Manveer Titus

History- II Year
St. Stephen’s College

HUMANISM

Introduction:

Renaissance Humanism was a European intellectual and cultural movement that was a
crucial component of the Renaissance, beginning in Florence in the last years of the
14th century. The humanist movement developed from the rediscovery of classical
Latin and later Greek texts by European scholars. Initially, a humanist was simply a
scholar or teacher of Latin literature. By the middle of the 15 th century, humanism
described a curriculum- the studia humanitatis- comprising grammar, rhetoric
(persuasive speaking/writing), moral philosophy, poetry, and history as studied via
classical authors.

Chief Characteristics of Humanism:

 The humanists aspired and strove for rebirth of ancient and classical
languages, education, science, art, and the church.
 Humanism as a cultural movement came to be involved with the rediscovery
and study of ancient Greek and Roman texts, their restoration and
interpretation, and the collection and assimilation of ideas derived from those
texts. In fact, humanism became a vehicle of cultural transformation of
Western Europe.
 Humanists believed that, although God created the universe, it was humans
that developed and industrialised it. Thus, most importantly, humanism
implied dignity of man, and his privileged position in the world.
 Love for beauty constituted one of the most important attributes of humanism.
 A striking aspect of the humanist culture was its emphasis on table manners,
style, decoration, and appearance. The word humanitas was used not only for
human kindness but also for the refinement of taste, education, and mental
cultivation.
 A SENTENCE OR TWO EACH ON CHRISTIAN HUMANISM, WOMEN
AND ART.
 In short, the chief hallmarks of Italian humanism included individualism and
dignity of man, secularism, revival of Latin and Greek, promotion of
vernacular literature, study of history and a new approach to philosophy.

The Humanists:

The Renaissance Humanism movement started first in Florence. The Italian states had
a large urban population consisting of educated laymen, teachers, lawyers, civil
servants, diplomats, etc. It was this class of people which promoted the idea of
humanism. As a class of elite they wielded great influence over state matters. They
were largely secular and many of them were laymen rather than clergy. The Italian

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humanists used their knowledge of classical literature to raise the standard of
eloquence (persuasive/fluent speaking or writing). There were numerous centres of
humanist learning all over Italy in the 14th century, such as Florence, Padua, Vicenza,
and Verona. The rise of humanism during the Renaissance of the 14 th -15th century
Europe aimed at ending scholasticism, scientism, and the dominance of logic in
thought; it sought to bring about a reversion (return) to rhetoric (persuasive/fluent
speaking or writing) and ethics in the public domains and in intellectual discourse.

The range of interest of a humanist varied from archaeological studies to a detailed

philological study of written records, from philosophy to epic poems of the past,
translations and commentaries of original manuscripts and included a wide range of
subjects such as creative and visual arts, jurisprudence, medicine and mathematics. In
fact, humanism became a vehicle of cultural transformation of Western Europe.

Through man’s writing and speech, his intellect and potential, Humanism sought a
shift from the mystery of divinity to the potentiality of humanity. It espoused
(supported) freedom of will, or free-will in all of man’s facets (or all aspects of man’s
life)-pleasure, virtue, health, beauty- and sought to achieve a climax of man’s
potential through a full enjoyment of his many facets.

Among the important humanists are names such as Erasmus, Thomas More, Colet,
Pascal, da Vinci, Alberti, Botticelli, Boccaccio, Dante, Valla, Pontan, etc. However,
the earliest and perhaps the most important amongst them is Petrarch who is also
known as the ‘Father of Renaissance Humanism’. He was a great admirer of Dante
Alighieri, the famous poet and scholar, author of extraordinary work, Divine Comedy.
Petrarch successfully mastered the art of rhetoric from ancient works and developed a
love for poetry that had great bearings on his writings. He is well known for his
vernacular poetry and his great sonnets, the Canzoniere. He promoted a secular world
and remained active in public life as a politician and diplomat. His reputation as a
humanist rests on his Latin work. He was highly critical of the society in which he
lived and was disgusted by urban violence and war. It was he who popularised the
expression ‘Dark Ages’ that separated the classical world from his own times. He
showed the way to others by highlighting the value of classical literature as a vehicle
of reforms. His programme of reforms consisted of firstly reconstruction of classical
culture followed by a careful understanding and imitation of the classical heritage.
Finally, instead of merely copying ancient values and styles, he suggested a series of
changes and reforms. His programmes became popular among the wealthy oligarchs
of Florence. It was Petrarch’s passion for the search of classical texts and manuscripts
that influenced the subsequent generation of scholars, and study of texts became one
of the chief activities of all humanists. He influenced his friend and disciple Giovanni
Boccaccio as well. The humanism led by Petrarch gave importance to rhetoric or
beauty of language. Till his end, like many future humanists, he remained a Christian
but he was mentally torn between contemporary Christianity and pagan antiquity.

