others had been copied down and pre-
served. Most of these books were written
in Latin, the language of ancient Rome
that still served as a universal language for
the educated people of Europe. Some had
been preserved by Arab scholars and had
returned to Europe through the Moorish
kingdom of Spain and the Islamic realms
of the Middle East. Scholarship in the clas-
sics was further helped by the arrival of
Greek scholars from the Byzantine Em-
pire, who fled as the Ottoman Turks con-
quered their homeland in the middle of
the fifteenth century.
A new scholarship emerged, as the
books were studied and translated into the
modern languages, such as French and
Italian, that had evolved from Latin. In
doing so, these scholars and editors were
carrying out a revolution in thought. No
longer were their efforts concentrated on
the philosophy of Christianity, and the
works of church fathers such as Saint Am-
brose and Saint Augustine who had made
the interpretation of the Bible their life’s
work. Instead, the ancient pagan authors
and their approach to art and philosophy
were found worthy of study. The doctrines
of the Christian church that had domi-
nated medieval society now competed with
the sensibilities of ancient Greece and
Rome.
In the fifteenth century the passion for
ancient writers traveled from scholars to
rulers. In describing the Florentine prince
Cosimo de’ Medici, the historian George
Holmes wrote, “Cosimo ... combined great
wealth with a genuine interest in both clas-
sical literature and the arts. Cosimo fell
under the spell of a belief in the spiritual
value of truths to be gained from ancient
literature....”^1
Humanists such as Cosimo de’ Medici
strived to lead a virtuous life, and to instill
the virtues of ancient Rome and Greece in
their own society through education and
training of the young. A basic humanist
education was believed to lay the proper
foundation for studies in the fields of law
and medicine and life as a worthy citizen.
Wealthy families employed humanists to
tutor their children, believing that knowl-
edge of classical literature in its original
language was the mark of a truly educated
man or woman. Instead of learning and
following church dogma, the scholars of
the Renaissance posed questions and of-
fered criticism of the church and of long-
accepted public institutions. To the Re-
naissance humanist, the Middle Ages was
a time of primitive art, science, and phi-
losophy—a time that was drastically dif-
ferent, and less worthy, than their own.
This humanist trend in art began in
Italy, with the works of Giotto di Bondi
and Masaccio, who strived to portray the
reality of the human form and human
emotions in their works. It was present
also in written works, such as the short
stories written by Giovanni Boccaccio in
hisDecameron—a collection of one hun-
dred tales of very human greed, lust, and
folly. “Humanism” was taken up by the
philosophers of Florence, such as Giovanni
Pico della Mirandola, who combined many
different faiths into a single all-
encompassing worldview that he credited
not to divine inspiration but to the cre-
ativity of authors, religious leaders, and
philosophers.
At the same time, art and writing be-
came more accessible. The streets and
squares of Florence, Venice, Rome, and
other cities displayed new monuments and
statuary, created in the classical style. Latin
texts were not just privileged to the few,
but available to many through translation
and through the new technology of print-Preface