The Italian Renaissance1. individualism2. secularism

Italy in the 14th and 15 centuries is the cultural leader of Europe

Renaissance Italy was a product of1. wealthy society2. urban society3. lay society

1. Intellectual/literary movement2. Based on the study of classical literary

works of ancient Greece and Rome3. Humanists studies the LIBERAL ARTS

grammarrhetoricpoetrymoral philosophy/ethicshistory

Petrarch = the father of humanism1. Consider the middle ages a dark age2. Interest in classical antiquity3. Search for forgotten or lost latin manuscripts

and works of antiquity

“civic humanism” Cicero as a model Growing interest in classical Greek

civilization LORENZO VALLA

Interest in the works of Plato

Christianity + Platonism = NEOPLATONISM

Hermeticism PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA

– 1. one of the great

humanists2. author of – Oration

on the Dignity of Man3. unlimited human

potential

Humanist idea – education can change people

“liberal studies” = the liberal arts Humanist schools geared to elites Practical preparation for life -> produce

complete citizens -> participate in civic life

Humanist schools = classics + Christianity = model for elite schooling up to the 20th century

Humanist began to see history as divided into1. ancient world = classical world = antiquity2. the Middle Ages = the dark ages3. their time = a time of rebirth

Secularizing the writing of history -> relying on documents and evidence, removing religious explanations and miracles

Causation in history -> not God, human forces

Printing was invented in the time of the Renaissance

Transformed the intellectual life and thought JOHANNES GUTENBERG = the movable type

printing press 1445-1450 Gutenberg bibles Printing spread rapidly across Europe

1. by 1500 – 1000 printers2. 40,000 titles3. half were religious, half secular4. big business5. encouraged spread of knowledge6. created a lay reading public