Humanism

Gabriel Hutter

Humanism
 * __Topic 1: Italian Humanism__**
 * Leonardo Bruni - humanist, Florentine patriot, and chancellor.
 * Wrote //New Cicero//, in which he waxed enthusiastically about the fusion of political action and literary creation in Cicero's life
 * became enthusiastic pupil of Byzantine scholar Manuel Chrysoloras.
 * Lorenzo Valla - achieved chief ambition of becoming papal secretary.
 * Claimed //Donation of Constantine// was a forgery.
 * //The Elegances of the Latin Language -// effort to purify Medieval Latin and restore Latin to its proper position over the vernacular.
 * Poggio Bracciolini - served as papal secretary for 50 years, allowed him to become collector of classical manuscripts.
 * //Facetiae -// lighthearted collection of jokes which included a rather cynical criticism of the clergy.
 * Marsilio Ficini - one of the leaders of the Florentine Platonic academy, which was an informal discussion group
 * restated idea of a hierarchy of substances
 * Upon request of Cosimi de' Medici, Ficino translated into Latin a Greek work called Corpus Hermeticum. It contained two kinds of writings, one stressed Occult sciences, and the other focused on theological and philosophical beliefs.
 * Picco Della Mirandola - pupil and friend of Ficino.
 * //Oration of Dignity of Man//, a preface to his //900 Conclusions// which were meant to be a summation of all learning and were offered as a theses for a public debate.
 * __Topic 2: Northern Renaissance Humanism__**
 * Desiderius Erasmus - most influential of all the Christian humanists, He formulated and popularized the reform program of Christian Humanism.
 * //Adages -// anthology of proverbs from ancient authors that showed his ability in the classics.
 * //Handbook of the Christian Knight,// he reflected his preoccupation with religion.
 * Said Christianity should be a guiding philosophy for the direction of daily life rather than a system of dogmatic beliefs and practices that the medieval church seemed to stress.
 * //The Praise of Folly// - satirical view of his contemporary society in which folly, personified as a woman, shows how she dominates the affairs of human kind.
 * Erasmus' // Novum Instrumentum //a heavily annotated edition of the New Testament placing texts in Greek and revised Latin side by side, appeared in 1516 from the Basel press of Johannes Froben. As the first published Greek text and a basis for further clarification of the New Testament, it was a landmark for scholars and reformers.
 * Thomas More - eventually became lord chancellor of England.
 * He made translation from Greek authors and wrote both prose and poetry in Latin.
 * //Utopia -// literary masterpiece is an account of the idealistic life and institutions of the community of Utopia.
 * More's religious devotion and belief in the universal Catholic church proved even more important than his service to the king, however.

Works Cited:

Raitt, Jill. "Erasmus, Desiderius." //World Book Advanced //. World Book, 2011. Web. 26 Apr. 2011.  Desiderius Erasmus." // Encyclopedia of World Biography //. 2nd ed. Vol. 5. Detroit: Gale, 2004. 298-300. // Academic OneFile //. Web. 25 Apr. 2011.