The European Renaissance has attracted a wealth of scholarly literature on its different aspects, but few generalized accounts. This new textbook provides students with a highly readable synthesis of the major determining features of one of the most influential cultural revolutions in history.

Italy has traditionally dominated any study of the Renaissance, but the approach of this book is broader, and tackles its themes in a way not previously attempted in the wider European context, charting not only the dramatic Italian experience of humanism, but its dissemination throughout northern Europe. Professor Nauert traces the humanist 'movement' from its origins in medieval culture and through the appropriation of classical Antiquity, and connects it to the social and political environments in which it subsequently developed.

In a tour-de-force of lucid exposition over six wide-ranging chapters, Nauert charts the key intellectual, social, educational and philosophical concerns of this humanist revolution, using Renaissance art and short biographical sketches of key figures to illuminate the discussion. While other studies of humanism have concentrated on origins and early diffusion, this one also traces subsequent transformations of humanism and its solvent effect on intellectual developments in the late Renaissance.