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Humanism
117
scholars such as Petrarch who could afford to have their own secretaries, or
by
professional booksellers such as Vespasiano da
Bisticci
who sold their
manuscripts to princes and scholars alike. The products of these humanist
scribes
were written in one
of
two
new styles
of
handwriting
that
were both
different from the earlier 'Gothic' script and were invented and propagated
by
the humanists: the so-called Roman script invented by
Poggio
Bracciolini
after the model
of
the Carolingian minuscule which he mistook
for
an ancient Roman script; and the humanist cursive, presumably
invented by
Niccolo
Niccoli,
which was a favoured book hand during the
second
half of the fifteenth century and became the model for italic type.
These
two scripts, and especially the first, are the kind of writing we are
accustomed to employ both in our longhand and our printed characters,
and our use of the humanist
rather
than
the Gothic script is the direct
consequence of the reform brought about by the Italian humanists of the
fifteenth century. It is perhaps the most lasting
effect
of Renaissance
humanism on our modern world. The palaeographical analysis of
Renaissance hands and
of
humanist script has only recently become a subject
of
serious study, and the identification
of
individual humanist hands is often
an important instrument when it comes to establishing the date and
authorship as
well
as the diffusion of Renaissance texts.
14
The
technique of printing with movable type was invented by
Gutenberg in Mainz about 1450, but it took some time for it to reach other
countries, and even after
that
time the manuscript book continued for many
decades to compete and to coexist with the printed one. The contribution of
the humanists to the production and diffusion
of
printed books was no less
important
than
their role during the period of the manuscript book. The
printing press was introduced to Italy in 1465, and from
that
time on an
ever-increasing
amount of printed books were published, first in Subiaco
and Rome, and soon afterwards in many other cities, including Florence,
Milan
and
Venice.
Many
of
the early printed books contained classical Latin
texts and the writings of contemporary humanists, and they were usually
printed in the same roman and italic characters
that
had been used in the
humanist manuscript books of the same or immediately preceding period,
whereas many
of
the university textbooks and religious or popular writings
were
printed in Gothic characters. The humanists soon became involved
with
the printing presses in several
ways.
They saw their own writings
through the press, as we know in a number
of
cases,
and they acted from the
14.
Ullman
i960;
De la
Mare
1973-
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II8
Humanism
very
beginning as advisers for some of the texts to be printed, and as
responsible editors for the classical Latin texts published by the presses.
Giovanni
Andrea de'Bussi, Bishop
of
Aleria,
performed this service for the
first classical editions printed in Subiaco and in Rome, and many
of
the first
editions printed in Paris were selected and edited by Guillaume Fichet. The
same is
true
of the first editions of Greek classical authors, which appeared
rather
sparingly during the first decades of printing and became more
frequent only during the sixteenth century. Among the early printers we
encounter a few humanist scholars of distinction, although they probably
acted as publishers
rather
than
as typesetters: Aldus Manutius in Venice and
later several members of the Estienne and Morel families in Paris were all
renowned for their scholarly editions of both Latin and Greek classical
authors. By the sixteenth century countless printing presses were active all
over
Europe and in numerous towns, but the leading international centres
of
publishing and of the book
trade
were
Venice,
Lyons and Basle,
especially
for books of classical or humanist content. Humanist scholars
continued to be active as editors
of
classical
texts and
of
their own writings,
and often also as proofreaders working for their publishers.
15
Erasmus
worked
for years as an editor and proofreader for Aldus in Venice and for
Froben in Basle, and he also maintained close relations with other
publishing houses in Paris and Antwerp. Without these relations, his
enormous scholarly production would not have been possible. We know
that
he travelled a good deal to supervise the printing
of
his works and
of
the
texts edited by him, and we have reason to believe
that
a
part
of
his income
derived
from the work he did for his printers and publishers.
16
SCHOLARLY
ACHIEVEMENTS
AND
LITERARY
PRODUCTION
Having
discussed the intellectual interests and the professional activities of
the humanists, we must now briefly describe their scholarly and other
achievements,
and above all the form and content of their literary
production, as
well
as some
of
the basic attitudes
that
underlie and pervade
it.
