Download or read book The Spread of Italian Humanism written by Roberto Weiss and published by London, Hutchinson. This book was released on 1964 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Professor Weiss traces the gradual growth of the Renaissance from the late thirteenth century onwards. He devotes a whole chapter to Boccaccio and Petrarch, another to Sannazzaro, Castiglione, Ariosto and Machiavelli. One of his recurrent themes is the conflict between Platonism and Aristotelianism in the thought of the times. After considering the novel literary genres developed by the Italian writers, he turns to the influence of humanism in western Europe generally, and in particular the rise of Petrarchism and pastoral literature in France, Spain, and England. A final chapter discusses Renaissance fiction which, with de Rojas' play, La Celestine, the work of Rabelais, and the Spanish picaresque novel, looks forward to Cervantes and Shakespeare." -- Book jacket.