Humanities & Classics 1002
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Renaissance Forum
Humanities & Classics 1002 |
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The make-up of the ideal Renaissance Person was conceptualized somewhat differently by Alberti, Castiglione, and Machiavelli. Although there were differences among their theories, there were also many similarities. The ideal Renaissance Individual would perhaps be defined more accurately by a hybrid composition of the views of these three writers.
Leon Battista Alberti was a mathematician, architect, engineer, musician, playwright, and writer. He was a Florentine Humanist who supported a classical education that emphasized hard work as a prerequisite for success. Alberti emphasized that one must strive to cultivate virtue. Alberti's treatise On the Family displays and highlights his own training and interests. Alberti's background clearly colors his writing by extolling the virtues of a broad education like his own which made him successful. Alberti's main premise was that man could achieve anything through his own hard work and merit. He viewed idleness as the "breeding-place of vice." Alberti did not specifically say that man was lazy, but much of his writings implied that this was the case. He felt that man must struggle and strive to achieve to be worthy of life.
Although Alberti's works may have had some influence on the writings of Machiavelli and Castiglione, Alberti only expressed the sentiment of his time held by many Humanists that a broad classical education cultivated and made the virtuous man.
Castiglione was an Italian diplomat and man of letters. His station in life influenced the direction of his educational theory. The stated intention of his work The Courtier was to provide an "instruction manual" on how to be the perfect courtier, who with the proper training and education could use his skills to influence the ruler to govern wisely. The work provided more than its stated intention. The Courtier also proposed that a woman should have education to help her to function more effectively in the court. This sentiment about educating women was not highly shared by others of Castiglione's time. The treatise broke tradition with the old feudal and Christian educational concepts and ideals by formulating an educational program that proposed cultivating both the mind and the body. Castiglione wrote about the functional need to switch from emphasizing intrinsic moral properties or values of one's actions to stressing manners as the basis for education. To Castiglione, one's manners were more important and effective than having good morals. Since the book was specifically written about how to be the ideal courtier, it was specifically geared toward the nobility and their functioning at court. The Courtier did not intend to deal with the education of the common man. Castiglione agreed with his predecessor, Alberti, in that he strongly supported the concept of a broad education as essential to a man's success. Castiglione differed from Alberti in that he also felt that women of the court should be highly educated to be successful.
Castiglione believed that people had the potential for perfection while Alberti believed that with hard work a person could accomplish anything he wished. Castiglione did not believe, however, that every courtier must have perfect knowledge. Only a leader or commander should have perfect knowledge. For a courtier to strive for perffect knowledge would make him never satisfied with what he has. Castiglione believed that anyone with a well-rounded education and the desire to succeed had the capacity to do so. The ideal courtier must be bold, energetic, and faithful and must exercise these good qualities whenever possible. Castiglione also felt that a person must be careful not to tarnish his reputation because it was very difficult to regain. The primary skill of a courtier was the ability to bear arms well.
Machiavelli was a Florentine diplomat and statesman. In his book, The Prince, Machiavelli argued that the need for a strong state justified the need for a strong ruler. Machiavelli also felt that the state was an entity which was exempt from the bonds of conventional morality. Machiavelli expounded the theory that it was better to be feared than loved. He believed that the end justified the means. Machiavelli believed that the nature of man was to be thankless, fickle, false, greedy, and dishonest. He believed that ruthlessness was needed to keep "the sorry breed" in check. Machiavelli felt that the populace would tolerate harshness if done at once and was not protracted. He felt that if the ruler kept away from the people's livelihood, they would remain reasonably content. Machiavelli often said that one should sacrifice virtues that impede survival. Machiavelli was almost extremely secular in his actions and beliefs. He was almost Darwinian in his beliefs that the strongest and smartest would survive. Machiavelli believed that brute strength was not enough. He strongly endorsed a classical education with special emphasis on the study of history and contemporary politics so not to make the same mistakes as those of the past. Machiavelli did agree with Castiglione in that the principal skills of a man should be in the use of arms for war. Machiavelli states that "a prince . . . should have no care or thought but for war."
All three of these authors were members of the merchant class and were well educated for their time. They were the beginning of the emergence of the middle class. Although not landed, they all had money and freedom. Education was a vital element for the success of a man in the theories of all three men because all three believed that their well-rounded education partially enabled them to achieve their own success. Alberti preceded Machiavelli and Castiglione. He believed that all men could achieve success by hard work. Castiglione believed that one had the ability to achieve perfection if he wished to, but that not everyone should strive for that perfection. Machiavelli believed that man is imperfect and must be controlled by any means that fits the end.
Machiavelli's emphasis was on human nature as he saw it functioning, not on how it should be. Alberti and Castiglione, on the other hand, believed in human potential and the ability of man to improve himself.