Humanism and the Italian Renaissance

The Renaissance

• French for rebirth

  • from re meaning again and nascere meaning to be born.

• Origins: Italy 14th century

• High Renaissance: 1450-1527

  • art flourished most during this time

  *1494- Papal States: property/country/states of the Pope (includes Rome). Italy used to be separated into different states/cultures

  *Printing Press- mostly was important for Christianity to print the Bible

The Values

1. Humanism (about the person)

2. Individualism

3. Secularism (separation from the church)

The Vehicles

4. Commerce

5. Invention

Classical Studies

• Humanism

  • the study of humanity

  • from studia humanitiatis

    • coined by Cicero to describe the education of a cultured human being

• Classics

  • prominent works of Greek, Roman, and biblical literature

  • emphasis on original language

Classics in the Christian Era

• St. Basil the Great (c. 333-379)

  • Bishop of the Theologian

    • address to young men on the use of Greek literature

• St. Thomas Aquinas

  • Summa Theologica

    • attempt to reconcile Aristotle’s philosophy with Christian teaching

Classic literature seen as a means to an end

The Rebirth of Classical Studies

• **Petrarch (c.1304-1374)

  • Father of humanism

  • Wrote “The First Tourist“

    • recovered crumbling Latin texts, including some pf Cicero’s works

  • “Dark Ages“ -era of disease and famine

    • frequent due to lack of healthcare

    • death because of starvation

Greek Literature

• Fall of Constantinople (1453)

  • Turks close Christian universities (Turks were Muslim)

  • Greek scholars flee to Italy with ancient texts

    • Plato’s complete works translated into Latin for the first time

      *Philosophers were disliked by the Pope (philosophers would speak out against the Pope and Christianity by publishing works under different names)

The Rebirth of Human Dignity

• Pico della Mirandola

  • “Oration of the Dignity of Man“

    • the manifesto of the Renaissance

  • 900 Theses

    • syncretism: practice of combining different beliefs and various schools of thought, merging several originally discrete traditions

• Secularism (not associated with the church)

  • Although Petrarch and Renaissance humanists were devout Christians, they studied the classics for his own enjoyment and edification (the instruction or improvement of a person morally or intellectually) an end in themselves

    *Secularism does not necessarily imply an anti-religious or irreligious mindset

• Canzoniere

  • Collection of Petrarch’s vernacular (language spoken in the home) poetry

    • mostly sonnets

    • mostly to “Laura“

    • Links:

      • English/Italian

      • Full English

      • Full Italian

Civic Virtue- the art of leadership

• “Monarchy“ where the Pope rules all

• Machiavelli

  • The Prince

    • advice to rulers

  • Machiavellian

    • the end justifies the means (everything you did to achieve your goals is okay because you got what you wanted in the end)

• Baldassare Castiglione

  • The Book of the Courtier

    • a guide on how to be a respectable (and respected) gentleman (or lady)

Commerce

• Ursury

  • Lending money with interest

    • prohibited by RCC during Middle Ages

  • Limited investment

• Medici Family

  • Prominent in Florence, Italy

  • Medici bank

  • Patrons of the arts

Invention

• Printing Press

  • 1454: Gutenberg experiments with movable type

  • Gutenberg Bible (1456)

    *About 180 copies made

• Information can be spread more quickly than ever before, and at a fraction of the cost