Renaissance Humanism was an international movement in European culture. Its major focus was on revival of classical Greek and Latin culture, in opposition to the scholasticism of the late middle ages. The humanists advocated a return "ad fontes" (to the sources). This meant a concerted effort to find original Greek manuscripts of both the Bible and ancient literary, scientific, and philosophical texts and to engage in meticulous editing to recuperate the original phrasing and meaning.
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Renaissance Humanism was an international movement in European culture. Its major focus was on revival of classical Greek and Latin culture, in opposition to the scholasticism of the late middle ages. The humanists advocated a return "ad fontes" (to the sources). This meant a concerted effort to find original Greek manuscripts of both the Bible and ancient literary, scientific, and philosophical texts and to engage in meticulous editing to recuperate the original phrasing and meaning.
While scholastic philosophy was very technical and scientific, accessible only to specialists, the humanists had a greater appreciation for what we now would consider belles lettres, essayistic writing aimed towards a general educated audience. The humanists were especially interested in letter writing and saw Cicero's letters as models for emulation.
Latin was the international language of humanism. In a rebellion against what they considered the barbaric nature of Church Latin, humanists attempted to revive classical traditions of Latin vocabulary, syntax, and pronunciation, increasing the divide between the Latin in general use and emerging vernaculars.
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