Various Movements Appeared in The Renaissance Period in Italy

Humanism - A program of study designed by Italians the emphasized the Critical study of Latin and Greek literature with the goal of understanding human nature. Humanism contained the philosophy that states, human nature and achievements were worthy of contemplation. It was the main intellectual component of the renaissance.

Leonardo Bruni - (1374-1444) closely linked the decline of the Latin language after the death of cicero to the decline of the roman republic. Bruni was clear that there was a new era on the horizon, as he was the first person to divide history into 3 eras: Ancient, Medieval, and modern.

Giovani Pico della Mirandola –On the Dignity of Man - Pico was Ficino’s most talented student and believed that both christian and classical texts taught that the universe was a hierarchy of beings from God, to spiritual, to material, with humans in the middle (alike between material and spiritual). He made 1900 mpoints of argumentation and offered to defend anyone who wanted to come to rome.

Leon Alberti - (1404-1472) wrote novels, plays, legal treaties, a study of the family, and first scientific analysis of perspective. Albertie designed churches, palaces, and effective fortifications against cannons. He invented codes for sending secret messages and a machine that could read/decode the messages. In his autobiography albertie referred to himself as he. ALbertie was also known as a “renaissance man” Individualism - Individualism is a political philosophy about one's moral stance, ideology, or social outlook on the world that emphasizes the uniqueness and worth of an individual.

Classicalism - is an art period that had high regards for a classical period. Classicism is also the practice of following ancient Greek or Roman principles and modeling learning and art off of these classical places.

Peter Paul Vergerio - Peter Paul Vergerio was a venetian scholar and church official (1370-1445) who advised the son of the ruler of Padua about proper education for men. He was also a protestant reformer who contributed to the development of Croatian literature.

Alberti’s On the Family - in this book, Alberti stressed that a wife’s role should be restricted to the orderliness of the household, food preparation and serving meals, education of the children, and supervision of servants. Although Alberti never married, he still practiced these values and further advocated for women being in the domestic sphere of life.

Baldassare Castiglione the Courtier - was written in (1528) wand was used to train, discipline, and fashion a young man into the courtly ideal/gentleman. It portrayed the ideal of a man being able to compose a sonnet, wrestle, sing a song and accompanied himself with an instrument, ride expertly, solve difficult math problems, and especially be able to speak and write eloquently. The ideal of a woman was to be well educated, able to paint, dance, and play a musical instrument, as well as being beautiful, a delicacy, cheerful, and modest. This book became a “how-to” manual for those seeking to improve themselves. Was translated into most European languages.

Secularism - secularism is the idea that the church should be separate from the state.

Lorenzo Valla - Lorenzo valla (1406–1457) was an italian humanist who in 1944 produced, Elegantiae linguae Latinae, to demonstrate the pure technique elegant classical latin, straying away from the church medieval times.

Giovanni Boccaccio – The Decameron - The Decameron was a collection of stories that portray the comic and tragic views of life, that greatly influenced the renaissance literature. The Decameron was written from 1348-1353 by Giovanni Boccaccio who was from Florence, Italy.

Christian Humanism - Northern Humanists who interpreted Italian ideas about and attitudes toward classical antiquity and humanism in terms of their own religious traditions. Believed that the ideas of classical and Christian cultures should be combined.

Thomas More – Utopia - Thomas more was a lawyer, who studies the classics and later entered the government. While More was off duty, he had time to write so he wrote a conversational dialogue called Utopia in 1516 (a word he invented from the Greek words for “nowhere”). His writing describes a perfect life where all children receive education, there is no hunger or poverty, and everyone is living a perfect life in a perfect world.

Desiderius Erasmus: The Education of a Christian Prince & The Praise of Folly - Desiderius Erasmus was the Dutch humanist of Rotterdam. He wrote and published scholarly editions and translated public works. The Education of a Christian prince (1504) was one of his most famous works that combined suggestions for a ruler based on the Bible and previous Classical Authors. The Praise of Folly (1509) was also one of his most famous works that showed a “witty, satire poking fun at political, social, and especially religious institutions.”