Melanchthon had excellent training as a boy, and early showed signs of unusual ability. At fifteen he took his bachelor's degree at Heidelberg University, and when only eighteen years of age Erasmus said of him, "What hopes may we not conceive of Philipp Melanchthon, though as yet very young, almost a boy, but equally to be admired for his proficiency in both languages! What quickness of invention! What purity of diction! What vastness of memory! What variety of reading! What modesty and gracefulness of behavior! And what a princely mind!"
After completing his course at Heidelberg, he went to Tübingen, where his studies were directed by Reuchlin, who was his kinsman. He gave public lectures at Tübingen on rhetoric and on various classic authors, attracting worldwide attention. In 1518 he was called to the Greek professorship at Wittenberg, where he made the acquaintance of Luther. Bishop Hurst says, "The life of Melanchthon was now so thoroughly identified with that of Luther that it is difficult to separate the two. They lived in the same town of Wittenberg. They were in constant consultation, each doing what he was most able to do, and both working with unwearied zeal for the triumph of the cause to which they gave their life."
His success at Wittenberg was assured from the first. Though youthful in appearance, being but twenty-one years of age, his pure logic, his profound knowledge of philosophy, his familiarity with the Scriptures, his perfect mastery of the classic languages, his fine diction, and his broad knowledge awoke enthusiasm at once. Wittenberg, possessing two such great men as Luther and Melanchthon, became the center of humanistic studies, not less than two thousand students being attracted to its university. Melanchthon was an inspiring teacher; among his pupils were men who afterward became leaders of thought in Germany, and who did much to shape the destiny of Europe.
Perhaps Melanchthon's greatest service to the schools was his publication of text-books, which were very much needed. He wrote a Greek grammar for boys when himself but a boy of sixteen. Grammar he defined as "the science of speaking and writing correctly," a definition that has been scarcely improved upon. Ten years later his Latin grammar was published, after being tested for some years in his classes. For more than one hundred years this was the principal Latin grammar in use, and there were not less than fifty-one editions of it.
He wrote also text-books on logic, rhetoric, and ethics. It will be seen that the trivium—grammar, rhetoric, logic—furnished the foundation of his literary activity, so far as the schools are concerned. He was active also in authorship of theological works, producing the first theological work of the Protestant Church, the "Loci Communes," which Luther placed next to the Bible for theological study.
The interest of Melanchthon for education made him the chief adviser and leader among the school men. His advice was constantly sought in the educational movements of Germany. After visiting the schools of Saxony, he drew up the "Saxony School Plan," which furnished the basis of various similar organizations throughout Germany. There were three fundamental principles in this system.
1. There must not be too many studies in the schools, and Latin should be the only language taught.
2. There must not be too many books used.
3. The children should be divided into at least three classes, or grades.
In the first grade, reading, writing, the Lord's Prayer, the Creed, prayers and hymns, and some Latin should be taught. In the second, the Latin grammar, Latin authors, and religion. In the third, completion of the grammar, difficult Latin authors, rhetoric, and logic. Williams calls this "Melanchthon's somewhat artless ideas of a proper school system," which he excuses as being "marked possibly by the crudity of a first effort at organization, but more probably controlled in form by the fewness of teachers in the schools of his time."