Born out of a love of language, text, classical learning, art, philosophy, and philology, Renaissance humanism spanned the turmoil of sixteenth-century Europe, eventually taking a new form in post Reformation thought. By way of advocating and practicing the skilled use of languages, sources, rhetoric, eloquence, philology and all the techniques of the studia humanitatis, humanist thinkers provided a methodology and ethos for the study of scriptures, literature, theology and philosophy - the basis of civil and religious change. Jonathan Arnold here explores the lives and work of fifteen of these great humanist thinkers, some of the finest intellects of late-Renaissance Europe, offering an essential study of humanism's most important scholars, priests, theologians and philosophers. Arguing that the humanist project for reasonable religious reform was neither Protestant nor radical in nature, Arnold asserts that, rather than suggesting a rejection of the Church, reformers used the technique of ad fontes - a return to the original sources - attempting reformation far beyond the period of the Renaissance. The Great Humanists also provides an invaluable context to the philosophical, spiritual and political state of Europe on the eve of the Reformation in its interrelated biographical sketches of pioneering humanist figures, including Desiderius Erasmus, Thomas More, Marsilio Ficino and Francesco Petrarch, among others. In examining the education, careers, and works of each humanist, as well as briefly describing their relationships with each other, Arnold explores the influence of the humanists amongst their contemporary colleagues and society and their lasting legacy. These thinkers are still extremely relevant and widely-studied today and this book will be an invaluable resource for students and scholars of philosophy, religion and early-modern European history. Book jacket.