17
Needless to say, much of their production was closely related to their
15.
Scholderer
1935;
Buhler
i960,
1973;
Hirsch
1974, 1978;
Eisenstein
1979; Prefaces 1861;
Bussi
1978;
Kristeller
1964b;
Renouard
1834; Annales . . . des Estiennes
1837-8;
Lowry
1979;
Baudrier
1895-
1963;
Luchsinger
1953;
Bietenholz
1959, 1971;
Welti
1964.
16. P.
Smith
1923;
Mann
Phillips
1959. 17.
Voigt
1893; V.
Rossi
1956.
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Humanism
119
professional activities, although the tastes and preferences of individual
humanists also played an important role.
The
deep interest in classical literature and history which was common to
all
humanists was not only expressed in their activity as copyists and editors.
Before
a text could be copied or edited, it had to be located or discovered,
and it was essential to find old and correct manuscripts
that
deserved to be
copied
or edited
rather
than
late and inaccurate manuscripts which offered a
corrupt text. The search for old manuscripts of the Latin classics all over
Europe was a favourite concern of many leading humanists; Petrarch,
Boccaccio,
Salutati and
Poggio
were especially persistent and successful in
this enterprise. They and their companions and successors found not only
older, better or more complete manuscripts
of
known
classical writers, but
also
discovered additional authors or writings
that
had not been
well
known
or read during the preceding medieval centuries.
18
It has been argued
that
we
should not speak
of
real humanist discoveries since the manuscripts they
found were copied in Carolingian times and hence not unknown to the
copyists
or to their contemporaries. Yet the fact remains
that
these texts
survived
in only one or two copies and
that
they had not been known or
read for centuries, whereas the humanists introduced them into the
mainstream of western scholarship and helped to bring about their wide
diffusion
in manuscripts and in printed editions. The newly discovered texts
included Manilius and
Celsus,
a complete Quintilian, many works of
Cicero,
and above all, Tacitus and Lucretius. As for the Greek classics, prior
to
13
50 the number
of
Greek
and especially
of
classical
Greek manuscripts in
western libraries was very small. It was during the period from 1350 to 1600
that
most of the classical Greek manuscripts
that
are now in the West and
that
have been the basis
of
all
modern editions were brought over from the
Greek
East, both before and after the Turkish conquest of Constantinople,
by
western scholars visiting the East and by Byzantine scholars who fled to
the West.
19
Once
the Latin (and Greek) classical texts were available in manuscript
and later in
print,
the humanists carefully annotated their texts, recording
variant readings from other manuscripts and their own emendations, and
adding explanatory notes and glosses. We have many manuscripts
annotated by Petrarch, Salutati, Bruni,
Valla
and
Leto,
and many early
printed editions annotated by Poliziano and numerous later scholars. We
18.
Sabbadini
1967.
19.
Bolgar
1954, pp.
455-505
('Greek
manuscripts
in
Italy
during
the
fifteenth
century').
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120
Humanism
also
have a large body
of
fully-fledged
commentaries by humanist scholars
on practically all ancient Latin texts
then
available, some in manuscript and
some in
print,
which were usually the result of
class
lectures
given
on these
authors
at various schools or universities and copied by a
student
or
sometimes by the teacher himself. Classical Greek
authors
were also copied
and edited by the humanists, Byzantine or western, and frequently
annotated and glossed in Latin. From the sixteenth century we have a
number of Latin commentaries on Greek classical texts.
However,
the knowledge
of
Greek,
even among humanist scholars, was
never
as thorough or as widespread as was their knowledge of Latin,
because the study of Greek was a new and purely scholarly pursuit
that
lacked
the indigenous tradition and the practical usefulness which the study
of
Latin
had inherited from the Middle
Ages.
