The Effects of Greek Learning on the Early Italian Renaissance

In the minds of many, the word "renaissance" sparks an image of a flowering culture in the late Middle Ages and, as the word itself implies, a "rebirth." But this ambiguous statement can be misinterpreted; what was it exactly that was reborn in Italy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries? Italy in the early modern period was not separate from the preceding eras. Despite being termed the "Dark Ages," the centuries before the 1300s were quite active. Learning and scholarship existed throughout the Middle Ages in the scholasticism practiced in monasteries as well as at early universities. Christianity, the major cultural force of the Middle Ages, did not end or lose importance in the society of early modern Italy, so what was it that was revived in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries? Not learning itself, but rather a different element of education and knowledge was reintroduced in the early Italian Renaissance, or "reborn" as described by the word rinascimento. This element was knowledge of the classical era of antiquity that encompassed topics not only from ancient Rome but also from ancient Greece, including the Greek language, science, history, rhetoric, and philosophy, to name a few. In a climate receptive to classical learning due to the physical legacy of the Roman Empire and the ideas of Petrarch, an increasing number of Byzantine scholars disseminated many forgotten aspects of ancient Greek learning to early Italian humanists.

Although ideas from ancient Rome already enjoyed popularity with the scholars of the fourteenth century and their importance to the Renaissance was undeniable, the lessons of Greek learning brought by Byzantine intellectuals changed the course of humanism and the Renaissance. While Greek learning affected all the subjects of the studia humanitatis, history and philosophy in particular were profoundly affected by the texts and ideas brought from Byzantium. History was changed by the re-discovery and spread of Greek historians' writings, and this knowledge of Greek historical treatises helped the subject of history become a guide to virtuous living based on the study of past events and people. The effects of this renewed knowledge of Greek history can be seen in the writings of humanists on virtue, which was a popular topic. Specifically, these effects are shown in the examples provided from Greek antiquity that displayed virtue as well as vice. The philosophy of not only Aristotle but also Plato affected the Renaissance by causing debates over man's place in the universe, the immortality of the soul, and the ability of man to improve himself through virtue. The flourishing of philosophical writings in the fifteenth century revealed the impact of Greek philosophy on the Renaissance. The resonance of these changes lasted through the centuries following the Renaissance not only in the writing of humanists, but also in the education and values of Europe and western society even to the present day.

Before understanding how and why Greek learning came to affect the Italian Renaissance, it is important to know that Greek and Italian cultures never completely lost contact. The city of Venice retained many close ties to the Byzantine Empire throughout the Middle Ages. Since the Crusades, and specifically the Fourth Crusade of 1204 when Venetian forces helped conquer Constantinople, Venice held economic and occasionally military connections with Byzantium. Even after the Byzantine Empire crumbled to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Venice maintained territory in the East, including the island of Crete.[i] In the south of Italy, the Kingdom of Naples also retained Byzantine connections where the Greek language was still known, and occasionally Greek works were translated into Latin.[ii] Another critical link between Greek culture and the rest of western Europe was the study of Aristotle that continued throughout the medieval period due much to the work of St. Thomas Aquinas, who attempted to reconcile the philosophy of Aristotle with Christianity. Aristotle's teachings dominated the logic and natural philosophy of medieval universities, but the full extent of Aristotle's beliefs was not studied in the way it would be in later years. Paul Oskar Kristeller claimed, "The Aristotelianism of the later Middle Ages was characterized not so much by a common system of ideas as by a common source material…a common set of definitions and problems, and a common method of discussing these problems."[iii] In these ways contact between Greek culture and that of western Europe, specifically Italy, lasted throughout the Middle Ages. But the reinvigoration of Greek learning began in the mid-fourteenth century, and while it grew out of the connections between Greek and Italian cultures, it also revolutionized them.

