Contemporaries of Erasmus: A Biographical Register of the Renaissance and Reformation. 2014 offers much useful information on humanistic topics and individuals.īietenholz, Peter G., and Thomas B. The advanced researcher doing manuscript research will find Kristeller 1963–1997 indispensable, while Hankins 2001 provides reliable Latin texts and English translations of works by Italian humanists. Bietenholz and Deutscher 1985–1987 provides numerous short biographies. Weiss 1996 is a good introduction to northern European humanism. Students and scholars seeking basic information may start with the articles on humanism in Grendler 1999, all of which offer reliable information and basic bibliographies. Several comprehensive scholarly aids and sources useful for students and advanced scholars of Renaissance humanism are available. A good starting point for advanced students and scholars lacking knowledge in particular fields of study. 3, with humanism and the disciplines, the professions, arts, and science. 1 deals with the foundations of humanism and humanism in Italy Vol. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988.įorty-one essays by recognized authorities, each with bibliography, about humanism across Europe and specific themes. Renaissance Humanism: Foundations, Forms, and Legacy. A good starting point both for students and scholars. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2006.Įxcellent and concise one-volume survey of humanism across Europe. Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe. Nauert 2006 is brief but has the advantage of presenting a single viewpoint, while Rabil 1988 is large and has many authors. This article provides a sampling of some of the best and most influential scholarship on the subject and demonstrates the broad impact of humanism in the era of the Renaissance and Reformation.īecause humanism is a vast topic, overviews are few. Because of the vast importance and broad scope of humanism, it is not surprising that scholars have studied it intensively and view it in different ways. Humanism transcended the differences between the Protestant and Catholic Reformations, as leaders of both religious movements studied and used the ancient Latin and Greek classics. Some scholars also argue that humanism articulated new moral and civic perspectives and values offering guidance in life. Under the influence and inspiration of the classics, humanists developed a new rhetoric and new learning. Proponents of humanism believed that a body of learning, humanistic studies ( studia humanitatis), consisting of the study and imitation of the classical culture of ancient Rome and Greece, would produce a cultural rebirth after what they saw as the decadent and “barbarous” learning of the Middle Ages. Humanism then became the dominant intellectual movement in Europe in the 16th century. In the opinion of the majority of scholars, it began in late-14th-century Italy, came to maturity in the 15th century, and spread to the rest of Europe after the middle of that century. Humanism was the major intellectual movement of the Renaissance.

Books published in humanist typeface