Giovanni Boccaccio was another important humanist and was known for his work the
Decameron, a collection of over a hundred stories. Boccaccio was ahead of Dante and
Petrarch in the search of ancient Latin manuscripts because of his knowledge of
Greek. He wrote some excellent works on classical mythology, history, geography, but
the most important of all was his Genealogie (a genealogy of pagan gods). He also

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considered poetry to be a vehicle through which truths could be presented
symbolically.

Cicero also served as a source of inspiration in the development of civic humanism.

Leonardo Bruni recreated the history of the Roman republic in his writings and
suggested that the virtue of the Roman state should be adopted by Florence. Although
civic humanism originate din Florence, it soon emerged in other parts of Europe. It
reflected the value of an urban society.

Among the many writers, though not strictly in the category of the humanists, was
William Shakespeare. He used historical themes and romantic figures in his literary
creations. His spirit and style reflected the spirit of Renaissance. He revealed his
genius through his poetry, sonnets and plays, and is regarded by many as the greatest
literary figure of England. His works revealed an amazing variety. He showed his
competence as a playwright of comedy as well as tragedy, sentiment and fantasy. He
selected historical figures and made imaginary figures real. Shakespeare is believed to
have written as many as 36 plays but each play was distinct on grounds of subject and
characters. Through history, he reveals a vision of the nation itself rather than the
rulers.

Humanism to the Humanists:

Italian humanism seems to emphasise on the dignity of man- the privileged position
of man in the world. This was represented not only in the writings and literature of
scholars like Alberti but even in the works of art. Many of them emphasised the
relationship of harmony which they saw between man and the universe. As Alberti
stated ‘beauty is the harmony of all parts’. Man was seen as the best creation of God.
The focus was on the uniqueness of man and his potential. The humanists tried to
relate man and the world in which he lived to the new ideal of harmonious cosmos.
They placed great emphasis on human dignity aimed at realising individual
potentiality. Individualism and secularism were the other significant aspects of
humanism. The renewed emphasis on the individual’s ability created new social ideas.
The study of nature, for some humanists, was directed at a search for God. This search
later got focused on man, as he was perceived as the highest form of creation on earth.
Humanists wanted to create an environment in which the potential of man could be
fully exalted and his mental faculties could reach its full potential.

Humanists proposed solutions for peace of mind and tranquillity in an otherwise

increasingly conflicting time of religious, spiritual and political upheaval. There was a
growing sense of time and history, an awareness of one’s position in time. There was a
sudden renewed interest in archaeology: religious symbols were being understood and
appreciated as they appeared.

Humanists considered education an important means to propagate a new view of man.

According to Peter Burke, rhetoric was stressed because it was seen as a good training
for political life. Renaissance humanism introduced certain changes in the educational
curriculum which influenced not only Italy but also other parts of Europe. As
humanism started as an elitist movement, classical learning became part of
intermediate and advanced education. It influenced the middle and the upper-middle
class male population in Italy, France, England and Germany and was not meant for

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the masses and served only the elite. Many of the private, municipal, and provincial
schools adopted humanist educational programmes in which the students were taught
Latin, grammar, rhetoric, Roman history, political philosophy, including Greek
literature, and philosophy. The humanists showed that education could break the
barriers which had been created by the medieval scholars. The humanists in their
educational programme laid stress on the value of liberal arts in order to teach the
secrets of true freedom. They emphasised physical education as well, as they believed
in the idea of a sound mind in a sound body. Private education had become a status
symbol not only in Florence but also in other cities of Italy. The biggest limitation of
these educational programmes was that girls were not included in it although the
Italian humanists had been propagating the idea of freedom and fullest
development of individual personality.

