Comenius
Encyclopedia
John Amos Comenius (28 March 1592 – 4 November 1670) was a Czech teacher, educator, and writer. He served as the last bishop
of Unity of the Brethren
, and became a religious refugee
and one of the earliest champions of universal education
, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. He is considered the father of modern education. He lived and worked in many different countries in Europe, including Sweden
, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
, Transylvania
, the Holy Roman Empire
, England
, the Netherlands
, and Royal Hungary
.
, but history has no accurate record of his birthplace. There are three possible locations: Komňa
, Nivnice
, or Uherský Brod
(all three locations are in Uherské Hradiště District
, southeastern Moravia
, Czech Republic
). His ancestors came from Hungary
(likely from the part that is today Slovakia
, which is very close to Moravia in location as well as in language) during the 16th century and his original family name was Szeges according to his will found in 1968 by Milada Blekastad, a monographer of Comenius.
John Comenius was the youngest child and only son of Martin Comenius and his wife Anna. Martin, whose original surname was Szeges, started to use the surname Comenius after leaving Komňa to live in Uherský Brod, where he owned a house (he was "the man who came from Komňa" = Comenius). Both of his parents belonged to the Moravian Brethren, and Comenius later became one of the leaders of that pre-reformation Protestant denomination. His parents and two of his four sisters died in 1604, and young John went to live with his aunt in Strážnice.
Due to his impoverished circumstances, he was unable to begin his formal education until late. He was 16 when he entered the Latin school
in Přerov
(he later returned to this school as a teacher 1614–1618). He continued his studies in the Herborn
gymnasium
(1611–1613) and the University of Heidelberg (1613–1614). Comenius was greatly influenced by the Irish Jesuit William Bathe
as well as his teachers Johann Piscator, Heinrich Gutberleth, and particularly Heinrich Alsted. The Herborn school held the principle that every theory has to be functional in practical use, therefore has to be didactic (i.e., morally instructive). In the course of his study, he also became acquainted with the educational reforms of Ratichius
, and with the report of these reforms issued by the universities of Jena and Giessen
. Comenius' book Janua linguarum reserata (The Gate of Languages Unlocked, 1631) brought him widespread prominence and fame. However, he and the Unity became special targets of the Counter Reformation movement and were forced into exile even as his fame grew across Europe.
Comenius became rector of a school in Přerov
. In 1614, he was ordained to the ministry of the Moravian Brethren, and four years later became pastor and rector at Fulnek
, one of its most flourishing churches. Throughout his life, this pastoral activity was his most immediate concern. In consequence of the religious wars, he lost all his property and his writings in 1621, and six years later led the Brethren into exile when the Habsburg
Counter-Reformation persecuted the Protestants
in Bohemia.
Comenius took refuge in Leszno
in Poland
, where he led the gymnasium
and was given charge of the Bohemian and Moravian churches. In 1638, Comenius responded to a request by the government of Sweden and traveled there to draw up a scheme for the management of the schools of that country, and in 1641, he responded to a request by the English parliament
and joined a commission there charged with the reform of the system of public education. The disturbed political condition of England interfered with the latter project, and so in 1642 he returned to Sweden to work with Queen Christina
(reigned 1632–1654) and the chancellor Axel Oxenstierna
(in office 1612–1654) on the task of reorganizing the Swedish schools. The same year he moved to Elbing (Elbląg
) in Polish Royal Prussia
, and in 1648 went to England
with the aid of Samuel Hartlib
, who came originally from Elbing. In 1650 Zsuzsanna Lorántffy
, widow of George I Rákóczi
prince of Transylvania
invited him to Sárospatak
. Comenius remained there until 1654 as professor in the first Hungarian Protestant college; he wrote some of his most important works there.
Comenius returned to Leszno. During the Northern Wars
in 1655, he declared his support for the Protestant Swedish side, for which Polish partisans burned his house, his manuscripts, and the school's printing press in 1656. From Leszno he took refuge in Amsterdam
in the Netherlands, where he died in 1670. For unclear reasons he was buried in Naarden, where visitors can see his grave in the mausoleum devoted to him.
After his religious duties, Comenius's second great interest was in furthering the Baconian attempt at the organization of all human knowledge. He became one of the leaders in the encyclopædic or pansophic movement of the seventeenth century, and, in fact, was inclined to sacrifice his more practical educational interests and opportunities for these more imposing but somewhat visionary projects. In 1639, Comenius published his Pansophiæ Prodromus, and in the following year his English friend Hartlib published, without his consent, the plan of the pansophic work as outlined by Comenius. The manuscript of Pansophia was destroyed in the burning of his home in Lissa in 1657. The pansophic ideas find partial expression in the series of textbooks he produced from time to time. In these, he attempts to organize the entire field of human knowledge so as to bring it, in outline, within the grasp of every child.
