The Impact Of Humanism On Society In The Renaissance Period

At one point in time, Greek and Roman cultures dominated Europe. The Renaissance, a rebirth of these cultures, took place from the mid-1400s to the late 1600s in Western Europe. People in Europe were reintroduced to art, architecture, philosophy, literature, science, and political ideas of Ancient Rome and the Greek city-states. The Renaissance caused people to think differently about things and this is known as humanism. This new way of living led to the Protestant Reformation and the Scientific Revolution. People of the European Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation, and the Scientific Revolution represented the ideas of humanism and also had impacts on the society they lived in.

During the European Renaissance, there was a philosopher named Petrarch. Petrarch and other Renaissance philosophers represented humanism. They became more aware of themselves as human beings. People started thinking for themselves, acting for themselves, and really trying to find out who they really were. Document 1 states, “Medieval men had been preoccupied with searching their religious souls, but Renaissance men were much more intrigued with exploring their real life personalities. Petrarch is a perfect example. Although his serious interests centered on his work in discovering and editing ancient texts, Petrarch was also interested in himself. In his letters, he wrote his reactions to love affairs and friendship, to mountains and the flowers in his garden…” Renaissance philosophers like Petrarch represented humanism by being interested in knowing their true self and exploring the values of life.

The idea of humanism can have something to do with personal emotions, reasoning, and even feelings, which Petrarch wrote about. As stated in document 1, “. . . In the Middle Ages to praise man was equal to praising God, because man was a creation of God. ” Petrarch and other philosophers impacted their society as during the Renaissance, instead of praising men how people used to praise God, Renaissance men looked at life as if there was more to it than just God. Men started praising themselves as a creator, without involving God. Artists of the early Renaissance “used the successful creative processes of the ancient period artists to create a new and modern art form”. Painter Masaccio and other Renaissance artists represented humanism through their artwork. They represented humanism by modernizing art and making art that shows and tells more about humans. As stated in Document 2, “Realistic expressions were given to the human figures in painting, architecture, or sculpture, and the concept came to be known as Realism. Painters like the famous Masaccio still painted religious themes, but the saints in the paintings wore common people’s clothes and had natural expressions. The artworks of early Renaissance depicted people carrying on with their everyday activities like eating, dancing, etc. , rather than doing something extraordinary. ”

Artists focused more on the human body, on making art more realistic and more life-like, and revealing more about humans. Putting facial expressions, body language, and making people do regular things that humans do on a daily basis, all fall under the concept of humanism. Artists during the European Renaissance were influenced by the idea of humanism. Humanism also has to do with humans learning from each other and even being able to pursue their own interests. During the Renaissance, Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press influenced a new way of spreading information to others, including the idea of humanism. Document 3 states, “. . . By 1500… there were printing firms in sixty German towns, and Venice alone had 150 presses… Before printing, only the largest libraries contained as many as six hundred books, and the total number of books in Europe was well under one hundred thousand. By 1500, after forty-five years of the printed book, the total has been calculated at nine million…” The Gutenberg Bible and millions of other books came to the hands of the people in Europe. People were then learning and educating themselves on plenty of different subjects. Johannes Gutenberg’s printing press represented humanism as the Bible, as well as other books, spread knowledge throughout Europe and allowed people to learn new information. People found different interests and had the ability to just learn more.

During the Renaissance, Niccolo Machiavelli, wrote a book called The Prince. In the book, Machiavelli spoke about the way that Italian princes ruled. Kings were looking to rule the best way possible, without the Pope having control over them. Machiavelli represented humanism by spreading his knowledge and influencing and teaching other princes. The Prince was for rulers on how they should rule in order to gain and maintain power. His way of ruling had nothing to do with the teachings of God, more with how to deal with humans. Niccolo believed that it’s safer for the people to fear you, rather than love you. In addition, he believed that war should be a ruler’s first priority. These ideas contradicted God’s word and what the Catholic Church used to preach. He impacted society as he explained how to rule people, how a ruler should think, and ethics that a ruler should have. Martin Luther started the Protestant Reformation. Luther learned that the Catholic Church was abusing and taking advantage of its power to earn money. As stated in document 4, “The pope sold religious merits in exchange for money used to build churches. Those who purchased these indulgence documents were promised a reduced punishment for their sins, for the sins of dead loved ones, and in some cases, total forgiveness from all sin… On October 31, 1517 Luther nailed his famous 95-Theses to the University’s bulletin board — the Castle Church door, formally challenging church leaders on the practice of selling indulgences and other Church practices he found went against the teaching of Christ like the collection of relics…” Martin Luther represented humanism by disagreeing with the Catholic Church’s actions and challenging Church leaders and some of their practices, as he had his own beliefs regarding God and the Bible.

Luther impacted society as he sparked the Protestant Reformation. Document 4 states, “Soon printing presses all over Germany were publishing his 95 Theses, and so it was that because of the printing press, the Catholic Church could no longer control the flow of ideas through its priests. Luther also translated the New Testament into the German language…” The 95 Theses opened people’s eyes and caused people to question their beliefs and their religion. Martin Luther also gave people the chance to read the Bible and learn God’s Word for themselves, rather than through the Catholic Church.

For almost 2000 years, people thought that Earth was the center of the Solar System. An astronomer, Nicolai Copernicus, came up with an idea that stated otherwise. “In a book called On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies, Copernicus proposed that the Sun, not the Earth, was the center of the Solar System. Such a model is called a heliocentric system. ” He proposed a theory, regarding the Universe, that contradicted God’s word. Copernicus represented humanism as his idea of the solar system questioned the Bible’s teachings and the power of God creating the world. While everyone believed that it was an Earth-centered Universe, Copernicus made people question what they had learned. Being able to debate about this is humanism. He impacted society because if his idea was true, than people could question other things said by the Catholic Church.

Humanism had an impact on the Scientific Revolution. As Document 7 states, “Over time… a new way of thinking about science emerged. Scientists began to observe the world around them and to develop ideas about why things happened. They did experiments to test these ideas. This new way of thinking was called the scientific method…” This shows how scientists started looking at the world from a different perspective. They had a different mindset and thought differently. The scientific method had to do with humanism, as it helped scientists come to the conclusion of why things happened, with evidence, regardless of what their original beliefs were.