1. The heart of the Italian Renaissance
HUMANISM
The heart of the Italian Renaissance

2. An intellectual movement that focused on secular (worldly) rather than on the spiritual (religious) issues of the Medieval thinkers
Petrarch Image from

3. Humanists were Christians who hoped to use the wisdom of the Classics (Greek and Roman literature) to increase their understanding of their current place in time

4. To Seek fulfillment in daily life

5. Individual has dignity and worth

6. Challenge long-accepted traditions and institutions
One of the first person’s to challenge was Desiderius Erasmus with his book
The Praise of Folly
Erasmus sought reform within the Catholic Church

7. Students should study…
Grammar
Rhetoric
History
Moral Philosophy (ethics)
Mathematics
Literary works
Poetry
Music
Astronomy
To stimulate creative and logical powers

8. Each can exist without the other,
Seek fulfillment in daily life
Individual has dignity and worth
Humanism
ties them together
Students should study…
Challenge long-accepted traditions and institutions

9. Humanism
A means of understanding how humanity fits into the plan of God’s creation.
A return to Classical principles: balance, symmetry, control, thought and simplicity
Use of mathematics to determine harmony and proportion

10. Types of
Humanism

11. Christian or Northern Renaissance
Major goal was to reform the CHURCH
Believed in the ability of human beings to reason and improve themselves
Christianity should show people how to live good lives on a daily basis rather than provide a system of beliefs that people have to practice to be saved

12. Civic Reflected the values of the urban society
The duty of the individual is to live an active life for one’s state (government)
An individual only ‘grows to maturity’—both intellectually and morally—through participation’ in the life of the state

13. Intellects and their works
Petrarch—Father of Renaissance Humanism
Desiderius Erasmus—The Praise of Folly
Thomas More--Utopia
Leonardo Bruni—History of the Florentine People
Niccolo Machiavelli—The Prince
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola—Oration of the Dignity of Man
Pietro Paolo Vergerio—Concerning Character