humanism in the renaissance
The renaissance started in the 14th century in cities of Northern Italy. During this time the social elite became more interested in the literature and ideas of ancient Greece and Rome. People started to reject some of the ideas and practices of medieval civilization and turned to the idea of humanism. Humanism was a new concern with people as powerful, creative individuals in a dynamic secular world. During the Renaissance humanistic attitudes and cultural productions consisted of; the rediscovery of classical sources, freedom of the individual, a new concern for the present instead of the life after death, and the new discovered pleasure of classical literature and books. Religion during the Renaissance was not at all forgotten and instead emphasis was placed on learning classical languages to improve translations of the Bible and studying classical literature for its relation to Christian ideals and life. In the early Renaissance, literary humanism and a movement to receive classical literature and the values expressed in classical writings, was central. The focus turned from people as religious beings, to include the problems of people and nature in the human world. People started to rea
People should have the right to peruse Liberal Studies and humanistic learning if they wanted to. The writing has nothing to do about how people are to save themselves for the afterlife, like in teachings and literature during the Middle Ages. Another example of fre!edom of the individual has to do with women during the Renaissance. In one chapter topic " Against those men who claim it is not good for women to be educated," Pizan writes " I realize that women have accomplished many good things and that even if evil women have done evil, it seems to me, nevertheless, that the benefits accuring and still accruing because of good women- particularly the wise and literary ones. This is just one example of many that Machiavelli gives to a prince on how to act. Books were written about politics and how to maintain high positions in life. Many literature sources advised people on how to become better people for the present instead of teaching them how to save themselves when they die. Also, once the accusations that classical literature diverted people away from religion was no longer a belief, more people began to read classical works. The one shews what men should do, the other what men have said and done in the past, and what practical we may draw therefrom for the present day"(7). Castiglione is basically saying that it is better to start with nothing and become successful than to start off well and fail, which could ruin your family name. The movements and gestures of these philosophers symbolize values characteristic of the Renaissance. For example, Florentine Francesco Petrarch was well known for love sonnets and other classical translations. Another author Baldesar Castiglione writes on the qualities necessary for men or women to rise or maintain their position in court life. Vergerio is saying that from studying moral philosophy and history, men can reflect from that and draw conclusions to what will work for them in the present. People started to read all sorts of things like sonnets, classical books, writings on different life styles, concept on the freedom of the individual, and writings on political theory, instead of just reading from the bible.
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