- Humanism outside Italy
At first many who wanted a humanist education went to Italy, and many foreign names appear on the rosters of the Italian universities. By the end of the century, however, such northern cities as London, Paris, Antwerp, and Augsburg were becoming centers of humanist activity rivaling Italy’s.
In England Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare used Renaissance drama to probe the deeper levels of their countrymen’s character and experiences.