This study has grown out of an interest in French education and cul ture that dates from fondly remembered student days in France. Specifically, it is an attempt to explain the educational thought of Claude Fleury, a literate, responsible homme de leUres who analyzed the historical origins of public education as it existed in seventeenth-cen tury France and, on that basis, proposed what he considered to be a more generally useful program of studies. Generous space has been devoted to historical, social, and pedagogical background in an effort to place Fleury's thought in its proper cultural context; namely, that of the decline of the Classical Age and the dawn of the Age of Reason. This background material represents also an attempt to explain, at times in detail, the origin of Fleury's Traite du Choix et de la Methode des Etudes and his rise to scholarly and pedagogical prominence at court. It is possible that Fleury's thought, while of most immediate interest to students of seventeenth-century cultural history, will be of interest also to a more general audience. In particular, those charged with providing education that must respond to the ever increasing practical needs of society and at the same time give to contemporary man a of his cultural heritage may find in Fleury's thought some useful sense historical perspective. It is a pleasure to acknowledge that this study would not have been possible without the encouragement and guidance of Dr. William W.

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I. Claude Fleury and His Career.- 1. College and Introduction to Society.- 2. Lawyer, Priest, and Humanist.- 3. Teacher and Scholar.- II. The Socio-Cultural Environment.- 1. The Structure of French Society.- 2. The European Cultural Environment.- III. Colleges, Petites Ecoles, and Academies: The Educational Context of Fleury's Traite.- 1. Sixteenth-Century Origins.- 2. Mother Tongue and Education for Life.- 3. The Great Secondary School Traditions: University, Jesuit, Oratorian, and Port-Royalist.- 4. The Petites Ecoles, Education of the Poor, and Other Educational Endeavors.- IV. Claude Fleury as an Educational Historian.- 1. The Beginnings of a Tradition.- 2. On the Writing of History.- 3. Languages, Libraries, and Colleagues: The Tools of the Trade.- 4. A Place in the Age of Erudition.- V. Fleury's Survey of Educational History.- 1. A Question of Text.- 2. Fleury's Survey of Educational History.- A. Greek Education.- B. Roman Education.- C. Christian Studies.- D. Frankish Studies.- E. Arabic Education.- F. Scholastic Studies.- G. Universities and Their Four Faculties.- H. The Faculty of Arts.- I. The Faculties of Medicine, Law, and Theology.- J. Students: General Characteristics and Customs.- K. The Renewal of the Humanities.- L. On the Present State of Public Schools.- 3. A Central Theme.- A. Utilitarian Realism.- B. Variations on a Theme.- 4. The Traité and Some Examples of Educational Historiography Before and After It.- VI. The Choice and Method of Studies.- 1. The Sources of Fleury's Educational Thought.- 2. School, Society, and Students: The Foundations of a Curriculum Theory.- A. The Purpose of Education.- B. A Social Structure Ordained by God.- C. Students and How They Learn.- 3. A Matter of Choice: Selectivity in Studies.- A. Studies which are Necessary for Every Citizen.- B. Studies which are Necessary for Men (and Women) of Means.- C. Studies which are Useful but not Necessary for All.- D. Studies Interesting and Good in Themselves but Necessary Only for Selected Students.- E. Useless Studies.- F. Studies for Women.- G. Professional Studies.- 4. Fleury as an Educational Thinker: A Summing Up.- VII. The Spread and Impact of Fleury's Educational Thought.- 1. Fleury and his Associates: Bossuet and Fénelon.- 2. Fleury's Educational Writings and the Evolution of Education in France.- 3. Fleury, Locke, and the Encyclopedists.- 4. Translations and Reputation Abroad.- 5. Fleury and Education in the United States.- VIII. Claude Fleury, Educational Historiographer and Thinker: A Synthesis.