As the new humanism of the Italian Renaissance spread to the North it underwent a geographical change that emphasized the redemptive message of Christ and the essence of Christian writings as the expense of the delight and enthusiasm with which the Italians uncovered the pagan origins of current religious rites and practices. But underlying the fundamental theological level, we discover—in the works of Nicolaus of Cusa, Erasmus, Montaigne, John Colet, Sir Thomas More, Roger Ascham, St. John of the Cross, Francisco Suarez and the other thinkers included here—a commitment to human freedom and an intensity of religious conviction which are important contributions to Western thought and tradition.

This volume is devoted to the thought of the four geographical areas in the North standardly referred to as Transalpine countries. Section I concerns itself with the thinkers of Germany and the Low Countries; Section II, with France; Section III, with England; and Section IV, with Spain. The selections—many of them either heretofore unavailable in English or available in versions that date back to the eighteenth century and earlier—have been newly translated for this edition. With the publication of this book, which supplements Renaissance Philosophy: The Italian Philosophers, also edited and translated by Arturo B. Fallico and Herman Shapiro, the Modern Library makes easily accessible two volumes that between them represent the intellectual range and climate of the Renaissance in all its rich and diverse currents.