The Renaissance – Period or Movement?, 1974 Ernst H. Gombrich

  • Renaissance = rebirth - was put in place to signify a period of revival after the dark times of the Middle Ages
  • The author argues that there are two ways in which to look at the Renaissance

-The first one is the conventional way which sees the Renaissance only as a specific period of time in Western history

-The second one is the alternative way which sees the Renaissance as nothing more than a consequence of our periodisation of history

  • It is generally agreed that the ‘father’ of the Renaissance or the man who proclaimed the need for a rebirth was Francesco Petrarca, an Italian writer and poet that lived in the 14th century
  • Article uses many historiographical references to present opposite views about Renaissance and to explain them with specific examples –‘There are different ways to interpret the Renaissance and different values it stands for’

-Renaissance seen as time of progression - the humanists aim was to recover the classical antiquity, however in the period of time between the classical age and the Renaissance, many discoveries and inventions had been made, such as printing which changed the way of transmitting classical manuscripts

-Romantics had a different view – Renaissance seen as a period of destruction and wanted to go back to the Middle Ages when there was no interest in political progress and innovative thinking

-The author argues that ‘these two opposing views can be reconciled by a sleight of hand in larger, embracing system of historical philosophy’

  • All the humanists, which supported Petrarch’s ideas, had a feeling of superiority over the traditionalist university teachers, among all of them in particular Erasmus of Rotterdam

-In fact many scholars, especially Virgil, who were hoping for a rebirth, the return of the Golden Age, were the main criticisers of the education system and of universities

-This is because in the Middle Ages in the universities more and more importance was given to the scientific subjects, such as Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy and Music, and less importance was given to the humanistic subjects which were more connected to the Latin and Greek literature, that were Grammar Dialectic and Rhetoric

  • Role of the Catholic Church

-Seen not as enemy of the Renaissance, but as the promoter of the rediscovery of man and of the world

-This idea was first encouraged by St. Francis of Assisi

-‘He praised the beauty of creation, he, with his emphasis on individual conscience, first understood the individual, and therefore it is in the Franciscan movement…that we must see the true beginning of Renaissance’

-In addition, most of the humanists were very religious and had nothing against the Catholic Church

  • Main argument of the article is that the Renaissance ‘was not so much of an “Age” as it was a movement’ because a movement attracts followers who believe nothing outside the movement is correct or worth of mention as well as it has opponents and people that are neutral to it