Education in the urbanity of childhood

Erasmo de Rotterdam and Gutierre González Doncel

Abstract

In this article we are going to gather in two concrete pedagogical contributions that were proposed and embodied in the first half of the 16th century. We refer to the work entitled, "On urbanity in the ways of children" (1530) by Desiderio Erasmo Roterodamo and the one entitled "Book of moral and exterior doctrine" (1532) by Gutierre González Doncel. Both were part of a shared concern in the pedagogical treatises of the first half of the 16th century. It appears for the first time, distancing itself from its predecessors, the need to raise the issue of urbanity as a fundamental principle in education. In a time of transition, from the decline of transit from feudal society to the consolidation of absolute monarchies, which entails a social restructuring and, specifically, from courtesy to civility. Hence, there was a need to establish new rules and advice that would help infants to position themselves, from the earliest childhood, before a society that demanded new behaviors and new perspectives. To carry out this task we are going to expose the common origin of these two works and extract some parallels and similarities between the two. Later, we will analyze their contents and, finally, we will delve into the subsequent influences they exerted.