Outside of Italy, humanism found many distinguished converts, and not the least of them in the field of history. In general, the conventional canons of humanist historiography were faithfully followed, though there were some variations introduced as a result of chang ing conditions. As the movement was some what belated beyond the Alps, it became coin. plicated by the religious conflicts of the, Refor mation period and took on a concern' with ecclesiastical matters which was quite foreign to the Italians of the 15th century. Again, the literary tastes remained less purely classical, and, in the zeal for florid rhetoric and sharp invective, Tacitus, rather than Livy, became the model of many of the northern humanists in the 16th century. As in Italy, so in the north. humanist historical literature gradually evolved into the beginnings of modern politicaL his toriography.
The most scholarly product of the historio• raphy of humanism was the history di Saint-Gall by Joachim von Watt, better known as Vadianns (1484-1551). He is generally rated as a historian superior to Blondus. lie' not only rivalled Blondus in textual criticism, but also advanced a step further toward Ranke by making some rudimentary progress toward the internal criticism of the ttndeneies of the au4 thors of the documents. He was able, further, to combine erudition with a clear and vigorous style and good grasp upon the general factors of historical development. Fueter regards his work as the most broadly conceived product of the historiography of humanism on account of the wide scope of the subjects and interests embraced. It was, however, doomed to an even longer period of obscurity than awaited Guicci ardini's (History of Florence,' because it was not published until the third quarter of the 19th century.
In Germany the list of distinguished human ist historians begins with the name of Albert Krantz (1450-1517), who, following Aeneas Sylvius, was one of the first to apply the literary and historical methods of humanism to a study of primitive peoples, in his histories of the early Saxons and Wends. More famous was Johannes Turmair known as Aventinus (1477-1534). In his 'History of Bavaria' and his
Hutten (1488-1523) was more distinguished for his brilliant satire in his campaign against bigotry than for his contributions to 'historical literature, but his recovery and publication, with extended comments, of a manifesto of Henry IV against Gregory VII was both a shaft of Protestantism against Rome and a valuable addition to historical knowledge. The only di-s= tinguished representative of the erudite and critical tendencies of Blondus among the Ger man humanist historians was Beatus Rheninus (1486-1547), the friend and disciple of Erasmuse He examined the sources of early German his tory with the same exact and objective scholar ship that Erasmus had applied to the ecclesi astical records and doctrines. While he lacked the ability to organize his work into a coherent exposition of its results, his labors represent the highest level of scholarship to which the historiography of German humanism attained. Of all the publicists who have a place in the historiography of German humanism, Samuel Pufendorf (1632-94) was the leader as a his torian. His works included a
A more distinguished scholar and publicist than Pufendorf, but not so noted an historian, Was the Dutch writer, Hugo Grotius (1583 1645), the founder of modern international law. His' chief historical work was (The History of the Netherlands.' Though his style, in imita tion of Tacitus, was pompous, prolix and in volved, he displayed great ability in psycholog ical analysis and in dissecting the problems of military and political history connected with the struggle between Spain and the Nether lands.