THE INTELLECTUAL RENAISSANCE IN ITALY The Italian Renaissance 1. individualism 2. secularism Italy in the 14th and 15 centuries is the cultural leader of Europe Renaissance Italy was a product of 1. wealthy society 2. urban society 3. lay society

ITALIAN RENAISSANCE HUMANISM Intellectual/literary movement Based on the study of classical literary works of ancient Greece and Rome Humanists studies the LIBERAL ARTS grammar rhetoric poetry moral philosophy/ethics history

THE EMERGENCE OF HUMANISM Petrarch = the father of humanism Consider the middle ages a dark age Interest in classical antiquity Search for forgotten or lost latin manuscripts and works of antiquity

HUMANISM IN 15TH CENTURY ITALY “civic humanism” Cicero as a model Growing interest in classical Greek civilization LORENZO VALLA

HUMANISM AND PHILOSOPHY Interest in the works of Plato Christianity + Platonism = NEOPLATONISM Hermeticism PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA – 1. one of the great humanists 2. author of – Oration on the Dignity of Man 3. unlimited human potential

EDUCATION IN THE RENAISSANCE 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

HUMANISM AND HISTORY Humanist began to see history as divided into 1. ancient world = classical world = antiquity 2. the Middle Ages = the dark ages 3. 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

THE IMPACT OF PRINTING 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 printers 2. 40,000 titles 3. half were religious, half secular 4. big business 5. encouraged spread of knowledge 6. created a lay reading public