Petrarch&RenaissanceLiterature

Literature, likeotherRenaissanceart forms,was changedby the rebirthof interest in classicalideas and the rise of humanism. During the Italian Renaissance, the topics that peoplewroteaboutchanged.Sodidtheirstyleofwritingandthelanguageinwhichtheywrote.In medieval times, literature usually dealt with religious topics. Most writers used a formal,impersonal style.Most Italianwriterswrote in Latin. Their work could be read only by a fewhighlyeducatedpeople.Incontrast,Renaissancewriterswereinterestedinindividualexperienceand the world around them. Writing about secular, or non-religious, topics became morecommon.Writersusedamoreindividualstyle,andtheyexpressedthoughtsandfeelingsaboutlife. By the end of the Renaissance,mostwriterswerewriting in their own dialect instead ofLatin.Asaresult,farmorepeoplecouldreadtheirwork.TheinterestinlearningduringtheRenaissancewasspurredbyhumanism.Thiswayofthinkingsoughttobalancereligiousfaithwithanemphasisonindividualdignityandaninterestinnatureandhumansociety.HumanismfirstaroseinItalyasaresultoftherenewedinterestinclassicalculture.Manyearlyhumanistseagerlyhunted for ancientGreekandRomanbooks, coins, andotherartifactsthatcouldhelpthemlearnabouttheclassicalworld.One of the first humanistswas an Italian poet named Francesco Petrarch. Petrarch especiallylovedoldbooks.HesearchedforthemalloverEuropeandencouragedhisfriendstobringhimany they found. Eventually, he created a large collection of ancient Latin and Greekwritings,which he made available to other scholars. Petrarch is considered the founder of ItalianRenaissancehumanism.“Five enemies of peace inhabit with us – avarice (greed),ambition,envy,anger,andpride;iftheseweretobebanished,weshouldinfalliblyenjoyperpetualpeace.“

—Petrarch

DanteAlighieri–HumanistWriterfromFlorence

DanteAlighieri,anativeofFlorence,was the firstwell-knownwriter tocreate literature inhisnative language. Dante wrote his long poem The Divine Comedy in the vernacular, or nativespeech,ofFlorence.Beforehispoemwaspublished,peoplehadthought that the localwayofspeaking wasn’t suitable for fine writing. But when the poem became highly celebrated, thelanguageDanteusedbecame the languageof the ItalianRenaissance. It became the languageusedforbotheverydayspeechandfinewriting.

Likeotherhumanistart,TheDivineComedyhighlights strongemotionsand theexperiencesofindividuals. Dante’s poem is a social commentary, too. It is filled with real people. TheinhabitantsofhellincludedpeopleDantedisapprovedof.Peopleinheavenheadmired.

Dante’s work became a model for other Renaissance writers. He strongly influenced twoimportantFlorentinewriters,PetrarchandBoccaccio.Theydescribedpeople’s liveswithanewintensityof feelingand likeDante, theywrote in thevernacular, so theirwords touchedmanymorepeople.

TheAfterlifeinDante’sTheDivineComedyDante’s longpoem,TheDivineComedy, describesan imaginary journey through three placesChristiansbelievedthatsoulswentintheafterlife.

Inferno(Hell)Inthefirstpartofthejourney,Virgil,apoetof ancient Rome, acts as Dante’s guide through hell. In hell, Dante sees manylonely souls, among them a number of important people in Florence. He gives adescriptionoftheirsinsandthetorturouspunishmentstheyreceive.Purgatorio(Purgatory)In the second part of the journey, Virgil leads Dante through purgatory. Inpurgatory,peoplepayfortheirsinstotrytogettoheaven.Itisharshthere,butthesorrowisnotsodeep,forthereishopeofbeingsaved.Paradiso(Heaven)In the third part of the journey, Beatrice, awomanDante loved deeply butwhodiedatanearlyage,actsashisguide.Beatriceleadshimthroughheaven,whereallsinsareforgottenandeveryonelivesinpeacewithGod.

NiccoloMachiavelli-WriterfromFlorence

NiccoloMachiavelli served in thegovernmentofFlorenceduringa timeof invasionsandwarswith other city-states. After he lost his government job, Machiavelli used his experience inpoliticstowriteabookabouthowpoliticsandgovernmentreallyworked.In his book The Prince, Machiavelli says that to be a successful ruler, a prince (governmentleader)mustbewillingtobefearedratherthanloved.Machiavellisuggeststhatitisacceptableforarulertouseforcetostayinpowerandtobringpeacetothecity-state.Headvisedrulerstomaketheirstatesstrongbydoingwhatworkedbest,ratherthanbybeinggoodormoral.Hesaidthattheyshouldevenlieifithelpedthemtorule.Inhisview,theend,orpurpose,justifiesthemeans(theactionstakentoachieveacertainpurpose).The Prince seems to contradict humanist ideals about people’s goodness. It’s cold realismshockedmanyreaders.Yetinotherwaysthebooksshowstheinfluenceofhumanistideas.Itwasthe product of one individual’s careful observation and thinking. It was concerned with howthingsreallyworkedintheworld.Italsoseparatedideasaboutgovernmentfromreligion.Inthisrespect,ThePrincewasaverymodernbook.

