The Renaissance, Then and Now
John Hunter
Comparative Humanities Program
The Liberal Arts, the Humanities, and the
Humanists
• the “Liberal Arts” were based on the subjects taught in pagan schools in the
late Roman empire (2nd – 5th century CE); early Christian writers (Origen,
Tertullian, Jerome) strongly discouraged Christians from attending
• St. Augustine (354 – 430 CE), bishop of Hippo and a former teacher of
rhetoric, wrote treatises encouraging the use of pagan learning (grammar,
Platonic philosophy, etc.) for bible study and Christian theology
• after Christianity became better established, Augustine’s view prevailed
• Cassiodorus (480 – 575) was the first Christian writer to advocate the “seven
liberal arts” in Christian schools and his vision of them set educational
agenda for the next 900 years – argued divine sanction from Proverbs 9:1
Seven Liberal Arts
Trivium (“the three roads”)
Quadrivium (“the four roads”)
Arithmetic
Grammar
Astronomy
Rhetoric
Geometry
Logic
Music
(Verbal)
(Numeric)
Seven Liberal Arts
• these were always, directly or indirectly, the basis of secondary
education in the western world – in the late Roman, Medieval,
and Renaissance worlds
• became the basis of the arts course in the first European
universities: Bologna (1088), Oxford (c. 1096), and Paris
(c.1100) – the other faculties were law, medicine, and theology
• universities evolved from urban cathedral schools as selfregulating institutions of learning, with the explicit goal of trying
to keep the curriculum free from ecclesiastical and civic
interference
The Liberal Arts and the Humanities
• “Humanism” began in Italy at the beginning of the 14th c.
• started as a literary movement among groups of lawyers, notaries, etc. in a few
Italian cities with the goal of reforming Latin prose style to make it more like
classical Latin
• Francesco Petrarca or “Petrarch” (1304 – 74): first self-conscious “humanist”
• he tried to recover and edit classical texts and to revive classical ideals of prose
and poetry – wrote a Latin epic and influential Italian love poetry (popularized
the sonnet form)
• he also created the possibility of a secular “man of letters” - learning could be
partly separated from the authority of the Church but still Christian
• there was never any organized “secular humanism” in the contemporary sense
of the term
The Renaissance
As a historical period:
Italy:
Germany:
England:
c.1400 – 1530
c. 1480 – 1600
c. 1500 – 1620
As a descriptive term:
The self-conscious revival (“rebirth”) of classical ideals and standards in
all branches of artistic and intellectual endeavour
The Renaissance
OneVery Important Caveat:
Renaissance scholars and artists often claimed to be totally different from
their medieval predecessors (they coined the phrase “Dark Ages”) and, for a
long time, modern scholars believed them
Over the past thirty years or so, we have begun to realize how profound the
continuities between the “Renaissance” and the Middle Ages were
Many scholars today use the term “early modern” to cover part or all of the
period from the High Middle Ages (12th c.) to the French Revolution (1789)
The High Renaissance - Highlights
1455:
1484:
- Johannes Gutenberg publishes first printed book (the Bible)
- Marsilio Ficino edits and translates and the first complete works of
Plato in Latin
c.1485: - Leonardo da Vinci draws the “Vitruvian Man”
c.1486: - Pico writes An Oration on the Dignity of Man
1492: - discovery of the New World
1498: - Leonardo da Vinci paints The Last Supper
- Vasco da Gama becomes the first European to sail round the Cape of
Good Hope and into the Indian Ocean
1511: - Raphael paints the School of Athens
1508-12: - Michelangelo paints the Sistine Chapel ceiling
1513: - Machiavelli composes The Prince
1516: - Erasmus publishes the first modern edition of the Greek New
Testament with a Latin translation
1520: - Ferdinand Magellan rounds Cape Horn and names the Pacific Ocean
The High Renaissance – Then and Now
• NOW: modern clichés of the Renaissance tend to
emphasize its optimistic, forward-looking
characteristics and its many material and intellectual
achievements - e.g. Pico’s Oration
• THEN: the people who lived through the High
Renaissance saw these achievements, but valued them
very differently to us – they also experienced it as an
age of near constant war, plague, threat of invasion (by
the Turks), and uncertainty – e.g. Erasmus’s letters
Pico della Mirandola,
Oration on the Dignity of Man (c.1486)
It is written as a speech and, like all good speeches, it has a logical
structure that organizes Pico’s ideas:
Part I: Mankind and Traditions of Knowledge
A) Thesis
1.