As a result, a large amount of
effort
was dedicated by the humanists to the task of translating ancient
Greek
texts into Latin in order to make them available to a larger number of
their contemporaries, even among the humanists. This effort was encour-
aged
and rewarded by many
important
patrons, among them Pope
Nicholas
V and his successors, many princes and the early
Medici.
During
the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, the humanists translated into Latin
practically
all classical Greek
authors then
available, some of them more
than
once, and many for the first time, as
well
as making new translations of
those texts
that
had been available in medieval Latin translations.
20
These
translations introduced for the first time practically all of Greek poetry,
oratory and historiography as
well
as a sizeable proportion
of
Greek
writings
on mathematics, geography, medicine and botany, and also Greek patristic
literature. The philosophical texts translated for the first time included
many works
of
Plato and Proclus, all
of
Plotinus and of other Neoplatonic
authors, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, Sextus Empiricus, Diogenes
Laertius (who contains several texts
of
Epicurus),
Lucian and Plutarch, and
most of the Greek commentaries on Aristotle. In other words, most of the
sources of ancient Platonism, Stoicism, Epicureanism, scepticism and
popular philosophy were made available for the first time, while the
writings
of Aristotle came to be studied not only from the medieval Latin
translations and commentaries but also from the Greek text, from new
humanist translations and from the Greek commentators. The scholarly
study of Hebrew and Arabic also made progress among western scholars,
some
of
them humanists, and benefited the study
of
the Old Testament and
20. See Catalogus
translationum
i960-.
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Humanism
121
rabbinical and cabalistic literature, as
well
as the Koran and Arabic
philosophy.
21
The
reading public of the Renaissance consisted not only of people who
had received a humanist or university education and hence were able to read
Latin,
but also
of
many intelligent and curious people, especially merchants,
craftsmen and women, who knew no Latin but were eager to read not only
poems and narratives but also works of varied instruction in their native
vernacular. Many humanists catered to this audience, which also included
many princes and noblemen, and made vernacular translations of both
classical
and humanist writings, or even composed some
of
their own works
in the vernacular. This happened in Italy, especially in Tuscany, as early as
the fifteenth century; and during the sixteenth century,
if
not before, a large
body
of classical and humanist
literature
was translated into French,
Spanish, German and English.
22
Also
an increasing number
of
writings
that
were
humanist in form and content came to be composed in those
languages,
the most illustrious example being the Essais of Michel de
Montaigne.
In order to facilitate the reading and understanding of classical authors,
the humanists wrote commentaries on Donatus, Priscian and other ancient
grammarians, and also produced a number of textbooks
of
Latin
grammar
and a few of Greek.
Niccoló
Perotti added to his bulky Cornucopiae, a
detailed commentary on
parts
of
Martial,
an extensive word index and
thus
provided for the first time a detailed vocabulary of
classical
Latin.
23
In the
sixteenth century the big Thesauri of Greek and Latin produced by the
Estienne family were more
than
adequate and remained in use until the
eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
Whereas the study of Greek was mainly aimed at the reading of the
classics,
that
of Latin served the additional purpose of mastering it as a
written and even as a spoken language. The humanists were keenly aware of
the great difference
that
separated medieval and especially scholastic Latin
from
that
of the ancient Roman writers, above all
Cicero.
They made it
their avowed goal to imitate in their own writings the Latin of classical
writers and to avoid all those 'barbarous' features
that
separated medieval
from
classical Latin. They attempted with some success to imitate and
restore classical Latin as a
living
language and to bring about a kind of
21. The
list
of
these
orientalists
includes
Giannozzo
Manetti,
Giovanni
Pico,
Johannes
Reuchlin
and
Guillaume
Postel.
22.
Bolgar
1954, PP-
506-41
('The
translations
of the
Greek
and
Roman
classical
authors
before
1600');
Beardsley
1970;
Worstbrock
1976-.
23.
Kristeller
1981.
