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humanism-art - 7/25/94

"Humanism: An Introduction" by Mistress Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester

Humanism, the basis for the Renaissance.

NOTE: See also the files: religion-msg, Islam-msg, chivalry-msg.

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NOTICE -

This article was submitted to me by the author for inclusion in this set

of files, called Stefan’s Florilegium.

These files are available on the Internet at:

http://www.florilegium.org

While the author will likely give permission for this work to be

reprinted in SCA type publications, please check with the author first

or check for any permissions granted at the end of this file.

Thank you,

Mark S. Harris

AKA: Stefan li Rous

stefan at florilegium.org

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This one was written for an Italian Ren handbook last year.

Humanism: An Introduction

--Nicolaa de Bracton of Leicester

The intellectual and social movement which historians call humanism

is what lies at the base of the period we call the Renaissance.

Humanism and its ideals came to pervade the art, literature, learning,

law, and civic life, first in Italy, then in all of Europe. But what

is humanism? Scholars are still debating this issue, but there is a

consensus on a basic definition: Simply put, humanism is a rediscovery

and re-evaluation of the aspects of classical civilization (ancient

Greece and Rome) and the application of these aspects to intellectual

and social culture. It is also in many ways a reaction against

scholasticism, the dominant intellectual school of the Middle Ages.

Scholasticism, while a vital and dynamic method in its early days in

the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, had, in the eyes of its

detractors, by the fourteenth century become little more than

organized quibbling over minor points of philosophy and theology. You

may recall the famous question over how many angels could dance on the

head of a pin; such questions were actually fairly regularly debated

by the later scholasticists.

In contrast, the early humanists espoused a return to study of the

original texts, rather than a reliance on the glosses and commentaries

produced by the scholasticists. This break was by no means

clear--many of the later humanists continued to admire and make use of

the works of scholastic scholars, while forging ahead with their own

examination of the sources.

Why Italy? I noted a moment ago that humanism's roots were in a

rediscovery of classical antiquity. For the early pioneers of

humanism, this meant the Latin language. Italy, unlike so much of

Europe, had never completely lost Latin literacy. Latin was still

taught in the schools and universities, most significantly to laymen

in training to become notaries. Thus, Latin literacy was not confined

mainly to churchmen as it was elsewhere in Europe. In the schools,

potential notaries learned the specialized legal language of law,

known as the _ars dictaminis _ . This was indirectly based on the

rhetorical works of Cicero, though it had become rather rigid and

rule-bound over the years. However, it meant that potential notaries

were exposed to certain of Cicero's works. Gradually, people began

to reexamine these works.

Who was the first humanist? Most scholars would say that Petrarch, an

Italian poet and writer of the Trecento (1300's), would best fit this

label. His influence continued to be felt throughout the entire

humanistic movement, and his successors called him their spiritual

father. Petrarch was a great admirer of Cicero, and rediscovered and

translated much of his correspondence. He strove to learn from Cicero

and use his style in his own Latin writing. Petrarch also wrote in

the vernacular-- a style which would finally gain acceptance among

scholars in the Renaissance. We also remember him as the first man

since antiquity to be awarded a laurel crown for his poetry. But

Petrarch himself was a bit of an enigma; a man with one foot in the

future and one in the past. It had always been believed that Cicero

had throughout his career been highly involved in politics;

Petrarch's examination of Cicero's writings had found a different

man-- one who increasingly turned to solitude and retirement in later

life. This fit the "medieval" model of the scholar-- a monkish figure

who retired from the world with his books-- rather than Petrarch's

earlier belief in an active use of scholarship in civic life.

Petrarch gradually retired from life as well, and in fact became more

and more "medieval" in his outlook--though he never abandoned his

reliance on classical sources as a model for writing, he turned more

and more to traditional forms of scholarship, such as biblical

commentary, in later life.

It would be this earlier picture, however, which would provide the

model for a new civic spirit in Italy, particularly in Florence. It

is quite significant that Petrarch was a Florentine, though in

actuality he spent most of his life elsewhere. Florence was one of

two Italian republics (Venice was the other) and felt threatened by

neighboring Italian states run by despots with designs on Florentine

territory. Inspired by Petrarch, the intellectuals of Florence

carried on his work and expanded it. Florence's past was to be

extolled in literature, art, and architecture, and the link with the

Roman Republic was to be emphasized in all things. Petrarch's

successors were not only scholars, but leading men of their community

who felt it their duty as Florentine citizens to serve their Republic

as the Roman citizens had served Rome. Unfortunately, Florence, too,

fell under despotic rule, but not before several generations of

Florentines had produced a wide variety of works which extolled the

city. Humanism had its religious aspects as well. Though new

appreciation was gained for the "pagan" classics of antiquity,

humanists were quick to apply their methods to biblical scholarship.

