The Impact Of Humanism In The Renaissance

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 began in the 1300’s and brought with it many new ideas and ways of thinking. The main one of these ideas being humanism, or that the best that a man can be is greater than the idea of theology. The Italians began to spread this idea and it began to grow. The Italians decided that the best way to express and spread the idea of humanism during the Renaissance was through their sculptures and paintings. This can be seen in many works of art from this time period such as the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci, The School of Athens by Raphael, and Michelangelo's David.

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.

Viewing a complete shift in the psychology of the European mind, inspiring literature of this Renaissance time period heavily influenced the thoughts and views of humanity. This belief in the capabilities and views on the revival of humans, known as humanism, impacted not only revolutionary advancements, but also positive emotions of people. At this point in history, countless people in Europe viewed their society as a failure because it could not produce the successes, nor the achievements of the Roman empire. Instead, the overall mood of the society was very morose, for the architects were not even aware, or knowledgeable of how to finish off the domes of churches in Florence. Furthermore, the people living in Italy needed to change their

Humanism affected the art of the Renaissance because of how Renaissance artists became increasingly interested with humanist concepts, and because of how they tried to incorporate humanist beliefs into their art. Artists conveyed their humanist beliefs by using new techniques such as perspective, and by painting more realistic figures. In addition, humanism encouraged artists to paint using new secular themes that were rediscovered along with classical art and texts. The artists of the Italian Renaissance expressed the ideals of their time period by painting more secular scenes rather than religious ones, and by using new techniques taken from the art and texts that were discovered during that period.

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

Humanism had a big impact on the Renaissance and changed the mindset and thought process of people moving forward. Humanism derived from the studies called studia humanities but got called humanism later in the 19th century. There was still always a question about what humanism really was and what it meant. There were discussions about definition of humanism into the study of classical texts as well as how it talked about how people viewed the world. .

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

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

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 was an activity of reform in the pursued by philosophers, intellects, writers and community leaders, which would become known as the Renaissance. This movement was influenced by the ideals of the Italian scholar Petrarch. The movement encouraged scientific studies and the humanities of grammar, history and philosophy in order to revive the cultural community increasing humanity’s achievement potential.

For centuries, people looked to religion for the answers to their greatest questions. The Church had a firm grip of how people viewed the world. God's will was to be followed without question and any attempt to explain a phenomenon without God's involvement was heresy. When the Renaissance began to spread across Europe, the qualities of humanism became more prominent. Scientific and rational analysis was becoming of great interest compared to supernatural explanations. Renaissance world-view can be characterized by a growing humanistic orientation that can be demonstrated by analyzing cultural artifacts from the era.

First introduced within Italy in the 13th and 14th century, then spreading across Western Europe, Renaissance humanism was the study of classical antiquity covering ancient Greece and Rome. Humanists believed that this period was one of greatness; They wanted to recapture as much as they could. The term “Renaissance” translates to “rebirth” ; Deriving old literature and art to depict a better understanding of human achievement.

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 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.