Read the selection below. Keep in mind the context of the period we are studying.
... In the Middle Ages to praise man was to praise God, for
man was a creation of God. Bu
Renaissance
Renaissance writers praised man himself as a creator. They played down the
sinfulness he was born
with and emphasized
his ability to think and act for himself, to produce
works of art, to guide the
destiny of others. They freed man from his pegged place in the medieval
hierarchy, halfway between
matter and spirit, and allowed him to roam at will, through all
the levels of being, sometimes
identifying himself with the brutes, sometimes with the angels.
He was seen as the ruler of
nature the lord, although
not the Lord, of creation.
biv
This new vision of man sprang from a heightened awareness of self. Medieval men had been
preoccupied with searching their souls, but Renaissance men were much more intrigued with
exploring, and indeed parading, their own personalities. Petrarch is a perfect example. Although his
serious interests centered on his work in discovering and editing ancient texts, Petrarch was also
interested in himself. In his letters, designed for posterity [future generations] as well as his friends,
he left a record of his reactions to love affairs and friendship, to mountains and the flowers in his
garden. They are an intellectual and emotional self-portrait, the first since antiquity [ancient times]...
Source: John R. Hale, Great Ages of Man: A History of the World's Cultures: Renaissance, Time-Life, 19
- Identify Hale's argument.
... In the Middle Ages to praise man was to praise God, for
man was a creation of God. Bu
Renaissance
Renaissance writers praised man himself as a creator. They played down the
sinfulness he was born
with and emphasized
his ability to think and act for himself, to produce
works of art, to guide the
destiny of others. They freed man from his pegged place in the medieval
hierarchy, halfway between
matter and spirit, and allowed him to roam at will, through all
the levels of being, sometimes
identifying himself with the brutes, sometimes with the angels.
He was seen as the ruler of
nature the lord, although
not the Lord, of creation.
biv
This new vision of man sprang from a heightened awareness of self. Medieval men had been
preoccupied with searching their souls, but Renaissance men were much more intrigued with
exploring, and indeed parading, their own personalities. Petrarch is a perfect example. Although his
serious interests centered on his work in discovering and editing ancient texts, Petrarch was also
interested in himself. In his letters, designed for posterity [future generations] as well as his friends,
he left a record of his reactions to love affairs and friendship, to mountains and the flowers in his
garden. They are an intellectual and emotional self-portrait, the first since antiquity [ancient times]...
Source: John R. Hale, Great Ages of Man: A History of the World's Cultures: Renaissance, Time-Life, 19