The first humanist revival of Greek learning began with Petrarch in the middle of the fourteenth century. Petrarch's interest in Virgil caused him to appreciate Homer, and received a manuscript of Homer from a Byzantine ambassador, although he lacked the ability to read Greek. Petrarch's student Boccaccio proceeded farther than his mentor in Greek studies. With the help of Leontius Pilatus, a Byzantine who lived in southern Italy, he wrote the Genealogia deorum, literally "the genealogy of the gods," which traced the lineage of the Greek gods through their myths.[iv] Boccaccio was so interested in the Greek language that he convinced the Florentine studium to create a position for teaching Greek, and the first person to occupy this position was Pilatus himself.[v] The early revival of Greek studies by Petrarch and Boccaccio was significant because they were held in high esteem by the early Italian humanists, and their example gave credence to the study of the Greek language and works written in that language. Although it would take time before a sizeable number of scholars could proficiently read Greek, a trend friendly towards Greek learning had begun with two of the most influential scholars of the early Renaissance.

By the late fourteenth century, humanism was developing out of the ideas of Petrarch and the renewed interest in Latin studies, but it was altered significantly by the infusion of Greek learning from Byzantine émigré scholars. As Turkish incursions worsened throughout Anatolia and the fate of the Byzantine Empire looked grim, learned Greeks began relocating to Italy which, due to the interest in classical ideas and the connections between Byzantium and Venice, was receptive to these scholars. The person who caused the first widespread revival of and interest in Greek was the scholar Manuel Chrysoloras, who arrived in Italy in 1397 at the request of Coluccio Salutati.[vi] He began teaching in Florence, where he influenced the early generation of great Italian humanists. He not only taught the Greek language and lectured on the works of Homer, Plutarch, and Greek philosophers, but he used a method of analysis from Byzantium previously unknown in Italy. After reading a passage aloud he would comment on it while explaining the nuances in the language and meaning, which was known as schedographia.[vii]

The effectiveness of his teaching was seen in the number of his pupils who became known for their proficiency in Greek and their translations into Latin of Greek works. Chrysoloras himself began the work of translating Plato's Republic and works of Ptolemy, but some of his students, including Leonardo Bruni, Uberto Decembrio, Niccolo Niccoli, and Pier Paolo Vergerio, translated numerous Greek works after their time spent with Chrysoloras. Bruni, who became chancellor of Florence in 1427 and one of the most famous humanists of the late fourteenth and early fifteenth centuries, translated works from Xenophon, Plutarch, Demosthenes, Aristotle, and also Plato in his lifetime.[viii] Chrysoloras also inspired the Italian scholars Guarino Guarini and Francesco Filelfo to live and study in Constantinople. They brought back their increased knowledge of Greek and disseminated it to other Italian students.[ix] Chrysoloras's influence was felt even by scholars of the next generation, namely Battista Guarino, son of the scholar who studied in Constantinople.

In his treatise on education, the younger Guarino stated,

Let students, then, acquire the Greek language, but not in the
confused and disorderly way that the Greeks usually teach it.
Instead, put into their hands the rules which Manuel Chrysol-
oras, our father's teacher, collected in summary form, or the
ones which our father himself, a great lover of compendia,
distilled from the rules of Chryoloras.[x]

Manuel Chrysoloras inspired many of the early humanists to strive to learn the Greek language and topics such as Greek history, philosophy, and even science through Ptolemy. Although the study of the Greek language never became an integral feature of a humanist education, the ability of many humanists to read Greek allowed them to translate works of ancient Greeks into Latin, which unlocked the lessons of Greek learning for those who did not read the language. The humanists affected by Chrysoloras changed the education and literature of the early Italian Renaissance, and the re-establishment of Greek studies grew out of their passion for the subjects taught by Chrysoloras.

