Date post: | 16-Jul-2015 |
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Who were the humanists?
The humanists were scholars who focused on the humanities or the liberal arts instead of on law, theology, or medicine
This field of study became extremely popular in the 1300s and 1400s in Europe—and especially in the Italian city-states
The Humanities
Subjects which deal with human society (as opposed to studying the natural world or studying God)
Poetry, literature, rhetoric, politics, history
The humanists of the 14th and 15th centuries believed that the ancient Greeks and Romans had reached the highest forms of these disciplines
Cicero—Hero of the Humanists
Pietro Paolo Vergerio (1370-1444)
“We call those studies liberal which are worthy of a free man, those studies by which we attain and practice virtue and wisdom. Amongst these I would accord the first place to History….Next in importance ranks Moral Philosophy…. I would indicate, as the third branch of study, Eloquence.”
Quote from historian Diarmaid MacCulloch
“Humanists were connoisseurs of words. They saw them as containing power which could be used actively to change human society for the better. The words which inspired such excitement were found in ancient texts from long-vanished societies with the same belief in the transforming power of poetry, oratory, and rhetoric—ancient Greece and Rome.”
The Inheritance of the Ancient World
The humanists were enthusiastic about reading Greek and Roman literature
Forgotten manuscripts were being rediscovered in monasteries across Europe
As the Byzantine Empire declined, Greek scholars brought other books to Western Europe
The humanists believed that ideas from the ancient past could be used to create a better future
After 1450, ideas and copies of books spread across Europe much more quickly….
The Printing Press!
Johannes Gutenberg—not the first printing press, but the most significant
Much cheaper and quicker than copying by hand—Europe soon became flooded with books
Most people still could not read, but most villages would have at least a few who could and would read out loud
Previous intellectual revolutions had been confined to the Church and universities; now new ideas could spread to ordinary people
Why Italy?
Humanism emerged in Italy—why?
A variety of city-states with different forms of government—interest in political science
Italian city-states facing warfare from outside powers
Easy access to Greek scholars from the east
Memory of ancient world all around—ruins from Roman Empire
Early Italian Humanists
Petrarch (1304-1374)—Florentine poet and teacher; fan of ancient Greek and Roman writers “Father of
Humanism”: his students spread enthusiasm for ancient literature across Europe (first time laypeople, and not just priests, became interested)
Lorenzo Valla Used his knowledge of
ancient languages to prove that a famous Church document, the Donation of Constantine, was a forgery
Created a new task for historians—analyzing sources critically (the historical-critical method)
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
Greatest humanist political thinker
Born in Florence—worked for Florentine government as a diplomat
Enemy of the Medici family
Medicis forced all their rivals, including Machiavelli, out of power in 1512
Imprisoned and tortured—allowed to live but political career over
Spent the rest of his life studying and writing, mostly about politics
Lived at a time of warfare and chaos in Italy
Great powers of Europe (France, Spain, and Holy Roman Emperors) were struggling for control of the peninsula
The Prince
Machiavelli’s most famous work
Meant to be a guidebook for rulers
Believed that order was the highest good
A weak ruler was worse than a repressive ruler who prevented chaos
The ruler must be realistic—the ends justify the means
Machiavelli was and remains a controversial figure
Erasmus (1466-1536)
The “Prince of the Humanists”
Born in Rotterdam, in the Netherlands
Lived in a monastery while young, but left to become a wandering scholar
Trained in ancient literature
Worked for nobles and scholars across Europe Friends with other famous
humanists like Sir Thomas More of England
Took advantage of the printing press to become famous throughout Europe
Published sayings from Latin poets (Adages); a translation of the New Testament; religious writings; and satire
Deeply religious, but harshly critical of corruption in the Church
He spent the last years of his life sadly watching growing divisions and violence among Christians due to the wars of the Reformation