The Role Of Humanism In The European Renaissance

Life before the European Renaissance was forlorn. There was little hope for a happy existence during the Dark Ages. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were manifesting throughout Europe. After the Roman Empire fell, there was little to no stability in Europe’s society besides the corrupt Roman Catholic Church. Famine hit northern Europe especially hard and the Black Death spread like wildfire killing an estimated 25 million individuals. Feudalism was the dominant government throughout Europe and as the population decreased the system faced issues. Europe’s economy crashed as food prices soared and peasants demanded higher wages. In many places peasants were starting to escape from their serfdoms, guilds became very competitive and revolts
Prior to the Renaissance, humans weren’t thought to have much potential. Pope Innocent III’s On the Misery of the Human Condition, is a perfect example of how humans were viewed. Pope Innocent III writes, “He was born to toil, dread, and trouble; and more wretched still, was born only to die” (Pope Innocent III 1). Man wasn’t expected to do much except sin, disgrace God, and then parish. Humanism provided a striking contrast to this idea, human potential and the perfection of man was a large focus. The European Renaissance lasted from 1350 CE to1600 CE. Petrarch, one of the earliest advocates for humanism, found he didn’t have morally conscious figures during his time to pull inspiration from. Consequently, he decided to refer back to classical antiquity for inspiration. Ancient manuscripts were collected and put into libraries. Humanism provided a more secular but not anti-religious
During the European Renaissance, many of the works embodied the ideals of humanism. Humanism was widely successful and spread quickly through Europe. To this day, humanism is still present. In fact, quite a bit of present education has many humanist education aspects to it. For example, students are taught rhetoric throughout English and other literature classes. Eloquence is also taught in the form of word choice and sentence structure.Also, students still study classical antiquity. In school, Greek and Roman times are studied along with the analysis of works such as The Iliad, The Aeneid, and Metamorphoses are common. The idea of reading classical authors such as Ovid, Virgil, and many others hasn’t died at. The concept of carpe diem is still very prominent. Carpe diem has continued to be reflected society and has taken on the new term, you only live once, and is commonly referred to in music. The argument that individuals only have one life to live and the future is uncertain will forever be a reality of life. Just as works of writers such as Shakespeare and Marvell embodied the ideals of humanism during the European Renaissance, current writers will mirror aspects of the current society in their