Editing Gerardus Mercator (section)

===School at 's-Hertogenbosch, 1526–1530===
[[File:Portret Macropedius, Philips Galle-cropped.jpg|thumb|upright=1|The playwright and teacher [[Georgius Macropedius]]]]
After Hubert's death in 1526, Gisbert became the 15-year-old Geert's guardian. Hoping that Geert might follow him into the priesthood, he sent him to the famous school of the [[Brethren of the Common Life]] at [['s-Hertogenbosch]]{{efn|'s-Hertogenbosch (Duke's Forest) is Bois-le-Duc in French and Herzogenbusch in German, colloquially Le Bois or Den Bosch. In the sixteenth century it was the second largest town in the Low Countries.}} in the [[Duchy of Brabant]]. The Brotherhood and the school was founded by the charismatic [[Geert Groote]] who placed great emphasis on study of the Bible and, at the same time, expressed disapproval of the dogmas of the church, both facets of the new "heresies" of [[Martin Luther]] propounded only a few years earlier in 1517. Mercator would follow similar precepts later in life, with problematic outcomes.

During his time at the school the headmaster was [[Macropedius|Georgius Macropedius]], and under his guidance Geert would study the Bible, the [[trivium]] ([[Latin]], [[logic]] and [[rhetoric]]) and classics such as the philosophy of [[Aristotle]], the natural history of [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] and the geography of [[Ptolemy]].{{sfn|Crane|2003|loc=Chapter 3}} All teaching at the school was in Latin and he would read, write and converse in Latin, and give himself a new Latin name, Gerardus Mercator Rupelmundanus, Mercator being the Latin translation of Kremer, which means "merchant". The Brethren were renowned for their [[scriptorium]],{{efn|A [[scriptorium]] was where manuscripts were copied by hand. In 1512, such endeavours had not been completely overtaken by printing.}} and here Mercator might have encountered the [[italic script]] which he employed in his later work. The brethren were also renowned for their thoroughness and discipline, well attested by [[Erasmus]], who had attended the school forty years before Mercator.{{efn|The letters of Erasmus quoted in {{harvnb|Crane|2003|p=33}} }}