According to Cotton Mather
, Comenius was asked by Winthrop to be the President of Harvard University
, this being more plausibly John Winthrop the Younger than his father since the junior Winthrop was in England; but Comenius moved to Sweden instead. Comenius also attempted to design a language in which false statements were inexpressible. He also wrote Protestant Hymn songbooks (Gesangbuch). A new Dutch translation of his Janua Linguarum Reserata by C.F.J. Antonides is available.
In the second place, the influence of Comenius was in formulating the general theory of education. In this respect he is the forerunner of Rousseau
, Pestalozzi
, Froebel, etc., and is the first to formulate that idea of “education according to nature” so influential during the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. The influence of Comenius on educational thought is comparable with that of his contemporaries, Bacon and Descartes, on science and philosophy. In fact, he was largely influenced by the thought of these two; and his importance is largely due to the fact that he first applied or attempted to apply in a systematic manner the principles of thought and of investigation, newly formulated by those philosophers, to the organization of education in all its aspects. The summary of this attempt is given in the Didactica Magna, completed about 1631, though not published until several years later.
The third aspect of his educational influence was that on the subject matter and method of education, exerted through a series of textbooks of an entirely new nature. The first-published of these was the Janua Linguarum Reserata (The Gate of Languages Unlocked), issued in 1631. This was followed later by a more elementary text, the Vestibulum, and a more advanced one, the Atrium, and other texts. In 1657 was published the Orbis Sensualium Pictus probably the most renowned and most widely circulated of school textbooks. It was also the first successful application of illustrations to the work of teaching, though not, as often stated, the first illustrated book for children.
These texts were all based on the same fundamental ideas: (1) learning foreign languages through the vernacular; (2) obtaining ideas through objects rather than words; (3) starting with objects most familiar to the child to introduce him to both the new language and the more remote world of objects: (4) giving the child a comprehensive knowledge of his environment, physical and social, as well as instruction in religious, moral, and classical subjects; (5) making this acquisition of a compendium of knowledge a pleasure rather than a task; and (6) making instruction universal. While the formulation of many of these ideas is open to criticism from more recent points of view, and while the naturalistic conception of education is one based on crude analogies, the importance of the Comenian influence in education has now been recognized for half a century. The educational writings of Comenius comprise more than forty titles. In 1892 the three-hundredth anniversary of Comenius was very generally celebrated by educators, and at that time the Comenian Society for the study and publication of his works was formed.
. In his Synopsis physicae ad lumen divinum reformatae, Comenius gives a physical theory of his own, said to be taken from the book of Genesis. He was also famous for his prophecies and the support he gave to visionaries. In his Lux in tenebris he published the visions of Christopher Kotterus, Dabricius and Christina Poniatovia. Attempting to interpret the book of Revelation
, he promised the millennium in 1672, and guaranteed miraculous assistance to those who would undertake the destruction of the Pope and the house of Austria, even venturing to prophesy that Oliver Cromwell
, Gustavus Adolphus, and George I Rákóczi
, prince of Transylvania, would perform the task. He also wrote to Louis XIV of France
, informing him that the empire of the world should be his reward if he would overthrow the enemies of God.
One of his daughters, Elisabeth, married Peter Figulus from Jablonné nad Orlicí
. Their son, Daniel Ernst Jablonski
(1660–1741), Comenius's grandson, later went to Berlin
in 1693; there he became the highest official pastor at the court of King Frederick I of Prussia
(reigned 1701–1713). There he became acquainted with Count Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf
(1700–1760). Zinzendorf was among the foremost successors to Comenius as a bishop (1737–1760) in the renewed Moravian Brethren's Church.
The Comenius Medal, a UNESCO
award honouring outstanding achievements in the fields of education research and innovation, commemorates Comenius. Peter Drucker
hailed Comenius as the inventor of textbook
s and primer
s.
Comenius, his life and teachings, have become better known since the fall of the Iron Curtain
.
Czech Republic and Slovakia
During the 19th century Czech National Revival
, Czechs idealised Comenius as a symbol of the Czech nation
. This image persists to the present day. In 1919 Comenius University was founded by act of parliament in Bratislava
, Czechoslovakia
, (now in Slovakia
). It was the first university with courses in the Slovak language
. Slovakia and the Czech Republic celebrate 28 March, the birthday of Comenius, as Teachers' Day
. University of Jan Amos Komensky has been founded in Prague. It offers bachelor's, master's and graduate degree programmes .
