world sought an end to anarchy in the Church, which was an idea, but was never adequately
embodied in fact. Neither the ancient nor the medieval solution was satisfactory--the one because
it could not be idealized, the other because it could not be actualized. The modern world, at
present, seems to be moving towards a solution like that of antiquity: a social order imposed by
force, representing the will of the powerful rather than the hopes of common men. The problem of
a durable and satisfactory social order can only be solved by combining the solidity of the Roman
Empire with the idealism of Saint Augustine's City of God. To achieve this a new philosophy will
be needed.
CHAPTER II The Italian RenaissanceTHE modern as opposed to the medieval outlook began in Italy with the movement called the
Renaissance. At first, only a few individuals, notably Petrarch, had this outlook, but during the
fifteenth century it spread to the great majority of cultivated Italians, both lay and clerical. In some
respects, Italians of the Renaissance--with the exception of Leonardo and a few others-had not the
respect for science which has characterized most important innovators since the seventeenth
century; with this lack is associated their very partial emancipation from superstition, especially in
the form of astrology. Many of them had still the reverence for authority that medieval
philosophers had had, but they substituted the authority of the ancients for that of the Church. This
was, of course, a step towards emancipation, since the ancients disagreed with each other, and
individual judgement was required to decide which of them to follow. But very few Italians of the
fifteenth century would have dared to hold an opinion for which no authority could be found
either in antiquity or in the teaching of the Church.
To understand the Renaissance, it is necessary first to review briefly the political condition of
Italy. After the death of Frederick