The Humanists

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 Forum in Rome

The Fall of Constantinople—1453

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)

The Dynamic Duo

Petrarch Lorenzo Valla

Florence

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

Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus

The World of Erasmus