In the ‘High Renaissance’, Rome was the centre of the literary movement known as "Ciceronianism" that aimed to standardize Latin diction by modelling all prose on the writings of Cicero. The leaders of the movement hoped thereby to make Latin usage more precise and elegant; they also hoped to establish a kind of linguistic orthodoxy maintained by the authority of Rome. Pietro Bembo and Jacopo Sadoleto, Pope Leo X's two Latin secretaries, were the leaders of the movement. However, Bolgar maintains that Bembo served to ‘confuse our picture of the Renaissance’ (Pg. 266) as his aim was to create Latin that was in exact Ciceronian form. This dictates that the Renaissance cult of humanist methods of education was simply imitative, yet this was not the case.
The rebirth of such classical studies contributed to the development of all forms of art during the Renaissance. Literature was probably the first to show signs of classical influence. The Italian poet Petrarch (1304-1374) delighted in studying the works of Cicero and Virgil, two great writers of the Roman age, and he modelled some of his own writings on their works. Although he often wrote in Latin, attempting to imitate Cicero's style, he contrasted with Bembo as it was the tone of the Classical age that he stressed as important, as is obvious from his Italian poetry. Although not the father of humanism, Petrarch influenced its growth--first among his admirers, and later throughout the European world:
‘… he was the first writer of genius to take part in this revival.’ (Dickens, pg9)
But it was not only in Literature that humanism made its mark. Paintings of the Renaissance demonstrate the application of humanistic ideals learned from the ancients. In works from the Middle Ages, saints and Biblical figures are arranged in unnatural, geometric groups, and backgrounds are nothing more than washes of gold. The Renaissance painter depicted the human figure as realistically as possible, often with backgrounds of the natural world. Science had taught the artist how to show linear perspective--that is, how to represent objects in relative sizes so that smaller objects appear to be farther from the viewer than larger objects. Careful use of light and shadow (called "chiaroscuro") made figures appear full and real. Renaissance painters not only portrayed objects with more realism than earlier artists did, they often filled their canvases with more objects, all carefully and accurately depicted. The painter, according to Walter Pater, saw a transition in his purpose in that he now created ‘poetic’ scenes, as was especially evident in the work of Botticelli:
‘He is before all things a poetical painter, blending the charm of story
and sentiment, the medium of the art of poetry, with the charm of line
and colour, the medium of abstract painting.’( Walter Pater)
In addition to the rediscovery of ancient Latin texts, an important goal of the humanists' cultural program was the translation of ancient Greek literature into Latin. The knowledge of Greek spread rapidly among Italian humanists of the fifteenth century, thanks largely to the influence of Byzantine émigrés and refugees. The most influential of these was Manuel Chrysoloras who united various elements of Byzantine scholarship that he proceeded to hand over to the west:
‘He stands thus at the end of one epoch and at the beginning of the next.’(Bolgar Pg. 87)
Paradoxically, the fifteenth century not only brought the revival of ancient Roman culture in the West, but the death of the Roman--or Byzantine-- Empire in the East. Throughout the period, cultural debris from the wrecked empire--men, antiquities, and books-- streamed westward, where they enriched the growing civilization of Renaissance Italy. Janus Lascaris was one of many Greek scholars who found a warm welcome and an eager audience among Western patrons and scholars. But it was Chrysoloras who was an essential figure in the increased perception of learning that the Renaissances brought with them. His approach to education was configured mnemonically in that the student should set aside a period each month for ‘ a general repetition of all his knowledge.’ (Bolgar Pg. 88) This system was to be the final gift of Byzantium to the future world:
‘Pedagogically, the Renaissance began with Chrysoloras. ‘(Bolgar Pg. 268)
It was during the ‘High Renaissance’ that Chrysoloras’ ideas came to true fruition through the methods of Guarino, who moulded his teacher’s views into a complete theory by drawing a ‘connection between phrase collecting and composition that Chrysoloras left vague.’ (Bolgar Pg. 270)
The Renaissance then, brought with it its own distinctive forms of cultural phenomena. These did not exist only in the sphere of education but also in that of politics. The Humanist movement was directly linked with seeds of political and religious subversiveness. The forms of absolutism and civic republicanism that appear in the later period of Enlightenment of derivative of the increased perception of ones role in the working of the nation that occurred during the ‘High Renaissance.’ This Enlightenment is even evident in the ‘prophetic idealism’ (Dickens Pg.122) present in the latter stages of Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince.’ During which he pre-empts Mazzini in his call for Italy to lose its shackles and ‘find unity under the great ruler who shall emerge to deliver it from slavery.’ (Dickens Pg. 122)
One must remember that the ‘Renaissances’ were not simply secular. The role of religion and Christianity should be remembered. The Reformation was the crisis of the Renaissance but it is a testament to the growing change in Europe’s approach to ideas. The Renaissance brought with it a tone of thought that was more accepting to the reforming methods of Luther. However, the truly revolutionary nature of the Renaissance had passed by the later 15th century as the bonds linking classical learning to the promotion of social change had slackened. There now existed a middle class that sort to visualise the sort of world that they wanted. This was an important part of the role of the Renaissance in Europe in that provided us with a class capable of exploring greater paths of thought:
‘That religion should again become an affair of the individual and of his own personal feeling was inevitable when the Church became corrupt in doctrine and tyrannous in practice, and is a proof that the European mind was still alive.’
The Renaissances brought with them a greater understanding of the world, especially in terms of the measurement of reality. The transmission of ideas increased rapidly resulting in an increased perception of ones own ideology. It was most successful in this sphere during the ‘High Renaissance’ period due to a distinct homogeneity of ideas, arising in the form of humanism. There was little opposition to this movement and hence it was allowed to flourish in all areas, especially in the area of economics arising from the aim of the majority to achieve the best forms of education and learning. Thus the Renaissance saw the rise of commerce and indeed, the state itself.
Initially, the Renaissance was concerned with imitation, with antiquity becoming the focus of progress. However, towards the end of the period, Europe was following paths hitherto unexplored. The Renaissance compelled Europe to follow its own, personal paths of discovery. Jacob Burckhardt best sums what Europe learnt from its ‘Renaissances’:
‘The discovery of man and the discovery of the world.’
To conclude then, the ‘Renaissances’ led to an increase in the role of the individual in society and indeed, the individual’s perception of this role. The importance of the earlier movements must not be dispelled as they serve to compliment the events that occurred in Italy during the final period. The role of Chrysoloras in educational methods was perhaps the most striking of such a compliment explored during this essay. Antiquity was dominant in the effects of the Renaissances, in that its methods were refined and applied in modern context. Indeed, modern improvements in communication for example allowed ideas deriving from antiquity to be pursued with greater vigour. However, as mentioned earlier, the role of individuals who lived during the period should not be dispelled. They took the methods of antiquity and refined them in order to create a Europe that was greater in all fields.
2100 words.
Bibliography:
The Age of Humanism and Reformation, A.G. Dickens (Prentice Hall)
The Classical Heritage and Its Beneficiaries, Bolgar.
The Cambridge Modern History; Volume One: The Renaissance (Cambridge University Press)
The Project Gutenburg E-text Of the Renaissance, Walter Pater
The Classical Heritage and Its Beneficiaries, Bolgar
The Classical Heritage and Its Beneficiaries, Bolgar
The Age of Humanism and Reformation, A.G. Dickens
Project Gutenburg E-text Of the Renaissance, Walter Pater
http://www.idbsu.edu/courses/hy309/docs/burckhardt/6-5.html
The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy, Jacob Burkhardt