Download - THE INTELLECTUAL RENAISSANCE IN ITALY
The Italian Renaissance1. individualism2. secularism
Italy in the 14th and 15 centuries is the cultural leader of Europe
Renaissance Italy was a product of1. wealthy society2. urban society3. lay society
1. Intellectual/literary movement2. Based on the study of classical literary
works of ancient Greece and Rome3. Humanists studies the LIBERAL ARTS
grammarrhetoricpoetrymoral philosophy/ethicshistory
Petrarch = the father of humanism1. Consider the middle ages a dark age2. Interest in classical antiquity3. Search for forgotten or lost latin manuscripts
and works of antiquity
“civic humanism” Cicero as a model Growing interest in classical Greek
civilization LORENZO VALLA
Interest in the works of Plato
Christianity + Platonism = NEOPLATONISM
Hermeticism PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA
– 1. one of the great
humanists2. author of – Oration
on the Dignity of Man3. unlimited human
potential
Humanist idea – education can change people
“liberal studies” = the liberal arts Humanist schools geared to elites Practical preparation for life -> produce
complete citizens -> participate in civic life
Humanist schools = classics + Christianity = model for elite schooling up to the 20th century
Humanist began to see history as divided into1. ancient world = classical world = antiquity2. the Middle Ages = the dark ages3. their time = a time of rebirth
Secularizing the writing of history -> relying on documents and evidence, removing religious explanations and miracles
Causation in history -> not God, human forces
Printing was invented in the time of the Renaissance
Transformed the intellectual life and thought JOHANNES GUTENBERG = the movable type
printing press 1445-1450 Gutenberg bibles Printing spread rapidly across Europe
1. by 1500 – 1000 printers2. 40,000 titles3. half were religious, half secular4. big business5. encouraged spread of knowledge6. created a lay reading public