Humanists placed a great emphasis on the study of primary sources rather than the
study of the interpretations of others. Early 15th century humanists were interested in
classical Latin and not Medieval Latin, which was different and more developed
language with many neologisms (newly coined words/expressions). Petrarch, also
known as the father of Renaissance Humanism in Italy, called the Latin of the middle
ages “barbarous”. This new interest in the classical literature led to the scouring
(cleaning) of monastic libraries across Europe for lost texts.

Christian Humanism:

The humanist spirit did not remain confines to the Italian city states. The ideas of
humanism spread to northern Europe through the trade routes originating from Italy.
However, the nature of humanism assumed a different character outside Italy. The
northern humanism is often described as the Christian Humanism unlike the civic
humanism of Italy. In regions outside Italy, the new learning was synthesised with
basic Christian beliefs. It is called Christian Humanism because at most places, the
church, the pope and Christian scholars officially sanctioned it. Not only did the
church provide patronage, but the subject of study was usually related to Christian
themes. Here the rediscovery of man did not necessarily mean abandonment of God
and ultimate search for perfection. It focused on the spread of Biblical study and
criticism of medieval theology. At most of the centres, attention was given to the
scriptures. The classical learning and Biblical study, according to the humanists
outside Italy, would lead to greater harmony between faith and intellect.

Devortio Moderna

Under Erasmus, also known as the ‘Prince of Humanists’ due to his most widely
read book The Praise of Folly(1509), a distinct movement, the “Devotio Moderna”
was expounded. Devotio Moderna proclaimed the primacy of Christian life and
Christian doctrines. Devotio Moderna, or Modern Devotion, was a religious
movement of the Late Middle Ages. It came into being at the same time as Christian
Humanism, a meshing of Humanism and Christianity, which advocated studying the
fundamental texts of Christianity to come to one’s own relationship with God.
Practitioners of the Devotio Moderna emphasized the inner life of the individual and
promoted meditation according to certain strictures. With the ideals of Christian

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Humanism, Devotio Moderna recommended a more individual attitude towards belief
and religion and was especially prominent in cities in the Low Countries during the
14th and 15th centuries. It is regarded sometimes as a contributing factor for
Lutheranism and Calvinism. The origins of the movement are bound up with the
career of Geert Groote of Deventer (Netherlands). Members of the devotio moderna
established schools in different parts and spread Christian ideas based on classical
studies and the study of scriptures. It was from such schools that the most famous
humanists emerged.

Print Culture:

The printing press played an important role in the spread of the new learning. From
the 1450’s there rose a ‘print culture’ in Europe. Till the invention of printing, the
humanists had to copy manuscripts by hand. Johann Guttenberg had developed a
printing press at Mainz in Germany and printed about 200 copies of the Bible in
1452-3.The technology of the printing press began to spread in several parts of
Europe and it is estimated that by 1500 there were over 1000 printing presses. The
impacting of printing was felt everywhere in Europe and print shops became popular
and important vehicle of cultural exchange and communication. Famous printers such
as Aldus Manutius in Venice and Johannes Froben in Basle were closely associated
with the humanists activists. Several humanists visited their printing shops for editing
and proof-reading. Multiple copies of texts of even rare texts were made available
which marked the end of competition among humanists to procure the original
manuscripts. Thus, the printing press acted as an important tool of the humanist
propaganda.

Neo-Platonism:

Another intellectual movement, that of “Neo-Platonism” sought to, by analysing the

classical age, encourage man’s endeavour of seeing and coming into contact with the
divine, by utilising the faculties that he had been endowed with. Many scholars argued
that the Renaissance was an age of Platonism whereas the study of Aristotle was
confined to the period of scholasticism. The Platonic Academies that developed in the
15th century in Florence made significant contribution to ideas and activities in the
public sphere. They helped to legitimise the position of the Medicis and offered
justification for the increasing professionalism in government. They also placed great
stress on education and search for knowledge.

