Renaissance Humanism
History 104 / January 11, 2013

I. Italian humanism
      A. Civic pride
      B. Celebration of the human spirit
            1. The vogue for biography
            2. The market for well-rounded courtiers
      C. Recovering the classics
            1. The hunt for early manuscripts
            2. Philology: the birth of textual criticism
            3. Constantinople's loss = Italy's gain
II. Trends in Christianity in the late middle ages
      A. More intimate experiences sought
            1. Jesus as a suffering (not triumphant) savior
            2. Mary as a nurturing mother
      B. Demands for social justice and broader participation
            1. John Wycliffe and the Lollards
            2. Jan Hus burns at the stake
      C. Renaissance-era popes
III. Northern humanism: scholarship meets scripture
      A. The Gutenberg effect
            1. The explosion of printing
            2. The privatization of reading
      B. Erasmus criticizes superstitions
      C. Thomas More (1478-1535)
            1. Concern about social equality
            2. Concern about the coercive power of the state
            3. What's utopian about Utopia (1516)?