The Impact of Humanism

The Renaissance, both as a concept and a period, continues to generate lively controversy not only among academics but also among the general public. Ever since the publication, in 1860, of Jacob Burckhardt's classic study of the Renaissance in Italy, scholars have disputed the origins of the movement and its subsequent influence on European culture and thought. This sequence of three course texts and two anthologies, published in association with the Open University, explores the Renaissance from the interdisciplinary perspective of history, literature, drama, religion, the history of art, philosophy, music and political thought. It provides students and general readers with an unprecedentedly thorough analysis of this absorbing stage in the development of Western civilization. Taking Burckhardt's The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy as its starting point, this volume seeks to explore the continuing relevance of this seminal study to our understanding of the Renaissance, as well as subjecting it to the criticism of subsequent generations of scholars. A particular concern is the 'revival of antiquity' which Burckhardt saw as one of the definitive features of Renaissance culture. This is explored through a reassessment of the role of humanism, with detailed case studies in music (Josquin Desprez), moral philosophy (Valla, Castiglione, More) and political thought (Machiavelli). This volume is the fist in a series of three specifically designed for the Open University course, The Renaissance in Europe: A Cultural Enquiry.