The Humanists Who were they? What impact did they have on the Renaissance? Is their work relevant today? World History, Unit: 05 Lesson: 01 ©2012, TESCCC

Portrait of Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam with Renaissance Pilaster. By Hans Holbein the Younger Desiderius Erasmus was from the Netherlands. His most famous work was In Praise of Folly. He used his book to expose the inappropriate behavior of people including the clergy. He translated the Bible to Latin from Greek manuscripts showing many errors in the Bible that was being used at that time. ©2012, TESCCC

The Right Honorable Sir Thomas More. By Hans Holbein the Younger Sir Thomas More was English. He wrote Utopia in which he criticized the society of his day by describing an ideal, imaginary community. More was Lord Chancellor in the court of King Henry VIII. When the king divorced his wife and remarried, More refused to give his approval to the marriage. The King accused More of treason, and he was killed. At his execution More said "The King's good servant, but God's First." ©2012, TESCCC

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was a Spanish novelist, poet, and playwright. His most famous work, Don Quixote, is considered to have been the first modern European novel. The novel follows the adventures of Don Quixote, a foolish but idealistic knight, and his faithful servant, Sancho Panza. ©2012, TESCCC

Petrarch was an Italian scholar and poet. He is often called the "Father of Humanism". He traveled widely in Europe and collected Latin manuscripts. He was important in the recovery of works by writers of ancient Rome and Greece. His most famous work was a collection of poems that he wrote in Italian to a woman named Laura. ©2012, TESCCC

William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright. He wrote comedies, tragedies and historical plays. More than 1,700 words appeared for the first time in the English language in Shakespeare's works. ©2012, TESCCC

Giovanni Boccaccio wrote the Decameron, a collection of stories told by a group of people living in the countryside during the Black Death. The stories were a departure from Medieval literature which was centered on the teachings of the Church. The stories in the Decameron were centered on the varied experiences of real people. ©2012, TESCCC

Portrait of Niccolò Machiavelli by Santi di Tito Niccolo Machiavelli was an Italian diplomat. He wrote The Prince. It was a handbook for rulers on how to gain and hold power. It was Machiavelli who argued that the end justifies the means. ©2012, TESCCC

The French writer Francois Rabelais wrote a series of five novels about the travels of two gentle giants Gargantua and Pantagruel. Through his characters Rabelais offered his opinion on religion, education, and other subjects. ©2012, TESCCC

Humanism - Humanists taught that people should focus on the here an now; live a full life and enjoy new experiences - Humanists generally wrote on nonreligious subjects, and wrote in the vernacular, rather than Latin - Literary themes reflected the culture of the humanist ideal of the importance of the individual - Greater separation developed between religious and secular institutions as a result ©2012, TESCCC