Essence of Man (pp.1-6)
B) Nature of Knowledge
1.
2.
Unity of All Traditions of Knowledge (pp.6-10)
The Highest Forms of Knowledge are Mysteries (pp.10-14)
Pico della Mirandola,
Oration on the Dignity of Man (c.1486)
Part II – The Present and the Way Forward
C) State of Philosophy at Present
1. Philosophy is in Trouble (like always . . .) (pp.14-15)
D) His Plan for the Disputation
1. Justification for Public Debate of 900 Theses (pp.16-17)
2. Desire to not be limited to One School of Philosophy, but to range through
them all (pp.18-19)
Pico della Mirandola,
Oration on the Dignity of Man (c.1486)
E) Christian Learning vs. Learning in General
•
•
Learning Came Last to Christian Culture (pp.19-20)
Desire to Show the Syncretic Nature of Truth and to Reconcile Different
Schools (pp.20-22)
F) Magic
•
•
Magic can be both good and bad (pp.22-23)
Good magic reveals the highest mysteries of creation (pp.23-24)
Pico della Mirandola,
Oration on the Dignity of Man (c.1486)
G) Mysteries: Pagan, Jewish, and Catholic
1.
2.
3.
Jewish Mysticism and its Affirmation of Christian Truth (pp.25-28)
Orphic Mysteries work in the same way (p.28)
Ends by asserting that he can reconcile Plato and Aristotle (p.29)
NOW: this text is seen as a paradigmatic example of Renaissance learning
THEN: it was condemned as heretical, never published in Pico’s lifetime, and
led to Pico’s arrest. He was forced to recant 13 of the theses
Erasmus of Rotterdam,
Letter to Wolfgang Capito (February, 26th, 1517)
“It is not part of my natural disposition, dear Wolfgang, to be excessively
fond of life. Perhaps I have lived long enough, having entered my fifty-first
year, or possibly I see nothing so splendid or delightful in this life as to merit
desire by one who is convinced that a happier life awaits those who in this
world earnestly seek after piety. But I almost wish to be young again, and this
for the reason that I expect the coming of a golden age: we clearly see how
rulers, as if changed by inspiration, devote all their energies to the pursuit of
peace . . .”
Erasmus of Rotterdam,
Letter to Wolfgang Capito (February, 26th, 1517)
“I see that the leaders of the world-King Francis of France, Charles the
Catholic King, King Henry of England, and Emperor Maximilian-have made
a drastic cutback on their armaments and have established a secure and, I
hope, lasting peace. Therefore I am encouraged to entertain the expectation
that there will be a renascence or even an efflorescence, not only of good
morals and Christian piety, but also of the purer and genuine kind of
learning and the finest branches of knowledge. The basis for my hope lies in
the fact that this goal is being pursued with equal enthusiasm in various parts
of the globe: in Rome by Pope Leo, in Spain by the Cardinal of Toledo, in
England by King Henry VIII, a scholar himself of no mean ability; in our
country by King Charles, a young man of superhuman gifts; in France by
King Francis, who was born so to speak for this very purpose, and who is
also offering rich rewards to invite and attract from other lands men who are
eminent for virtue and learning . . .”