Although Manuel Chrysoloras began a revival of Greek studies, an event in 1438-39 changed the course of Greek learning in Italy from a gentle trickle to a flood. The Council of Florence, which was meant to unite the Orthodox and Catholic churches, succeeded in bringing the brightest minds of Byzantium and Italy together, although not the two churches of Christianity. The Council caused an even greater interest in Greek knowledge in Italy than before, and it inspired certain important Greek scholars to move to Italy. They Byzantine Gemistos Pletho, his pupil Cardinal Bessarion, and John Argyropoulos rose to prominence due to their appearance at the Council, at which speeches, discussions, and disputations took place. Pletho wrote On the Differences Between Plato and Aristotle at the Council, which inspired great interest in Plato's philosophy and attempts at translations of both Plato and Aristotle that surpassed medieval versions in accuracy and quality.[xi] Bessarion, who had studied with Pletho in Byzantium before the Council, also expounded on Plato for years after the Council and influenced Marsilio Ficino, who would become the most important Platonist of the early Renaissance. Bessarion also fostered increased understanding of mathematics through codices that discussed the ideas of Archimedes and Aristotle's Mechanica.[xii] While he focused on Plato's philosophy, Bessarion showed his knowledge of other Greek writers and thinkers through his patronage of many translations into Latin of Greek works and his vast library of manuscripts.[xiii]

John Argyropoulos also helped renew interest in Platonic philosophy. Hired to teach Aristotelian philosophy in Florence, he spent his afternoons after his classes teaching the ideas of Plato privately in his home, and eventually he held the chair in Greek philosophy at the studium in Florence. According to Geanakoplos, "His instruction followed the traditional Byzantine didactic practice of first reading a passage aloud, studying its grammar, structure, and syntactical position…then analyzing its meaning."[xiv] The ideas of these scholars and the lessons they imparted to Italian humanists continued to influence the intellectual climate of the early Renaissance. These scholars and others who emigrated from Byzantium before and after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 brought texts and methods with them that affected the ethics and philosophy of the Renaissance. By inspiring many humanists to learn Greek and work at translating ancient Greek works, the scholars of Byzantium who participated in the Council of Florence, as well as those who came before, caused a revival of Greek studies. Some of the effects of this revival were almost immediate, others grew over time, but this knowledge of the works of Greek antiquity markedly changed the thinkers and ideas of the Renaissance throughout the period and beyond.

The studia humanitatis, the educational program of humanism, was a unique innovation of the Renaissance. It differed from the scholastic education of the Middle Ages in its emphasis on man and the humanities and its notable lack of theology as an educational subject. Battista Guarino showed the continuity between ancient Greece and Renaissance Italy in his treatise, "A Program of Teaching and Learning," when he maintained, "For what the Greeks call paideia we call learning and instruction in the liberal arts. The ancients also called this humanitatis, since devotion to knowledge has been given to the human being alone out of all living creatures."[xv] The studia humanitatis, which consisted of grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, and moral philosophy based on the reading of classical Greek and Latin authors,[xvi] was affected in all subjects by the infusion of Greek texts and ideas, but the renewed appreciation of antiquity cast history into a very different light for humanists than the way in which scholastics had viewed it.

Ancient Greece, the precursor to the Roman republic and empire, received new attention due to the texts of Greek historians brought to Italy by émigré scholars. The renewed popularity of Plato also revived and diversified the study of moral philosophy beyond only Aristotle and caused a lively debate for years concerning the two philosophers. Both history and philosophy were valued by humanists because they focused on bettering the individual through knowledge of what virtuous behavior should be and examples of past actions. Chrysoloras's student Vergerio, in his treatise "The Character and Studies Befitting a Free-Born Youth," claimed history and moral philosophy were the "most suitable subjects" for those of a truly noble mind.

