=Decadence of Italian Humanism.=--Toward the close of the fifteenth century, however, this liberal education of the humanists in Italy began to be fixed and formal. Until the middle of the century the ideals, content, and meaning of this training were constantly expanding, but after that there was a gradual narrowing and hardening, and during the early years of the sixteenth century the degeneration became complete. As the subject-matter became institutionalized, the literature of the Greeks and Romans failed more and more to be interpreted in terms of life. Emphasis was placed upon the form rather than the content of the classical writings, and grammatical drill was more and more emphasized as a means of formal discipline. Before long the course was limited largely to Cicero, and the new learning fell into that decadent state known as ‘Ciceronianism.’ It consisted simply in an attempt to teach a perfect style with Cicero as a model, and to give one a conversational knowledge of Ciceronian Latin. The structure, metaphors, and vocabulary of all Latin writing had to be copied from the phrases of Cicero, and the literature of the day became little more than a sequence of model passages from that author. [Sidenote: Through the invention of printing humanism leaped the Alps.] =The Spread and Character of Humanism in the Northern Countries.=--Such was the effect of the Renaissance upon education in the country of its birth. But the humanistic training could not be confined to Italy. By the middle of the fifteenth century, with the invention of printing, the texts of the classic authors were rapidly multiplied and spread everywhere. The Renaissance and the classic literature leaped the Alps, and made their way into France, the Teutonic countries, England, and elsewhere. At first, humanistic scholars wandered into the North, soon others were invited in large numbers by patrons of learning, and, at length, students from the Northern countries thronged into Italy for instruction. Towards the close of the fifteenth century the humanists outside the peninsula became very numerous, and during the sixteenth century the movement came to its height in the Northern lands. [Sidenote: Less individual and more social in the North.] [Sidenote: Use of Greek and Hebrew.]