Erasmus of Rotterdam,
Letter to Wolfgang Capito (February, 26th, 1517)
“It is due to the piety of such rulers that we see gifted men all over the world
awakening to the sound of the signal and rising up and joining forces to
revive the best learning. How else can one explain the fact that all these
learned scholars from various lands are sharing their efforts, and pursue this
wonderful work not only with vigor but also with a fair degree of success,
with the result that there is almost a sure hope that all branches of learning
will blossom forth in a much purer and more genuine condition.”
Erasmus of Rotterdam,
Letter to Wolfgang Capito (February, 26th, 1517)
“On the other hand, theology has presented a little more of a problem,
because until now professors of theology have generally had a deep
abhorrence of good learning and have covered up their ignorance all the
more successfully by doing so under the guise of piety. As a result these
fellows have convinced the illiterate masses that it is a violation of religion for
anyone to assail their barbarism. They complain bitterly to the unlettered
populace in particular and appeal for stoning whenever they see any danger
of their ignorance being exposed. But I am confident that this situation too
will turn out well, once the study of the three languages gains public
acceptance in the schools, as it has begun to. . . . Not long ago a man
complained bitterly to the people here, in a tearful voice, and of course in a
sermon, that the Scriptures were done with, as also the theologians who up
to now had borne the Christian faith upon their shoulders-now that men had
appeared who were emending the text of the Holy Gospel and even of the
Lord's Prayer-as if I were finding fault with Matthew or Luke instead of
discovering the original correct text. In England, one or two persons are
screaming that it is a shameful thing for me to try to teach an outstanding
man like St. Jerome-as if I were altering and not restoring his original.”
Erasmus of Rotterdam,
Letter to Wolfgang Capito (February, 26th, 1517)
“There is one thought that causes me anxiety; it is the fear that under the
appearance of a renascence of ancient learning paganism may attempt to rear
its head, for even among Christians there are some who acknowledge Christ
practically in name only, while within their hearts they breathe the spirit of
paganism; I am also afraid that Judaism may plan to use the renascence of
Hebrew learning as an occasion for revival. There is no plague so opposed
and so hostile to the teaching of Christ. Such has always been the condition
of human affairs. Whenever anything good has succeeded, something bad
has immediately used it as a pretext for trying to intrude itself. I would like to
see those chilly subtleties completely lopped off - or at least they should not
be the only interest of theologians - and Christ in all His simplicity and purity
deeply planted in the hearts of men. I think the best way to accomplish this
is to use the knowledge of the languages in order to penetrate deeply into the
meaning of the sources themselves.”
Erasmus of Rotterdam,
Letter to Antony Dalban (April 1st, 1531)
“We would have woes in abundance, even if no more were added. For some
time now we have been infested by the plague, which does not come to an
end. The high cost of living continues to go up. God only knows what is to
follow. . . . They say the Turks are assembling three armies: one to invade
Austria, against Ferdinand; another to invade Poland, which they have long
been threatening; and a third to attack Nap1es; and from there they will go to
ask the Pope for his blessing. This is a difficult situation, but still not so bad
as if all Germany and the neighboring countries should become embroiled
in mutual slaughter. You will say it is a fierce disease and cannot be cured by
ordinary remedies. But I loathe remedies that are more terrible than the
disease itself. If the sword is the means of solving the situation, then the
biggest share of calamities will fall upon the innocent, and under the guise of
defending religion the world will be filled with robbers. Spain is harboring
many concealed Jews and Germany contains very many who are naturally
inclined toward robbery and are well practiced in it because of wars. This
whole sea of filth will first engulf Germany, then the rest of the world. . . .”
Erasmus of Rotterdam,
Letter to Antony Dalban (April 1st, 1531)
“The world has never-had a more powerful emperor than it has
now. . . . But in the present state of affairs it seems that the one
best augury is for all men to appease the divine Being. Yet this,
the most important thing of all, is most of all neglected. This is
an age of excellent rulers, yet how can one explain the disasters
in Christendom if it be not that God is angry with our wicked
deeds?”