Humanism: An Introduction

Humanism is an intellectual and social movement, but historians think that it is what lies at the base of the renaissance. Humanism and its ideals came to pervade the art, literature, learning, law, and civic life, first in Italy, and then in all of Europe.                                                                                                                            Humanism is a rediscovery and re-evaluation of the aspects of classical civilization (ancient Greece and Rome) and the application of these aspects to intellectual and social culture.

Who was the first humanist? Most scholars think that Petrarch, an Italian poet and writer of 1300's, would have been him. His influence has been followed throughout the entire humanistic movement, and his successors called him their spiritual father.                                                                                                                        

Petrarch was a great admirer of Cicero, and so he rediscovered and translated much of his correspondence.

Petrarch also was a bit of an enigma: a man with one foot in the future and one in the past.

He would provide the model for a new civic spirit in Italy, particularly in Florence: so this city was one of two Italian republics (Venice was the other)of humanism and renaissance.

Inspired by Petrarch, the intellectuals of Florence carried on his work and expanded it.

In this way Florence's past was exalted in literature, art, and architecture, and the link with the Roman Republic has the function to point out all these things.

One of the ways in which the spirit of humanism was expressed was in a rise in appreciation for the artifacts of the past. Humanists were the first to draw the distinction between Humanism and Renaissance, seeing classical antiquity as something which was long past, but to be admired and revived.

All of this was helped by the invention of the printing press à Venice by the late fifteenth century was known as the printing capital of Europe.

Humanism eventually spread outwards from Italy. Germany in particular was greatly affected by the new methods, particularly in the area of Biblical scholarship. (It was this sort of thinking that led Martin Luther to question the traditions of the Catholic Church).

Eventually, the printing houses of Germany rivaled those of Italy.

England was the last to be touched: during the reign of Henry VIII, Oxford and Cambridge became dominated by humanist scholarship.

Petrarch (1304-1374)

Francis Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) was born in Arezzo as the son of a notary, but he spend his early childhood in a village near Florence.

He was an Italian scholar, poet, and humanist, a major force in the development of the Renaissance, famous for his poems addressed to Laura. He  firstly studied at Montpellier and later moved to Bologna, where he studied law.

He was very interested in writing and Latin literature, so in Avignon he composed numerous sonnets which acquired popularity.

The turning point in his life was April 6 1327, when he first saw Laura in the church of Sainte-Claire d'Avignon à Later she became the queen of his poetry.

He died in Arquà in the Euganean Hills on 18th July 1374.

Petrarch was recognised as the greatest scholar of his age: he wrote the majority of his works in Latin, although his sonnets and canzoni written in Italian were as the same way  influential. 

Petrarch was also known as a devoted student of antiquity: he combined interest in classical culture and Christianity and left deep influence on literature throughout Western Europe.

He also wrote many important letters, and his critical spirit made him a founder of Renaissance humanism.

Petrarch wrote and revised his sonnets during the years between 1327 and 1374.

Canzoniere (Song Book) was inspired by the Lady who Petrarch renamed Laura. However, his love was not returned, her presence causes him unspeakable joy, and on the other hand it creates unendurable desires.