Humanism: Bridging the Gap Between the Dark Ages and the Renaissance

Humanism: Bridging the Gap between the Dark Ages and the Renaissance

Nicholas DiOrio

History 101B
TA: Abby Cliff
November 16, 2012 It is commonly known in the world of history that the Middle Ages were a time of very slow, almost nonexistent growth, while the Renaissance is known for its divinity and rapid spread of the arts, literatures, and culture, as well as many other aspects of life during this time period. Voltaire even believed the Renaissance to be one of the four golden ages of European culture. The Renaissance did not simply emerge sporadically out of the Middle Ages, but rather, took its roots from a new way of thinking called humanism. Humanism has affected the emergence and growth of the Renaissance in many areas. In this paper you will read about some very influential figures if humanism an their beliefs, as well as how, amongst others, limitations on women, education, and politics all have effected and helped humanism bridge the gap between the Dark Ages and the Renaissance. The Middle Ages is a time period that is commonly referred to as the “Dark Ages.” There was relatively little growth in many aspects of life. It was in a stagnant state where intellectuals seemed to be few and far apart. The term “Dark Ages” was actually coined by Francesco Petrarch, a man that is considered to be the father of humanism. When he first used the term the Dark Ages, he was referring to a period of time between the early Renaissance and the Ancient Roman world. Petrarch stated that, “once the darkness has been broken, our descendants will perhaps be able to return to the pure, pristine radiance.” The descendants are referring to the Ancient Romans and the darkness is the equivalent of the Dark Ages. This statement shows the early beginnings of humanistic thoughts and the belief that society will once again strive and grow if it reverted back to the way of life portrayed in Ancient Rome. The humanistic era is hard to put a date on. No one is positively sure of when humanistic ideas began to emerge, but it occurred sometime before the Renaissance and bridged the gap from the Dark Ages. Italy became the birthplace of humanism and eventually the Renaissance for a multiple of different reasons. For one, it was much more urban than the rest of Europe and considerably more secular and worldly. Member of the church did not possess the power to control, amongst other thing, the government, hospitals, and education systems. Even boards were set up in order to control keep control over the churches of Italy. Lewis W. Spitz states that, “it was as though centuries of compressed action had been released in a few decades. “ Spitz is saying that for centuries during the Dark Ages, there was not much advancement in culture, but when the idea of humanism emerged, the rate at which culture and society as a whole grew was extraordinary.
The term “humanism” was first used in 1808 by a German philosopher by the name of F.I. Niethammer. He used it to describe a philosophy of education that favored classical studies. Although the term humanism was not coined for hundreds of years after its time period, the definition that Niethammer gives is fairly accurate. During the humanistic era, people were in search of rebirthing the culture of Ancient Rome. Among the most important of people that have this belief is Francesco Petrarch. Francesco Petrarch, the father of humanism, lived from 1304-1274. His main concern in life was to reconstruct the republic government of Rome. He believed that this would be the only way for society to advance and move on, away from the Dark Ages. Petrarch states in a letter, “O inglorious age! Hat scorns antiquity, its mother, to whom it owes every noble art—that dares to declare itself bot only equal but superior to the glorious past.” Petrarch is talking about the Dark Ages and how it gives the world of the ancients a bad name yet that era still tries to rival that of Ancient Rome, an idea that Petrarch finds absurd. Petrarch believed that steps needed to be taken if society were to ever reach the level at which Ancient Rome was at. A reconstruction of Rome first needed to take place, which could be done by studying classical works. An imitation of the classical society needed to occur in order to put his plan in motion. After these things were implemented, Petrarch believed that imitation was no longer enough and advancement beyond copying needed to occur and then, at that point, society could rival that of the classical society. This is exactly what he did, not by himself, but he achieved his goals through the help of many other humanistic followers which ultimately led to the Renaissance. Although humanism seemed to be an entity of good, there were still some negatives, just as there are with anything in this world. The idea that humanism is trying to implement a society that rivals that of Ancient Rome also means that the negative aspects are being revived as well, whether or not someone likes it. One of these negatives would be women’s rights. Women in general have not shared equality on this planet for a very long time. It is quite uncommon to see equality dating back just decades ago in even advanced societies of today, so to see equal rights in the ancient world is even rarer. Women did not possess many privileges in Roman society and those same ideas are spread into the minds of humanists. Leonardo Bruni stated, “For why should the subtleties of rhetorical conundrums consume the powers of a woman, who never sees the forum? The contests of the forum, like those of warfare and battle, are sphere of men.” This quote shows that inequality of women in this emerging society. It shows how men are treated as dominant figures in society and deserve to hold the title of superior to women. Men are the only ones that are capable of fighting and being intelligent. Women were seen as weak and unintelligent, so they were not supposed to get educated. It just goes to show that negatives could be found everywhere. If women could find a way to get educated, men still did not believe that is was right. The belief that women could be just as intelligent as their mail counterpart simply did not exist. Those few women that were educated had to use their intelligence and skills in secret because men were wary of an educated woman. Any piece of literature or work that women during this time period had released would find harsh criticism and were disregarded and ignored. Although Bruni’s statement clearly shows his stance on women privileges, as always there are people who have opposite opinions and thee negative aspect of Ancient Roman revival is just another humanistic stepping stone pushing further into the Renaissance. Many women did eventually get educated, most for no other reason than to manage affairs within their families. The fact that women were now being allowed to become educated is a huge leap forward. Some began to utilize their new privilege to follow the humanistic path and even became influential writers of their times, rivaling that of men. The education system changed dramatically due to the growth in humanistic ideology. The fact that Italy was much more secular and urban before the humanistic movement than the rest of Europe played a vital role in why humanism first spread in Italy. There was a separation of government and religion, an advantage that Italy possessed over much of Europe. The clergy in many European countries still influenced and dictated the way in which people lived. The education system in most of these countries are also controlled by the clergy, were classes are provided to