Humanism has it's roots in the fourteenth century, and started to spread during the fifteenth century and sixteenth century. Humanism was an intelectual movement reserved for the more elite social classes, which previously had the ability to read and write. Humanism also marked the breaking point with the dark, or middle ages of proclaimed barbarism.

The movement exposed the dignity and predictability of humans. Before the humanism movement, the church had controlled almost every aspect of rule over the people. The humanistic movement moved towards a better logic, placing actual reason over the revelations brought by the church, that had come to be known as the truth and followed by the populous. The movement started to change the idea of life from being one continuous moral struggle to find redemption in the end, to life being full of love and interest in the world. This movement promoted well balanced and well educated people to raise the standards of humanity. In the middle of this movement, classic Greek and Roman literature and thoughts were a valued source of information and ideas. In this era certain revised biblical interpretations arose, changing the outline of the bible from it's original version. Physical and mental training were regarded as being very vital parts of one's life in this movement.

Some of the most famous writers and philosophers thrived in the time of the humanistic movement, as literature and art were so highly regarded. Italiens such as Petrarch and Bocaccio made many sonnets and stories during this era. The German involvement was represented by the famous Erasmus, one of the most well known scholars of all time, and proclaimed the prince of the humanists. Also, such classical English humanists and theoligians, such as Colet were also present at this relative point in time, working on writings which promoted humanism and the breaking of the grip on humanity by the church. The humanistic movement eventually lead into the renaissance of later times.