In the middle ages, people had looked to the Chruch as the source of all knowledge to guide and direct them. ... The study of their writings and works of art was seen to be like a great adventure and a voyage of discovery. ... Poetry and music: In poetry and music, the fresh ideas of the renaissance also found expression. ...
Petrarch opted out of studying law in order to devote his life to literature. ... He considered himself a protector of the study of the humanities that Petrarch started. ... As a result, humanism was reflected in all types of literary works; rhetorical pieces, poetry, historical accounts, and even books on education and daily life. ... He was most well-known for his guide to courtly behavior, titled Il cortegiano (The Courtier). The guide was published in 1528 in Venice and outlines how a courtier should conduct oneself, in love, war, and his pursuit of education (Kekewich 167). ...
The humanists of the Renaissance rediscovered the Latin and Greek classics (hence the "rebirth" or "renaissance" of the classical world), that humanist philosophy stressed the dignity of humanity, and that humanists shifted intellectual emphasis off of theology and logic to specifically human studies. ... The humanistic movement began during the early Italian Renaissance with the rediscovery of the writings of classical Greeks and Romans, which were not only models of literary style, but considered to be guides to the understanding of life. ... Michelangelo is known as probably the great...
One of Petrarch's legacies was his belief that the recovery and study of the works of antiquity could restore virtue, culture, and social order. ... Although he did not invent the sonnet, it can be found in 12th century Courtly Love poetry, the quality of his work and the use of the vernacular made it very popular and served as a reintroduction of the sonnet form to the literary world. ... His imitation of Virgil's Aeneid shows the degree to which he relied on Classical literature as a source and guide. ... Based on his studies of Cicero, Petrarch believed that there had to be mor...
