1340–1495

Lorenzo Valla Exposes the 'Donation of Constantine'; Humanism and Printing

Petrarch (1304–1374) began a revival of classical Latin and of interest in individual consciousness. It gave rise to Renaissance humanism. After 1453 Byzantine scholars poured into Italy with Greek manuscripts.

The papal secretary Lorenzo Valla applied new methods of textual criticism to the "Donation of Constantine". Papal claims to secular power had rested on it for centuries. Valla convincingly proved it a forgery – notably, with the pope's own support. He also disproved the legend of the Apostles' Creed's apostolic authorship.

Around 1454 in Mainz, Johannes Gutenberg printed the first reliably datable documents, and a Latin Bible in 1456. Printing spread to Italy (1464, 1476) and England (1476) and reached Aldus Manutius's workshop in Venice (1495). It made critical editions of texts possible. It also prepared the ground for the wide dissemination of the coming Reformation's ideas.