Gate to Languages
, a project of lifelong education, taking place in the Czech Republic from October 2005 to June 2007 and aimed at language education of teachers, was named after his book Janua linguarum reserata (Gate to Languages Unlocked).
Other European
In Sárospatak
, Hungary
, a teacher's college is named after him (the college now belongs to the University of Miskolc
.)
A primary school in Skopje
, Republic of Macedonia
is named after Comenius (Jan Amos Komenski in Macedonian
). The Czechoslovak
government built the school after the catastrophic earthquake in 1963 that levelled most of the city.
The Comenius Foundation
is a non-governmental organisation
in Poland
, dedicated to the provision of equal opportunities to children under 10 years of age.
The Italian film director
Roberto Rossellini
took Comenius, and especially his theory of "direct vision," as his model in the development of his didactic theories, which Rossellini hoped would usher the world into a utopia
n future.
"Comenius", a European Union
school partnership program, takes its name from the teacher of nations.
In the United Kingdom
, the University of Sheffield
's Western Bank Library holds the largest collection of Comenius manuscripts outside of the Czech Republic.
USA
In 1892 Comenius Hall, the principal classroom and faculty office building on Moravian College
's campus in Pennsylvania, was built. In 1892 educators in many places celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of Comenius, and at that time the Comenian Society for the study and publication of his works was formed.
The education department at Salem College
in North Carolina has an annual Comenius Symposium dedicated in his honor; the subjects usually deal with modern issues in education.
The Comenius Foundation
in the US, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity, uses film and documentary production to further faith, learning, and love.
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of Unity of the Brethren
Unity of the Brethren
The Unity of the Brethren is a Christian denomination whose roots are in the pre-reformation work of priest and philosopher Jan Hus, who was martyred in 1415.-History in Bohemia:...
, and became a religious refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...
and one of the earliest champions of universal education
Public education
State schools, also known in the United States and Canada as public schools,In much of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United Kingdom, the terms 'public education', 'public school' and 'independent school' are used for private schools, that is, schools...
, a concept eventually set forth in his book Didactica Magna. He is considered the father of modern education. He lived and worked in many different countries in Europe, including Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was a dualistic state of Poland and Lithuania ruled by a common monarch. It was the largest and one of the most populous countries of 16th- and 17th‑century Europe with some and a multi-ethnic population of 11 million at its peak in the early 17th century...
, Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
, the Holy Roman Empire
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Royal Hungary
Royal Hungary
The Kingdom of Hungary between 1538 and 1867 was part of the lands of the Habsburg Monarchy, while outside the Holy Roman Empire.After Battle of Mohács, the country was ruled by two crowned kings . They divided the kingdom in 1538...
.
Life and work
Comenius originated from MoraviaMoravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, but history has no accurate record of his birthplace. There are three possible locations: Komňa
Komňa
Komňa is a village and municipality in Uherské Hradiště District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 582 ....
, Nivnice
Nivnice
Nivnice is a village and municipality in Uherské Hradiště District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 3,293 ....
, or Uherský Brod
Uherský Brod
Uherský Brod is a town in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic. It is situated in the south-east of Moravia . It lies in the Vizovice Highlands and near the White Carpathian Mountains ....
(all three locations are in Uherské Hradiště District
Uherské Hradište District
Uherské Hradiště District is one of four districts within Zlín Region of the Czech Republic...
, southeastern Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
, Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
). His ancestors came from Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
(likely from the part that is today Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, which is very close to Moravia in location as well as in language) during the 16th century and his original family name was Szeges according to his will found in 1968 by Milada Blekastad, a monographer of Comenius.
Due to his impoverished circumstances, he was unable to begin his formal education until late. He was 16 when he entered the Latin school
Latin School
Latin School may refer to:* Latin schools of Medieval Europe* These schools in the United States:** Boston Latin School, Boston, MA** Brooklyn Latin School, New York, NY** Brother Joseph C. Fox Latin School, Long Island, NY...
in Přerov
Prerov
Přerov is a town in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic where the Bečva river flows through. Přerov is a statute town . It has population of about 47,373 to January 2, 2008. Přerov is about 22 km south west of Olomouc. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the...
(he later returned to this school as a teacher 1614–1618). He continued his studies in the Herborn
Herborn
Herborn is a historic town on the Dill in the Lahn-Dill district of Hesse in Germany. Before World War I, it was granted its own title as Nassauisches Rothenburg. The symbol or mascot of this town is a bear. Scenic attractions include its half-timbered houses; Herborn is located on the German...
gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
(1611–1613) and the University of Heidelberg (1613–1614). Comenius was greatly influenced by the Irish Jesuit William Bathe
William Bathe
William Bathe was a Jesuit priest, born in Dublin, Ireland.Bathe was a native of Drumcondra Castle, County Dublin, and a brother of John Bathe, an Irish representative at the Royal Court in Madrid in the early 1600's.....
as well as his teachers Johann Piscator, Heinrich Gutberleth, and particularly Heinrich Alsted. The Herborn school held the principle that every theory has to be functional in practical use, therefore has to be didactic (i.e., morally instructive). In the course of his study, he also became acquainted with the educational reforms of Ratichius
Wolfgang Ratke
Wolfgang Ratke was a German educational reformer.-Early life:...
