Lodovico Ariosto's Influence On The Renaissance

Lodovico Ariosto Lodovico Ariosto is one of the great humanists of the Renaissance. He was poet from Italy who had a large impact on the Renaissance. Ariosto was born September 8, 1474 in Reggio Emilia Italy. He grew up in a neighboring city Ferrar and had a good education. His first teacher was Luca Ripa, who was a humanist and he taught Ariosto grammar and rhetoric. Ariosto’s father forced him to study law and he didn’t like it all, but his education came to an end when his father died in 1500. After his father’s death he had to help support the family so he joined the military. Ariosto commanded a bordered fortress in the military, but when he returned home he was put in service for the Cardinal. In 1505 he began to write poems in Italian which included
He is one of the most well known humanists in the Renaissance because he expressed humanism in his poems. His poems contain many “values of the world of chivalry, such as love and fidelity. It influenced Cervantes, Spenser, and Shakespeare” (Gale 1). Not only did his poems provide support for humanism in the Renaissance, they also inspired some of the greatest poets and writers of that time. It is very remarkable that Ariosto’s work was admired by shakespeare because he is considered the greatest writer and playwright of all time. Just like his comedies, Ariosto wrote poems until the day he couldn’t because he finished his great narrative poem right before he died. This just shows his dedicated to his work and is a main reason why he had so much impact on the Renaissance with his poems. Ariosto may have been a humanist, but he did use satire in some of his poems to show the flaws in humanism. He had a humanist education, but “he attacked humanists as being immoral and suggested that their teachings were incomplete and sterile” (Andrews 1). This just shows his ability so see both sides of a subject.