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122
Humanism
linguistic and literary revolution
that
discredited and gradually abolished
many, if not all, features of medieval Latin. This reform affected spelling,
prosody and punctuation, vocabulary and phraseology, inflection and
syntax, and the whole
structure
and rhythm of sentences. While some
scholars allowed new words for objects and concepts unknown to the
ancient Romans, others would ban any words not sanctioned by the usage
of
ancient Roman writers, especially
Cicero.
Lorenzo
Valla's
Elegantiae
were composed as a handbook
that
would help
students
and scholars to
write fluent Latin, to use the proper classical
terms
and phrases and to avoid
barbarisms. It served this function for several centuries. The result was a
neo-Latin language and
literature
that
were much closer to those of the
ancient Romans
than
anything written in Latin after the end
of
antiquity.
24
In the learned disciplines, including philosophy, this humanist reform
tended to abandon the technical terminology
that
had become refined and
precise through usage and discussion over several centuries and had often
served to
render
in Latin some philosophical
terms
of ancient Greek origin
that
had not been adopted or rendered by
Cicero
or other ancient Roman
writers. This humanist habit led in some instances to an emphasis on a
smooth literary style and vague phraseology at the expense of the
conceptual precision needed for an adequate philosophical discourse.
All
the activities and writings described so far might be roughly
subsumed
undergrammatica,
as this
term
was understood at the time. It now
remains to mention briefly the literary contribution
of
the humanists to the
other studia
humanitatis.
Rhetoric, which was the second of the humanities
and in many
ways
the core
of
them all, consisted primarily in the theory and
practice
of
prose composition, but also in the theory
of
plausible or probable
arguments and in the theory
of
persuasion. The humanists produced a large
number
of
commentaries on the rhetorical works
of
Cicero
and Quintilian
and later of Aristotle, and they also analysed Cicero's orations for their
rhetorical qualities. They wrote a number of rhetorical textbooks
that
tended to multiply during the sixteenth century, as
well
as many treatises on
more specific subjects, such as the figures of speech or imitation.
Like
their
medieval
predecessors, they used some
of
their own compositions as models
of
style to be imitated by their students, or composed formularies of
fictitious letters or just
parts
of them, such as exordia or salutationes.
25
More
important
was the claim advanced by most humanists
that
the
24.
Norden
1923.
25. G. A.
Kennedy
1980; Renaissance Eloquence 1983;
Monfasani
1976, ch. 9; for
Fichet,
see
Kristeller
1964b.
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Humanism
123
pursuit of eloquence (eloquentia) was a major task for the educated scholar
and writer and
that
it was inseparable from the pursuit of wisdom
(sapientia). This meant
that
philosophy should always be combined with
rhetoric, an ideal for which
Cicero
served as a teacher and an example. In the
name of this ideal, many humanists beginning with Petrarch criticised
scholastic philosophy. Many of them tended to subordinate philosophy to
rhetoric, and at least one leading humanist, Lorenzo
Valla,
came close to
replacing
philosophy with rhetoric, or at least with a kind of philosophy
which
he chose to
call
rhetoric.
26
The
rhetorical practice of the humanists was much more extensive
than
their theoretical literature. The genres most frequently cultivated by them
were
the oration and the letter, both of them
closely
connected with their
professional activity as chancellors and secretaries. The speeches composed
by
them and often delivered by others were seldom of the judiciary or
deliberative type prevalent in classical theory and practice, but usually
epideictic
and linked to the social and institutional practice of their time:
funeral and wedding speeches, speeches by ambassadors in the name
of
their
government, speeches
of
congratulation to newly elected popes or prelates,
princes or magistrates, speeches of welcome to distinguished visitors,
speeches
at the beginning of a school year or of a particular university
course,
speeches
given
at the graduation
of
students, at the opening
of
lay
or
religious
gatherings or of a disputation, or in praise of saints or other
illustrious people, and many more.
27
In fifteenth-century Italy the sermons
preached on holidays or on special occasions were often delivered by priests
or friars who had received a humanist education, and these sermons were
influenced
in their form and content,
if
not in their religious doctrine, by the
secular oratory of the humanists. The extensive literature of humanist
speeches
was widely copied and printed, but it has not been frequently read
or studied by modern scholars, although it contains a large amount of
biographical,
historical and scholarly information, and although some
of
it
expresses the author's thought and touches on problems and themes often
discussed in other writings of the same period.
