Renaissance was considered a cultural movement that happened between the late 13th and 17th century, which began from the Italian peninsula and spread throughout the rest of Europe. This movement also encompassed the progress of various Latin literatures and historical literatures based on the classical resources available during that time. With regards to politics and science, there are a lot of contributions during the Renaissance, such as the development of conventions and diplomacy, as well as the ability of the people to rely on observation and critical thinking. It was indeed the intellectual awakening and transformation of the Renaissance people that helped spur the growth and development of this period. Aside from this, the people also believed that the study of history, which is also known during that time as classical antiquity, is important for the entire Renaissance period, because this is where they derive their culture, identity, and moral philosophy.
Although the Renaissance Period has a complex and long period, this cultural advancement relied mostly on the importance of classical antiquity to the progress and revival of their society. As the famous Renaissance historian Bruni expressed, “history requires at once a long and connected narrative, causal explanation of each particular event, and the public expression of one’s judgment about every issue.”[1] Almost every issue encountered during the Renaissance period is not without its historical counterpart. This paper will take a look at how studying history has become important during the Renaissance by focusing on the works of early humanists including Francesco Petrarch, Leonardo Bruni and Lorenzo Valla.
Humanism in the Renaissance Era
Humanism is a branch of study during the Renaissance period that focuses on the contributions of the classical texts from ancient Rome and Greece. This sources has inspired Renaissance writers and scholars to have a different approach to humanity, which at the time, was heavily inspired by Christendom. The main focus of the Renaissance Humanism is not religion, but rather, the humans themselves. They became recognized and praised for their achievements and ingenuity in almost all aspects, but most importantly with regards to their moral obligations. Human matters and concerns were of much greater appreciation and attention during the Renaissance, which led people to work for the needs of their daily living, rather than serving for the interests of the Church.
Most importantly, humanism had become “more than the historical circumstance that the much-deprecated middle age before the fourteenth century revival had its own sense of history both as a form of thought and literary genre.” [2] This means that the legacy of the cultural antiquity has left so much impact for the then Renaissance era both scholarly and historically. With this, Renaissance writers created a sense of identity that distinguished various ancient texts, helping them distinguish the historical truth from other traditional sources, such as religion, poetry and fable. This is particularly helpful since the cultural enlightenment of writers have also developed during the Renaissance period, allowing them to develop their own sense of investigation, verification and authentication of their historical study. According Kelley, “History is the major mark of distinction between rational beings and brutes.”[3] The desire of the humanist scholars to improve the current state of affairs during the Renaissance period is indeed influenced by the ancient ways of living and activities. And with the help of flexible and critical thinking skills, these scholars have thought of the possibilities on how to improve their lives by basing and improving their cultural antiquities.
Petrarca’s view of history
Francesco Petrarca, for instance, was considered as one of the earliest humanist scholars during this period. Famously known as Petrarch, he travelled from Florence to various places to collect ancient texts, which he used on his humanist teachings. Living in seemingly two opposing world views – his current world and the ideal contributions of antiquity – Petrarch believed that there is so much to learn from history and its classical literature to create a better understanding of the present world, which in his time is the Renaissance era. Petrarch’s admiration of the beauty possessed by classical writing and texts allowed him to translate some of them into Latin documents for the benefit of educational and intellectual progress. Through Petrarch’s efforts, the Renaissance humanists were able to understand that the political and ethical stance of an ancient culture is very important for the development and improvement of its current society. As Kelley notes, “Petrarch created not only a scholarly tradition but also a legend – as the first to open the way to a true understanding of history.”[4]
Bruni and the contributions of Ancient Rome
As the humanist movement grew, so is the influence and power of historical texts within the Renaissance era. For example, Leonardo Bruni, who is a good follower and correspondent of Petrarca, established a political foresight for the kingdom of Florence, which at that time, was at war with Milan. As Bruni observed, “its struggle as a great power against the all-powerful duke of Milan and the aggressive Kind Ladislas”[5] prove that the deeds and courage of the Florentine people are as “memorable and important as those great events we read about and admire so much in antiquity.”[6] The humanistic ideologies of Bruni focused more on the political importance of patriotism, similar to the concept of love of country, which has emerged from his understanding of classical Roman literature, an empire known for its bravery and patriotism.[7] Throughout Bruni’s career, he applied Roman classical teachings into the current Florence-Milan affairs to help solve his country’s political problems. We can see that with the help of this kind of history, not only the Florence people become patriotic, but such history rendered them more “wiser and more moderate”[8] in almost all political and societal aspects of living. It was basically the Italian peninsula that became the center of humanist education. This also made the ideals and importance of studying history widespread across the other parts of Europe. The origins of humanism became strongly influenced by the past and what changes the past could do to the current society. Because of how Bruni identified the Florence people with the Romans, most Italian humanists believe that their culture is strongly related to that of Rome’s.
Valla and his advocacies for religious reform
Another important Italian humanist is Lorenzo Valla, who was famous for his impact on religious reforms. Through this, he was able to apply critical methods to the classical biblical and historical texts.[9] He applied humanism to the study of biblical scriptures and found that they are subject to critical interpretations. However, the discrepancies he found in Catholic doctrines, created a spark between the religious and humanistic ideas. And since Valla is a Catholic himself, he utilized what he learned from these questioning into a positive change for Christianity. He created Latin and Greek translations of the New Testament from its traditional Hebrew edition. Yet he also favored the importance of tolerance and flexibility of religious ideals, instead of the rigid belief systems that Christianity is preaching about. Valla was indeed receptive to change, but he wanted to preserve Catholic traditions by uniting all churches and their basic teachings. This kind of thinking, however, has led King Alfonso of Aragon to accuse Valla as irreligious, advocating the works of paganism and heresy. Taking the following into consideration, we can consider Valla as an eloquent humanist, who stressed on the importance of improving the religious aspect of his country through critical analysis of history and classical texts.
Conclusion
The impact that humanism had within the Italian peninsula improved and became more popular with the help of humanist scholars like Francesco Petrarch, Leonardo Bruni and Lorenzo Valla. Had they not known the importance that history could have on their present day environment, the entire Renaissance period could not become a place for rebirth and revival of ideas, knowledge, religious and moral interests. These traditional scholar thinkers helped spur the growth and development of their country in one way or another. Petrarch helped established the foundation of studying history through humanism. He was able to encourage fellow scholars like Bruni and Lorenzo to do the same. Bruni helped identified Florence with that of Rome in terms of its political influence. Lorenzo, on the other hand, strived for religious change and preservation of religious values at the same time. Most importantly, they have proved to that the legacy history holds is very important to improve and change their ways of living during the Renaissance. Indeed, studying history for these people is very important, especially because Renaissance is a period in time contemplating with the practical ideas of antiquity and the changes in the society.
Bibliography
Hankins, James. History of the Florentine People. (nd).
FAM, VII, 15. (nd).
Kelley, Donald. Humanism and History. (nd).
Valla, Lorenzo. The Refinements of the Latin Language. (nd).
[1] Hankins, James. History of the Florentine People. P. 5.
[2] Kelley, Donald. Humanism and History. P. 236.
[3] Kelley, Donald. Humanism and History. P. 237.
[4] Kelley, Donald. Humanism and History. P. 238.
[5] Hankins, James. History of the Florentine People. P. 3.
[6] Hankins, James. History of the Florentine People. P. 3.
[7] Fam. VI, 15. 376-377.
[8] Kelley, Donald. Humanism and History. P. 238
[9] Valla, Lorenzo. The Refinements of the Latin Language. P. 35.