

WOMAN'S LONG STRUGGLE 73 



tative of intellectual life, the living symbol of the unity 

 and solidarity of the human mind. And as in time he 

 linked the past to the present so likewise in space he bound 

 all peoples together and belonged equally to all. Such was 

 Erasmus of Holland, who was equally at home in France 

 and Switzerland, in Italy and England everywhere re- 

 ceived with the honor accorded to princes of the blood 

 royal. Such was Vives, of Spain, the teacher of Catherine 

 of Aragon, of Mary, the daughter of Henry VIII at one 

 time professor in Louvain, at another in Oxford always 

 and everywhere an ardent exponent of humanism for 

 women as well as for men. Such was Politian and such 

 were scores of his contemporaries, who carried the torch of 

 knowledge from castle to castle and from court to court, 

 where maidens equally with youths enjoyed all the advan- 

 tages derivable from the lessons of such distinguished 

 teachers and such eminent leaders of culture. 



For it was a peculiarity of the scholar of the Renais- 

 sance that he was a great traveler seeking knowledge 

 wherever it was to be found and carrying it with him 

 whithersoever he went. He journeyed from university to 

 university, everywhere exchanging views with his intellec- 

 tual compeers, and everywhere diffusing the knowledge he 

 had so laboriously acquired. The consequence was a won- 

 derful uniformity of education among the higher classes 

 among women as well as among men something that was 

 never known before. Through the generally diffused 

 knowledge of Latin, the common literary medium of com- 

 munication, all the nations of Europe, even those at war 

 with one another, were brought together in an intellectual 

 brotherhood and in a way which gave scholarship a power 

 and a prestige that accrued to the benefit of women and 

 men alike. 



But the educational advantages enjoyed by the women of 

 the Renaissance were not for the bourgeoisie not for the 

 daughters of peasants, tradesmen and artisans. They were 



