Resumen de Pro lingua Latina: Girolamo Lagomarsini's Oration in Defence of Latin in Eighteenth-Century Italy 1
This chapter presents the oration of the Spanish-Italian Jesuit teacher Girolamo Lagomarsini (1698–1773) in defence of the study of the Latin language, Pro lingua Latina (Florence, 1736). During the first half of the eighteenth century, the Italian States, influenced by the enlightened currents coming from Western Europe (mainly France and England), began to feel the need to reform their education systems in order to form good citizens acting in the interests of the state. Thus, attempts were made to impose a utilitarian style of teaching to the detriment of the traditional Humanities curriculum, monopolised by the religious orders, especially Jesuits. In this context, modern enlightened pedagogues brought with them the notion that Latin, the basic pillar of the Jesuit curriculum, was an obstacle to progress. The oration analysed here constitutes a very important testimony to the conflicts between Jesuits and rationalist pedagogues. The chapter shows how Lagomarsini bases his defence not only on arguments related to the cultural dignity of the Latin language but also on utilitarian principles, a basic criterion for the reformist proposals.
