André de Gouveia (1497 – 9 June 1548) was a

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "human ...

and

pedagogue Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken a ...

during the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (800 BC to AD ...

Biography

André de Gouveia became one of the first Portuguese to study in the Collège Sainte-Barbe, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

, which was then directed by his uncle Diogo de Gouveia. After attending six years in ''Maîtrise des Arts'' he earned a degree as doctor in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

, and simultaneously, began teaching at the college. Starting in 1530, due to the many diplomatic missions that kept his uncle away, André was entrusted by him with the direction of the Collège. As an adept of the most advanced religious ideas, André de Gouveia bent Saint Barbe into the Humanist ideals. There in 1531 he appointed regent Nicolas Cop. After Cop's contested inaugural address as rector of the university in 1533, he was appointed

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

for the college of arts (

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

), introducing new rules for transparency and fairness among all disciplines, but soon departed. He left to take charge as principal of the

College of Guienne The College of Guienne (french: Collège de Guyenne) was a school founded in 1533 in Bordeaux. The ''collège'' became renowned for the teaching of liberal arts between the years 1537 and 1571, attracting students such as Michel de Montaigne. Histo ...

, in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefect ...

. He had been invited by the municipal authorities, and was given full freedom to modernize the old college. On arrival, Gouveia proclaimed that he would not recognize differences of creed in staff and pupils, many of whom showed sympathy to the new doctrines of the

Reform Reform ( lat, reformo) means the improvement or amendment of what is wrong, corrupt, unsatisfactory, etc. The use of the word in this way emerges in the late 18th century and is believed to originate from Christopher Wyvill's Association movement ...

. There, in 1539, Gouveia welcomed

George Buchanan George Buchanan ( gd, Seòras Bochanan; February 1506 – 28 September 1582) was a Scottish historian and humanist scholar. According to historian Keith Brown, Buchanan was "the most profound intellectual sixteenth century Scotland produced." ...

, appointing him professor of Latin. Gouveia's stay at the College of Guienne lasted until 1547, attracting students like

Étienne de La Boétie Étienne or Estienne de La Boétie (; oc, Esteve de La Boetiá; 1 November 1530 – 18 August 1563) was a French magistrate, classicist, writer, poet and political theorist, best remembered for his intense and intimate friendship with essayist ...

and Michel de Montaigne, who later in his ''Essays'' described Gouveia as " ...behind comparison the greatest principal in France." The fame of the teaching -mainly grammar, classical literature, history and philosophy - was such that, in 1552, Italian scholar and physician

Julius Caesar Scaliger Julius Caesar Scaliger (; April 23, 1484 – October 21, 1558), or Giulio Cesare della Scala, was an Italian scholar and physician, who spent a major part of his career in France. He employed the techniques and discoveries of Renaissance humanism ...

sent his sons to the college, including

Joseph Justus Scaliger Joseph Justus Scaliger (; 5 August 1540 – 21 January 1609) was a French Calvinist religious leader and scholar, known for expanding the notion of classical history from Greek and Ancient Roman history to include Persian, Babylonian, Jewish a ...

. André de Gouveia returned to Portugal at the invitation of King John III, accompanied by a group of foreign teachers, to head the new College of the Arts at the

University of Coimbra The University of Coimbra (UC; pt, Universidade de Coimbra, ) is a public research university in Coimbra, Portugal. First established in Lisbon in 1290, it went through a number of relocations until moving permanently to Coimbra in 1537. The u ...

. In this group were

Diogo de Teive Diogo de Teive () was a maritime captain and squire to the House of Infante D. Henrique (1394-1460) during the Portuguese period of discovery. Following his exploration into the western Atlantic in the area of Newfoundland, in 1452 he discovere ...

Jerónimo Osório Jerónimo Osório da Fonseca (1506 – 20 August 1580) was a Portuguese Roman Catholic humanist bishop, historian and polemicist. An extensive notice of his life and thought (''Vita'') was written by his nephew, a canon of Évora also named ...

, Nicolas de Grouchy, Guillaume Guérante and Élie Vinet, who came to be decisive for the disclosure of contemporary research of Pedro Nunes. However, Gouveia did not remain for long in office as president of the college, as he died in June 1548. Rivalry between the secular trends of the new "Bordeaux" teachers, and the more orthodox method of the "Parisian" school headed by Diogo de Gouveia led several teachers, including George Buchanan, to face

the Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

: Gouveia kept numerous contacts with European scholars and Portuguese businesses when he was in France. At odds with his uncle Diogo, André was suspected of

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

. He left a few written texts. In particular, his views are represented in regulations of the College of Guienne, published by

Elie Vinet Elie and Earlsferry is a coastal town and former royal burgh in Fife, and parish, Scotland, situated within the East Neuk beside Chapel Ness on the north coast of the Firth of Forth, eight miles east of Leven. The burgh comprised the linked ...

in 1583 under the title ''Schola Aquitanica''. André de Gouveia was brother to humanist and teacher

António de Gouveia António de Gouveia (c.1505 – March 1566) was a Portuguese humanist and educator during the Renaissance. Gouveia was born in Beja. After graduating in Paris he taught at the Collège de Guyenne in Bordeaux, and then at Toulouse, Avignon, ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gouveia, Andre De 1497 births 1548 deaths People from Beja, Portugal Portuguese Renaissance humanists Rectors of the University of Paris University of Paris alumni University of Coimbra 16th-century Portuguese people Portuguese expatriates in France