Renaissance humanism was an intellectual movement in Europe of the later Middle Ages and the Early Modern period. The 19th-century German historian Georg Voigt (1827–91) identified Petrarch as the first Renaissance humanist. Paul Johnson agrees that Petrarch was "the first to put into words the notion that the centuries between the fall of Rome and the present had been the age of Darkness". According to Petrarch, what was needed to remedy this situation was the careful study and imitation of the great classical authors. For Petrarch and Boccaccio, the greatest master was Cicero, whose prose became the model for both learned (Latin) and vernacular (Italian) prose. COUNT 4
QSN1 When did the first wave of Humanism reach Europe? ANS1 Middle Ages and the Early Modern period QSN2 Who was thought to be the original believer of humanism in of the Renaissance period? ANS2 Petrarch QSN3 The study and following of classical writers was said to be a solution to what issue? ANS3 Cicero QSN4 The study and following of classical writers was said to be a solution to what issue? ANS4 age of Darkness