by Italian thinkers and scholars located mainly in Florence. Civic humanists like Florentines Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444) centuries and Leon Battista Albert (1404-1472) centuries agreed with Petrarch on the need of eloquence and study of classical literature. But they taught that mans nature equipped him for action, for usefulness to his family and society and for serving the state.
The most vivid of the civic humanists writing is Alberti’s on the family (1443), in which he argued that the nuclear family was instituted by nature for the well being of humanity.
Alberti believed that man is by nature more energetic and industrious and that woman was created to increase and continue generations and to nourish and preserve those already born.
The civic humanists are noted for their success in opening up the field of classical Greek studies. They recognized the glories of ancient Greek literature. Some of Italian scholars traveled to Constantinople and eastern cities in search of forgotten masterpieces.
In 1423 one Italian, Giovanni aurispa, alone brought back 238 manuscript books, including works of Sophocles, Euripides and Thucydides. They were also involved in the work of translation into Latin. In this way, most of the Greek classics, particularly the writings of Plato, the dramatists and the historians were first made available to Western Europe.
The evolution of music as an independent art
Music in Western Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries reached such a high point of development that it constitutes, together with painting and sculpture, one of the most brilliant aspects of renaissance endeavor.
The development