He continued, "Thus in philosophy we find rules explaining what one may profitably do or shun, but in history we find examples…."[xvii] The works of many Renaissance writers displayed the effects of Greek knowledge in history and philosophy through their debates over issues such as man's place in the universe and the merits of the ideas of Plato and Aristotle, and Greek historical figures featured prominently in works concerning virtue and what could be learned from the past.
In a letter to Jacopo Bracciolini, Marsilio Ficino captured the opinion of many humanists about history when he stated, "What is in itself mortal, through history attains immortality; what is absent becomes present, what is ancient becomes new."[xviii] By valuing the ancient period despite its lack of Christianity, humanist scholars began to see merit in a period of time that had previously been viewed as a dark era of paganism. Eugene F. Rice, Jr. and Anthony Grafton claimed, "In the eyes of Renaissance humanists history was a great arc sadly sagging in the middle. On one side was the greatness of ancient achievement; on the other, the contemporary rebirth…Between them stretched a middle age of cultural and intellectual squalor." Jacob Burckhardt, in his classic book The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, likened this so-called squalor to a veil that was "…woven of faith, illusion, and childish prepossession, through which the world and history were seen clad in strange hues."[xix]

The Renaissance scholars' revolutionary outlook on antiquity stemmed from an appreciation of history that began with the study of Latin authors such as Cicero, Livy, and Valerius Maximus, and it was augmented by the rediscovery and translation of Greek authors such as Herodotus, Thucydides, Plutarch, Xenophon, and Polybius.[xx] Throughout the fifteenth century, Greek historical books and treatises became available in Latin to humanists through translations by those who could read Greek, such as Leonardo Bruni, Lorenzo Valla, and Francesco Filelfo. Many of the works written by these ancient Greek authors were brought to Italy by Greek émigrés and translated by their students. Able to read and appreciate works of these ancient Greek authors in addition to Latin manuscripts already in circulation, humanists began to write about history with a new understanding of the subject and what lessons could be learned from the actions of people from the past.

During the Middle Ages, when theology colored the study of history, past events were interpreted as the progression of God's will, not the actions of independent people. The value placed on the history of non-Christian ancient people in the early Italian Renaissance removed the veneer of theology from history, and humanists began to see the subject as the choices and actions of men, not the will of God. This new outlook allowed humanists to see value in the personal qualities of historical characters, and they praised certain people for their valor and successes and condemned others for their failures or mistakes. This fostered the critical study of history, which was the beginning of the modern subject as it is studied today. As Rice and Grafton maintained, "The positive contribution of Renaissance historians was to secularize historical writing."[xxi]

Battista Guarino summarized the value of history in "A Program of Teaching and Learning" when he stated,

Then they should read the remaining historians in order, from whom
they will excerpt the customs, manners, and laws of various peoples,
the various fortunes that befell individuals of genius and their vices
and virtues. This practice is of great use in producing eloquence in
daily speech and a reputation for prudence in a wide range of affairs.[xxii]

Therefore, history gained an importance in the education of humanists that it had not enjoyed in the scholastic education of the Middle Ages. Viewed as a model from which one could learn, the history of ancient Greece along with Rome provided examples of correct and incorrect decision-making and behavior. The profusion of Greek texts added to the body of literature studied in history by creating an interest in Herodotus, Thucydides, and Plutarch, among others, which became an integral part of a humanist education because students could glean lessons from the actions of people in the past. The secular, critical view of history developed by humanists allowed them to see the value of the past. These historical lessons affected humanists not only in educational treatises, but also in their own historical writings.

Leon Battista Alberti once claimed, "Nothing is such a source of anxiety in human life as vice."[xxiii] To humanists of the Renaissance, virtue, or moral excellency and honorable living, was a primary goal to which humans should aspire. Many books and treatises dealt with the cultivation of virtue for one's own improvement and the betterment of society as well.

Ancient history provided models of virtue as well as vice for humanist writers in the characters of famous people from the past, and the proliferation of Greek historical material created a rich source for good and bad examples. The view of history that was influenced by classical learning valued the actions of past people because it removed theology and the concept of original sin from the subject, which permitted humanists to see inherent value in the events of the past. While humanists still passed judgment on the actions of people from past eras, they were able to see good characteristics in the history of antiquity despite its lack of Christianity.

