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Northern Renaissance:. Humanism, Christian Humanism & Skepticism. Christian Humanism. Characteristics : Part of the Northern Renaissance Emphasis on early Church writings rather than on Greek or Roman texts Emphasis on education and human intellect to bring about change
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Northern Renaissance: Humanism, Christian Humanism & Skepticism
Christian Humanism Characteristics: • Part of the Northern Renaissance • Emphasis on early Church writings rather than on Greek or Roman texts • Emphasis on education and human intellect to bring about change • Writings led to criticism of Church and eventually to Reformation movement
Desiderius Erasmus • Dutchscholar (1466-1536) • Most famous of all northern humanists • Earned living by writing • Devout Catholic, despite his criticism of the Church
Erasmus – In Praise of Folly (1513) • Written in Latin, bestseller second only to Bible by 1550 • Satirized European society & superstition • Criticized the immorality and hypocrisy of Church leaders • Inspired calls for reform within Church, including Martin Luther - “Erasmus lay the egg that Luther hatched”
Sir Thomas More • English lawyer and government official (1478-1535) • Example of ‘civic humanist’ • Served as Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII • “the most saintly of humanists, the most human of saints”
More – Utopia (1516) • Humanistic masterpiece, radical for its time • Mixed civic humanism with religious ideals to create a perfect (utopian) society on an imaginary island • People should live by reason, giving up material goods for the common good • On Utopia, war, poverty, religious intolerance and other problems of society did not exist
Michel de Montaigne • French noble, politician, scholar (1533-1592) • Skepticism – questioning what can truly be known – “What do I know?” • Created essay form of writing about subject • Essays (1580s) – very influential on European thought – urged toleration for all ideas since nothing could be known for certain
William Shakespeare • English playwright, poet (1564-1616) • Works reflected Renaissance idea of humanism – focus on individual, both good and bad • Skepticism present in some later works like “Hamlet”