learning in England,[1] and the celebrated school of Winchester, founded by Bishop Langdon, was, in all probability, modeled after that of Vittorino.[2]
It is almost superfluous to mention the keen interest in learning manifested by the Italian ecclesiastics of this period. They raised to the papacy the book-lover and enthusiastic student, Parentucelli; and he, as Nicholas V. (1447-1455), placed himself at the head of the great movement of the renaissance, and won immortal renown by founding the Vatican library, where the glorious monuments of Greek and Roman intellect were collected under the protection of the Holy See. The second successor of Nicholas V. was Aeneas Sylvius (Pius II.), famous as a humanist scholar and author. But it is impossible here to enumerate all the ardent promoters of learning among the popes, cardinals and other church dignitaries of this time. So large a part of a churchman's life did learning occupy in Italy, that no prelate considered his household complete without a retinue of scholars.[3] – We cannot here trace the gradual spread of this mighty movement into other countries, but must confine ourselves to the bare mention of a few facts regarding the educational conditions.
What has often been said respecting the ignorance prevailing in Scotland before the Reformation, has been repudiated by the researches of Protestant historians, such as Burton, Lawson, Edgar, and others. It has been proved that this country, throughout the