, and with the report of these reforms issued by the universities of Jena and Giessen
University of Giessen
The University of Giessen is officially called the Justus Liebig University Giessen after its most famous faculty member, Justus von Liebig, the founder of modern agricultural chemistry and inventor of artificial fertiliser.-History:The University of Gießen is among the oldest institutions of...
. Comenius' book Janua linguarum reserata (The Gate of Languages Unlocked, 1631) brought him widespread prominence and fame. However, he and the Unity became special targets of the Counter Reformation movement and were forced into exile even as his fame grew across Europe.
Comenius became rector of a school in Přerov
Prerov
Přerov is a town in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic where the Bečva river flows through. Přerov is a statute town . It has population of about 47,373 to January 2, 2008. Přerov is about 22 km south west of Olomouc. In the past it was a major crossroad in the heart of Moravia in the...
. In 1614, he was ordained to the ministry of the Moravian Brethren, and four years later became pastor and rector at Fulnek
Fulnek
----Fulnek is a town in the Moravian-Silesian Region, Czech Republic, about 30 km south from Opava.- People :People from Fulnek include:* Leopold Ritter von Dittel , urologist, worked in Austria...
, one of its most flourishing churches. Throughout his life, this pastoral activity was his most immediate concern. In consequence of the religious wars, he lost all his property and his writings in 1621, and six years later led the Brethren into exile when the Habsburg
Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Ferdinand II , a member of the House of Habsburg, was Holy Roman Emperor , King of Bohemia , and King of Hungary . His rule coincided with the Thirty Years' War.- Life :...
Counter-Reformation persecuted the Protestants
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
in Bohemia.
Comenius took refuge in Leszno
Leszno
Leszno is a town in central Poland with 63,955 inhabitants . Situated in the southern part of the Greater Poland Voivodeship since 1999, it was previously the capital of the Leszno Voivodeship . The town has county status.-History:...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, where he led the gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
and was given charge of the Bohemian and Moravian churches. In 1638, Comenius responded to a request by the government of Sweden and traveled there to draw up a scheme for the management of the schools of that country, and in 1641, he responded to a request by the English parliament
Long Parliament
The Long Parliament was made on 3 November 1640, following the Bishops' Wars. It received its name from the fact that through an Act of Parliament, it could only be dissolved with the agreement of the members, and those members did not agree to its dissolution until after the English Civil War and...
and joined a commission there charged with the reform of the system of public education. The disturbed political condition of England interfered with the latter project, and so in 1642 he returned to Sweden to work with Queen Christina
Christina of Sweden
Christina , later adopted the name Christina Alexandra, was Queen regnant of Swedes, Goths and Vandals, Grand Princess of Finland, and Duchess of Ingria, Estonia, Livonia and Karelia, from 1633 to 1654. She was the only surviving legitimate child of King Gustav II Adolph and his wife Maria Eleonora...
(reigned 1632–1654) and the chancellor Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Oxenstierna
Axel Gustafsson Oxenstierna af Södermöre , Count of Södermöre, was a Swedish statesman. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1609 and served as Lord High Chancellor of Sweden from 1612 until his death. He was a confidant of first Gustavus Adolphus and then Queen Christina.Oxenstierna...
(in office 1612–1654) on the task of reorganizing the Swedish schools. The same year he moved to Elbing (Elbląg
Elblag
Elbląg is a city in northern Poland with 127,892 inhabitants . It is the capital of Elbląg County and has been assigned to the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship since 1999. Before then it was the capital of Elbląg Voivodeship and a county seat in Gdańsk Voivodeship...
) in Polish Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia
Royal Prussia was a Region of the Kingdom of Poland and of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth . Polish Prussia included Pomerelia, Chełmno Land , Malbork Voivodeship , Gdańsk , Toruń , and Elbląg . It is distinguished from Ducal Prussia...
, and in 1648 went to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
with the aid of Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib
Samuel Hartlib was a German-British polymath. An active promoter and expert writer in many fields, he was interested in science, medicine, agriculture, politics, and education. He settled in England, where he married and died...
, who came originally from Elbing. In 1650 Zsuzsanna Lorántffy
Zsuzsanna Lorántffy
Zsuzsanna Lorántffy , anglicized as Susanna Lorantffy was the wife of György Rákóczi I, prince of Transylvania....