Neoplatonists believed human perfection and happiness were attainable in this world,
without awaiting an afterlife, through philosophical contemplation. They did not
believe in an independent existence of evil. They compared it to darkness, which does
not exist in itself but only as the absence of light. So too, evil is simply the absence of
good.

The Neoplatonists believed in the pre-existence, and immortality of the soul. The
human soul consists of a lower irrational soul and a higher rational soul (mind), both
of which can be regarded as different powers of the one soul. It was widely held that
the soul possesses a “vehicle”, accounting for the human soul’s immortality and
allowing for its return to the One after death. After bodily death, the soul takes up a
level in the afterlife corresponding with the level at which it lived during its earthly

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life. The Neoplatonists believed in the principle of reincarnation. Although the most
pure and holy souls would dwell in the highest regions, the impure soul would
undergo a purification, before descending again, to be reincarnated into a new body,
perhaps into animal form. A soul which has returned to the One, achieves union with
the cosmic universal soul, and does not descend again, at least, not in this world
period.

Although the founder of Neoplatonism is supposed to have been Ammonius Saccas,

the Enneads of his pupil Plotinus are the primary and classical document of
Neoplatonism. The philosophers called Neoplatonists did not found a school as much
as attempt to preserve the teachings of Plato. They regarded themselves as Platonists.
Neoplatonism was revived in the Italian Renaissance by figures such as Nicholas
Cusanus, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Marsilio Ficino, the Medici, Michelangelo,
Sandro Botticelli and later Giordano Bruno.Famous humanists intellectuals such as
Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Mirandola helped Cosimo de Medici in Florence to set
up the Platonic Academy. Platonism in the Renaissance was a major force in
European cultural life.

Humanism in Europe:

France was more familiar with the ideas of the Italian renaissance and its scholarly
artistic works than any other part of Europe. This was mainly due to the French
military invasions of Italy which brought thousands of French men in direct contact
with Italy. Though the French were rivals to the Italian states, French literature proved
more receptive to the Italian influence. Important humanist figures in France are
Lefevre d’Etaples, Gullaume Bude and the greatest French poet of the Renaissance
time, Rabelais.

Spain also had its own contribution in the movement. The humanist movement in
Spain remained orthodox form of Christian humanism was led by Cardinal Ximenes
de Cisneros. Humanism was primarily used to improve the content of education of
church officials to restore the prestige of the church andto improve the intellectual
calibre of the priests. The greatest work from Portugal in this period was the Lusiads,
an epic poem by Luis Vaz de Camoes.

Unlike humanism in other places where it remained basically a movement for a new
learning and educational reforms and was led by important scholars and readers to
church German humanism assumed a distinct character. In Germany it developed an
anti –Roman character. Germany lacked an effective central authority. The
universities had developed a strong scholastics tradition that influenced intellectual
and religious life.

Women:

Throughout Europe, women got very little opportunity to contribute in this movement
but Princess Mary Tudor and Elizabeth of England, Marguerite of Navarre and
Catherine de Medici of France were some participants of the movement that are to be
noted. The Italian humanists prohibited women, including the rulers, to study rhetoric
and other humanist subjects. They believed that all studies should stop once a women
was married.

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The case of the Christian humanists was slightly different. Though no member of the
Erasmian movement went so far as to encourage universal education for women equal
to that received by men, it was nevertheless the case that a few women judged
exceptionally able were encouraged to attain learning in the humanist style and were
praised when they succeeded.

Perhaps the most noticeable instance was the case of Thomas More’s daughter
Margaret, who attained literacy not only in English but also in Latin and even Greek
and who served as the model for the female character in Erasmus’s colloquy, ‘The
abbot and the learned lady’. This openness to education for women is somewhat
surprising in Erasmus’s case, since in other respects he was hardly inclined to view
women as equal to men in their capacity for learning: for example, he consistently
uses the male pronoun only in referring to teachers, and he has some quite unkind
things to say about females assigned to serve as teachers.

