with great authority if this kind of study were not useful?
I have heard that sixty years ago Gregorius Tiphernas3 arrived in Paris and demanded a stipend from the senate of the university for him to agree to teach Greek there. However, it seemed impolite to some that he had dared to solicit a stipend, when the university senate had neither invited him nor notified him that they were going to use his services, nor even had a lector for Greek. Until then, in France as well as here, Greek was totally unknown. Therefore, when he was asked what sort of despotism this was, to more or less order the university senate to pay a stipend, the man, who was prepared for this, cited the regulation regarding the study of languages, in which the University of Paris was specifically mentioned. The senate did not take offence at this liberty, but praised the man's sense and zeal; the stipend was decreed by general consensus. The Parisian senate were not going to do this, though, if they had not approved of the papal regulations, or if they had considered that kind of study useless for the Church.
However, I desist from discussing this matter at greater length, given that Erasmus demonstrates in his well-grounded volumes that the knowledge of languages is necessary for the interpretation of the Holy
2 I supply the passage in italics from Declamationum D. P. Melanthonis, ed. J. Richard (3 vols., Strasburg, 1558), vol. 1, p. 309: ‘Quid quod ita Deus ipse indicat, qui cum Evangelio linguarum donum largiens, testatur, Ecclesiae linguarum cognitionem necessariam esse.’
3 Gregorius Tiphernas (1413–1464) taught at the University of Paris between 1456 and 1459: see G. Mancini, ‘Gregorio Tifernate’, Archivio Storico Italiano 8 (1923), 89f.
Scriptures.4 Remember that on this subject Doctor Martin Luther not only encourages you, but also severely reproves our laziness and idleness. If you defer to his judgement as much as his outstanding teaching and experience demand, you will certainly study foreign languages more eagerly and you will put much more work into the study of eloquence. However, given that theology is now held in dislike, the young everywhere cast from them the study of languages and eloquence, together with the Holy Scriptures, and embrace the arts that are universally more saleable and more gainful.
I do not disparage these arts, though, for the state needs a great variety of arts, and it is well said that ‘a state is not made up from doctors and doctors, but from doctors and farmers’.5 Those people need to be rebuked, though, who either lead everyone away from the Holy Scriptures or, having devoted themselves to other arts, do not think that any part of studying should be invested in the Holy Scriptures, and, as I can see, ridicule all of us who do not entirely abstain from the Holy Scriptures, and even consider us mad.
But let us not say anything here of those who are either irreverent against God or cruel towards the Church, and who, if it were up to them, would efface all religion. I shall address myself to others who are more moderate.
First I would like to consider, good young men, that the teaching of religion concerns everyone. Just as it is said that men are not born for themselves only but for their country, I could say even more truthfully that all good men have to consider themselves born chiefly for the Church. Thus, even if some commendable considerations call us to other arts (and I do not disparage them), nevertheless Christian teaching must not be neglected. Some part of our time and effort needs to be allocated to it for the purpose of strengthening our own minds as well as for preparing ourselves for the common good of the Church. Ambrose was active in the law-court and in judgements, but in the meantime he nevertheless read the Holy Scriptures and united the Greek theologians with the Latin ones.
Furthermore, the knowledge of languages is not only beneficial to theologians, it is also of surpassing usefulness in the other arts; I want this to be understood this way, and I ask you to pay attention, so that no one thinks that I detract from the dignity of the other professions. So I declare that those who will be undertaking the study of medicine or law should be
4 For Erasmus' promotion of the study of languages for the study of the Bible, see his Annotationes in Novum Testamentum.
5 See note 3 to oration 2, p. 10.
educated in advance in some noble teaching that contains philosophy and a knowledge of the ancient world. The practice of public speaking also has to be added. By these subjects the minds will be shaped towards both pleasantness and humanity and sharpened as well as instructed, so that they are able to grasp and manage the other arts in a more productive way.
If anyone believes that it is possible to have a perfect knowledge of philosophy without Greek, I certainly hold him to be fortunate in his belief. However, it is even said that there are many among those who interpret Aristotle and who have learnt Greek who are also inept. When they cannot explain the extremely weighty things transmitted by the authors, they come up with some new kind of teaching, full of strange dreams, that is of no use for life or for public business. Furthermore, they damage philosophy who circumscribe it by such narrow boundaries that they attribute nothing to it except those well-known precepts from Aristotle that are taught in the schools. Without speaking of mathematics, I for one am convinced that the knowledge of antiquity, of poems and histories, is assuredly an important part of philosophy, for it contains the teaching of humanity, as it displays precepts and examples for all duties.
