Humanism is an intellectual and social movement that belongs to the period called Renaissance.

Its ideals developed in all the branches of learning firstly in Italy, then in all Europe.

During this period, different aspects of the classical civilization (Greece and Rome) were rediscovered and revaluated.

This movement was also a reaction to the Scholasticism which was another intellectual movement that had as its most important points philosophy and above all theology.

Firstly Humanism spread in Italy because this country had never completely lost Latin literacy, as a matter of fact it was taught in the schools and universities, above all in law universities where people learnt for example the rhetorical works of Cicero. As a consequence, Latin literacy was not confined mainly to churchmen as everywhere else in Europe.

The early humanists were the ones who for the first time tried to divide history into many periods and so they invented the terms "Middle Ages" and "Renaissance". Before this time, history was seen as a continuum. No distinction was drawn between the civilization of Greece and Rome and that of the medieval period. The idea of a "fall of the Roman Empire" had no meaning and there was no line drawn between classical and medieval Latin. 

Humanists used to undertake large journeys from monastery to monastery and find works forgotten for centuries. New editions and translations of these works were produced and spread. They became interested in Hebrew history as well, and produced an accurate translation of the Bible.

During the Renaissance was invented the printing press, which meant that for the first time, men and women of moderate means could acquire their own books and that both the classics and new works could circulate widely. Venice by the late XV century was known as the printing capital of Europe. 

It took longer, however, for the new scholarship to spread beyond a certain intellectual elite. Even a century after Petrarch, the universities--even in Italy--were still dominated by thinkers of the older schools. Humanism spread outwards from Italy. Germany in particular was greatly affected by the new methods, particularly in the area of Biblical scholarship. England was perhaps the last to be touched, for it was not until the latter half of the reign of Henry VIII that Oxford and Cambridge became dominated by humanist scholarship.

Most of historians say that Petrarch was the first humanist.

Petrarch was an Italian poet and writer lived during the XIV century. He influenced not only Italy but most of the countries in Europe, so his successors called him as “spiritual father”. Petrarch was a great admirer of Cicero, and rediscovered and translated much of his correspondence.

He received for the first time since antiquity a laurel crown for his poetry.

The figure of Petrarch was an enigma, in fact he turned to solitude and retirement in later life but he never abandoned his classical sources as a model for writing.

However his outlook became more and more medieval.

Petrarch was a Florentine but he spent most of his life elsewhere.