students in churches. The information and teaching that were usually taught did not have practical use in life which ends up deterring any possible growth and prosperity and causes these countries to remain stagnant. Before humanism became rooted in Italian society, the advantages discussed earlier already played a vital role in a better education system. Town governments were in charge of the education, not the church, which leads to more practical teachings. Students would learn an array of subjects from masters, varying from mathematics, accounting, business, and many more. Giovanni Villani, a merchant and banker who wrote the Nuova Cronica, which means the “New Chronicles”, sometimes wrote about education in his city of Florence, Italy. He described what was happening in the schools and wrote, “Boys and girls learning to read numbered 8,000 to 10,000 each year… 1,000 to 1,200 children learning mathematics… [and] there were always 550 to 600 students in attendance to learn proper grammar and logic.” This shows how widespread education already was in a secular community such as Florence, with a total population of around 100,000 persons. This pre-humanistic advantage allowed for Italy to grow faster and become the perfect starting place for humanism to prosper. Lewis W. Spitz stated that, “Italy emerged as a major intellectual and artistic force and assumed its proper place among the people of Europe.” Later on, after Petrarch had begun to have a large mark on society, the education system shifted toward humanistic studies. At first it was more commonplace for children bearing from richer families to begin the learning of humanism set forth by Petrarch. But even poor children that showed skill were able to take part in the newer teachings as well. Students were educated to be able to read, write, speak, and work with history. Many students studied grammar intensely and were made to memorize classical information such as poetry and history. The idea was that if students could memorize classical works, then they could begin to imitate the style. Once again it all comes back to Petrarch’s idea of imitating the classics in order to restore society back to where it should be. If that could be achieved, then eventually, imitation would cease and it would become natural. It is because of this thought process that the Renaissance ever existed. Humanism allowed for some people to leave a state of being static and become a dynamic force capable of innovation. Education is one of the most important, if not the most important factor involved in successfully achieving growth. The Renaissance’s cultural uprising could not have been possible if humanism had not jump-started the world and make it realize its own creativity. In the fifteenth century, there was another shift in humanism that would greatly impact the Renaissance. Although it was a common practice for humanist across the likes of Europe to search for long forgotten works of the classics, it shift occurred when libraries filled with texts of the Ancient world were open to the public. Humanists from across the land would travel to different libraries and study he classical material, and as the humanist learned more and more, they followed in Petrarch’s footsteps and assimilated each new piece of information that they discovered. This sudden and large shift towards library studying caused for philosophies amongst humanist to emerge. These new philosophies carried on into the Renaissance and left a long lasting impact on the way in which people from that era preserved the world. Another shift occurred during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries when magic and sciences began to be studied. Astrology and alchemy, alongside magic became studied intensely and it was believed that everything intertwined somehow which helped to make up the natural world. Alchemy became the most controversial. It was believed that everything in the world was made up of my single material that could be manipulated in any way. Altogether, these investigations into the sciences left a large impact on the Renaissance due to a high curiosity for understanding of how the world works which still continues to this day. Another aspect of humanism that helped to shape the Renaissance was the political thoughts that emerged from the humanist studies of the classics. Petrarch and the following humanists found that their own personal political interests aligned well with the classical political rules studied. It was the belief that no specific form of government was considered to be better than another. Rather the ruler of representative should possess a certain set of characteristics. Under the humanistic ideas, a ruler had to virtuous and by doing so, the rule would gain the affection of his people. A ruler also needed to be generous with is people by giving back to them and treating them fairly. In addition the classical idea that there should be a specific set of rules that does not change also stuck with the perfect humanistic idea of politics. But eventually, as it is with everything, people with oppositions of these ideas began to emerge. The humanistic idea of politics would be challenged after a French invasion of Italy in 1494. Due to the break out of war, there was a sudden turn on humanistic ideas set forth by the classics. On the completely other side of the spectrum from Petrarch is Niccolò Machiavelli, a man that held many titles throughout his life such as writer, politician, and historian. He began to challenge the ideas that humanism set forth. Machiavelli become notable for many things, but most of all was his work, The Prince. In his work he states, “A man who wishes to make a profession of goodness in everything must necessarily come to grief among so many who are not good. Therefore it is necessary for a prince, who wishes to maintain himself, to learn how not to be good, and to use this knowledge and not use it, according to the necessity of the case.” Machiavelli is saying here that in order to live a good and fulfilled life; you must first know what it feels like to live a bad life. This quote can be compare to the saying; you never really understand what a win is until you have lost. Petrarch believed in a very simple idea that, if man is educated, he would continually choose good over bad, or what they called virtue over vice. Machiavelli’s works challenged this idea, believing that just because one is educated does not mean that they will consistently choose virtue over vice. Although these writings of Machiavelli are somewhat detrimental to the humanistic ideas, that does not mean that they completely disappeared from the Renaissance. It is believed that after the opposition that humanism received after the war, especially from writers such as Machiavelli, that humanism stopped growing and hit its peak and matured. Signs of humanism can be seen throughout the time period in which we call the Renaissance. Humanism did not simply “give” the Renaissance all of the aspects discussed in this paper, but rather built the foundation, and in many cases beyond, allowing for the era of the Renaissance to pick up the pieces and continue into a flourishing society. From politics to the arts, and literature to education, it is now easy to see that humanism became the path in which characters such as Francesco Petrarch followed into a more modernistic world. The urban culture of Italy and the decrease in religious control are but minor stepping stones leading the way toward the Renaissance. The Renaissance did not simply emerge sporadically out of the Middle Ages, but rather, took its roots from a new way of thinking called humanism.

