Renaissance And Humanism: The Renaissance And The Renaissance

The Renaissance, which is French for the word “rebirth” or “revival”, was the cultural bloom for Europe. Before this era, life was an everyday battle, facing warfare, poverty, and disease. Starting in around 1400 C.E and lasting until about 1700 C.E, the Renaissance brought about new philosophies, lifestyles, and ideas that changed the world forever. The Renaissance changed the way people saw the world and their place in it by focusing more on education and decreasing religion’s importance.

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.

The renaissance is defined as the “rebirth” of civilization in Europe from the 14th to 17th centuries (General Characteristics of the Renaissance). A renewed interest of classical world spread from its beginning in Italy, north to Germany and

Over through course of time religion has been a big part of people's life. During the 1300 there was a sudden change in behavior and belief. The Italian started, and it caused a change in belief. The belief of Humanism as well caring more about how they live now than the afterlife. It was the sense of rebirth at the time, but caused a lot of problems. While the Renaissance lead Italians to accomplish great things, in relationship to Christianity it was disrespectful to social norms.

The Renaissance was a period of time when Europeans experienced a shift in thinking. This “rebirth” led to a time of creativity in which they began to think outside the box instead of inside. It sprouted from the Dark Ages and led to the modern era. During the Renaissance, the Europeans began to adopt a new way of thinking that included the increasing presence of art and the idea of individualism, the decline in the significance of the Church, and the arising of the importance of education. The Renaissance was a great time of change that shaped the way that Europeans perceived their surroundings and the world.

Medieval scholars had long studied ancient Greek and Roman authors, but had, like St. Thomas, devoted themselves to integrating the ancient ideas into the theology of the church. Starting with Petrarch in the early 1300s, however, humanists became interested in the ancient writers on their own terms. Humanists came to admire the more worldly wisdom of values of ancient Greece and Rome, and eagerly sought out new texts in an effort to recover as much of the ancient knowledge and spirit as possible. Why such enthusiasm for the ancients? The worldly spirit of the ancients seemed more suitable to the prosperous merchant class, and they provided an important foundation of prestige and authority for a new class of men as they asserted their right to rule.

Rhiana Bishop CHY4U Mrs.Ritsma September 15th, 2017 Humanism and the Italian Renaissance Many people today do not know what humanism is. Even if they don't what it is, many people in this world are humanist. Humanism is the idea behind humanism is the life on earth can be filled with the value not just items, but abilities and individual worth, as well as that humans, can achieve great things. The humanist movement started with a man named Martin Luther. Luther was a German monk who posted what is now known as the 95 Theses on the door of Wittenberg’s Castle (Newman 50). These theses are what started the Reformation and the Renaissance. In the Renaissance was very influenced by the Martin Luther and humanism. The art the writer and the architecture were all majorly influenced by humanism. This is because that it is more acceptable to have beautiful paintings, awe-inspiring novels, and amazing buildings created not just for religious use but for enjoyment. Leonardo DA Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Donato Donatello (1386-1466), Sofonisba Anguissola (c.1532-1625) these are some of the prodigious artist known all over the world. Every one of these artists started in the Renaissance era of art. Each one of these artists created art that still inspires artist today. Before the reformation and humanism came into the picture almost all became famous for the works that they did in the Renaissance. The reason these artists became more famous is the art that is much more lifelike and that captures more detail than the art that came before the Renaissance. Some of the art done in the Renaissance that is still based on belief.in many paintings, in the Medieval era, there were paintings of Mother Mary and baby Jesus they were portrayed as gods. But as they were painted in the Renaissance era, they were painted as average people from that time. Every artist famous or not became very popular with the growing support of humanism. Niccolò Machiavelli, Edmund Spenser, Desiderius Erasmus and Thomas More. theses are a few of the famous writers in the Renaissance. The most well known are Thomas More was a well-known humanist at the time. More was trained as a lawyer and he dedicated to the classic learning

The Renaissance was a time of rebirth and progress in Europe. It started in Italy around the thirteenth century and spread continuously toward the north and west of Europe for the following two centuries It was a period of tremendous development in learning and culture.

The Renaissance was a new age for people ideas and thoughts. The Renaissance lasted over the course of three hundred years and was the period after the middle ages. Humanism greatly influenced art and anatomy during that time. With Humanisms new way of thinking in people's minds many ideas that were influenced by god became a question to be solved by the people of the Renaissance.

"The Renaissance was a rebirth that led to new ways of thinking in the sciences, philosophy, and architecture, as well as painting and sculpture" (Spence 6). This period of European history, beginning in the fourteenth-century, saw a renewed interest in the arts. It has been characterized by

Humanism as the specific system of views had been forming for centuries, absorbing various approaches to the issue of man. As a rule, humanism is defined in terms of several essential meanings. One of these meanings of humanism is the movement of educated people united by the interest in antiquity which was formed in the Renaissance mainly in Italy. Besides, humanism is understood as a special type of philosophical ideology, in the centre of which there is man as an individual with his goals and aspirations, with abilities and inclinations that are typical of his nature. Another meaning of humanism is humanity as a basic principle of man’s attitude to man. Humanism during the Renaissance, despite its opposition to medieval religious ideology, is its successor in many aspects since antiquity and Christianity, despite their ideological contradictions, comprised a range of some similar features, the most important of which was the view that humans are more important than anything else. That is why humanists did not idealise a ‘natural’ man, not enlightened with knowledge and not brought up morally, seeing in man only an opportunity of becoming a ‘real’ man. It meant the affirmation of necessity of man’s improvement and necessity of a certain moral and social ideal. As it is generally known, the appearance and assertion of the term ‘humanism’ is connected with the Renaissance although the ideas of humanity and justice which are the essential points of this notion had been

The renaissance is a period of change the word renaissance mean rebirth. In this period of time in the Europe many scholars came about to make major contributions to the world, in this time was the most dramatic change of all societal issues and inventions the world has seen. Some historians reject the concept of the Renaissance altogether while most view it as a time of evolution; and see it as the starting of the modern world. The start of the Renaissance began in Italy around 1350 and then spread to the rest of Europe around 1450 and most would say ended around 1620. It was a period of politics, learning, art, religion, music and other social activities.

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.

The renaissance or “rebirth” was a cultural awakening which spanned from the fourteenth to sixteenth century. A growing interest in humanist traits and classical ideas heavily influenced the art during the renaissance. A growing community of artists provided much needed competition for their profession. The renaissance introduced many different and modern ideas but also remained obedient to classical belief. The unique art of the renaissance spread throughout Europe. Northern European art differed tremendously from Italian art.

You may wonder about, "The Renaissance" and its relationship to another term, "humanism" which fits into the same time period. If you check the dictionary, you will find that both terms can be used in a broad sense or more specifically. Humanism refers generally to a "devotion to the humanities: literary culture." (My definitions come from Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary). According to that definition we should all be humanists.