Medieval Foundations of Renaissance Humanism

by Walter Ullmann

Book by Ullmann, Walter

212 pages, Hardcover

First published August 1, 1977

Reviews

[Michael’ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I almost began to think no university had ever produced anything insightful. But even a system so good at killing the mind produces a few gems. The scholarship of Walter Ullmann is certainly among them. Readable though not flowery but clear and insightful; I read about Renaissance Humanism before but it gave me a feeling of historical isolation. Neither early nor contemporary scholarship seemed able to explain the original texts, nor clarify its historical place. This book is clearly focused on early Humanists and Porto-Humanists and Ullmann draws view connections to later history but that is what is to be expected from an expert on the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. But Ullmann gives such a clear and comprehensive description of the novelty of Renaissance Humanism, historical significance of his subject will strike anyone t more familiar with later political thought.