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Summary
Just as art and architecture flourished in the Renaissance, so too did literature. And similarly, just as art and architecture benefited from new techniques, literature gained a massive boon from technology. In 1454, Johannes Gutenberg published the Gutenberg Bible, the first book printed by a machine using moveable type. The moveable-type printing press vastly changed the nature of book publishing, simultaneously increasing printing volume and decreasing prices. The process of printing spread throughout Europe, and was used extensively in Italy, where the humanist writers produced a greater volume of work than ever before. With the lower prices and increased numbers of texts, literature became a part of the lives of the larger public, not just the few elite able to afford books.
Two early Renaissance writers embodied the spirit of the Renaissance, those being Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Bocaccio. The poetry of Francesco Petrarch powerfully expressed the principles of humanism extremely early in the budding Renaissance, and his letters served as an ideal representation of Renaissance thought. Giovanni Bocaccio, a Florentine, is most noted for writing The Decameron, a series of 100 stories set in Florence during the Black Death that struck the city in 1348. In it, Boccaccio explores the traditions and viewpoints of various social classes based on actual observation and study.
Many Renaissance writers studied the works of the ancient Romans and Greeks, coming to new, modern conclusions based upon their studies. One such writer was Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. In 1484, Pico became a member of Florence's Platonic Academy, where he tried to reconcile the teachings of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In 1486, he published a collection of 900 philosophical treatises, in which his conclusions often differed from those of the Catholic Church. Pico's best-known work, the “Oration on the Dignity of Man,” describes his belief, contrary to church dogma, that people have free will and are able to make decisions affecting their destinies. He was declared a heretic as a result.
Niccolò Machiavelli rose to even greater literary prominence with a legacy more durable than Pico's. A Florentine statesman, Machiavelli gained power during the Florentine Republic under Savonarola in 1498. After the Medici regained power in 1512, Machiavelli retired from government (involuntarily), moved to his estate outside Florence, and began to write. Convinced government that Italy could survive only if unified under a strong leader, Machiavelli published The Prince, the most well-known piece of Renaissance literature, in 1513. It was intended as a guidebook for the eventual leader of all of Italy and as a reference for rulers everywhere. In it, Machiavelli argued that it was better for a leader to be feared than loved and advocated that a “prince” should do anything necessary to maintain his power and achieve his goals.
Analysis
The search for more accessible, cheaper books in the Renaissance led to the invention and proliferation of the printing press, which, in turn, led to the wide institutionalization of literature as an essential aspect of Renaissance life. With the printing press, books could be produced quickly and in mass quantity. Before long, printing presses had been constructed and were widely in use throughout Europe, bringing the price of books down and allowing more and more authors to be published and read.
The invention of the printing press was a major step toward bringing the Renaissance, long the province of the wealthy alone, to the middle classes. In turn, as literacy rose, the middle class became involved in the wave of intellectualism of the times, and opportunities for middle class contributions to the canon of literature grew. The power of literature to encompass many classes was demonstrated by The Decameron, in which Boccaccio explores the habits and morality of the various classes of Florence.
As in the realm of art, writers felt a great tension between progressive humanism and Church doctrine, a tension that sometimes grew to the point of conflict. Pico was not the only writer of the times to be declared a heretic, as many wrestled with the fact that the factual findings of science and the philosophical conclusions of humanism did not correspond with the teachings of the Church. This undercurrent of dissent can be seen in many works throughout the Renaissance but is perhaps demonstrated in its clearest and most blatant form in Pico’s “Oration on the Dignity of Man.” Pico believed that man had free will to make decisions, and that the study of philosophy prepared man to recognize the truth and make better decisions. He also believed that each individual could commune directly with God, and that the priesthood had falsely claimed this singular power. Pico’s ideas, along with the arguments of others, became central to Protestant thought during the Reformation.
Niccolò Machiavelli's writing, while it did not earn him condemnation as a heretic, was nonetheless novel and controversial. The Prince clearly hammers home the concept that a ruler must be strong and awe-inspiring in order to be successful. It argued for the consolidation of power by any means possible. European rulers have, for centuries, consulted The Prince as a handbook, and it is said by some to have had more influence on modern politics than any other work. With the publication of his book, Machiavelli’s fame (and infamy) grew to such extents that his own name became a term: those who are ruthless and calculating are often called “Machiavellian.”
