ANTONIANO, SILVIO. - Cardinal, humanist, educationist, b. at Castello (diocese of Penne) on 31 Dec. 1540, d. on 16 Aug. 1603 in Rome. Of humble origins, having from childhood revealed particular gifts of intellect and ability in his studies, he found help and protection, and was able to complete his legal studies at Ferrara, where he took his doctorate, and in whose gymnasium, when barely sixteen, he was appointed by Duke Ercole to teach eloquence and the humanities. Summoned by Pope Pius IV to Rome to teach letters, from there, through the benevolence shown him by Cardinal Charles Borromeo, he went to Milan, and subsequently followed Cardinal Morone, pontifical legate, to Germany. Having returned to Rome, where he completed his studies of theology under the direction of St. Philip Neri and was ordained a priest, he held high offices in the Vatican, and on 3 March 1599 received the cardinal's hat.
A representative of late Humanism, formed on the style of Cicero, he was a prolific writer of Latin poems and orations. A purist, he sharply criticized Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata, and wished its rule to be purged, so that it might be given to nuns to read as well. The writing that, after several centuries, still gives wide renown to his name is the valuable treatise on pedagogy, in three books, De Christiana puerorum educatione, elegantly translated into Italian (Dell'educazione cristiana dei figliuoli), which is an orderly exposition of the fundamental principles by which the Counter-Reformation was inspired in the field of education. St. Charles Borromeo, in order to check the Protestant Reformation and to place popular and higher instruction on the level of the new educational direction expressed by the Council of Trent, urged the A. to write this work, and to give us with it, founded on the truths of theological doctrine, a sure guide for parents and teachers in the education of children.
The book was published at Verona in 1583, and, because of the great success it enjoyed, was reprinted several times up to 1852, and once more recently in 1928, edited by L. Pogliani. While the A. was writing his treatise, the Jesuits were organizing their «Ratio studiorum». With the treatise the A. addresses himself especially, as later did Calasanzio, founder of the Piarist Schools, to the education of the popular classes. While the influence of Plutarch, of Quintilian, of Cicero and of other Latin writers is undeniable, also as regards pedagogical doctrines, on the humanistic spirit of the A., his treatise reflects, in a particular way, the moral affirmations of the Council of Trent. There is no lack, however, of hints of new theories, which later found ample development in modern pedagogy: thus, on natural inclinations and reactions, on physical hardening, on the direct method in the teaching of languages, on the law of didactic gradation, etc.
In the plan of studies preference is given to Latin over the vernacular, and the sole aim of all education is considered to be that of «raising children in a Christian manner in accordance with the holy fear of God and the norms of his holy law». And therefore an entire book, the second, deals with the educational efficacy of prayer and of the Sacraments. The last book is instead devoted to the civil aspects of education, with an anticipation also of the modern needs of new times. The work of the A., for the direction of education and elementary instruction, did not fail to exercise its own influence on the Port-Royalists and on G. B. De la Salle.
Bibliography8 works
Rosario Guido Tentori