, widow of George I Rákóczi
George I Rákóczi
György Rákóczi I was elected Hungarian prince of Transylvania from 1630 until his death. During his influence Transylvania grew politically and economically stronger.-Biography:...
prince of Transylvania
Transylvania
Transylvania is a historical region in the central part of Romania. Bounded on the east and south by the Carpathian mountain range, historical Transylvania extended in the west to the Apuseni Mountains; however, the term sometimes encompasses not only Transylvania proper, but also the historical...
invited him to Sárospatak
Sárospatak
----Sárospatak is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, northern Hungary. It lies northeast from Miskolc, in the Bodrog river valley. The town, often called simply Patak, is an important cultural centre.- History :The area has been inhabited since ancient times...
. Comenius remained there until 1654 as professor in the first Hungarian Protestant college; he wrote some of his most important works there.
Comenius returned to Leszno. During the Northern Wars
Northern Wars
Northern Wars is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe in the 16th and 17th century. An internationally agreed nomenclature for these wars has not yet been devised...
in 1655, he declared his support for the Protestant Swedish side, for which Polish partisans burned his house, his manuscripts, and the school's printing press in 1656. From Leszno he took refuge in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
in the Netherlands, where he died in 1670. For unclear reasons he was buried in Naarden, where visitors can see his grave in the mausoleum devoted to him.
After his religious duties, Comenius's second great interest was in furthering the Baconian attempt at the organization of all human knowledge. He became one of the leaders in the encyclopædic or pansophic movement of the seventeenth century, and, in fact, was inclined to sacrifice his more practical educational interests and opportunities for these more imposing but somewhat visionary projects. In 1639, Comenius published his Pansophiæ Prodromus, and in the following year his English friend Hartlib published, without his consent, the plan of the pansophic work as outlined by Comenius. The manuscript of Pansophia was destroyed in the burning of his home in Lissa in 1657. The pansophic ideas find partial expression in the series of textbooks he produced from time to time. In these, he attempts to organize the entire field of human knowledge so as to bring it, in outline, within the grasp of every child.
According to Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather
Cotton Mather, FRS was a socially and politically influential New England Puritan minister, prolific author and pamphleteer; he is often remembered for his role in the Salem witch trials...
, Comenius was asked by Winthrop to be the President of Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, this being more plausibly John Winthrop the Younger than his father since the junior Winthrop was in England; but Comenius moved to Sweden instead. Comenius also attempted to design a language in which false statements were inexpressible. He also wrote Protestant Hymn songbooks (Gesangbuch). A new Dutch translation of his Janua Linguarum Reserata by C.F.J. Antonides is available.
Educational influence
The most permanent influence exerted by Comenius was in practical educational work. Few men since his day have had a greater influence, though for the greater part of the eighteenth century and the early part of the nineteenth there was little recognition of his relationship to the current advance in educational thought and practice. The practical educational influence of Comenius was threefold. He was first a teacher and an organizer of schools, not only among his own people, but later in Sweden, and to a slight extent in Holland. In his Didactica Magna (Great Didactic), he outlined a system of schools that is the exact counterpart of the existing American system of kindergarten, elementary school, secondary school, college, and university.In the second place, the influence of Comenius was in formulating the general theory of education. In this respect he is the forerunner of Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
, Pestalozzi
Pestalozzi
Pestalozzi may refer to:* Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi * Hans A. Pestalozzi Schools with that name:* Colegio Pestalozzi, Argentina* Pestalozzi-Gymnasium Biberach, Germany* Kinderdorf Pestalozzi, Switzerland...
, Froebel, etc., and is the first to formulate that idea of “education according to nature” so influential during the latter part of the eighteenth and early part of the nineteenth century. The influence of Comenius on educational thought is comparable with that of his contemporaries, Bacon and Descartes, on science and philosophy. In fact, he was largely influenced by the thought of these two; and his importance is largely due to the fact that he first applied or attempted to apply in a systematic manner the principles of thought and of investigation, newly formulated by those philosophers, to the organization of education in all its aspects. The summary of this attempt is given in the Didactica Magna, completed about 1631, though not published until several years later.
The third aspect of his educational influence was that on the subject matter and method of education, exerted through a series of textbooks of an entirely new nature. The first-published of these was the Janua Linguarum Reserata (The Gate of Languages Unlocked), issued in 1631. This was followed later by a more elementary text, the Vestibulum, and a more advanced one, the Atrium, and other texts. In 1657 was published the Orbis Sensualium Pictus probably the most renowned and most widely circulated of school textbooks. It was also the first successful application of illustrations to the work of teaching, though not, as often stated, the first illustrated book for children.