Nothing can happen in private life or in the state of which there is not a likeness in the most wisely written histories. By my judgement it is most profitable for those intending to undertake great things to look at these likenesses as in a mirror, and to see decisions and the outcome of good and bad decisions. Furthermore, there is even much in secular as well as ecclesiastical affairs that can neither be understood nor judged without a knowledge of antiquity. How many times does one have to speak about the vicissitudes of nations? How often, in the Church, does one have to inquire into ancient disputes about the greatest things? These cannot be known in any way without Greek and Latin. And some matters concerning the Church are written in Greek only. Also, as far as the variety and quantity of topics and examples are concerned, the Greek poets as well as the historians are far superior to the Latin ones. For the Romans only strove to honour their domestic affairs with elegance,6 whereas the Greeks included the histories of all peoples and all realms, and they described them in such a way that they philosophised more truly in the explanation of their affairs and decisions than those who teach the bare precepts in the schools. Indeed, the Greeks lead philosophy out of the shadow into the sun and the dust, that is, they show its usefulness for life and for business.
6 Reading ornate for ornare.
Although this teaching would be desirable simply because it is pleasant, there are still other good reasons to learn Greek. For what pleasure could be more worthy of the minds of those present than the one gained from the knowledge of the greatest things? And since these pleasures pertain in some way to manners, I believe that they lead the mind to humanity and pleasantness by their delight.
However, I am not only discussing pleasure, but I am speaking of profit and necessity, for without the noble teaching contained mainly in Greek writings no one is sufficiently suitable for managing the other arts or for performing great things. That is not all. Even though any kind of teaching is advantageous for rousing one to virtue and for forming the mind, I do not hesitate to declare that the kind of teaching of which I am talking is most conducive to this.
Certainly, it cannot be denied that this teaching is needed for managing the other arts. Medicine is to a large extent Greek, and cannot be grasped without philosophy. And those who dedicate themselves to the law do not only strive to acquire the rhetoric of the law-court in order to apply it to their occupation, but they also seek a teaching that will be of use to the state and, as they themselves say, a philosophy that is not feigned. In order to protect themselves with dignity they will surely also need some other kind of teaching, that is, the knowledge of religion and of antiquity, eloquence and those writings which, because they contain the sources of laws, are no less often employed for deliberations on public duties than the laws themselves.
There are, however, some young men who, because of their idleness, flee the toil of learning and rush straight into the highest professions, with whose titles they disguise their sloth. They disparage our studies, so that they may appear to spurn these arts. They become, so to speak, denuded Solons, without grammar, without dialectics, knowledge of religion or philosophy, and finally without any humanity. Indeed I marvel with what cheek they dare look at the law books, whose authors were obviously learned in the arts that we are discussing. How much do they derive from the Greek and Latin histories? With how much reverence do they defer to Homer, how often do they quote his words like an oracle? In one place they cite from the words of Demosthenes, in another they copy the sayings of Plato verbatim. And some more recent lawyers dispute the authority of philosophers and poets in law-cases, because they describe in a very wise way the institutions of the ancients, the morals and weighty considerations of noble
duties and finally all the power of the natural law. Now, what impudence is this, to hold in contempt the writings which the law-makers themselves consider most noble?
Accordingly, I urge modest and good minds, when they consider the greatness of the profession to which they aspire, to follow the example of their authors and think that some of their effort needs to be bestowed upon these our arts and writings. I do not wish to fight with those who spurn not only our judgement but also the example of their authors. Different things are good for different people, as is well said: ‘Anacharsis errs against propriety among the Athenians, the Athenians do so among the Scythians.’7 These people are not touched by the sweetness of the arts that we admire, nor do their judgements lure us away from the study of the best things.
When you busy yourself with your studies, young men, reflect that you also have to apply perseverance and endurance, for no virtue can be practised or retained without endurance. Therefore, do not allow the study of these our arts and languages to be cast out of you by the unreasonable judgements of the crowd and of the uneducated. ‘Endure and preserve yourselves for happiness’ [Virgil, Aeneid 1.207] – why should I not use that most brave man's words, according to the poet, particularly as I am using them for a much greater cause? For he sought a dwelling-place for himself and his comrades. Your studies relate to the entire Church and to all posterity, and what greater cause can there be than what concerns the preservation of the Church?
