The Adoption of Humanism in Catholic Spain (1470-1520)

Abstract

This article re-evaluates the role and impact of Italian humanism in Spain, where Italian-trained humanists occupied the most important chairs of Latin in universities and schools from the 1470s. As a result, within one or two generations the entire educational system in Spain had been transformed by humanism. By reconstructing what humanism meant for different groups in society, its success, as well as its limitations, are explained. Latin was important for the academic and governing elites. Additionally, humanism provided them with a cultural code, which – primarily in its aesthetic component – enabled them to differentiate themselves from others. However, the humanists’ aspiration to be equal in standing to nobles and equal in competences to lawyers and theologians was rejected. Noble blood, legal culture and religious orthodoxy stood firm against a culture, based on classical language and letters. Theologians, in particular, rejected the humanists’ dedication to pagan mythology and their philological work on sacred texts.