School · 1364 CE–1527 CE
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism is revival and transformation of classical learning in early modern European education, rhetoric, ethics, politics, and religious debate.
Shared questions
- What can classical texts and humanist education contribute to moral and civic renewal?
Internal disagreements
- Whether eloquence, philology, civic action, Christian reform, or metaphysical dignity should guide the renewal of learning.
Key texts
- The Book of the City of Ladies · 1405 — Christine de Pizan's allegorical defence of women's capacity for learning and virtue.
- Oration on the Dignity of Man · 1486 — Written as the preface to nine hundred theses Pico was forbidden to defend; it was not printed in his lifetime.
- The Prince · 1532 — Circulated in manuscript from 1513 and published after Machiavelli's death; its irony is still argued over.