ABSTRACT
Schools were of enormous importance in raising the literacy of a broad spectrum of the early modern population. They were one of many ways of learning. Others included familial instruction from parents, siblings or neighbours; lessons on particular subjects from anyone including a pastor, notary, widow or even a passing foreign-language speaker; temporary or permanent evening or Sunday classes; catechism and religious instruction; self-teaching; formal or informal apprenticeships; service. Relatively brief formal education and a distinctive experience of vocational training meant that non-scholastic learning supplemented schooling or in some cases substituted for it altogether. Learning outside of formal schools could take place in all sorts of contexts, of which the most obvious was the home. The best-known example of learning in the home is that of the Renaissance aristocracy. In countries as diverse as England and Spain, affluent families employed private tutors to teach their sons the skills of the gentleman. Personal tutors might accompany the aristocracy on their travels.
