AGRICOLA, RODOLFO. – Born at Bafloo, near Groningen, in the northern Netherlands, on 17 February 1444. A. showed an inclination toward music, drawing, wood engraving, and sculpture from childhood. It appears that he was taught by Thomas à Kempis. From Groningen, at the age of twelve, A. went to Erfurt and from there, two years later, to Leuven, which was becoming one of the most important university centers. At Erfurt, not yet fifteen, he obtained the degree of bachelor, and at Leuven, before the age of seventeen, he received the title of doctor. From Leuven, in 1462, he went to Cologne, the seat of scholastic theology. It was at Cologne that his interest in the historical and scientific study of religion arose, as a reaction against the prevailing theology. It appears that he spent some time in Paris, where he formed a friendship with Johannes Reuchlin. In 1468 or ’69 he was able to come to Italy, where he seems to have lived, apart from a few brief interruptions, for a decade. The years spent in Italy decisively influenced his formation. From his letters we learn that he was in Pavia, where he devoted himself to the study of law. As was customary among our humanists, he became tutor to young men from distinguished families, among them Johann von Dalberg, who later, as bishop of Worms, would have him summoned to Heidelberg. A., who had initially undertaken the study of law, later abandoned it to devote himself entirely to the study of the classical languages and literature; but, wishing to deepen his knowledge of Greek and finding no one in Pavia who could truly teach it to him, he moved (1475) to a more suitable place, specifically Ferrara, which he called “the true homeland of the Muses,” and where the tradition begun there by Guarino Veronese was still alive, having been continued by his son Battista. Here his teachers were Battista Guarino and Theodore Gaza. From this time onward, Greek became A.’s most absorbing subject: he translated Lucian, and studied Isocrates, Aristotle, Thucydides, Xenophon, Isidore of Sicily, and Polybius. He also wrote a Vita Petrarcae, which reveals the love he bore for the initiator of humanism. He diligently studied the Italian language, driven as he was to penetrate the spirit and understanding of Italy. He loved gymnastics, music, singing, and drawing, displaying in all these arts an aptitude and versatility deserving of the highest recognition. During his stay in Ferrara, he had the honor of being invited to deliver a public declamation in Latin, in praise of true philosophy and liberal culture, in the presence of Duke Ercole.
In 1479 A. returned to the Netherlands, bringing with him a good knowledge of Greek and Latin. Many universities competed for the honor of having him, but he was not a man capable of binding his freedom to a prince or a school; nevertheless, he did not fail to take an active interest, through letters, writings, and speech, in the teaching methods then in use, with the aim of reforming them. The memory of Italy did not leave him. Indeed, he felt a profound nostalgia for Italy, perceptible in the correspondence he maintained (1480–1485) with friends who had remained on the other side of the Alps.
In May 1484, accepting the invitation of his former pupil Dalberg, A. moved to Heidelberg, where shortly after his arrival he began teaching both Dalberg and various other young men. He accompanied Bishop von Dalberg to Worms, where, besides visiting the city’s monuments, he lectured on classical subjects before an audience composed largely of teachers. He also addressed the clergy of the diocese, whom the bishop wished to interest in the new studies. Around A. gathered the finest talents of the time, all intent on preparing translations of the Greek and Latin classics. A. also devoted himself to religious studies, perceiving—as was likewise held in Italian humanism—no contradiction between religion and humanism.
Filled with a lively nostalgia for Italy, A. was able to fulfill his great dream of seeing it again in 1484, on the occasion of the election of Innocent VIII to the papacy. The Elector Palatine decided to send a delegation to congratulate the new Pontiff, and the choice fell upon Dalberg and A., who, on 30 May, after a very brief stay in Ferrara, reached Rome, where they remained for three weeks, admiring the beauties of the city. After delivering the oration, the two set out on their return journey, but the hardships of the journey weakened A., who died in Heidelberg little more than a month later, on 27 October 1485.
Of particular interest to the history of pedagogy is a letter A. wrote in 1484 to one of his friends, Barbirianus, under the title De formando studio. This work is the first in a long series of German studies on education. A. excludes all the disciplines of the medieval thinkers from the new education. He was interested less in the reality of ideas than in the content of the ideas themselves. In A.’s program of studies, moral philosophy and literature are of great importance: in relation to moral philosophy, literature serves to form and strengthen character. Thus not only the great moralists—Cicero, Aristotle, and Seneca—but also historians, orators, and poets are of great importance as guides to conduct. The great ancient writers must be read for their authority in every field of knowledge and because, through their examples and models of character, they make us “paratiores ad virtutem.”
Another aspect of philosophy is that of expressing truth; therefore, for A. too, eloquence was not an ornament of the mind, but man’s very expression. In his introductory manual of logic, De inventione dialectica, translated into Italian by Toscanella (Venice 1567), A. teaches the art of investigating and arranging every subject according to its various relationships, as well as the general and natural laws of thought that the sciences must follow. Logic, like grammar, is a factor of style; the force of the argument is more important than ornament and variety. Style cannot be separated from content: this was a thought of A., though it was already present among the humanists. A. also regarded the theoretical and practical study of painting, architecture, and sculpture as being of considerable importance for the formation of man; not without reason had A. been in Italy during the period in which Alberti flourished. He was also one of the first to devise special means for instructing the deaf and mute. A. exercised a notable influence on the spread of classical culture, which was highly effective in shaping modern culture beyond the Alps.
Nino Sammartano
#### AGRICOLAISTI: V. ANTINOMIANI.