These texts were all based on the same fundamental ideas: (1) learning foreign languages through the vernacular; (2) obtaining ideas through objects rather than words; (3) starting with objects most familiar to the child to introduce him to both the new language and the more remote world of objects: (4) giving the child a comprehensive knowledge of his environment, physical and social, as well as instruction in religious, moral, and classical subjects; (5) making this acquisition of a compendium of knowledge a pleasure rather than a task; and (6) making instruction universal. While the formulation of many of these ideas is open to criticism from more recent points of view, and while the naturalistic conception of education is one based on crude analogies, the importance of the Comenian influence in education has now been recognized for half a century. The educational writings of Comenius comprise more than forty titles. In 1892 the three-hundredth anniversary of Comenius was very generally celebrated by educators, and at that time the Comenian Society for the study and publication of his works was formed.
Theology
As a theologian, Comenius was mystical, a believer in prophecies, dreams and revelations. He was greatly influenced by BoehmeJakob Böhme
Jakob Böhme was a German Christian mystic and theologian. He is considered an original thinker within the Lutheran tradition...
. In his Synopsis physicae ad lumen divinum reformatae, Comenius gives a physical theory of his own, said to be taken from the book of Genesis. He was also famous for his prophecies and the support he gave to visionaries. In his Lux in tenebris he published the visions of Christopher Kotterus, Dabricius and Christina Poniatovia. Attempting to interpret the book of Revelation
Book of Revelation
The Book of Revelation is the final book of the New Testament. The title came into usage from the first word of the book in Koine Greek: apokalupsis, meaning "unveiling" or "revelation"...
, he promised the millennium in 1672, and guaranteed miraculous assistance to those who would undertake the destruction of the Pope and the house of Austria, even venturing to prophesy that Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell was an English military and political leader who overthrew the English monarchy and temporarily turned England into a republican Commonwealth, and served as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland....
, Gustavus Adolphus, and George I Rákóczi
George I Rákóczi
György Rákóczi I was elected Hungarian prince of Transylvania from 1630 until his death. During his influence Transylvania grew politically and economically stronger.-Biography:...
, prince of Transylvania, would perform the task. He also wrote to Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
, informing him that the empire of the world should be his reward if he would overthrow the enemies of God.
Family
Jablonné nad Orlicí
Jablonné nad Orlicí is a town in Pardubice Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 3,150 inhabitants.-Twin towns — Sister cities:Jablonné nad Orlicí is twinned with: Hinwil, Switzerland-External links:*...
. Their son, Daniel Ernst Jablonski
Daniel Ernst Jablonski
Daniel Ernst Jablonski , German theologian and reformer of Czech origin, known for his efforts to bring about a union between Lutheran and Calvinist Protestants.-Life:...
(1660–1741), Comenius's grandson, later went to Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
in 1693; there he became the highest official pastor at the court of King Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I of Prussia
Frederick I , of the Hohenzollern dynasty, was Elector of Brandenburg and Duke of Prussia in personal union . The latter function he upgraded to royalty, becoming the first King in Prussia . From 1707 he was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
(reigned 1701–1713). There he became acquainted with Count Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf
Nicolaus Ludwig Zinzendorf
Nikolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf und Pottendorf, Imperial Count of Zinzendorf and Pottendorf, , German religious and social reformer and bishop of the Moravian Church, was born at Dresden....
(1700–1760). Zinzendorf was among the foremost successors to Comenius as a bishop (1737–1760) in the renewed Moravian Brethren's Church.
Legacy
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
award honouring outstanding achievements in the fields of education research and innovation, commemorates Comenius. Peter Drucker
Peter Drucker
Peter Ferdinand Drucker was an influential writer, management consultant, and self-described “social ecologist.”-Introduction:...
hailed Comenius as the inventor of textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
s and primer
Primer (textbook)
A primer is a first textbook for teaching of reading, such as an alphabet book or basal reader. The word also is used more broadly to refer to any book that presents the most basic elements of a subject....
s.
Comenius, his life and teachings, have become better known since the fall of the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
.
Czech Republic and Slovakia
During the 19th century Czech National Revival
Czech National Revival
Czech National Revival was a cultural movement, which took part in the Czech lands during the 18th and 19th century. The purpose of this movement was to revive Czech language, culture and national identity...
, Czechs idealised Comenius as a symbol of the Czech nation
Czech people
Czechs, or Czech people are a western Slavic people of Central Europe, living predominantly in the Czech Republic. Small populations of Czechs also live in Slovakia, Austria, the United States, the United Kingdom, Chile, Argentina, Canada, Germany, Russia and other countries...
