1. Renaissance
Chapter Three:
The Humanist Approach

2. The Rebirth of Ideas
• The new way of thinking began in the
northern Italian states
• The new way of thinking is where scholars
known as humanists looked back to the
ancient classical civilizations of Greece
and Rome
• They applied these classical ideas into
their own lives and work

3. Classical Writings
• People studied the work of Aristotle and Plato
from a Christian perspective
• People were interested in their writings about
society, politics, history, and the arts
• This is a good example of a shift in Worldview
due to intercultural contact with earlier
civilizations
• Humanist ideas began to spread mainly among
the wealthy
• Reading and discussing ancient writers became
the cool thing to do

4. Humanism
• The belief in the dignity and potential of
the individual was the most important
concept to Renaissance thinkers
• They believed that people could shape
their beliefs through their own efforts and
talents
• This went hand in hand with the believe in
God because it was God who gave you
your talent

5. Humanism
• Humanists saw their time as glorious because the ideas
and values of ancient Rome were being “reborn”
• Scholars started to translate the manuscripts of ancient
Rome for people to study
• These scholars believed that a person had to read good
books and look at great works of art if they wanted to be
considered truly cultured
• Renaissance humanists were often the intellectual
leaders of their communities
• Different types of humanist included: humanist scholars,
philosophers, teachers, public officials, writers,
scientists, architects, artists, and musicians

6. Civic Humanism
• Interested in what classical authors had
written about good government
• Studies Cicero (a famous lawyer from
ancient Rome)
• Civic humanists believed that being a
responsible citizen meant educating
yourself about history and political issues
• They also believed in working to improve
society

7. Humanists
• Humanists influenced the Renaissance by
the way the put on emphasis on education
• A true humanist would never waste time…
any free time they had would be used to
study Greek and Latin
• Many humanists were teachers who ran
their own schools where they believed it
was important to train both the body and
mind (same as we do in modern times)

8. Humanism and Religion
• The text that were studied and admired by
Renaissance scholars were written before the
beginning of Christianity
• They valued individual achievement and the
important of history and the arts
• Even during the time of humanism, Christianity
played a big role in the peoples lives
• Desiderius Erasmus edited a new Greek version
of the New Testament
– He was a humanist who was also a devout Christian

9. Literature
• Writers focused on translating the works of
Roman and Greek writers
• Books and texts were starting to be written
in the vernacular (the common
language…ours is English)
• This allowed writings to be more
accessible to everyone
• Humanism influenced people to focus on
expressing their thoughts and emotions