The Florentine Renaissance

The Florentine Republic

As the German emperors lost effective control of Northern Italy, many of the cities in this area became self-governing republics. Florence was one of these cities. Its wealth was mostly based on a widespread network of banking and commercial activities, and a group of families effectively controlled the political system. This system resembled republican Rome, with the signoria or governing council composed mostly of members of the merchant families, taking the place of the Roman Senate [1].

The political and economic system of the Florentine republic created a need for a number of administrative posts. Foremost among the administrative offices was the position of Chancellor.The duties of the chancellor included writing letters to foreign powers, delivering speeches at official functions, and keeping records of these interactions.The position required literary and notarial skills, as well as a knowledge of history, and it was a perfect opportunity for the professional humanists that were emerging in this period.

Humanist Circles

The man most responsible for a revival of interest in the Humanities during the fourteenth century was Francesco Petrarcha (anglicized Petrarch). Petrarch was born at Arezzo in 1304, the son of a Florentine father. He started legal studies at Montpelier and Bologna, but  in 1326 he abandoned these studies to dedicate himself to the pursuit of literature. He took minor ecclesiastical orders in order to make a living, and he served in several clerical and diplomatic appointments at different cities in Italy and France, while his fame grew as a poet. His study of classical poetry awakened in him a deep admiration for the civilization of Greece and specially Rome.

The humanities have a strong element of celebration, of the joy of shared humanity, of being alive and being part of a community.  So, not surprisingly,  the characteristic intellectual activity of this period was the informal gathering of friends,  in contrast with  the emphasis on university life of the previous two centuries.  One of these groups gathered around the Florentine poet Bocaccio at the Augustinian monastery of Santo Spirito in Florence.   Bocaccio had met Petrarch on a visit that the latter made to Florence in 1350.  They immediately became friends, and this friendship was maintained through visits and correspondence. As a result of this friendship, Boccacio also became interested in the classics, and he accumulated a sizable library of Latin works.  The discussion group at the monastery included laymen as well as monks.  Upon his death in 1375,  Bocaccio bequeathed his library to the monastery [2]. In the 1380’s and early 1390’s, another circle of humanists met daily in the cell of Augustinian monk Luigi Marsili (1342-94) at this same monastery of Santo Spirito, taking advantage of Bocaccio’s donated library. This group included Coluccio Salutati and his “disciples,” and Salutati soon became the central figure of the circle [3].  In addition to these regular meetings, there were also more spontaneous ones at the homes of some of the members of the circle.

Coluccio Salutati was born in a province of the Florentine Republic in 1331. In 1335 his family moved to Bologna. Coluccio studied to become a notary at Bologna and served in several clerical positions. During the time that Salutati received his secondary education in Bologna there was a growing interest in the classics in this city, and some of his teachers transmitted this interest to young Coluccio. His notarial studies also exposed him to Roman law and history, and he also developed an intense love of Roman poetry through his own personal reading.  In 1375 Salutati was appointed chancellor of Florence, and he remained in this office until his death in 1406. Salutati felt that the continued study of the Latin classics would improve his literary skills, so he was able to combine his professional and personal interests.During the later stages of his life, Salutati became very good at mentoring younger men and inspiring in them the same passion for the classics that he had [4].

Leonardo Bruni, a disciple of Salutati and also a chancellor of Florence, celebrated the city and its renaissance: “…I do enjoy the solace of living in this city, which seems by far to surpass and excel all others.  It is eminent for its numerous inhabitants, its splendid buildings and its great undertakings; and in addition, some seeds of the liberal arts and of all human culture, which once seemed completely dead, remained here and grow day by day and very soon, I believe, will bring forth no inconsiderable light [5].”

The Humanities and Christian Values

Pier Paolo Vergerio, an educator influenced by Salutati, expressed the values of humanistic studies:  “We call those studies liberal which are worthy of a free man; those studies by which we attain and practice virtue and wisdom; that education which calls forth, trains and develops those highest gifts of body and of mind which ennoble men, and which are rightly judged to rank next in dignity to virtue only.”  But “ennobling” goes beyond the practical.  The study of the humanities can also help build the human spirit, a dimension that transcends performance in society.  Bruni also emphasizes this aspect: “those subjects that are related to life and behavior, which are called the humanities (studia humanitatis) because they become a man, and perfect him [6]."

Among some religious circles in Florence, the humanist studies of this period were attacked as being “pagan.” Many of these attacks were personally directed at Salutati, and he eagerly accepted the challenge.  In a series of writings he defended the value of studying literature to a proper understanding of Scripture and the Church Fathers:  “The studia humanitatis and the studia divinitatis are so interconnected that true and complete knowledge of the one cannot be had without the other [7]."  After all, the Church Fathers had attempted to “christianize” the best of the greco-roman world, and to present Christianity using their concepts and modes of expression.  In 1400, Bruni supported this position by translating into Latin a Greek homily by St. Basil (330-379) which had also endorsed classical studies. 

Public Service

Salutati struggled his whole life with his dual and sometimes conflicting tastes for the life of learning and for public service.  He wrote often on this subject, but remained ambivalent on it to the end.  In a letter to a friend who was contemplating joining a monastery, he wrote in 1398:

I grant that the contemplative life is more sublime for its high level of thought; more delectable with the sweetness of tranquility and meditation; more self sufficient since it requires fewer things; more divine since it considers divine rather than human things; more noble since it exercises the intellect, the higher part of the soul, which among living things is the unique possession of man.  I grant, finally, that it is more lovable because of itself and, as Aurelius says, that it is to be sought for love of the truth; nonetheless, the active life that you flee is to be followed both as an exercise in virtue and because of the necessity of brotherly love  [8].

Salutati was able to channel his understanding of the active life based on brotherly love into a Christian patriotism.  He and Bruni, as chancellors, provided civic leadership. For them the best way to serve one’s neighbor was by supporting and defending the city-state institution, which in turn looked after the common good of all the citizens.  Bruni exalted the virtues of public service:  “And when a free people are offered this possibility of attaining offices, it is wonderful how effectively it stimulates the talents of the citizens… In our city, therefore, since this hope and prospect is held out, it is not surprising that talent and industriousness should be conspicuous [9]."

[1] Charles G. Nauert, Humanism and the Culture of Renaissance Europe, (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995), 13-15.

[2] Charles L. Stinger, “Humanism in Florence” in Albert I. Rabil, ed., Renaissance Humanism , (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1988), 179-180.

[3] Ibid., 181.

[4] Ronald G. Witt, Hercules at the Crossroads, (Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1983), 117.

[5] Leonardo Bruni, “The Dialogues” in Gordon Griffiths, et al., eds., The Humanism of Leonardo Bruni (Binghamton, New York: State University of New York at Binghamton, 1987), 63.

[6] Leonardo Bruni, “A Letter to Niccolo Strozzi,” in Gordon Griffiths, et al., eds., The Humanism of Leonardo Bruni (Binghamton, New York: State University of New York at Binghamton, 1987), 252.

[7] Charles L. Stinger, Humanism and the Church Fathers, ( New York: State University of New York, 1977), 74.

[8] Coluccio Salutati, “Letter to Peregrino Zambeccari” in Ronald G. Witt, ed., The Earthly Republic (University of Pennsylvania Press, 1978), 111.

[9] Leonardo Bruni, “Oration for the Funeral of Nanni Strozzi” in Griffiths, et al., eds., The Humanism of Leonardo Bruni, 125.