28
Even
larger and probably more interesting is the literature of humanist
letters.
29
The ancient models for the letter were less numerous
than
for the
speech
or other genres, and ancient rhetorical theory provided but scanty
guidance for its composition. Yet the state letter was the most important
26.
Breen
1968, ch. 1;
Gerl
1974.
27.
Galletti
1904-38;
Kristeller
1980, pp. 9-10.
28. J. W.
O'Malley
1979. 29.
Kristeller
1980, pp. 8-9.
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124
Humanism
assignment for humanist chancellors and secretaries, and although they
were
bound to
follow
the example of their predecessors, the medieval
notaries and dictatores, for the content and legal terminology, they did their
best to improve upon the script, vocabulary and style
of
their
official
letters
and documents. For their private letters, the humanists were not limited by
any constraints, except their own taste and the example of such ancient
writers as Seneca, Pliny the
Younger
and above all
Cicero.
They
maintained an extensive correspondence with their patrons, friends and
colleagues;
and they often preserved, collected and edited their own letters,
considering and treating them as an important
part
of their literary
production.
Actually,
the letters of the humanists have enjoyed more
favour
with modern scholars and readers
than
most
of
their other writings.
This
is due to their elegant style and to their interesting content, which often
reflects
the
life
of
the author and
of
his friends, the events
of
his day, and his
thoughts and opinions on a variety of subjects. For reconstructing the
thought of a humanist, his letters are as important witnesses as any of his
other writings.
Although
the skill
of
the humanists as orators and practising rhetoricians
found its most direct expression in their speeches and letters, it also shaped
the form and style,
if
not the content,
of
all
their other prose compositions,
including
their historical and philosophical writings. As authors
of
histories
and biographies dealing with ancient, medieval and contemporary subjects,
and
of
antiquarian works dealing with ancient topography and mythology,
the humanists cultivated a fluent and elegant style, and the fictitious
speeches
which they inserted in their histories after the example of their
ancient and medieval predecessors gave them a special opportunity for
showing
their rhetorical expertise. On the other hand, and for this they have
not always received due credit, they used their
critical
judgement and their
knowledge
of older sources and documents to expose forgeries and con-
ventional errors and to reconstruct the events of the past in a rational and
plausible fashion, and
thus
they often attained a high degree
of
accuracy
and
credibility.
30
The humanists' concern with history led them to reflections
on the method, sources and theory of history which first appeared in the
prologues
to their courses and commentaries on ancient historians and later
found expression in special treatises on the art of history.
31
Among
the many prose works composed by the humanists on a great
variety
of topics, we find a considerable number of treatises dedicated to
30.
Cochrane
1981. 31. E.
MafFei
1897; B.
Reynolds
1953;
Cotroneo
1971
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Humanism
125
moral and other philosophical problems. They all show the same concern
for
style and elegance
that
characterises their other prose works, and also
pay their
tribute
to ancient authors by frequent quotations, examples and
allusions. Aside from the plain treatise, the humanists had a marked
preference for the invective and the dialogue. The invective, often used by
Petrarch and other humanists, had its models in some of Cicero's speeches
and in the apocryphal invectives attributed to Cicero and Sallust, which
enjoyed
a wide circulation and popularity. It enabled the authors to
give
a
more personal tone to their discourse and to exaggerate their points beyond
the limits of plausibility, something they evidently enjoyed.
32
The
dialogue,
usually patterned after the model of Cicero
rather
than
of Plato,
offered
the advantage
of
presenting more
than
one opinion or viewpoint on
the same subject without seeming to take a definitive stand (although the
author's
true
opinion may often be inferred from his preface, from the
composition
of
the dialogue
itself
or from his other writings). The dialogue
also gave a personal and almost dramatic vivacity to the problems discussed.
