What is Humanism?
Around the 1300s, the people in Florence, Italy began to think differently about life than the way people that lived before them did. They studied the writings and works of the Greeks and the Romans and realized that earlier civilizations had lived very differently.
This new way of thinking was called Humanism. Now people thought that life could be enjoyable. They started to think that people should be educated and that things like art, music, and science could make life better for everyone.
This new way of thinking was called Humanism. Now people thought that life could be enjoyable. They started to think that people should be educated and that things like art, music, and science could make life better for everyone.
Who Started It?
Francesco Petrarch is often called the "Father of Humanism". He was a scholar and a poet who lived in Florence in the 1300s. He studied poets and philosophers from Ancient Rome such as Cicero and Virgil. His ideas and poetry became an inspiration to many writers and poets throughout all of Europe as the Renaissance spread. He really encouraged humanism to spread.