Ch. 12 Recovery & Rebirth The Age of the Renaissance FQ: What was humanism, and what effect did it have on philosophy, education, attitudes toward politics, and writing of history?

Characteristics of the Renaissance > Individualism – emphasis on and interest in the unique traits of each person. Secularism – the process of becoming more concerned with material, worldly, and temporal things and less with spiritual and religious things.

Humanism An intellectual movement based on the study of the classical literary works of Greece and Rome. -Humanists study the humanities (grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, ethics and history) -Humanists were primarily teachers, secretaries, laymen (not clergy)

Petrarch – Father of Humanism First person to characterize the Middle Ages as “period of darkness”. Described intellectual life as solitude. Known for his use of the vernacular.

Civic humanism An intellectual movement of the Italian Renaissance that saw Cicero, who was both an intellectual and a statesman, as the ideal and held that humanists should be involved in government and use their rhetorical training in the service of the state.

Neoplatonism Revival of Platonic philosophy. Marsilo Ficino (1433-1499) dedicated his life to translating Plato and explaining the philosophy of Neoplatonism (synthesizing Christianity and Platonism) Humans represented the link between the material world (body) and the spiritual world (soul). Humans highest duty was to move towards union with God that was the true end of human existence.

Hermeticism An intellectual movement beginning in the 15th century that taught divinity is embodied in all aspects of nature; included works on alchemy and magic as well as theology and philosophy. Most prominent magi were Ficino and his pupil Giovanni Pico (1463-1494) -Oration of the Dignity of Man by Pico described “unlimited human potential” Hermetic philosophy = “science of the divine” Ficino and Pico illuminated the relationship between human and God.

Education in the Renaissance Humanists believed humans could be changed by education. Focused on Liberal Studies (history, moral philosophy, rhetoric, letters, poetry, math, astronomy and music) Humanist education = practical preparation for life -Classics + Christianity = model for basic education of European ruling classes until the 20th century. Education for the elite, few females (discouraged from math & rhetoric)

Humanism & History New sense of chronology: Ancient World, Dark Ages, Rebirth De-emphasized divine intervention in favor of human motives. History of Italy and History of Florence represents the beginning of “modern analytical historiography.”