. This image persists to the present day. In 1919 Comenius University was founded by act of parliament in Bratislava
Bratislava
Bratislava is the capital of Slovakia and, with a population of about 431,000, also the country's largest city. Bratislava is in southwestern Slovakia on both banks of the Danube River. Bordering Austria and Hungary, it is the only national capital that borders two independent countries.Bratislava...
, Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
, (now in Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
). It was the first university with courses in the Slovak language
Slovak language
Slovak , is an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages .Slovak is the official language of Slovakia, where it is spoken by 5 million people...
. Slovakia and the Czech Republic celebrate 28 March, the birthday of Comenius, as Teachers' Day
Teachers' Day
In many countries, Teachers' Days are intended to be special days for the appreciation of teachers; World Teachers' Day is celebrated across the world on October 5. Ever since the importance of teachers has been recognized by UNESCO, by adopting the “Recommendation concerning the status of...
. University of Jan Amos Komensky has been founded in Prague. It offers bachelor's, master's and graduate degree programmes .
Gate to Languages
Gate to Languages (educational project)
Gate to Languages is a project of lifelong education of teachers, organized in the Czech Republic by National Institute for Further Education since 17 October 2005. It is aimed at the development of foreign language skills and methodological competence of Czech teachers...
, a project of lifelong education, taking place in the Czech Republic from October 2005 to June 2007 and aimed at language education of teachers, was named after his book Janua linguarum reserata (Gate to Languages Unlocked).
Other European
In Sárospatak
Sárospatak
----Sárospatak is a town in Borsod-Abaúj-Zemplén county, northern Hungary. It lies northeast from Miskolc, in the Bodrog river valley. The town, often called simply Patak, is an important cultural centre.- History :The area has been inhabited since ancient times...
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, a teacher's college is named after him (the college now belongs to the University of Miskolc
University of Miskolc
The University of Miskolc is the largest university of Northern Hungary.-Location:...
.)
A primary school in Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
, Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
is named after Comenius (Jan Amos Komenski in Macedonian
Macedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
). The Czechoslovak
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
government built the school after the catastrophic earthquake in 1963 that levelled most of the city.
The Comenius Foundation
Comenius Foundation for Child Development
The Comenius Foundation for Child Development, or Comenius Foundation for short , is a children's welfare non-governmental organisation based in Warsaw, Poland, established in September 2003...
is a non-governmental organisation
Non-governmental organization
A non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
, dedicated to the provision of equal opportunities to children under 10 years of age.
The Italian film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini
Roberto Rossellini was an Italian film director and screenwriter. Rossellini was one of the directors of the Italian neorealist cinema, contributing films such as Roma città aperta to the movement.-Early life:Born in Rome, Roberto Rossellini lived on the Via Ludovisi, where Benito Mussolini had...
took Comenius, and especially his theory of "direct vision," as his model in the development of his didactic theories, which Rossellini hoped would usher the world into a utopia
Utopia
Utopia is an ideal community or society possessing a perfect socio-politico-legal system. The word was imported from Greek by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book Utopia, describing a fictional island in the Atlantic Ocean. The term has been used to describe both intentional communities that attempt...
n future.
"Comenius", a European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
school partnership program, takes its name from the teacher of nations.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the University of Sheffield
University of Sheffield
The University of Sheffield is a research university based in the city of Sheffield in South Yorkshire, England. It is one of the original 'red brick' universities and is a member of the Russell Group of leading research intensive universities...
's Western Bank Library holds the largest collection of Comenius manuscripts outside of the Czech Republic.
USA
In 1892 Comenius Hall, the principal classroom and faculty office building on Moravian College
Moravian College
Moravian College a private liberal arts college, and the associated Moravian Theological Seminary are located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Lehigh Valley region.-History:...
's campus in Pennsylvania, was built. In 1892 educators in many places celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of Comenius, and at that time the Comenian Society for the study and publication of his works was formed.
The education department at Salem College
Salem College
Salem College is a liberal arts women's college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina founded in 1772. Originally established as a primary school, it later became an academy and finally a college. It is the oldest female educational establishment that is still a women's college...
in North Carolina has an annual Comenius Symposium dedicated in his honor; the subjects usually deal with modern issues in education.
The Comenius Foundation
Comenius Foundation (US)
Comenius Foundation is a U.S.-based 501 nonprofit organization that uses media to promote education and faith. Named after pioneering educator and Moravian Bishop John Amos Comenius, the Foundation seeks to use modern media to promote the ideas of Comenius...
in the US, a non-profit 501(c)(3) charity, uses film and documentary production to further faith, learning, and love.