On
the other hand, it provided a literary excuse for avoiding the tight
argument and precise terminology
that
had characterised the philosophical
literature of the ancient Greeks and of the medieval scholastics.
33
The
narrative prose
of
the humanists,
apart
from their historical works, is
limited to a few short stories in Latin, some of them translations from
Boccaccio's
Decameron, and a few descriptions and eulogies of cities and
countries.
34
Much more extensive is their contribution to Latin poetry.
35
It
has with few exceptions not received much applause from modern critics,
but has been more widely studied in recent decades. Apart from isolated
pieces,
there
are many collections
of
epigrams and elegies composed on the
model of the ancient Roman poets. Poliziano, Pontano and a few others
have had a fairly continuous reputation, and several more have been rescued
from oblivion by recent scholars. Odes and other Horatian strophes are
much
rarer
because of their greater metrical difficulty and the limited
knowledge
of ancient prosody. There are quite a few long poems in epic
hexameters which are historical or mythological, religious or didactic in
content. Some of the didactic poems deal with philosophical or scientific
topics and hence are interesting for their doctrinal content as
well
as for their
literary form. There are some hymns and pastoral poetry patterned after
Vergil's
Eclogues, which had enjoyed great popularity ever since the early
32.
Vismara
1900. 33.
Tateo
1967, pp.
221-421;
Marsh
1980.
34.
Kristeller
1956a,
ch. 19, 1984.
35. V.
Rossi
1956 passim;
Bottiglioni
1913;
Ellinger
1929-33;
Bradner
1940; W. L.
Grant
1965.
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126
Humanism
fourteenth century. More limited, though not without interest, is the
humanist contribution to dramatic literature.
36
They composed few Latin
tragedies but a somewhat larger number
of
Latin
comedies, most
of
which
were
written and performed at the universities of
northern
Italy. In the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the genres of Latin comedy and
tragedy were much cultivated by the Jesuits, who in this sector, as in some
others,
followed
the humanist tradition. Humanist influences came to be
felt
also in the vernacular literatures. Many of the genres of classical and
humanist poetry came to be imitated and adopted in the vernacular
literatures, and leading vernacular poets, including Ariosto, Ronsard and
Spenser, received a humanist education.
The
humanists also played an important role in the development of
poetical
theory and literary criticism. The defence of poetry against the
theologians led to the formulation of some interesting principles. The
commentaries on the ancient poets, especially their introductions, con-
tained some pertinent reflections. Horace's AYS poética was commented
upon and occasionally imitated in separate treatises on poetics; and in the
sixteenth century Aristotle's Poetics, which had been practically unknown
during the preceding centuries, was extensively discussed in commentaries.
There were also some treatises on poetics, culminating in the work
of
Julius
Caesar
Scaliger.
37
In concluding this survey of the literary production of the humanists, I
should like to emphasise
that
it was characterised throughout by a desire to
imitate ancient authors and to emulate them in the elegance of their style,
vocabulary
and literary composition, but
that
the humanists added a
dimension
that
is not typical
of
ancient literature and
that
is largely new: the
tendency to take seriously their own personal feelings and experiences,
opinions and preferences. An air of subjectivity pervades all humanist
literature from Petrarch to Erasmus and Montaigne
that
is absent from most
classical
literature and also from much modern literature prior to
Romanticism. It accounts for the often uninhibited gossip, flattery and
polemics
present in much humanist literature, and it also helps to explain the
Renaissance preference for such literary genres as the invective, the
dialogue,
the speech, the letter and the essay. I should like to think
that
this is
what Jacob Burckhardt meant when he spoke of the individualism of the
Renaissance,
a concept
that
has been more often criticised
than
under-
stood.
38
In the sense in which I understand it, it is perfectly valid,
if
not for
36.
Stauble
1968. 37.
Greenfield
1981;
Trinkaus
1966;
Weinberg
1961.
38.
Burckhardt
i860,
part
11 ('Die
Entwicklung
des
Individuums').
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