Since the family was the basis of society in Renaissance Italy, it was natural for humanists to emphasize virtues in the family as the first step toward creating productive citizens and a morally upright populace. Classical examples from Rome and Greece were employed by humanists to display their knowledge and give voice to the values of the increasingly secular society of fifteenth-century Italy. The new outlook on history allowed humanists to use ancient examples as manifestations of virtue. Della Famiglia by Leon Battista Alberti, a series of four books of conversations between Alberti family members, praised virtue as the most important quality that is fostered first within the family. Alberti used classical examples to justify urban ideals such as the positive aspects of wealth and success and how those things could and should be virtuous. Breaking from the medieval veneration of poverty and low opinions of commerce, the historical examples of non-Christian ancient Greeks suited the tone of Alberti's work and showed the value of classical historical knowledge. To explain the desire for wealth one of the characters claimed, "As Plato, that prince of philosophers, says that the Lacedaemonians were in all their customs inspired by the will to victory, so I think in our country the heavens produce minds acute in seeking profit."[xxiv]

When discussing the value of friendship, Alberti again employed ancient Greek models:

And it is one of the first notions to be found in all the Stoic philosophers
that there is nothing more likely to make a man well-loved than virtue and
and honorable character. Thus Theseus…was impelled to admire Hercules
by his fame and high repute. Themistocles, Plutarch says, gained good will
among his own people because when he held office he was a just and severe
judge.[xxv]

Here the value of an education in the classics became apparent. Ancient Greeks were held up as examples of virtuous behavior because inner virtue led to outward benefits for society such as honesty and hard work. By exhibiting personal virtue, characters from the past bettered their society by, for example, working as a trusted judge or a shrewd and thrifty merchant, and humanists believed their own society could be improved through the virtue of its members. Della Famiglia showed that it was within the family that these virtues were first instilled, and Alberti placed responsibility for inculcating these virtues on fathers, uncles, and other male leaders of the family. The government of Florence, which was in theory a republic but in reality more of an oligarchy, relied upon honorable men to function effectively, so virtue was crucial for male citizens in this society because it made them better governors. Many of the ancient examples that expressed the benefits of virtue were known through the texts brought to Italy from the refugees of the Byzantine Empire and their students. Alberti was not the only scholar to display his knowledge of Greek history, and another treatise written by a student of Guarino the elder (who had traveled to Byzantium) showed the uses of Greek historical figures for exemplifying virtue.

Francesco Barbaro was a Venetian humanist acquainted with powerful and learned people of his day. In a short treatise written as a wedding gift to Cosimo de' Medici's brother Lorenzo, Barbaro displayed his knowledge of ancient Greek history to illustrate the virtues necessary in a proper wife. In "On Wifely Duties," Barbaro cited Plutarch, Herodotus, Hesiod, Homer, and Xenophon, among others, to provide examples of virtuous ancient women that he believed were worthy of emulation by women of his own times. To show the importance of a wife's love for her husband, he recalled a story from the "Histories" of Herodotus: "Likewise, Cassandane so loved Cyrus that when she was about to die she found it more bitter for her to leave Cyrus than to depart this life."[xxvi] On the value of women's silence he cited, "For this reason the author Sophocles…has termed silence the most outstanding ornament of women."[xxvii] To show how women should control the household he used the example of Pericles: "They ought to attend, therefore, to governing their households just as Pericles daily attended to the affairs of Athens."[xxviii]

Barbaro showed that virtue was not only important for men but also for women because the household was the basis of a virtuous society. He emphasized women's virtues, such as fidelity, love, and restraint, which were different than those valued in men who were expected to participate in public life. This work showed that humanist ideals were not restricted to men but that women occupied an important place in society because they also needed to cultivate virtue for the improvement of their families and, by extension, society. While women were not seen as equal to men, their inclusion in works about virtue in the family suggested that humanists saw virtue as a universal goal for both sexes, even if the virtues of men and women remained very different.

