New Attitudes

Interest in earthly life. Thinkers in the Middle Ages, such as the Scholastics, had tried to use ideas borrowed from the ancient writers to support and clarify Church teachings. In contrast, Petrarch and other Renaissance humanists tried to understand the entire civilization of the ancient world. Medieval thinkers had thought of earthly existence chiefly as preparation for an afterlife. The people of the Renaissance, following the examples of classical Greece and Rome, believed that life on earth should be lived as fully as possible.

Development of individual talents. Another characteristic borrowed from classical times was an intense appreciation of the individual. The people of the Renaissance were interested in the unique qualities that made one person stand out from others. Like the Romans, they were ambitious for fame and worldly success. Like the Greeks, they believed human beings could achieve great things. These attitudes encouraged a spirit of curiosity and adventure.

The men and women of the upper classes benefited most from the new spirit of the times. They had the money and leisure to develop their talents. The Renaissance ideal was a well-rounded person: educated, witty, charming, and artistically creative. In addition, men were expected to practice swords-manship and other military skills. People of both sexes were expected to develop their athletic abilities.

Public service and politics. Like the ancient Greeks and Romans, upper-class Italians valued public service and praised those who were useful to society. They believed that an education in the humanities was a sound preparation for a rewarding life. The skills admired by the humanists – effective public speaking, polished manners, an elegant writing style – were valuable ones for social and political leaders.

The political climate in Renaissance Italy was one of intense rivalry. The Pope, the Holy Roman Emperor, and the rulers of France and Spain all hungered for power. As a guide, they turned to handbooks on how to succeed in politics.

The most famous of these handbooks was written by Niccolo Machiavelli of Florence, a diplomat and student of politics. Machiavelli (1469-1527) drew on Roman history to set up guidelines for rulers of his time. Machiavelli argued that a ruler should do whatever was necessary to gain and keep power. In his book The Prince, written about 1513, Machiavelli pointed out that rulers often lied, broke treaties, and killed. In politics, he said, actions must be judged only by their results. Machiavelli’s controversial ideas have been debated ever since. The Renaissance was a time of change in technology as well as in culture. The most exciting development was the printing press. In the 1450’s Europeans first used movable metal type to print a book. On small pieces of metal they engraved single letters of the alphabet. These could then be arranged and rearranged to form words and sentences. A German, Johann Gutenberg, is usually credited with printing the first book, a copy of the Bible. By 1500 there were hundreds of printers, in nearly every country in Europe.

The invention of movable type had three main effects. First, bookmaking became much cheaper, which meant that more people could afford to own books. As a result, literacy became more widespread.

Second, bookmaking became faster, so that many more books could be published. The earliest printed books dealt with religious subjects, but the new reading public wanted books on other subjects as well. Many of the new books were published in the vernacular (the language of the common people) rather than in Latin.

A third effect was that scholars had better access to one another’s works and to the great books of the ancient and medieval worlds. This leap in communication brought important advances in knowledge.

Printing helped carry the spirit and ideas of the Renaissance northward from Italy to France, England, Germany, and the Netherlands. While sharing the Italians’ admiration of classical civilizations and respect for individual achievement, northern Europeans were deeply concerned with religious questions as well.