SOURCE: “Humanist Attitudes to Convention and Innovation in the Fifteenth Century” in The Journal of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, Vol. 11, No. 2, Fall 1981, pp. 193-207.

In following essay, Gravelle discusses the arguments of several fifteenth-century humanists on the subject of ancients versus moderns, particularly regarding questions of language.

Several scholars have shown that humanist study of language contributed to the development of historical consciousness.¹ The present essay presents several philological discussions about convention and innovation that further illustrate the humanists' acute sense of historical change, a subject that has not been directly addressed in previous studies.² There was no unanimity among the humanists on innovation, and the topic inspired some lively disagreements. Still, there is evidence that many humanists placed a positive value on change and innovation. This evidence is found in their discussions of the variety and mutability of linguistic and historical conventions.

For the most part, the...