Renaissance Humanism

Renaissance  Humanism:

When we come to the medieval period, humanism developed quite differently than that

of  ancient period. In medieval time, the concept of humanism was broadly used during

 the Renaissance period. In Renaissance period, humanism was used for those who

 learned and taught the subjects related to the faculty of Humanity, for e.g. poetry,

rhetoric, criticism, grammar, history, language, art etc. In other words those persons

were thought to be humanist who taught the imaginative subjects different from less

imaginative like mathematics, science, natural philosophy and theology. H.M. Abrahams

mentions about a Renaissance humanism:

Renaissance humanism assumed the dignity and central position of

 human  beings in the universe, emphasized the importance of the study

of the study of classical imaginative and philosophical literature, although

 with emphasis on its moral and practical rather than its aesthetic values:

and insisted on the primacy, in ordering human life, of reason(considered

the distinctively human faculty) as opposed to the instinctual appetite

 and the animal passions.(83)

Renaissance humanism was a break from the medieval tradition of thought. The

  Christianitydominated medieval thinking. Medieval men believed in the presence of God,

 Jesus Christ, devil and demos. They thought that their life and the world were supported by

 some diving power. But Renaissance humanist played very important role to break the

 traditional concept. They began to think on the rational ground.  De Lamor Jensen in the book

‘Renaissance Europe’ observes, “There was an implied acceptance of the worth of earthly

existence for its own sake and a deep-rooted revolt against the ‘other-worldliness’ associated

 with medieval Christanity”(103). Renaissance humanist glorified the man and his power.

Anther important aspect of Renaissance humanism was that it gave high regards and

importance to the study of ancient writes and enriched the store of knowledge. Greek classical

 works and writes were models for  the  Renaissance humanists. Erasmar (1466-1536) and

 Petarch (1304-1374) of Italy were great humanism of this period. What Renaissance humanists,

in short, did-they broke the medieval concept of people, focused on classical literature, and

gave high importance to the present life. Radhkamal Mukerjhee writes, “Man endeavored in

 this age (Renaissance) to free himself from the thralldom of the classical despotism and shalter

all mental barriers imposed by medieval orthodoxy”(97).