Renaissance Humanism

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.

Humanism played a huge role in the Italian Renaissance as it changed the landscape of the Italians. The definition of Humanism is “an outlook or system of thought attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Humanist beliefs stress the potential value and goodness of human beings, emphasize common human needs, and seek solely rational ways of solving human problems.” It relation to the Italian humanism It’s the influence of behavior that relate to the goodness of humanity as all humans are good. The Italians were influenced by the romans because the romans have done great things even though in the views of Christian they deserved to go to hell.

The Renaissance is the label we put upon the emergence of a new perspective and set of ideals in Europe. This does not mean that it was sudden, neat and clean. It was gradual, inconsistent, and variable from place to place. The Renaissance had its origins in Italy because a powerful merchant class arose in its cities that replaced the landed aristocracy and clergy as the leaders of society. This new class, along with many aristocrats and clergy, embraced humanist ideals. Generally speaking, humanism was a new worldly ideal to replace the medieval focus on eternal life. Humanism was founded on the idea that humanity is capable of greatness by its own means--through wealth, knowledge, art--and does

Northern Renaissance humanists placed more emphasis on early Christian history and works than their Italian counterparts. They studied the Holy Scriptures and the works of several early church fathers, such as Augustine and Jerome. They believed that the Christian church was much simpler than the church of their time. They were also noted for their reform program, in which they believed that they need to change the humans in order to improve society. Erasmus, a famous humanist, wrote that he “would [prefer] that even the lowliest women read the Gospels and the Pauline Epistles.” (Spielvogel 337). His quote reflected the attitude of many Christian humanists at that time. Christian humanists support the use of education since they believed

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

Humanism, an enlightening and theoretical viewpoint that emphasize the special value of the entity, as well as the fundamental meaning of human standards while conflicting to spiritual principle, that was urbanized within Europe in the new beginning. This was predisposed through the lessons of early Greek along with Latin literature in addition to philosophy (“Humanism” 1). Humanism became a learning agenda, which was called “The Humanities”; this program had Christian teachings and secular values. Renaissance humanist were devoted Christians, they had a love for classical antiquity and also supported and promoted secular values. Humanism is by the way of an answer toward the absolute corruption of regular practice. The effects of humanism

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.

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

The Renaissance refers to an era of intellectual excitement when art, literature, and science blossomed and groundbreaking humanistic ideas started to make way. The impact of the Renaissance was powerful and has endured for centuries. This important era changed the concept of what it means to be human and emphasized the beauty and intelligence of the individual forming the principle of the Italian Renaissance, the philosophy known as “humanism.” However, what did change man’s view of man in this bonanza of innovation and rebirth? Quite frankly, humanism was the most effective in changing man’s view of man.

A significant increase in secular art began in the early Renaissance because of an enormous gain of wealth by Florence in the early 15th century. The philosophy of humanism began, combining the values of both spirituality and the worth of the human mind and experience. The republics people valued the individualism in humanism, believing their society and its values to represent liberty and freedom. (Harris &Zucker, n.d., para.6). As a result, wealth combined with an interest in portraying individual power, piety, and human experience created a thriving artistic market whose patronage was no longer confined to the exclusive domain of the church. Rather, wealthy private families and government officials began to hire artists with increasing

In conclusion, it is inferential that the Renaissance period gave a greater measure of attention to human growth with proper significance to human action. More importantly, the human person was to take an active role in making everything worth it and not living in contemplation. In that dictum, the emphasis was on human positive interaction to make sure that people live harmoniously not only with one another but also for one another. Therefore, the ideals and goals of humanism in the renaissance period sought to make the world a better place for the human

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.

Humanism, a popular movement during the Renaissance, spread ideas such as self-pleasure, self-knowledge, and human importance, which received a lot of opposition from movements like the Protestant Reformation. The Bible itself has laid down an all powerful law, that man must obey at all costs. Obviously, either the Reformation or the Renaissance, had it right and the other had it wrong. The question is whether the Renaissance or the Reformation was closer to the Biblical view in regards to Man and God.

Europeans emerging into the new era of the Renaissance came upon the deep interest in Latin and Greek literature, whom later took the name “humanists”. Humanism was a new education plan that valued evidence and reason and was influenced by ancient literature from a time when scholars like Plato and Socrates based their teachings with scientific evidence rather than religious teaching. In the effect of the Bubonic plague, many Europeans lost faith when they were battered with the epidemic that drastically decreased the population and in effect, doubted the church and it’s teachings. As the medieval time period reached it’s end, society (mainly scholars at first) became more educated of secular ideas. Therefore, experimented with debates and wrote texts to defend a broader education system not only based on medieval church teachings (Of course, inventions like the printing press in the 1440s highly impacted the spread of teachings and texts which allowed the idea to become more widely known in a shorter period of time than was attempted by past scholars). The impact and growth of secularism and individualism in effect of humanism from the 1400s to 1700s rests highly on humanists like Raphael, Marsilio Ficino and …..who emphasized the teachings of humanism corresponding with the study of ancient texts which modified the educational system and governmental bodies and influenced a change in cultural aspects affecting Renaissance art based on their classical and contemporary

Humanism allowed people to realize that everyone’s mind and thoughts were endless; the only constraint being the imagination. During the Renaissance the aspect of a human’s education was equally important in the creation of well rounded individuals.