Theme One: Interaction of Europe and the World (INT) Question: What was humanism, and what effect did it have on philosophy, education, and the writing of history? Humanism was the catalyst movement that initiated the intellectual rebirth in Renaissance Italy and soon after the rest of Europe. This movement was led by laymen members of society called humanists. Petrarch was the father of Humanism and set in motion a ransacking of monastic libraries throughout Europe. This began the humanist fascination with classic secular literary works of Greece and Rome. Humanists studied the liberal arts, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, and history aspects of Greek and Roman literature. These subjects, or humanities, all had an effect on philosophy,
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Those who had the most interest in Plato’s philosophy were members of a discussion group called the Florentine Platonic Academy funded by Cosmo de’ Medici. The Platonic philosophy known as Neoplatonism played a major role in shaping the philosophies of Humanists. Its idea of hierarchy of substances and a theory of spiritual love put humans in the central position of all things. This philosophy empowered humans and emphasized the potential of man. Hermeticism was another philosophy that further backed Neoplatonic views. It shed a new view of humankind by creating a sense that humans were divine beings with creative power. Pico della Mirandola famous Renaissance piece Oration of the Dignity of Man featured many “nuggets of universal truth” and was heavily influenced by …show more content…
Europe prospered economically, politically, and socially after the Middle Ages due to the Renaissance that began in Italy and spread throughout the continent. The economic prosperity was due to increase in trade, resurrection of failed industries, and the creation of new industries. Politically, Europe stabilized and became conscious of new ways to rule. Socially, the division by estate was the same but there were differences in each estate. The expansion of trade allowed wealthy Europeans to become even wealthier. It began in Italy with the Venetian Flanders Fleet in the fourteenth century that had a direct sea route to England and the Netherlands. This fleet was successful until they were beat out by the Hanseatic League of merchants. Also known as the Hansa, by 1500, more than eighty cities were in the League. For 200 years it established a monopoly on northern European trade. Trade recovered dramatically in Europe despite pressures in the Mediterranean from the Ottoman Turks and the End of the Byzantine Empire. The revival of the devastated woolen industry and the development of new luxury industries also helped to create the economic prosperity. These industries included, silk, glassware, printing, mining, metallurgy and many others. Banking also became a huge success under the Medici
Those who had the most interest in Plato’s philosophy were members of a discussion group called the Florentine Platonic Academy funded by Cosmo de’ Medici. The Platonic philosophy known as Neoplatonism played a major role in shaping the philosophies of Humanists. Its idea of hierarchy of substances and a theory of spiritual love put humans in the central position of all things. This philosophy empowered humans and emphasized the potential of man. Hermeticism was another philosophy that further backed Neoplatonic views. It shed a new view of humankind by creating a sense that humans were divine beings with creative power. Pico della Mirandola famous Renaissance piece Oration of the Dignity of Man featured many “nuggets of universal truth” and was heavily influenced by …show more content…
Europe prospered economically, politically, and socially after the Middle Ages due to the Renaissance that began in Italy and spread throughout the continent. The economic prosperity was due to increase in trade, resurrection of failed industries, and the creation of new industries. Politically, Europe stabilized and became conscious of new ways to rule. Socially, the division by estate was the same but there were differences in each estate. The expansion of trade allowed wealthy Europeans to become even wealthier. It began in Italy with the Venetian Flanders Fleet in the fourteenth century that had a direct sea route to England and the Netherlands. This fleet was successful until they were beat out by the Hanseatic League of merchants. Also known as the Hansa, by 1500, more than eighty cities were in the League. For 200 years it established a monopoly on northern European trade. Trade recovered dramatically in Europe despite pressures in the Mediterranean from the Ottoman Turks and the End of the Byzantine Empire. The revival of the devastated woolen industry and the development of new luxury industries also helped to create the economic prosperity. These industries included, silk, glassware, printing, mining, metallurgy and many others. Banking also became a huge success under the Medici