They realised that the great literary and scientific revival could do much for the defence of religion, and that the Pagan classics must be appraised according to Christian standards.
But this work of reconciliation was rendered very difficult by the attitude of extremists on both sides. Many of the Italian Humanists, as has been shown, were Christians only in name. In their writings and in their lives they showed clearly that they were thoroughly imbued with the spirit of Paganism. Such men merited severe condemnation, and it is to be regretted that the Popes, particularly Sixtus IV. and Leo X., did not adopt a firmer attitude towards this section of the Italian school. But before judging too harshly the friendly relations maintained by Sixtus IV. and Leo X. with the Italian Humanists, it is well to remember that the age in which they lived was noted for its general laxity and for the decline of a proper religious spirit, that the Pagan tone and Pagan forms of expression used by these writers were regarded as exhibitions of harmless pedantry rather than as clear proofs of opposition to Christianity, that most of these writers were always ready to explain away whatever might appear objectionable in their works, and that, finally, mildness in the circumstances may have been deemed the best policy. The attitude of the Popes at any rate prevented an open conflict between the representatives of the two schools in Italy until the outbreak of the Reformation and the invasion of Rome put an end to the danger by destroying the Humanist movement.
In Germany and France there were few traces of an anti-Christian tendency amongst the supporters of the new learning. But in both countries, more especially in the former, the supporters of the new learning criticised severely the ignorance of the monks and Theologians, and took little pains to conceal their contempt for the Scholastic methods of education. They blamed the Popes for their neglect of the true interests of the Church, and held them responsible in a large measure for the general decline of religion. According to them the study of theology must be reformed so as to give a more prominent place to the Scriptures and the writings of the early Fathers; the development of the internal spirit of religion as distinct from mere external formalism was to be encouraged, and many of the existing practices might be discarded as superstitious. Such views tended naturally to excite the opposition of the Theologians and to unsettle the religious convictions of educated men who watched the struggle with indifference.
In this way the ground was prepared for a complete religious revolt.
Luther's movement was regarded by many as merely the logical sequence of Humanism, but that the Humanists themselves were not willing to accept this view is clear from the fact that once the early misunderstandings had been removed, and once the real issues were apparent, most of the Humanists in Germany and France remained true to the Church. Instead of regarding Luther as a friend they looked upon him as the worst enemy of their cause, and on the Reformation as the death-knell of the Renaissance.
[1] Sandys, /History of Classical Scholarship/, 2nd edition, 1906.
Rogers, /L'Enseignement des lettres classiques d'Ausone a Alcuin/, 1905. Gougaud, /Les Chretientes Celtiques/, 1911, chap. viii. (An excellent bibliography.) Esposito, /Greek in Ireland during the Middle Ages/ (/Studies/, i., 4, 665-683).
[2] Monnier, /La Renaissance de Dante a Luther/, 1884.
[3] Guirard, /L'Eglise et la Renaissance/, chap. iii.
[4] Nolhac, /Petrarque et l'Humanisme/, 1892.
[5] Mancini, /Vita di Lorenzo Valla/, 1891.
[6] Pastor, /History of the Popes/, i., pp. 12-33.
[7] Pastor, op. cit., p. 24.
[8] Muntz, /Les arts a la cour des Popes pendant le XVe. et le XVIe.
siecle/, 1878-9.
[9] Muntz-Fabre, /La Bibliotheque du Vatican au XVe. siecle/, 1887.
[10] Pastor, op. cit., vol. vii. Conforti, /Leone X. ed il suo secolo/, 1896. Roscoe, /Life and Pontificate of Leo X./, 1883.
[11] Delprat, /Die Bruderschaft des gemeinsamen Lebens/, 1840.
[12] Strauss, /Ulrich von Hutten/, 2 auf., 1871 (Eng. Trans., 1874).
[13] /Clarorum virorum Epistolae latinae graecae et hebraicae/, 1514.
[14] Janssen, /History of the German People/, iii., pp. 44-79.
[15] Capey, /Erasmus/, 1901.
[16] /Lefevre d'Etaples son influence sur les origines de la reforme Franc./, 1900.
[17] Lalanne, /Memoires de Me. de Valois/, etc., 1858.
[18] On the Humanist movement in England, cf. Gasquet, /Eve of the Reformation/, 1900, chap. ii. Seebohm, /Oxford Reformers/ (Colet, Erasmus, More), 1867. Einstein, /The Italian Renaissance in England/, 1902.
(b) Political and Social Condition of Europe.
See the works of Pastor, Janssen and Gasquet cited in section (a).
/The Cambridge Modern History/, vol. i (gives an excellent bibliography). Hergenrother-Kirsch, /Handbuch der Allgemeinen Kirchengeschichte/, Bd. 2 (pp. 996-1002). Ranke, /Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation/, 1844 (Eng. Trans. by Austin, 1845-7). Idem., /Geschichte der Romanischen und Germanischen Volker/ (1419-1514). Kaser, /Deutsche Geschichte zur Zeit Maximilians I./ (1486-1519), 1912. Cherrier, /Histoire de Charles VIII./, 1868. Prescott, /Ferdinand and Isabella/, 1887.
Busch-Todd, /England under the Tudors/, 1892-5. Hunt-Poole, /The Political History of England/, vol. v., 1910 (chap. v.).