They introduced Italian scholars to academic fields that promoted individual growth and thinking.
The rise of humanism in Italy is associated with the period in history, from the 14th to 16th centuries, that we call "The Renaissance." Renaissance means a rebirth -- and a big part of what was being reborn in the Italian Renaissance was the classical culture and scholarship of Greece and Rome. Scholars were unearthing many of the old writings of Greek and Roman philosophers, historians, and statesmen. These writings -- from pagan societies -- showed the deep thinking and great acts human beings were capable of prior to the rise of Christian society in Europe. This prompted humanist scholars in Italy (and elsewhere) to give focus to the full range of human capabilities -- in art, architecture, scholarship and writing, etc. Renaissance humanists remained within the Catholic Church and Christian culture, which dominated Europe in those centuries. But whereas church-dominated culture prior to the Renaissance focused mostly on the sinfulness and lowness of human beings in contrast to the greatness of God, the humanism of the Renaissance emphasized the greatness of human beings as God's creation. Individuals were encouraged to be all they could be, learn all they could learn, do all they could do as "Renaissance men."