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Lee goes on to describe the view of the Italian Renaissance spirit thus:By the fifteenth century, however, humanist historians had permanentlyreversed the entire emphasis. The medieval world was now associated with asuperstition and barbarism that choked the more positive achievement ofantiquity (Lee 1978:2).Some writers, such as Conrad Celtis, congratulated his fellow Germans on “havingcast off your vile barbarity”, and Rabelais wrote: “Out of the thick Gothic night oureyes are opened to the glorious torch of the sun” (see Lee 1978:2). Some of thesescholars belonged to the humanist movement that was to become the embodiment ofthe Renaissance spirit. Thus, the humanist movement started in Italy and spread intothe rest of Europe, facilitating the spread of the Renaissance philosophy. Themovement took up the project of re-writing history 15 (historiography), such that thespirit of the Renaissance seemed to supersede that of the Middle Ages. The humanistmovement named this period “a dawn of a new age”, “a rebirth” – a Renaissance.1.1.1 Selected aspects of the Renaissance periodAs indicated earlier, this discussion distinguishes two sets of aspects related to theItalian Renaissance, namely those which enhanced the Renaissance, and those whichinhibited it. The first set was classical learning, the humanism movement, politicalorganisation, and the revival of art.1.1.1.1 Classical learningPerhaps if a question were raised as to what particular aspect of the Europeanrenaissance was fundamental to the period, classical scholarship would rank first,from which the Renaissance spirit flowed. Although this was not the first time theword “renaissance” had been applied to concepts of scholarship in literature in theearlier years, “a revival of the ideals of Greek and Roman antiquity” which “occurredin the period 1350-1600” (Hay and Law 1989:285), was unprecedented. It all startedwith translations and scientific study of Latin and Greek texts. This deep admiration15 The process of re-writing history, otherwise known as “historiography” played a leading role inpromoting the Renaissance spirit.31