Humanism was an intellectual movement born in Italy, especially in Florence around figures such as Petrarch and later, Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola. Its philosophy stems from the study of ancient texts and considers man to be a privileged creature in possession of great intellectual capacities. Humanist ideas spread across the whole of Europe thanks to the use of Latin and the advent of printing. Erasmus of Rotterdam, whose life and work illustrated the humanist ideal, was one of its emblematic figures.