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Humanism in Renaissance Florence: Books, Wisdom, and Knowledge with Chandi Wyant

Humanism in Renaissance Florence: Books, Wisdom, and Knowledge with Chandi Wyant


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Can't make this time? A video recording will be sent to all participants after the seminar.

This seminar explores the quest of the humanists in early Renaissance Florence to recover lost texts from the ancient world and the new ideas ignited by this quest about education, human potential, and self-government.

We'll learn how the obsessive search for manuscripts from the classical world resulted in spectacular finds that shaped the intellectual and academic culture of Florence and influenced later thinkers such as Locke and Jefferson. Along the way, we will delve into the tumultuous fall of the western Roman Empire and the precarious situation this created for the survival of ancient texts. We will meet the famous book hunters of the early Renaissance and see how radical ideas survived by the skin of their teeth, in books that barely withstood the incursions of time.

Led by an expert on the intellectual history of fifteenth-century Florence, Chandi Wyant, this interactive seminar will shed light on how and why Renaissance Florence prioritized education, literacy, books, knowledge, and human potential, and what legacy this effort gave to western civilization. Designed to inform curiosity as well as future travels, participants will come away with an increased understanding of the modern western world's links to the Renaissance and our debt to the Florentine humanists.

Chandi Wyant, originally from California, is an accredited guide to Italy's museums and currently lives in Florence. She has taught history for colleges in the US and the Middle East and is the author of a memoir about her solo long-distance walk on Italy's pilgrimage route. Chandi holds masters' degrees in both international education and renaissance history and has a particular interest in the intersection between humanist and artistic innovations in 15th century Florence.

This conversation is suitable for all ages.

90 minutes, including a 30 minute Q&A.

Customer Reviews

Based on 6 reviews
83%
(5)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
17%
(1)
0%
(0)
R
Renae Harrington (Olympia, US)
Humanism Explained

I had no idea that ancient philosophers held what are thought of as “humanistic” ideas today and how the religious community interpreted it to equate to licentiousness.

Reviewer avatar
Tom Girz (Denver, US)
Bringing Florentine Humanism to Life

Chandi Wyant brings to life major players of Italian Humanism (Petrarch, Matteo Palmieri, Leonardo Bruni, Isotta Nogarola, Cristine di Pizan, Poggio Bracciolini) and the Romans of the Classical period (Lucretius, Cicero, Vitruvius, Quntillian) whose thought the Florentines rediscovered in copies of ancients texts they found (sometimes mouldering) in monastic libraries. With a fascinating overview of the development of books from scrolls and codices to the form we know today, changes in scripts that made writing more readable, and the establishment of Niccolo Niccoli's public library, the first in the West since the fall of Rome, Ms. Wyant connects the influence of 15th-century Florentine discoveries in thought into the establishment of the U.S. republican form of government during the Revolutionary period of the 18th century. This is a comprehensive outline of the revival of ancient knowledge that brought western Europe into the modern era, and a conversation well worth the investment of one's time and attention.

Reviewer avatar
Tom Girz (Dayton, US)
Awesome Webinar on Humanism in Rennaissance Florence by Chandi

This was an awesome seminar...Chandi's excitement, knowledge, and engagement throughout the 90 minutes is infectious. She took us through all the major players that set the stage for the Florentine Renaissance, and even though I had some background in that area from a previous forum, there were many nuggets, I had forgot, or were new! Brava, Chandi!!

D
Deborah Anderson (Salinas, US)

Chandi Wyant is an engaging instructor with expansive knowledge of and passion for her subject. I would love to take more classes from her!!

A
Anonymous (Porto Alegre, BR)

Guest did not leave comment

Customer Reviews

Based on 6 reviews
83%
(5)
0%
(0)
0%
(0)
17%
(1)
0%
(0)
R
Renae Harrington (Olympia, US)
Humanism Explained

I had no idea that ancient philosophers held what are thought of as “humanistic” ideas today and how the religious community interpreted it to equate to licentiousness.

Reviewer avatar
Tom Girz (Denver, US)
Bringing Florentine Humanism to Life

Chandi Wyant brings to life major players of Italian Humanism (Petrarch, Matteo Palmieri, Leonardo Bruni, Isotta Nogarola, Cristine di Pizan, Poggio Bracciolini) and the Romans of the Classical period (Lucretius, Cicero, Vitruvius, Quntillian) whose thought the Florentines rediscovered in copies of ancients texts they found (sometimes mouldering) in monastic libraries. With a fascinating overview of the development of books from scrolls and codices to the form we know today, changes in scripts that made writing more readable, and the establishment of Niccolo Niccoli's public library, the first in the West since the fall of Rome, Ms. Wyant connects the influence of 15th-century Florentine discoveries in thought into the establishment of the U.S. republican form of government during the Revolutionary period of the 18th century. This is a comprehensive outline of the revival of ancient knowledge that brought western Europe into the modern era, and a conversation well worth the investment of one's time and attention.

Reviewer avatar
Tom Girz (Dayton, US)
Awesome Webinar on Humanism in Rennaissance Florence by Chandi

This was an awesome seminar...Chandi's excitement, knowledge, and engagement throughout the 90 minutes is infectious. She took us through all the major players that set the stage for the Florentine Renaissance, and even though I had some background in that area from a previous forum, there were many nuggets, I had forgot, or were new! Brava, Chandi!!

D
Deborah Anderson (Salinas, US)

Chandi Wyant is an engaging instructor with expansive knowledge of and passion for her subject. I would love to take more classes from her!!

A
Anonymous (Porto Alegre, BR)

Guest did not leave comment