The Renaissance

• Renaissance Humanism
  • Definition
    • study of the works and activities of humans
    • still religious (not "secular humanism")
    • characteristics of humanism
      • focus on the individual
      • return to personal religion
      • renewed interest in the past
      • reaction to codification of Aristotle
  • The "new learning"
    • another name for empiricism
  • Pendulum effect
    • empiricism making its return
• Renaissance Scholars
  • Francesco Petrarch
    • many mark the beginning of Renaissance by his writings
    • anti-scholastic
    • stimulated others to create new knowledge
  • Giovanni Pico
    • humanist
    • argued for acceptance of all viewpoints
    • books were burned after his death
  • Desiderius Erasmus
    • In Praise of Folly
    • bastard son of a priest
    • reluctant Augustinian, became secretary of Bishop of Cambrai
    • University of Paris
      • debated efficacy of prayer for 8 weeks! (Johnson, P. p. 270)
    • Heard Colet lecture on Paul's Romans
    • Transformed himself into a scholar
    • Wrote prolifically, translated Greek Bible
    • Rejected "mechanical christianity"
  • Martin Luther
    • Augustinian monk
    • also transformed by Paul's Romans (on toilet, he said)
    • began the Reformation with his 95 Theses
    • led to creation of Protestantism
  • Michel de Montaigne
    • new skeptic
    • rejected science and sensory data
    • served as a foil to later scientists
• Renaissance Events
  • Marco Polo's travels
  • Invention of printing press
  • Discovery of the Americas
  • Circumnavigation of globe
  • Luther's challenge of church