On Civility in Children

{{Short description|Handbook written by Erasmus of Rotterdam}}

{{italic title}}

On Civility in Children ({{langx|la|De civilitate morum puerilium}}) is a handbook written by Erasmus of Rotterdam, and is considered to be the first treatise in Western Europe on the moral and practical education of children. First published in 1530, it was addressed to the eleven-year-old Henry of Burgundy, son of Adolph, Prince of Veere, and gives instructions, in simple Latin, on how a boy should conduct himself in the company of adults.{{cite book |title=A Genealogy of Manners |last=Arditi |first=Jorge |year=1998|publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-02583-4 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/genealogyofmanne0000ardi/page/113 113]–20 |url=https://archive.org/details/genealogyofmanne0000ardi |url-access=registration |access-date=11 December 2011}} The book achieved immediate success and was translated into many languages. The first English version, by Robert Whittinton (or Whittington) was published in 1532, under the title of A Little Book of Good Manners for Children. Another translation by Thomas Paynell was issued in 1560.{{cite book |title=Colloquies |last=Erasmus |first= Desiderius|year=1997 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto |series= Collected Works of Erasmus |page= 70 |isbn=9780802058195 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=L8RMHgRgEc4C |access-date=7 August 2011}}

The book is divided into seventeen sections, each dealing with an aspect of behaviour.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/a-handbook-on-good-manners-for-children-by-erasmus-of-rotterdam-trs-eleanor-merchant-984051.html |title=A Handbook on Good Manners for Children, by Erasmus of Rotterdam trs Eleanor Merchant |format=book review |author=Elspeth Barker |work=The Independent |access-date=7 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204084104/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/a-handbook-on-good-manners-for-children-by-erasmus-of-rotterdam-trs-eleanor-merchant-984051.html |archive-date=December 4, 2008 }}

Norbert Elias refers to this book in his most influential work, The Civilizing Process, claiming that Erasmus' specific use of the French term {{lang|fr|civilité}} reshaped its meaning, laying the groundwork for the later emergence of the influence of the word "civilization" for the French and British states.