Complex sentence: As a child he was physically frail and self-conscious, but studious and ambitious, and received an excellent education with a strong focus on science and mathematics at the hands of the religious order of the Minimes.
Split into simpler sentences: As a child he was physically frail and self-conscious, but studious and ambitious. He received an excellent education with a strong focus on science and mathematics at the hands of the religious order of the Minimes.