Bibliography
Bartlett, Kenneth R. The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A Sourcebook. Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath, 1992.
Breisach, Ernst. Renaissance Europe, 1300-1517. New York, etc: The Macmillan Co., etc, 1973.
International Conference on the Meaning of the Renaissance, Archibald R. Lewis. Aspects of the Renaissance; A Symposium. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967.
King, Margaret L. Women of the Renaissance, 194. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
Machiavelli, Niccolò, and Translated by Luigi. The Prince. edited by E.R.P. Vincent, 92-103. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1935.
Mann, N. Petrarch, 67. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1984.
Petrarch, Francesco, Henry Winchester Rolfe, and James Harvey Robinson. Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and Man of Letter. New York: Greenwood Press, 1969.
Schiffman, Zachary Sayre. Humanism and the Renaissance. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co, 2002.
Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements 1. The Renaissance. St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, 1987.
Trapp, J. B. Background to the English Renaissance, 11. London: Gray-Mills Publishing, 1974.

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[ 1 ]. Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements 1. The Renaissance. St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, 1987.
[ 2 ]. Trapp, J. B. Background to the English Renaissance, 11. London: Gray-Mills Publishing, 1974.
[ 3 ]. Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements 1. The Renaissance. St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, 1987.
[ 4 ]. Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements 1. The Renaissance. St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, 1987.
[ 5 ]. Petrarch, Francesco, Henry Winchester Rolfe, and James Harvey Robinson. Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and Man of Letter, New York: Greenwood Press, 1969.
[ 6 ]. Quoted in King, Margaret L. Women of the Renaissance, 194. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991.
[ 7 ]. Bartlett, Kenneth R. The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A Sourcebook. Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath, 1992.
[ 8 ]. Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements 1. The Renaissance. St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, 1987.
[ 9 ]. Machiavelli, Niccolò, and Translated by Luigi. The Prince. edited by E.R.P. Vuncent, 92-103. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1935.

Bibliography: Bartlett, Kenneth R. The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A Sourcebook. Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath, 1992. Breisach, Ernst International Conference on the Meaning of the Renaissance, Archibald R. Lewis. Aspects of the Renaissance; A Symposium. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1967. King, Margaret L Machiavelli, Niccolò, and Translated by Luigi. The Prince. edited by E.R.P. Vincent, 92-103. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1935. Mann, N Petrarch, Francesco, Henry Winchester Rolfe, and James Harvey Robinson. Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and Man of Letter. New York: Greenwood Press, 1969. Schiffman, Zachary Sayre Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements 1. The Renaissance. St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, 1987. Trapp, J [ 2 ]. Trapp, J. B. Background to the English Renaissance, 11. London: Gray-Mills Publishing, 1974. [ 3 ]. Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements 1. The Renaissance. St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, 1987. [ 4 ]. Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements 1. The Renaissance. St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, 1987. [ 5 ]. Petrarch, Francesco, Henry Winchester Rolfe, and James Harvey Robinson. Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and Man of Letter, New York: Greenwood Press, 1969. [ 6 ]. Quoted in King, Margaret L. Women of the Renaissance, 194. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1991. [ 7 ]. Bartlett, Kenneth R. The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A Sourcebook. Lexington, Mass: D.C. Heath, 1992. [ 8 ]. Spitz, Lewis W. The Renaissance and Reformation Movements 1. The Renaissance. St. Louis: Concordia Publ. House, 1987. [ 9 ]. Machiavelli, Niccolò, and Translated by Luigi. The Prince. edited by E.R.P. Vuncent, 92-103. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1935.