Francesco Petrarch Research Paper

Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) was an Italian scholar, poet, and early humanist during the reformation of the Renaissance period. He was one of the greatest poets of the 14th-16th century, and is regarded as the father of the humanist movement. Petrarch was a prolific writer. Not only was he known for poetry in Italian and Latin, but also hundreds of letters, essays and histories. Like Dante, a generation before Petrarch wrote in a vernacular style to bring Italian a literary language.

Thus, it was unsurprising to find that Pope Sixtus IV built a library that still remains as one of the richest repositories holding ancient, medieval documents. This movement of humanism was largely praise because the viewed humanity through a Christian lens as Renaissance humanists strongly believed that men and woman were made in the image and likeness of God. For example, Pico Mirandola represented man as one in possession of great dignity in his essay, ‘On the Dignity of Man’. Further, Renaissance humanism caused individuals to become increasingly self-conscious about their current lifestyles and their realization of human potential. Humanism heavily influenced much of the Renaissance culture, causing people to depend upon intellect its role in humanity breakthroughs.

Arguably the greatest and longest impacting movement brought about by the forward thinkers of the Renaissance was humanism. Humanism was a cultural and intellectual movement that emphasized the human potential to attain excellence through direct study of the literature, art, and civilization of the classical Greek and Roman societies (Merriam-Webster). The scholars and believers in humanism sought to change the course of society away from the narrow pedantry of medieval scholasticism and utilitarianism. Humanism was a basic desire for every citizen to be able to speak with eloquence and read and write with clarity, so that common citizens were capable of engaging in the civic life of their communities (Gray). The movement also emphasized the value of a human being as well as the importance of rational thought rather than blind faith in spiritualism or superstition. It also pushed people to explore human desires and pleasures while also enriching their minds. The influential nature of humanism was far reaching and most notable for its effects on Renaissance art, literature, and philosophy.

It would make sense that the “Father of Humanism” would be from Florence, the epicenter of the Italian Renaissance. Much of his work had a modern element because he probed his own feelings in his writings. This would go with the Renaissance theme of the rediscovery of human glory due to the fact that Petrarch often looked within himself. Petrarch was also a devote Christian and believed that they meshed well. Petrarch being a Christian humanist agrees with the first article and with the belief of humanists of returning to the sources. I found it surprising how centralized Petrarch’s beliefs were in Christianity considering he was a humanist during the Italian Renaissance. I wouldn’t be surprised if he wrote during the Northern European Renaissance because they were more faith oriented and were known as Christina humanists. Petrarch criticizes his contemporaries and dialecticians on being ignorant of antiquity. He condemns them for mocking ancient philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, and Pythagoras whose works are later glorified during the Renaissance. The fact that these philosophers were later admired and emulated during the Renaissance shows how quickly humanist’s beliefs caught on due to society’s need for culture after the dark Middle

The Renaissance was the entrance to a change in the overall worldview of man. Humanistic thought began to grow more and more prevalent, and showed itself through art, architecture, and manuscripts. Humanists believe that man is autonomous, that humans are powerful enough to survive, thrive, and conquer without any spiritual help. It is a very self-centered way of thinking, destined to fail. One example of an artist who portrayed this through his work, was Michelangelo. His sculptures “men tearing themselves out of rock” give a bold humanistic statement. Man, as man, with no help is tearing himself out of rock. Man will free himself. Man is great. Leonardo da Vinci, the brilliant chemist, mathematician, musician, architect, anatomist, botanist, mechanical engineer, and artist, understood the end to which humanistic thought would lead.

The Renaissance was a huge time for growth. Humanism, the praising of the intelligence and beauty of a person, spread very widely in this time and not only did it improve how people thought about themselves, but it improved how people thought about others. (Background Essay) The Renaissance changed the concept of what it meant to be human as seen in art, literature and science.

The Italian humanism was able to change an individual's role of society through education, civic humanism, and individualism in art. In the Middle Ages the world was barbaric, but the Renaissance was able to transform many individuals into civilized citizens for their community, civic humanism. Individualism and secularism are both important aspects of the Italian Renaissance that derived itself from humanism.

One of the main ideas that developed in the Italian Renaissance was Humanism. Humanism started in Italy because the Father of Humanism named Petrarch lived in Italy. Humanism is the idea that humans can attain happiness and should individually strive for achievement in life. A key characteristic of humanism includes a belief in the worth of individual life. Humanistic scholars studied philosophy, literature, and history of classical civilizations.

From art brought on by the Medici family, to literature produced by some of the most well-known and renowned authors, concepts of humanism emerged. This then resulted in a more positive outlook on life during the Italian Renaissance. Moreover, Francesco Petrarch, the “Father of Humanism,” paved the way for successful eras in Florence, the epicenter of the Renaissance. The conditions of Rome as described by both Baldassare Castiglione and Dante Alighieri crucially inspired the artistic and literary Renaissance of Italy. Reviving Rome lead to a faith in humans, allowing revolutions to build off of the past, as opposed to starting from the beginning. Obviously key factors as demonstrated by the infamous writers Baldassare Castiglione and Dante Alighieri forever and crucially impacted western

Burckhardt also argues that the rise of individualism would not have been so significant if it were not for the single family rule of city-states at that time in Italy, or the fact that these rulers were changing so often. He says that individualism would have been impossible under a republican climate, where all citizens would have been working towards the same goal – but, with such an unusual political climate in Italy, people came to view the self as most important. This idea is supported in Francesco Petrarch: To Posterity, a letter that Petrarch, often seen as the founder of humanism, wrote. In this letter Petrarch expresses strong individualist ideas, most notably when he says “…that youth and pleasure are vanity-nay, that the Author

Beginning roughly around the year 1400 an era in Europe began; one that would shape the ideas and the lives of men. This era of rebirth or renaissance came within the fifteenth century through the revival of classical texts. One central effect of the Renaissance was the production of a new intellectual idea: humanism. Humanism being defined as a, “[t]erm invented in the 19th century. . . [regarding] developments relating to the revival of Classical literature and learning in European culture from roughly 1300 to 1600” left its mark on all of Europe leaving nothing untouched not even the artist. Both northern and southern art would be affected by humanism but in different ways ranging from changes in the human form, new choices of

Petrarch, and his founding of humanism helped form a road to the Renaissance. He truly had the recognition of the true features of classical Latin prose and poetry and made people know it by making this as part of humanism. Not only did the poor and first class citizens follow humanism but they followed humanism because the rich and the powerful joined humanism as well. Also, the humanists believed that every opinion

What is Humanism? Why is Humanism often considered the foundation for the Italian Renaissance? Why did Humanism take root in Italy? Why did Humanism drastically change the literature being produced in Italy? These are the key questions to consider when attempting to understand why Humanism a spark to a flame for many in fourteenth century Italy. For Humanism not only brought the Renaissance to Italy, but created a whole new form of documentation, which has persevered throughout time.

Humanism describes the emphasis that was revived in the Renaissance when the Liberal Arts were used to distinguish man from beasts. Through letters--or scholarship--was sought a rebirth of spirit and spiritual freedom and justification of the claim to rational autonomy. In essence, the Renaissance was a revival of the capacities and powers of the ancients.

At the core of the humanist agenda was the idea of virtue, or behavior with a great moral standard. A man named Francesco Petrarch helped to found these beliefs, by studying classic Roman sources such as the scholar Cicero. Petrarch believed that these classics works could teach someone to be wise and virtuous (class notes). He helped to make Humanism a popular movement among intellectuals of the time and cement the idea that the classical works could help guide humans to live a virtuous and wise