Historical Source Excercise

Bibliography
Books
Artz, Fredrick B. Renaissance Humanism. Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1966.
Rabil Jr., Albert, ed. Renaissance Humanism: Foundations, Forms, and Legacy. Vol. 2. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania, 1988. Print.
Articles
Cements, Robert J. “Poetry and Philosophy in the Renaissance.” Comparative Literature Studies 8.1 (1971): 1-20. Print.
Gray, Hanna H. “Renaissance Humanism: The Pursuit of Eloquence.” Journal of the History of Ideas 24.4 (1963): 497-514. Print.
Kelley, Donald R. “Renaissance Humanism.” The American Historical Review 97.5 (1992): 1510-1511. Print.
Percival, Keith W. “Grammar, Humanism, and Renaissance Italy.” Mediterranean Studies 16.0 (2007): 94-119. Print.
Peterson, David S. “Out of the margins: Religion and the Church in Renaissance Italy.” Renaissance Quarterly 53.3 (2000): 835-879. Print.
Tinkler, John F. “Renaissance Humanism and the genera eloquentiae.” Rhetorica: A Journal of the History of Rhetoric 5.3 (1987): 279-309. Print.
Magazines
Wooding, Lucy. “Christian Humanism: from Renaissance to Reformation.” History Review Sep. 2009: 13-18. Print.
Dissertations
Rubini, R. (2009). Renaissance Humanism and Postmodernity: A Rhetorical History. Diss. Yale University, 2009. Ann Arbor: UMI, 2010. 3395900. Print.

Research Topic: The Impacts of Renaissance Humanism on Social and Cultural Aspects of Life in Europe
Rabil Jr.
In volume two of a three volume series, Rabil gathers essays written on Renaissance Humanism beyond that of Italy. His book, a series of 10 essays, stands as a useful historical source because he chooses papers that are tightly related to the subject and written by scholars who have much knowledge of humanism during the Renaissance period. This book is made even more credible by listing contributing authors and their credentials. Rabil recognized the vast knowledge that had accumulated in the last century on Humanism and brought together these scholars to help shed light on the facts. The essays included are intended for students and readers of all levels looking for further information. This book gives great insight to the topic at hand because it covers Humanism in all the major states beginning in the fifteenth century; including England, Germany, Spain, and seven other major places in Europe at the time.
Artz
Frederick Artz is a notable scholar that has a series of six books written on the history of ideas. In his book, Renaissance Humanism he gives a brief overview of Humanism up until the death of Erasmus. His book can be a useful historical source for the topic at hand for many reasons. An important factor to this historical source is that Artz carefully chooses references that support his ideas and thoughts of Renaissance Humanism. Artz compiled footnotes for each chapter that stands as an elementary bibliography because “a full bibliography of the subject would inevitably be longer than the text itself” (Artz, preface). His book is intended to be read and understood by those interested in this time period, including non-scholars. Artz gives a full introduction to Renaissance Humanism; from the early Renaissance in Italy where the origins can be traced, to how the Renaissance Humanism developed in the other major states. His book focuses on the significance of Renaissance Humanism to all aspects of life during the fourteenth, fifteenth, and sixteenth centuries.
Cements
In this article, Cement presents the impacts of Humanism on philosophy and poetry during the Renaissance period. Cement’s article can be considered a historical source for multiple reasons. His thesis and argument is clearly supported throughout the paper, and it is very relevant to the topic of Renaissance Humanism as a whole. What makes Cement’s article an even more useful historical source is the references in which he uses to support his argument. He draws his information off of articles and essays written in the 1500’s, which would have been written during the late Renaissance. This holds credibility to his sources and information presented, because the authors cited by Cement would have firsthand knowledge of the Renaissance and the views of Humanism in society and cultures. Cement also has references that are more modern, yet still focus on the subject at hand. Both Cement and some of the references listed have multiple pieces of published work. His article demonstrated his knowledge for the subject while making it understandable to readers of all achievement levels.