History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1MacCaffrey, James
Religion
History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance to the French Revolution — Volume 1
MacCaffrey, James
Catholic Church -- History -- Modern period, 1500-
Some of the greatest of the German Humanists differed from their
Italian contemporaries also in the fact that they turned the
intellectual revival into scientific channels, and made the study of
the classics subservient to mathematical and astronomical research.
Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa (1400-64), George Peurbach of Vienna (d.
1461), John Muller of Konigsberg (1436-76), better known by his Latin
name Regiomontanus, and the great churchman and astronomer Copernicus
(1473-1543) belonged to this section, which prepared the way for
modern scientific developments. With these men religion and science
went hand in hand.
On the purely literary side the most famous of the German Humanists
were Conrad Celtes (1459-1508) the most active of the promoters of the
classical revival beyond the Alps and one of the earliest of the
German poets; Pirkeimer (1470-1528), who hoped for great things from
the Lutheran movement at first, but having realised its real nature
remained loyal to the Church; Mutianus Rufus (1471-1526), a canon of
Gotha and at the same time a well-known free-thinker; Grotus Rubeanus
(1480-1504), who at first favoured Luther; Jakob Wimpheling (1450-
1528), and Johannes Trithemius (1462-1516), the learned historian and
abbot of Sponheim; Ulrich von Hutten (1488-1523), and Johann Reuchlin
(1455-1522).
Of these the most important from the point of view of ecclesiastical
history are von Hutten[12] and Reuchlin. The former was born in the
year 1488 and was sent for his education to the monastery of Fulda,
from which he fled with very little mental equipment except a lasting
hatred and distrust for all monks and ecclesiastics. As a wandering
student he visited the leading centres of learning in Germany and
Northern Italy, where he was particularly remarkable for his dissolute
life, his ungovernable temper, and his biting sarcasm. Taking
advantage of the rising spirit of unfriendliness between the Teuton
and the Latin countries, he posed as a patriot burning with love for
Germany and the Germans, and despising the French, the Italians, and
in particular the Pope. Against the monks and theologians he directed
his bitterest satires, to the delight of many, who did not foresee the
dangers of such attacks at a time when the German nation generally was
growing less friendly to the Papacy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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