Quotation1A prince should have no other aim or thought, nor take upanyotherthingforhisstudy,butwaranditsorganizationanddiscipline,forthatistheonlyartthatisnecessarytoonewhocommands.Quotation2Thus, it is well to seem merciful, faithful, humane, sincere,religious, andalso tobe so;but youmusthave themind sodisposedthatwhenitismercifultobeotherwiseyoumaybeabletochangetotheoppositequalities.Quotation3In theactions ofmen, and especially of princes, fromwhichthereisnoappeal,theendjustifiesthemeans.

DesideriusErasmus–HumanistWriterfromHolland

The ideas of humanists sometimes brought them into conflict with the Catholic Church. Thechurch taught that laws were made by God and that those who broke them were sinful. Itencouragespeopletofollowitsteachingswithoutquestioninordertosavetheirsouls.Forthechurch, lifeafterdeathwasmore importantthan lifeonEarth. Incontrast,humanistsbelievedthatpeopleshouldusetheirmindstoquestioneverything.Mosttriedtobalancereligiousfaithand its emphasis on the afterlifewith an active interest in daily life. Somedirectly challengedteachingsthatweredeartothechurch.By the1300s thechurchwasbeginningto losesomeof itsmoralandreligiousstanding.ManyCatholics, includingclergyandhumanists,criticizedthecorruptionandabusesthatplaguedthechurch.Thesereformerswantedtopurifythechurch,notdestroyit.Bychallengingthechurch’spracticesandteachings,however, theyhelpedpavetheway for thedramaticchanges thatwewillbestudyingintheReformation.Desiderius Erasmus was a humanist from Holland. Apriest and devoted Catholic, hewas one of themostoutspoken figures in the call for reform. In 1509,Erasmus published a book called The Praise of Folly.(Folly means “foolishness.”) The book was a sharplyworded satire of society, including abuses by clergyand church leaders. Erasmus argued for a return tosimpleChristiangoodness.Erasmuswantedtoreformthechurchfromwithin.Hehelped, perhaps more than any other individual, toprepare Europe for the Reformation. His attacks oncorruptioninthechurchcontributedtomanypeople’sdesiretoleavetheCatholicchurch.

GutenbergandtheSpreadoftheRenaissance

Asyouhave learned,theRenaissancebegan in Italy.Fromthere itspreadtoFrance,Germany,Holland,EnglandandSpain.Renaissanceideaswerespreadthroughtrade,travelandeducation.ItalywasthegatewaytoEuropeformuchofthetradefromAsia,Africa,andtheGreek-speakingcitiesoftheeast.TradersmovedthroughItalytotherestofEurope,bringingarichflowofnewideasalongwiththeirgoods.

Thespreadofideaswasmadeeveneasierbytheinventionoftheprintingpress.Thismachinepressesinkedtypeorplatesontopapertocreatemanycopiesofawork.Recallfromyourstudyof China that the Chinese had learned to make paper and to print using wooden blocks.Gradually,knowledgeofpapermakingandexamplesofChineseprintingblocksreachedEurope.

Inabout1450,aGermannamedJohannesGutenbergdramaticallyimprovedonexistingprintingmethods. He invented a printing press that used movable type – characters that could berearrangedandusedoveragainonotherprinting jobs.Unlike theChinese,whousedwoodenblocksforprinting,Gutenbergcasthistypeinmetal.

BeforeGutenberg’sinvention,mostbookswerewrittenandcopiedbyhand.Itcouldtakefourorfivemonthstocopya200-pagebreak.Thenewpresscouldproduce300pagesinasingleday.Asaresult,booksandshortworkscalledpamphletscouldbemademuchmorequicklyandcheaply.ThenumberofprintersinEuropesoonincreasedrapidly.Peopleusedprintedmattertospreadnew ideas, discoveries, and inventions. And since printedmaterialwasmorewidely available,more people learned to read. The first book printed was the Bible, which spread rapidlythroughoutEurope.

WorldHistory Name______________________________

HumanistWritersandRenaissanceLiterature

Petrarch&RenaissanceLiterature:Recordatleastthreefactsfromthisreading.• • •

BrieflydescribetwowaysinwhichRenaissanceliteraturedifferedfrommedievalliterature.HowisPetrarchanexampleofahumanistthinkerandwriter?Dante&TheDivineComedy:Recordatleastthreefactsfromthisreading.• • • HowisDante’sTheDivineComedyanexampleofhumanistart?Withyourpartner,examinethethreepictures.AfterreadingthedescriptionofDante’sTheDivineComedy,identifywhichimageillustrateseachplacealongDante’simaginaryjourneythroughtheafterlife.

Machiavelli&ThePrince:Recordatleastthreefactsfromthisreading.• • • HowisMachiavelli’sThePrinceanexampleofhumanistart?RewriteeachquotationinyourownwordsasifexplainingtoanotherstudentwhatMachiavellimeant.Thenindicatewhetheryouagreeordisagreewithhisstatementandwhy.Quotation1:Quotation2:Quotation3Erasmus:Recordatleastthreefactsfromthisreading.• • • HowisErasmus’bookThePraiseofFollyanexampleofhumanistart?WhowasDesideriusErasmusandhowdidhehelptoprepareEuropefortheReformation?Gutenberg&theSpreadoftheRenaissance:Recordatleastthreefactsfromthisreading.• • • Gutenberg’sprintingpressrevolutionizedlearninginEurope.Whatotherinventionthatwehavestudiedhashadasimilarlylargeimpact?Whydidyouchoosethatinventionoverothers?WhatmoderninventioncouldyoucomparetoGutenberg’sprintingpressintheimpactthatithashad?Why?