Works such as these by Alberti and Barbaro professed the value of virtue in Renaissance Italy for men and women, and to demonstrate how people could be virtuous, writers used examples from ancient history. Roman emperors and other Latin characters were equally famous among humanists, but the effects of Greek learning in the area of history can be seen in these works about virtue because the stories and characters of Greek history provided examples of virtuous behavior as well as vice. The increasingly secular outlook on history that developed in the early Renaissance from the study of ancient Greek works made this appreciation of the past possible. The notion of virtue coexisted with Christian principles, but the worldly tone of business, the pursuit of wealth, and oligarchic government in city-states like Florence and Venice, where individual talent and ability affected the whole of society through commerce, governance, and warfare, made pre-Christian classical examples very appropriate for humanist writers. In treatises like these dealing with virtue, the value of Greek historical knowledge was realized because the secular view of history that stemmed from an understanding of Greek as well as Roman antiquity allowed humanists to use ancient illustrations to express their interest in the fostering of virtue. However, history was not the only subject of the studia humanitatis to benefit from the increase in Greek learning; philosophy also flowered again due to transmissions and translations of ancient Greek texts.

The re-discovery and renewed interest in Plato was the greatest contribution of Greek learning to the philosophy of humanists. Debates on the relative merits of Plato and Aristotle became integral parts of humanist thought, and the ethics and lessons of these two ancient masters affected writers of the Renaissance, regardless of which philosopher they valued more highly. The Council of Florence and the ideas of Pletho, Bessarion, and Argyropoulos began the true revival of Platonism and a desire for translations of Aristotle superior to those of the scholastics. The most obvious expression of the renewed interest in Plato was the founding of the Platonic Academy in Florence, which Marsilio Ficino believed was caused by the impression Pletho had made upon Cosimo de' Medici at the Council of Florence.[xxix] While it was not technically a school like its namesake in ancient Greece, the Academy provided an arena for some of the brightest thinkers of the fifteenth century to discuss the ideas of Platonism and Neoplatonism.

Marsilio Ficino, as the leader of the Academy, became one of the most important and vocal supporters of Platonic philosophy. Having translated many works of Plato and the Neoplatonists, he was well versed in the thought of Plato and was able to meld the Greek philosopher's ideas with Christian beliefs. As Paul Oskar Kristeller stated, "In the doctrinal sections of his dialogues, and especially in the Phaedo, Plato asserts and tries to demonstrate the immortality of the soul."[xxx] Ficino agreed that the soul was immortal, and he wrote extensively about the soul and the place of man in the universe. In his Platonic Theology Ficino claimed that the soul was immortal and occupied a central place in the hierarchy of the universe. He stated, "But between the things that are purely eternal and those that are purely temporal is soul, a bond as it were linking the two."[xxxi]

Reinforcing Platonic ideas about the human soul's centrality in the universe he explained,

When it clings to things divine, because it is spiritually united with them
and spiritual union begets knowledge, it knows them. When it fill bodies,
moving them from within, it gives them life. Thus it is the mirror of things
divine, the life of things mortal, the bond joining the two.[xxxii]

Since Plato believed the soul was immortal, his ideas meshed well with Christianity, and the statements of Ficino affected the doctrine of the Catholic Church. At the Lateran Council of 1513, immortality of the soul was confirmed as a part of Catholic dogma, which showed how important ideas of Platonism had become in Renaissance Italy.[xxxiii] Ficino, who was influenced by Pletho and Bessarion, translated not only Plato but also Neoplatonists such as Plotinus, Proclus, Hermes Trismegistus, and Pythagoras, which provided him with a thorough knowledge of Platonic and Neoplatonic philosophy. Just as the Council of Florence in 1438-39 began a widespread revival of interest in Greek learning, the Lateran Council less than one hundred years later confirmed the impact of that interest. The philosophy of a pagan Greek, incorporated with the beliefs of Christianity, triumphed in Church doctrine, which showed how Christianity and humanist study of classical works merged in the early Renaissance. The knowledge of Platonism brought by Greek scholars thus affected the early humanists through the creation of the Platonic Academy and the diffusion and popularity of Platonic philosophy.

