Francesco Petrarca
Giovanni Boccaccio - pursued their classical studies for their own sake
and that of their souls.
Some of humanists - more involved in the affairs of their communities.
|_ chose to live more active and public lives as had their hero Cicero,
the ancient Roman lawyer, statesman, and philosopher.
Coluccio Salutati, Leonardo Bruni, Poggio Bracciolini
- chose to put their knowledge of the classics to practical use in the service of
their communities.
Coluccio Salutati (1331-1400)
- influenced by Petrarca.
- studied law at Bologna and became a notary.
- held bureaucratic positions in Rome and at various places in Tuscany.
- became chancellor of the republic of Lucca,
chancellor of the Florentine government in 1375.
Salutati -used his position to promote the growth of humanism and
was an elegant Latin stylist.
- helped guide Florence through the great crisis of
the Cloth Workers (Chompi) Revolt of 1378.
- counseled the ruling elite to avoid harsh reprisals against the rebels.
- wrote on the classics and religion.
- located lost manuscripts, including Cicero's Familiar Letters.
- brought Manuer Chrysoloras (C.1350-1415), a leading Greek
scholar from Constantinople to Florence in 1396.
