humanism in the renaissance
The renaissance started in the 14th century in cities of Northern Italy. During this time the social elite became more interested in the literature and ideas of ancient Greece and Rome. People started to reject some of the ideas and practices of medieval civilization and turned to the idea of humanism. Humanism was a new concern with people as powerful, creative individuals in a dynamic secular world. During the Renaissance humanistic attitudes and cultural productions consisted of; the rediscovery of classical sources, freedom of the individual, a new concern for the present instead of the life after death, and the new discovered pleasure of classical literature and books. Religion during the Renaissance was not at all forgotten and instead emphasis was placed on learning classical languages to improve translations of the Bible and studying classical literature for its relation to Christian ideals and life. In the early Renaissance, literary humanism and a movement to receive classical literature and the values expressed in classical writings, was central. The focus turned from people as religious beings, to include the problems of people and nature in the human world. People started to rea
Another humanistic trait that occurred in the Renaissance was the freedom of the individual. People should have the right to peruse Liberal Studies and humanistic learning if they wanted to. Peter Paul Vergerio author of On the Liberal Arts rejects the content and methods of medieval education and believes in Liberal Studies and Liberal Arts. He writes that the purpose of history and moral philosophy is to " teach men the secret of true freedom"(7). And that " History, then, gives us the concrete examples of the precepts inculated by philosophy. The one shews what men should do, the other what men have said and done in the past, and what practical we may draw therefrom for the present day"(7). Vergerio is saying that from studying moral philosophy and history, men can reflect from that and draw conclusions to what will work for them in the present. He believed that this kind of learning should be used instead of the methods of medieval education. Another example of fre! irth to fail to do virtuous things than for one of noble birth, who, should he stray from the path of his forebears, stains the family name, and not only fails to achieve anything but loses what has been achieved already"(11). Castiglione is basically saying that it is better to start with nothing and become successful than to start off well and fail, which could ruin your family name. In both Machiavelli's and Castiglione's pieces it's easy to see that both are writing to improve peoples way of life in the present. The writing has nothing to do about how people are to save themselves for the afterlife, like in teachings and literature during the Middle Ages. edom of the i
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Approximate Word count = 1121
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)
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