Western Civilization

Petrarch (1304–1374), often called the father of Ital-

ian Renaissance humanism, did more than any other

individual in the fourteenth century to foster develop-

ment of the movement. Petrarch’s interest in the classics

led him on a quest for forgotten Latin manuscripts and

set in motion a ransacking of monastic libraries through-

out Europe. In his preoccupation with the classics and

their secular content, Petrarch doubted at times whether

he was sufficiently attentive to spiritual ideals. His

qualms, however, did not prevent him from inaugurating

the humanist emphasis on the use of pure classical Latin,

making it fashionable for humanists to use Cicero as a

model for prose and Virgil for poetry. Petrarch said,

“Christ is my God; Cicero is the prince of the language.”

In Florence, the humanist movement took a new

direction at the beginning of the fifteenth century

when it became closely tied to Florentine civic spirit

and pride, giving rise to what one modern scholar has

labeledcivic humanism. Fourteenth-century human-

ists such as Petrarch had described the intellectual life

as one of solitude, a rejection of family life and com-

munity action. In the busy civic world of Florence,

however, intellectuals began to take a new view of

their role as intellectuals, and they took as their

model the classical Roman statesman and intellectual

Cicero. Leonardo Bruni (1370–1444), a humanist,

Florentine patriot, and chancellor of the city, wrote a

biography of Cicero titledThe New Cicero,inwhichhe

waxed enthusiastic about the fusion of political action

and literary creation in Cicero’s life. From Bruni’s

time on, Cicero served as the inspiration for the

Renaissance ideal that the study of the humanities

should be put to the service of the state. An individual

only “grows to maturity—both intellectually and

morally—through participation” in the life of the

state. This civic humanism reflected the values of an

urbansociety.Itisnoaccidentthathumanistsserved

the state as chancellors, councillors, and advisers.

Also evident in the humanism of the first half of the

fifteenth century was a growing interest in classical

Greek civilization. Bruni, one of the first Italian human-

ists to gain a thorough knowledge of Greek, became an

enthusiastic pupil of the Byzantine scholar Manuel

Chrysoloras (kris-uh-LOR-uss), who taught in Florence

from 1396 to 1400. Humanists eagerly perused the

works of Plato as well as Greek poets, dramatists, histor-

ians, and orators such as Thucydides, Euripides, and

Sophocles, all of whom had been ignored by the scholas-

tics of the High Middle Ages as irrelevant to the theolog-

ical questions they were examining.

HUMANISM AND PHILOSOPHY In the second half of the

fifteenth century, a dramatic upsurge of interest in

the works of Plato occurred. Cosimo de’ Medici, the

de facto ruler of Florence, encouraged this develop-

ment by commissioning a translation of Plato’s dia-

logues by Marsilio Ficino (mar-SIL-yoh fee-CHEE-noh)

(1433–1499), who dedicated his life to the transla-

tion of Plato and the exposition of the Platonic phi-

losophy known asNeoplatonism.

In two major works, Ficino undertook the synthesis

of Christianity and Platonism into a single system. His

[A good prince is one] who holds the life of each

individual dearer than his own; who works and strives

night and day for just one end—to be the best he can

for everyone; with whom rewards are ready for all good

men... for so much does he want to be of real help to

his people, without thought of recompense, that if nec-

essary he would not hesitate to look out for their wel-

fare at great risk to himself; who considers his wealth

to lie in the advantage of his country; who is ever on

the watch so that everyone else may sleep deeply; who

grants no leisure to himself so that he may spend his

life in the peace of his country; who worries himself

with continual cares so that his subjects may have

peace and quiet.... He does everything and allows

everything that will bring everlasting peace to his coun-

try, for he realizes that war is the source of all misfor-

tunes to the state.

Q What does Machiavelli have to say about being

loved rather than feared? How does this view

contrast with that of Erasmus on the characteristics

of a good ruler? Which viewpoint do you consider

more modern? Why? Which viewpoint do you think

is correct? Why?

Sources: Machiavelli,The Prince(1513). FromThe Princeby Machiavelli, translated by David Wootton, pp. 51–52. Copyrightª1995 by Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. Reprinted by

permission of Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. All rights reserved. Erasmus,Education of a Christian Prince(1516). FromThe Education of a Christian Prince, by Erasmus, translated by L. K. Born.

Copyrightª1936 by Columbia University Press. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.

The Intellectual Renaissance in Italy 283

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