9. Document A
Pico, Count of Mirandola,
Oration on the Dignity of
Man
I have read in the records of
the Arabian, reverend fathers,
that this Abdala the Saracen,
when questioned as to what on
this stage of the world, as it
were, could be seen most
worthy of wonder, replied:
"There is nothing to be seen
more wonderful than man.
10. Document B
Petrarch, Ascent of Mount
Ventoux (Ventosum)
... the mountain which is visible from a
great distance, was ever before my
eyes, and I conceived the plan of
some time doing what I have at last
accomplished today (climbing the
mountain). The idea took hold upon
me with especial force when, in re-
reading Livy's History of Rome (an
ancient Roman historian), yesterday, I
happened upon the place where Philip
of Macedon, the same who waged
war against the Romans, ascended
Mount Haemus in Thessaly...
11. Document C
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
What a piece of work is man! How noble
in reason! How infinite in faculty! In
form, in moving, how express and
admirable! In action, how like an angel!
In apprehension, how like a god! See
what grace was seated on this brow:
Hyperion's (a titan or giant in Ancient
Greek mythology) curls; the front of
Jove (Jupiter) himself. An eye like Mars,
to threaten and command. A station like
the herald Mercury new lightened on a
heaven-kissing hill, a combination and a
form indeed, where every god did seem
to set his seal…to give the world
assurance of a man.
12. Document D
Erasmus, The Goodly Feast
An admirable spirit surely, in
one who had not known Christ
and the Sacred Scriptures. And
so, when I read such things of
such men (Socrates telling a
friend that he has tried to
please a god), I can hardly
help exclaiming "Saint
Socrates, pray for us!
13. Document E
Thomas More, Utopia
That is why Plato in an excellent
simile showed that wise men will not
meddle in affairs of state. They see
the people swarm into the streets
and get drenched with rain, and
they cannot persuade them to go
out of the rain and back to their
houses. They know that if they
should go out to them, they would
accomplish nothing, and be
drenched themselves. So they stay
indoors. Although they cannot
remedy the folly of others, they can
at least be wise themselves.
14. Document F
Vives, A Fable About Man
I should like to begin this
essay of mine on man by
some fables and plays, since
man is himself a fable and a
play. Once upon a time, after
a certain lavish and
sumptuous feast given by
Juno (the wife of Jupiter) on
her birthday for all the gods,
they, feeling carefree and
elated by the nectar, asked
whether she had prepared
some plays which they might
watch after the banquet.
15. Document G
Columbus, The Third
Voyage
...in supporting this opinion…
that it agrees with that of
Seneca (a Roman historian),
and says that Aristotle had
been enable to gain information
respecting the world by means
of Alexander the Great, and
Seneca by the emperor Nero,
and Pliny (another Roman
historian) through the Romans.
16. Document H
Rabelais, Pantagruel
All the world is full of knowing
men, of most learned
schoolmasters, and vast
libraries; and it appears to me as
a truth, that neither in Plato's
time, nor in Cicero's, nor
Papinian's, there was ever such
a convenience for studying, as
we see at this day there is.
17. Essay Prompt 1994
Explain the ways in which Italian
Renaissance humanism transformed ideas
about the individual’s role in society.
18. Essay Prompt 1985
To what extent is the term Renaissance a
valid concept for a distinct period in early
modern European history?
19. Essay Prompt 1998
Discuss how Renaissance ideas are
expressed in the Italian art of the period,
referring to specific works and artists.
