Humanism In The Renaissance

Humanism in the Renaissance period was an era of rebirth, a time of new thinking, and a breath of fresh air from medieval scholasticism. Spreading across Western Europe in the 14th, 15th, and 16th century, humanism was a new philosophical and ethical stance that usually favored secular thinking over an established doctrine or faith. Humanistic beliefs centered on rationalism and empiricism and were instilled in contemporary studies to challenge education in the medieval ages. Forefathers of humanism such as Petrarch believed in achieving a humanistic education through careful study and imitation of the great classical authors. Later humanists, such as Juan Ginés Sepulveda, were forced to deal with other issues such as assessing what made someone

“human.” Humanists in the Renaissance period believed that society was capable of achieving goodness through education and knowledge.
Considered the “Father of Humanism,” Petrarch was an Italian scholar and poet who led the literary movement of Renaissance Humanism. Although the Renaissance was usually considered to be secular, Petrarch was a devout Catholic who believed that realizing humanity’s potential and having religious faith could co-exist with one another. Petrarch was an advocate for a new system of education and believed in the value and importance of studying ancient history and literature. In one of his more notable pieces of work, Secretum meum, Petrarch argued that a link to God could still exist despite secularist achievements and opinions. Instead of denouncing religious views, Petrarch declared that God had given every human the right amount of intelligence and ingenuity to live life in its entirety. This argument, along with the many others that Petrarch proposed throughout his life, was a very humanistic way of thinking and one that would last for centuries to come. In his philosophical way of thinking, Petrarch had a hard time identifying the difference between active and contemplative life, and argued the need for solitude. In one of his works, De vita solitaria, Petrarch stated that Pope Celestine V’s defiance of the papacy in 1294 was a shining example of solitary life. Petrarch matched eloquence with goodness, believed in a humanist way of living, and led the intellectual uprising of the Renaissance.
Juan Ginés Sepulveda, who came later in the humanist movement during the Renaissance, had a very public and controversial way of thinking as he dealt with contemporary issues which arose in the New World.

As opposed to Sepulveda, Petrarch did not have to deal with any of the new issues regarding minorities since he lived and died before the New World was discovered in 1492. Petrarch was only aware of the Middle East, and he accepted the Muslims because they worshipped the god of Abraham. Sepulveda, a translator of the work of Aristotle, subsequently adopted his ideas and derived an Aristotelian-influenced argument on the natural slavery of the American Indian. Sepulveda begged the question, “Who’s human?” after arguing that these newly established natives were not humanistic. He believed that Bartolmé de las Casas, who was more accepting to the Indians, was merely promoting false hope and doing the natives no good. Lewis Hanke’s All Mankind Is One articulates Sepulveda’s viewpoint of inferiority in the New World: ““In prudence, talent, virtue, and humanity they are as inferior to the Spaniards as children to adults, women to men, as the wild and cruel to the most meek, as the prodigiously intemperate to the continent and temperate, that I have almost said, as monkeys to men.” In this sense, Sepulveda was closer to the truth; he argued that the natives were not human in the European way and they were realistically second-class. To treat them as such was, in his opinion, justified. Sepulveda’s work centered on how to treat the “inferior” people in the New World. According to Sepulveda, whether they were African, Jewish, or Native American, they were not a part of the established way of humanistic thinking, God didn’t choose them because they were not “human.” Sepulveda was also a proponent for war and believed that the proclaimed “barbarians” committed crimes against the laws of nature, such as human sacrifice and idolatry. All in all, Sepulveda’s arguments mirrored

a dominant ideology and established a conquest climate influenced by notions of Eurocentric superiority.
The Renaissance was a transitional era full of bright ideas and innovative thinking. Humanism in the Renaissance period was defined by a discontinuation of medieval scholasticism and a revived study of classical antiquity. Humanists had their own way of dealing with matters; some, like Petrarch, believed that education and knowledge were the key to a more progressive nation while others, like Juan Ginés Sepulveda, believed that treating Native Indians as second class would weed out those he deemed “inferior” in the New World and create a sense of Eurocentric superiority. Although Petrarch and Juan Ginés Sepulveda had conflicting views of the philosophical nature of humanism, both of their ideas ultimately contributed to the rebirth period of the Renaissance.