In contrast to the rising interest in Platonism stood philosophers who subscribed to Aristotelianism, which had not disappeared but rather continued as a popular philosophy, and this school of philosophical thought benefited from increasingly accurate translations and methods of study. Kristeller maintained, "Although practically the whole corpus of Aristotle's works had been translated into Latin during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance humanists used their increased knowledge of the Greek language…to supply new Latin versions of Aristotle…."[xxxiv] Scholars such as Bruni and Filelfo contributed new translations of Aristotle's works, and the superior grasp of the Greek language by humanists over their scholastic counterparts helped keep Aristotelianism popular, especially at the University of Padua.

Pietro Pomponazzi, who studied at the University of Padua, became an important supporter of Aristotle and opponent of Ficino. Following Aristotle's beliefs, he published a treatise in 1516 in which he argued that the immortality of the soul could not be proven rationally, and therefore it could only be accepted as an article of faith.[xxxv] Considering the decree by the Lateran Council three years earlier that made immortality of the soul a tenet of Church doctrine, Pomponazzi's ideas caused controversy and outrage, and he felt compelled to write two further treatises defending his ideas. Even though his ideas may have been unpopular, Pomponazzi altered Aristotle's philosophy by allowing that faith in God could prove the immortality of the soul, which exhibited again the tendency of humanists to combine Christianity with pagan philosophy. The revival of Greek philosophy in the Renaissance, therefore, affected opinions of Aristotle as scholars were able to read and reflect upon translations that focused more on Aristotle's actual philosophical ideas than medieval versions, which had concentrated on logic, physics, theology, and the varied interpretations of those subjects.[xxxvi] The effects can be seen in the flourishing of philosophical debates and ideas in the early Italian Renaissance including those of Pomponazzi.

Finally, another philosopher who was a friend and protégé of Ficino, Pico della Mirandola, contributed to the debates over Plato and Aristotle by melding the two philosophies, which demonstrated how important and widespread knowledge of Greek philosophy had become to humanists. In his Oration, Pico described how the soul is not fixed in any celestial hierarchy, but rather it could rise or descend in that hierarchy due to its ability to choose.
Differing from Platonism he stated,

At man's birth the Father placed in him every sort of seed and sprouts of
every kind of life…If he cultivates vegetable seeds, he will become a plant.
If the seeds of sensation, he will grow into a brute. If rational, he will come
out a heavenly animal.[xxxvii]

Like Ficino, however, he infused his philosophy with Christianity by asserting that man can and should aspire to a higher good because he is blessed by God with the ability to better himself. Mirandola maintained, "Let a certain holy ambition invade the mind, so that we may not be content with mean things but may aspire to the highest things and strive with all our forces to attain them: for if we will to, we can."[xxxviii] Mirandola altered Platonic philosophy by claiming that the human soul was outside the hierarchy of the universe and could become a higher or lower form of life depending on one's choices.

The spread of Plato's ideas and Aristotle's in new translations made these philosophical debates possible, and the effects of these ideas can be seen in the works of Renaissance thinkers such as Ficino, Pomponazzi, and Mirandola. While inspired by the ancient philosophers, these writers fused the ideas from antiquity with concerns about virtue and freedom from their contemporary times, as well as with Christianity. Ficino's ideas about immortality meshed with Christian beliefs and showed themselves in Church doctrine in 1513, and Pomponazzi, while acknowledging that immortality was not to be proven through reason, modified Aristotle's idea by claiming it could be believed through faith. Likewise, Mirandola's thoughts about the soul's ability to define itself showed again the influence of virtue in humanist thought because it was through virtue that men could become more like angels and heavenly beings. His philosophy was Christian because it placed God at the top of the universal hierarchy and humanist in that it emphasized the need for virtuous behavior to lead to heaven.