I have often heard that Capnio, when he had been sent to Rome to the pope because of a certain business, went to the lecture-hall of Argyropoulos, who at the time was teaching Greek in Rome with great success.8 Capnio greeted Argyropoulos respectfully and, in the assembly of very learned men, explained to him that he, Capnio, was a German passionate about the study of Greek, and that he congratulated himself upon the good luck of having found an opportunity to hear him – for at the time there was no one who lectured more learnedly on philosophy and Greek – and he entreated him to give him permission to listen to him. Argyropoulos was delighted with Capnio's speech and, having kindly promised him his service, he asked him whether he had studied Greek before. Capnio said that he had heard the basics of the language in Basle in Germany. By chance Argyropoulos
7 This must be a reference to a passage in Letters of Anacharsis, see note 10, oration 7, p. 65.
8 Melanchthon's great-uncle, Johann Reuchlin (1454/5–1522) was also known under the Latin name of Capnio. He must have met Johannes Argyropoulos (1415–87) in the spring of 1482, when he accompanied Count Eberhard the Bearded of Württemberg on a journey to Florence and Rome.
was explaining Thucydides, and he showed it to Capnio and told him to read and then to translate as well. When Capnio both pronounced it beautifully (I have heard that he was extremely devoted to the study of correct pronunciation) and rendered the sentence in Latin satisfactorily, the Greek, astonished, turned to the audience and exclaimed: ‘Here you see that by our exile Greece had flown across the Alps.’ Although he spoke the truth, because the Greeks in exile kindled these studies among the Latin nations, you must nevertheless consider that this happened by divine providence, so that, when the Turks had invaded Greece and the Greek nation had been destroyed, the language most necessary to the Church would not be destroyed also.9 And so it was spread among these nations by the special favour of God. It cannot be denied that it has brought more light to the other arts as well as to the Holy Scriptures. It assists the study of eloquence in a wonderful way, for the Latin writers could not be understood without the Greek authors. It opened a door for German philosophy, and not only to Aristotle and the Greek doctors, but also to the excellent mathematical authors. How much we owe to those who translated Euclid and Ptolemy into Latin! We can see that later Johannes Regiomontanus,10 a fellow-citizen of mine, was greatly assisted by the Greek language in elaborating these works and in illustrating all the arts of that kind. And now, too, in Germany, some who excel in the knowledge of the Greek language join their efforts to honour the authors of that kind. Once the sources had been made available, good men began to love the Holy Scriptures more and to consider them more complete.
If the arts that I have recounted were to be consigned to oblivion and annihilated, it would be sadder than if the sun were taken from the world. Without the knowledge of foreign languages, though, it is not possible to retain their assets. One can judge easily from this that the knowledge of languages is not a trivial or commonplace gift from God. What impiety, what a crime, to spurn such a gift, the usefulness of which is so obvious, and to reject it again and expel it after it has been brought to these nations by divine providence! The laws punish sacrilege horribly in public, but it is a greater sacrilege to strip the Church of the knowledge of languages than of golden or silver ornaments. For these heavenly gifts bring light to the Gospel, and they are more truly ornaments of the Church than any golden
9 Constantinople fell on 28 May 1453.
10 Johannes Regiomontanus (1436–76), astronomer and mathematician, who set up a printing shop and observatory in Nuremberg. See further oration no. 29, pp. 236–55.
object. And there is no doubt that God has added the gift of languages to the Gospel for the purpose that they call us and that they lead to an explanation of the Holy Scriptures. Therefore consider those contemptuous of languages sacrilegious, who once rushed at the altars and into the temples with great rage and threatened the devastation and ruin of religion and of the noble arts, and do not doubt that they will have to pay God their penalty. If we, however, strive to be pleasing to God and loyal towards the Church, let us recognise the favour of God and protect and conserve it for the use of the Church. If someone is deterred from these studies by the fact that the prizes do not appear to be adequate to the toil, then he does not have sufficient religious feeling for God. For if God promises prodigious recompense for piety in every case, His trustworthiness is not to be doubted. Elsewhere He promises vast crops of fruits of the earth, if the people generously joined together for the use of the temple. Therefore the recompense will not be lacking for us, if we join our efforts for the use of the Church; and it is piety to have regard for the Church in expectation of that promise. I have spoken.