Why Did Humanism Occur

To what extent was Humanism the main reason that the Renaissance occurred?
I would say that Humanism is a somewhat important, yet not crucial, factor in the birth of the Renaissance. I feel that the most important factor was the stability of Italy after the Peace of Lodi, followed closely by the Wealth of Italy and her trade with the far east. I consider Humanism to be less crucial than these two factors, but more important than the Printing Press and the newfound hunger for knowledge that became common in late 14th Century and 15th Century Italy.
I consider the stability brought on by the Treaty of Lodi, signed in 1454, to be the most important factor in the birth of the Renaissance because I believe that it helped to develop many of the other
I believe that the new way of thinking that it introduced – questioning what you learn, as opposed to blindly accepting it as was the norm in Scholasticism; as well as the new values introduced by Humanism, such as the focus on Rhetoric, classical Latin and reintroduction of the values of Ancient Greece and Rome, contributed a great amount to the Renaissance. Without Humanism, the shift from religion and humility towards luxury and opulence may not have been so drastic, and the ideas of “negotium” that contributed to Patronage of the arts, sciences and literature may never have become a part of the Italian culture. However, Humanism’s importance is limited in that another method of thought may have been born out of the wealth and stability of Italy, but without these two crucial factors Humanism would be unlikely to develop, at least to the extent that it
Suddenly, books could be produced in great numbers, for a much lower price and with greater accuracy than transcription-by-hand could achieve. Ideas and knowledge could be exchanged on a much greater scale, much faster than ever before, with errors amended in a much shorter period of time. With the printing press, the study of Literature also became easier, as printed books were more legible and more easily available than before. This contributed to the birth of the Renaissance as it allowed for the development and exchange of the new methods of thought introduced by Humanism and allowed for the work of writers and scientists to be shared with a large amount of people, especially with the decreased costs. However, I would argue that the Printing Press is limited in its effect as while it allowed for the exchange of ideas, it did not contribute anything to them and thus the printing press on its own could not have contributed a great amount to the Renaissance, but when combined with other factors it became very