One of the ways in which the spirit of humanism was expressed was in a

rise in appreciation for the artifacts of the past. Indeed, the early

humanists were the ones who invented the terms "Middle Ages" and

"Renaissance." Before this time, history was seen as a continuum. No

distinction was drawn between the civilization of Greece and Rome and

that of the medieval period. The idea of a "fall of the Roman Empire"

had no meaning. To a twelfth century person, Charlemagne was as much

a Roman and a Roman Empire as Augustus had been, and there was no line

drawn between classical and medieval Latin. The humanists were the

first to draw the distinction, seeing classical antiquity as something

which was long past, but to be admired and revived--hence the term

"Renaissance". Artifacts were visible symbols of this past, and were

thus to be cherished and collected. Not only were coins and artworks

unearthed and collected, but attempts were made to map out and draw

many of the Roman ruins one could see in Italy before they

disappeared. (The ruins were a popular source of building materials;

the Papacy was particularly fond of the

Colosseum for this purpose). A few sites were eventually saved from

destruction in this way.

Likewise, we may also note an increased interest in manuscripts,

particularly those recording the works of the writers of antiquity.

Many of the humanists undertook large journeys, wandering from

monastery to monastery and finding works forgotten for centuries. New

editions and translations of these works were produced and

disseminated. The fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought an influx of

expatriate Greek scholars to Italy, and from that point on, studies of

ancient Greek gained tremendous ground. Likewise, the humanists also

became interested in Hebrew as they attempted to produce an accurate

translation of the Bible. What made these editions special was the

introduction of what wee would today call "critical" scholarship.

Manuscripts were compared and words analyzed in an attempt to produce

the most accurate edition possible.

All of this was aided by the invention of the printing press, which

meant that for the first time, men and women of moderate means could

acquire their own books and that both the classics and new works could

circulate widely. Venice by the late fifteenth century was known as

the printing capital of Europe. Publishers there not only printed the

books, but they actively sponsored new editions and continuing scholarship.

It took longer, however, for the new scholarship to spread beyond a

certain intellectual elite. Even a century after Petrarch, the

universities--even in Italy--were still dominated by thinkers of the

older schools. However, patronage by Italian princes and popes

insured that the new thinking eventually came to dominate the

universities. Humanism eventually spread outwards from Italy.

Germany in particular was greatly affected by the new methods,

particularly in the area of Biblical scholarship. (It was this sort of

thinking that led Martin Luther to question the traditions of the

Catholic Church). Eventually, the printing houses of Germany rivaled

those of Italy.

England was perhaps the last to be touched, for it was not until the

latter half of the reign of Henry VIII that Oxford and Cambridge

became dominated by humanist scholarship.

For Further Reading:

Baron, Hans. The Crisis of the Early Italian Renaissance. (rev. ed. 1966)

Bishop, Morris. Petrarch and His World. (Bloomington, IN, 1963)

Ferguson, Wallace K. The Renaissance in Historical Thought (1948)

Gerulaitis, Leonardus V. Printing and Publishing in Fifteenth-century

Venice. (London, 1976)

Grendler, Paul F. Schooling in Renaissance Italy . (Baltimore, 1989)

Hay, Denys. Europe in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries. (1966)

King, Margaret L. Venetian Humanism in an Age of Patrician Dominance.

(Princeton, NJ. 1986)

Kristeller, Paul Oskar. Renaissance Thought: The Classic, Scholastic,

and Humanist Strains (New York, 1961).

Weiss, Roberto. The Renaissance Discovery of Classical Antiquity.

(Oxford, 1968)

---

Toronto, Ontario M4H 1L1 CANADA. Permission granted for

republication in SCA-related publications, provided author is credited

and receives a copy.

If this article is reprinted in a publication, I would appreciate a notice in

the publication that you found this article in the Florilegium. I would also

appreciate an email to myself, so that I can track which articles are being

reprinted. Thanks. -Stefan.

Stefan's Florilegium

humanism-art