In the 14th century with their being the revival of classical writings taking place in the country of Europe, individuals who existed as intellectuals of Italy also thought of themselves to be descendants of ancient Rome at the time. The period between them and the Roman Empire became known as the Dark Age. I believe it is rather significant to understand such works of the Greeks as well as the Roman thinkers as a way to know the unique achievements related to Europe that took place during the periods of the Late Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and the Early Modern Period as well.
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During the period known as the Late Middle Ages, influence from classical thought had happened to emerge in the country of Europe, and at the same time, Islamic scholars were presenting the works of the famous Aristotle. Eventually, individuals became more involved with his ideas, one of the key theologians during the time of the Middle Ages was Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), he was highly influenced by Aristotle himself by factors such as his field of natural philosophy, logic, etc. Tomas had interpreted the majority of Aristotle’s own principles and restored them by utilizing the church doctrine from one of his works called the Summa Theologiae (Session 17-The Rediscovery of Aristotle and the Medieval Synthesis). Another unique individual Albertus Manus (1193-1280), was also influenced by Aristotle as Thomas was and similarly, he too utilized his logic and assumptions in his own work (Encyclopedia Briticanna). All in all, these various contributions made by scholars during the Late Medieval time period to restoring Christianity, the occurrence of Scholasticism in society, and Aristotle forming new advancements to philosophy altogether had dominated Europe (Hunt, 385). During the 14th century, the Renaissance movement which had begun with humanist individuals. The difference between the individuals who were known to be humanists and instead the scholastics was how they expressed the conditions of living among themselves. The scholastics asserted factors of salvation and heaven but offered relatively little guidance as to living a prosperous life as a matter of fact (Session 19-The Renaissance). Francesco Petrarch the father of humanism (1304-1374), thought that a form of education that incorporates both Greek Latin and Roman philosophy was required in order to make progress (Session 19- The Renaissance). The Renaissance movement occurred by the time Petrarch discovered Cicero’s letters and Seneca serves as a literary model to him as he happened to create his theory of stoicism from him. Furthermore, Giovanni Pico Mirandola (1463-1494), a main figure of the Renaissance was greatly impacted by the ideas of the two Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato based on their views upon philosophy and their religious beliefs as well. The 900 Thesis (1486) he created focuses on factors such as contemporary philosophers and classical texts and these philosophers themselves were influenced by such classical texts as a result. An artist like Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) was also being influenced by classical writings at the time. The influence led to the growth of art that appeared to be more descriptive and in-depth (Session 19-The Renaissance). After that, there were also students who began the scientific revolution as disciplines under the ancient Greeks and Romans as well. One of the students was Nicolas Copernicus (1473-1543), he contributed by starting the scientific revolution with the publication of his work One the Revolution of the Heavenly Spheres (1543), he was a student under the Greek astronomer Aristarchus (310 BC- 230 BC). Aristarchus at the time eventually became known for having formed the very first heliocentric model of our solar system (Briticanna). Rene Descartes (1596-1650) was considered the father of Western philosophy and was both a French mathematician and philosopher. Although his focus on reasoning and uncertainty in making scientific discoveries differed from his peers, he was still largely influenced by various individuals like Aristotle, Plato, Archimedes, and Islamic scholars (Internet encyclopedia). Next, we can see how all of these figures were influenced in some type of way by the works of the Greeks and the Romans. Components of philosophy, politics, etc. all resulted from improvement occurring across generations and this wouldn’t have started without the knowledge of the ancient Greeks and Roman people. On the same point, I believe the achievements of Europe wouldn’t have occurred as well without knowledge from the Greeks and Romans too. I also believe that Aristotle can be regarded as the most significant philosopher of intellectual achievements during the various periods of the Renaissance, Late Middle Ages, and Early Modern Period based on how he made an impact on individuals in society. For example, he influenced theologians during the time and even continued to influence later humanists, scientists, etc. Other figures like Cicero, Plato, and Seneca also helped shape the intellectual developments in Europe as well. In addition, Islamic and European scholars also play a part in shaping intellectual developments as they impacted individuals during the Early Modern period by devoting their knowledge.
In the end, it can be seen how almost all of these individuals that made various forms of contributions toward intellectual achievements in Europe seemed to have been affected by the Greeks or Romans. It is once again very crucial to understand these kinds of achievements as a way to understand Europe itself. Such works also existed as being more significant in comparison to others like Aristotle and Cicero and many of these kinds of unique achievements wouldn’t have taken place at the time they did, without the classical revival occurring beforehand.
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