The ideas of these philosophers were not regurgitations of ancient philosophies but rather a unity of classical thought with Christian beliefs and contemporary ethics. Mirandola's belief in the soul's freedom to choose its identity was a significant development of humanist thought because it demonstrated the idea that man can better himself through virtue. In the climate of Renaissance humanism, which by its nature focused on humanity and man's dignity, Mirandola's ideas formed part of a larger emphasis on freedom and the dignity of man if he is virtuous. The spread of ancient Greek philosophy was the first step towards these outlooks on philosophy and mankind in the early modern world. Yet these ideas that would influence European thought for centuries were not only the descendents of the philosophies of classical Athens but also the benefactors of a renewal of Greek learning in fourteenth- and fifteenth-century Italy, indeed a true renaissance.

In conclusion, the diffusion of Greek knowledge to Renaissance Italy was a long process that transmitted the learning of the Byzantine Greeks to their Italian counterparts just as the Byzantine Empire fell to the Ottoman Turks and Italy became paramount for the study of classical works. Begun by Manuel Chrysoloras and continuing after the Council of Florence in 1438-39, the process of transmission was carried out by eminent Byzantine scholars and their Italian students who learned the Greek language and set about translating a vast number of ancient works.

While poetry, rhetoric, and other subjects of the studia humanitatis were affected by the infusion of Greek learning, history and philosophy reaped exceptional benefits from the works of these translators and transmitters. History was affected by the writings of Greek historians such as Herodotus, Thucydides, and Plutarch, and the subject became a moral guide as humanist writers used examples from antiquity to articulate the importance of virtue and the benefits and consequences of practicing or not practicing virtuous behavior. Philosophy was altered by the re-discovery of Plato and the ensuing debates over the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle. Works by both philosophers were translated by scholars with a superior grasp of the Greek language than the scholastics whose earlier translations of Aristotle had dominated medieval universities. History and philosophy became guides to moral living because philosophy provided the ideals for human behavior, and history, through the writings of ancient Greek historians as well as Roman ones, displayed examples of virtuous and vicious actions and decisions from the past. These subjects were thus altered forever by the establishment of Greek studies in the fields of the studia humanitatis, and these effects can still be seen today in the modern liberal arts. The process of recovering Greek knowledge began in the Renaissance; the study of Greek knowledge continues even through the present day.

NOTES
[i]Deno John Geanakoplos, Greek Scholars in Venice: Studies in the Dissemination of Greek Learning from Byzantium to Western Europe (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1962), 7.
[ii]Ibid., 3.
[iii]Paul Oskar Kristeller, Renaissance Thought and its Sources (New York: Columbia University Press, 1979), 38.
[iv]Deno John Geanakoplos, Constantinople and the West (Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press, 1989), 51-52.
[v]Geanakoplos, Greek Scholars in Venice, 21-22.
[vi]George Holmes, The Florentine Enlightenment 1400-50, (New York: Pegasus, 1969), 8-9.
[vii]Geanakoplos, Constantinople and the West, 9-10.
[viii]Holmes, The Florentine Enlightenment 1400-50, 12-13, 95.
[ix]Paul F. Grendler, Schooling in Renaissance Italy: Literacy and Learning 1300-1600 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989), 125.
[x]Battista Guarino, "A Program of Teaching and Learning," in Humanist Educational Treatises, ed. Craig W. Kallendorf (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2002), 281.
[xi]Geanakoplos, Constantinople and the West, 14.
[xii]Ibid., 22-23.
[xiii]Ibid., 33.
[xiv]Ibid., 50.
[xv]Guarino, "A Program of Teaching and Learning," 307.