This commitment to women’s education is best understood, however, in the context of

the movement’s larger commitment to the idea that knowledge is the path to moral
virtue. We can see this illustrated in Erasmus’s discussion of Thomas More’s home
‘school’ for his three daughters and son. Describing More’s school, Erasmus observes
approvingly that More’s experiment has changed his mind to favour providing women
with a full humanist education.

Yet the rationale for this experiment is not based on a gender free view of human
equality; it is grounded rather in a deeply gendered perception of women’s appropriate
roles in society—and the utility of humanist learning specifically for their good
performance of these roles. Thus the education of women is desirable because it is
education in moral principles, according to Erasmus’s understanding of the morality
of gender roles.

Art & Architecture:

Visual art was popular in Renaissance Italy as it was considered a symbolic language.
It was seen as a medium of communication with social, spiritual, and political values.
During the Renaissance it possessed an inner power and became a matter of civic
pride. The exterior of the urban centres came to be measured in artistic terms.
According to Peter Burke, the arts between 1350 and 1550 were transformed in two
ways- through a return to nature and through a return to antiquity. The former
influenced the field of painting while the latter determined the trends in architecture.

Humanism as a cultural movement had a great impact in creating interest in art,

architecture, and music. The aim of humanism was to perfect all forms of art and
scholarship. The emancipation (freedom) of man and the focus on the dignity of man
created an atmosphere of intellectual freedom and individual expression. The recovery
of the secular and humane philosophy of Greece and Rome not only led to
individualism but promoted new trends and styles in the sphere of art. The architects,
sculptors and painters broke away from the Byzantine Gothic patterns and indulged in
sweeping, independent inner expressions. The craze of classics and the love of beauty
became the most striking features of Italian Renaissance.

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In architecture, Filippo Brunelleschi of Florence initiated a new style of architecture.
The straight and plain line of the ancient Greek temple or the elegant curve of the
roman dome was substituted for the fanciful lofty Gothic. A rounded arch replaced the
pointed flying buttresses. Another place of emphasis were the sculptors, Donatello
was the greatest Florentine sculptor. He also developed a three dimensional conceived
sculptor.

Michelanglo was also celebrated for his sculpture as for his architecture and painting.
The head of David by him is a master piece. Artists used the religious theme as the
most popular vehicle for their idealism and the typical subjects included the
Crucifixtion, Resurrection, the Ascension, the Madonna and the child.

Paintings during the 13th century were dominated by Greek influence. Masaccio was
an important artist. His frescos at the Santa Maria Novella and in the Brancacci
Chapel show that he was among the first to employ he new discovery of prospective.
Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael and Titan were famous all over Europe
for their respective master pieces in art.

Conclusion:

The humanist movement on both sides of the Alps, i.e. in the Italian cities as well as
in the rest of Europe, created new attitudes and broadened mental horizons of the
people but their immediate influence was confined to a limited section of society.
Even in the hearts and minds of many individual humanists, the old and the new
existed side by side. While discussing the achievements of the humanists, one must
admit that many humanists displayed extraordinary skill as professional scribes and
copyists and reformed the script to its modern form from the Gothic that dominated
Europe in the 13th and 14th centuries. By introducing cursive writing, the humanists
crested the modern Italian script. Some of the humanist writings applied critical
techniques to historical study. In the field of grammar, the humanists of the 15 th
century changed the Latin curriculum of the Middle Ages in a relatively short period
of about 50 years and brought about an academic revolution of great significance. The
humanists through their activities promoted civic culture that was more secular and
human, though not necessarily less religious.

At the heart of the renaissance philosophy of man was an assertion of human dignity.
There are some extraordinary pieces of art created during this period of time in
literature, visual art, poetry, music, architecture as well as sculpture. And during the
course of this movement we do see that even though the movement started in
Florence, Italy it spread to other parts of Europe in no time and in a big fashion. In
conclusion, it is clear to us that this period of time was one where man started
believing in his own capabilities.