Friedland, VALENTIN

Friedland, VALENTIN, a remarkable educationist, generally called Trotzendorf, from his birthplace, near Görlitz, in Prussian Silesia, was born 14th February 1490. At Leipzig he studied Latin under Peter Mosellanus and Greek under Richard Crocus, and he began his career as a teacher in the school at Görlitz. On the dawn of the Reformation he proceeded to Wittenberg, and studied under Luther and Melanchthon. Settling at Goldberg, in Silesia, as rector of the gymnasium there in 1531, Friedland introduced into his school a novel system of instruction and of discipline, which soon spread the fame of the institution through all the adjoining countries of Europe. The principal feature of the disciplinary system was that the preservation of order and decorum was left in the hands of the boys themselves. Instruction was imparted through the medium of academic discussions, coupled with frequent repetitions and examinations. Friedland died, 26th April 1556, at Liegnitz, whither he had removed his school two years before. See the biographies by Herrmann (1727), Frösch (1818), Pinzger (1825), Köhler (1848), and Löschke (1856).