Renaissance humanism

Renaissance humanism was an intellectual movement that revived the study of classical Greek and Roman texts and emphasized grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy.

Studia humanitatis: The Renaissance curriculum of grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, and moral philosophy. These five disciplines defined the movement’s educational program.
Petrarch: A fourteenth-century Italian poet and scholar whose recovery and imitation of classical literature helped shape Renaissance humanism. His search for ancient manuscripts and advocacy of classical learning helped establish humanist ideals.
Textual criticism: The comparison of textual witnesses to identify or explain variations in a work’s wording. Humanists compared manuscripts to correct corrupt texts and recover earlier readings.
Humanist education: An educational approach centered on classical languages and the disciplines of the studia humanitatis. Schools and tutors used humanist texts to cultivate eloquence, judgment, and moral character.
Scholasticism: A medieval method of teaching and inquiry that used logical analysis to reconcile authoritative texts. Humanists criticized scholastic style and priorities, though both traditions remained active in Renaissance learning.
Classical antiquity: The cultures and historical periods of ancient Greece and Rome. Humanists treated ancient literature and history as sources of learning and models of style.
Coluccio Salutati: A Florentine statesman and scholar who promoted classical studies and humanist literary culture in the late fourteenth century. His civic office and correspondence connected humanist learning with public life.
Donation of Constantine: A forged imperial document granting extensive authority to the papacy, composed centuries after Constantine’s reign. Valla used linguistic evidence to expose this document as a forgery.
Civic humanism: A Renaissance ideal linking classical learning and eloquence with active service to the political community. Florentine writers adapted humanist study to citizenship and republican public life.
Aristotelianism: Philosophical traditions based on the works and influence of Aristotle. Humanists’ emphasis on rhetoric and moral philosophy differed from university traditions centered on Aristotelian logic and natural philosophy.

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