See also
- cs:Medaile Jana Amose Komenského (rozcestník). J.A.Comenius Medal
- Moravian CollegeMoravian CollegeMoravian College a private liberal arts college, and the associated Moravian Theological Seminary are located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States, in the Lehigh Valley region.-History:...
- Comenius Hall
- History of philosophy in Poland
- The Slav EpicThe Slav EpicThe Slav Epic is a cycle of 20 large canvases painted by Czech Art Nouveau painter Alfons Mucha between 1910 and 1928. The cycle depicts the history of Czechs and other Slavic peoples. In 1928, after finishing his monumental work, Mucha bestowed the cycle to the city of Prague on condition that...
(Painting- Petr Chelčický at Vodňany: Do not repay evil with evil)
Latin
- Orbis PictusOrbis PictusOrbis Pictus, or Orbis Sensualium Pictus is a textbook for children written by Czech educator Comenius and published in 1658...
("The Visible World in Pictures") - Linguae Bohemicae thesaurus, hoc est lexicon plenissimum, grammatica accurata, idiotismorum elegantiae et emphases adagiaque ("Thesaurus of the Czech languageCzech languageCzech is a West Slavic language with about 12 million native speakers; it is the majority language in the Czech Republic and spoken by Czechs worldwide. The language was known as Bohemian in English until the late 19th century...
"), 1612–1656 - Problemata miscellanea ("Different Problems"), 1612
- Sylloge quaestionum controversarum, 1613
- Grammaticae facilioris praecepta, 1614–1616
- Theatrum universitatis rerum, 1616–1627
- Centrum securitatis ("The Center of Safety"), 1625
- Moraviae nova et post omnes priores accuratissima delineatio autore J. A. Comenio ("Map of Moravia"), 1618–1627
- Didactica magna ("The Great Didactic"), 1633–1638
- Via Lucis, Vestigata & Vestiganda ("The Way of Light"), 1641
- Schola pansophica ("School of Pansophy"), 1650–1651
- Primitiae laborum scholasticorum, 1650–1651
- Opera didactica omnia ("Writing on All Learning"), 1657
- De bono unitatis et ordinis ("On Good Unity and Order"), 1660
- De rerum humanarum emendatione consultatio catholica ("General Consultation on an Improvement of All Things Human"), 1666
- Unum necessarium ("The One Thing Needful"), 1668
- Spicilegium Didacticum, 1680
Czech
- O andělích ("About Angels"), 1615
- Retuňk proti Antikristu a svodům jeho ("Utterance against the Antichrist and his temptations"), 1617
- O starožitnostech Moravy ("About Moravian Antiquities"), 1618–1621
- Spis o rodu Žerotínů (Script about House of Žerotín), 1618–1621
- Listové do nebe ("Letters to Heaven"), 1619
- Manuálník aneb jádro celé biblí svaté ("Manual or Core of the Whole Saint Bible"), 1620–1623
- Přemyšlování o dokonalosti kŕesťanské ("Thinking About Christian Perfection"), 1622
- Nedobytedlný hrad jméno Hospodinovo ("Unconqerable Fortress (is) Name of the God"), 1622
- Truchlivý, díl první ("The Mournful", volume I), 1623
- O poezí české ("About Czech Poetry"), 1623–1626
- Truchlivý, díl druhý ("The Mournful", volume II), 1624
- O sirobě ("About Poor People"), 1624
- Pres boží ("Press of God"), 1624
- Vidění a zjevení Kryštofa Kottera, souseda a jircháře sprotavského ("Seeing and Revelation of Kryštof Kotter, Neibourgh of Mine and Tanner from Sprotava"), 1625
- Překlad některých žalmů ("Translation of Some Psalms"), 1626
- Didaktika česká ("Czech Didactic"), 1628–1630
- Škola hrou (Schola Ludus, School by Play) 1630
- Labyrint světa a ráj srdce ("Labyrinth of the World and Paradise of the HeartLabyrinth of the World and Paradise of the HeartLabyrinth of the World and Paradise of the Heart is a book by John Amos Comenius. The book is a satirical allegory. Considered a jewel of baroque literature, it is one of author's most important works. Comenius finished the first version in 1623, but he rewrote the book several times, changing its...
") 1631 - Brána jazyků otevřená (The Gate of Languages Unlocked) 1631
Publications
- Keatinge, The Great Didactic of Comenius (London, 1896)
- Simon Somerville Laurie, John Amos Comenius (1881; sixth edition, 1898)
- Quick, Essays on Educational Reformers (London, 1890)
- Müller, Comenius, ein Systematiker in der Pädagogik (Dresden, 1887)
- Löscher, Comenius, der Pädagogik und Bischof (Leipzig, 1889)
- Monroe, Comenius and the Beginning of Educational Reform (New York, 1900)