the renaissance and reformation (1300–1650) chapter 14
TRANSCRIPT
The Renaissance and Reformation (1300–1650) Chapter 14
What was the Renaissance and Where did it Begin?
•Sparked by a renewed interest in the culture of ancient Rome, the Renaissance began in Italy in the 1300s, then spread north to the rest of Europe. Why Italy? Because Italy had been the center of the Roman empire. Many visible reminders of Roman grandeur.
•Italian City-States survived the Middle Ages
•Urban Societies (Florence, Milan, Venice)
•Major Trading Centers (Venice, Naples, Genoa)
•Wealthy and powerful merchant class emerged in those cities. Their political and economic leadership shaped the cultural revival of the Italian Renaissance.
How did the Crusades contribute to the Renaissance?
• Increased demand for Middle Eastern products
• Stimulated production of goods to trade in Middle Eastern markets
• Encouraged the use of credit and banking
• Church rule against usury and the banks’ practice of charging interest helped to secularize northern Italy.
• Letters of credit served to expand the supply of money and expedite trade.
• New accounting and bookkeeping practices (use of Arabic numerals) were introduced.
Major Italian CitiesItaly failed to become united during the Middle Ages. Many independent city-states emerged in northern and central Italy that played an important role in Italian politics and art.
MilanMilan VeniceVenice
FlorenceFlorence
Milan: One of the richest cities, it controls trade through the Alps.Venice: Sitting on the Adriatic, it attracts trade from all over the world.
Genoa
Genoa: Had Access to Trade Routes
* Each city had access to trade routes connecting Europe with Middle Eastern markets
• Served as trading centers for the distribution of goods to northern Europe
• Were initially independent city-states governed as republics
And then there was Florence….
• Florence, more than any other city, came to symbolize the brilliance of the Italian Renaissance.
• Like Athens, it produced an impressive array of brilliant poets, artists, architects, scholars, and scientists in a short span of time.
The Medici Family
• In the 1400s, the Medici family organized a successful banking business there. They expanded into manufacturing, mining, and other ventures.
• Medici ranked among the wealthiest merchant and banking families in Europe. Their wealth translated into cultural and political power.
• Cosimo de’Medici gained control of the Florentine government in 1434, and the family continued as uncrowned rulers of the city for years to come.
• Cosimo’s grandson, Lorenzo was a clever politician, and a generous patron of the arts.
The Cultural Rebirth of Europe
• Renaissance means rebirth: Europe was recovering from the Dark ages and the plague.
• Many people had lost their faith in the Church and began to put more focus on human beings.
• Secular focus. Moved away from life in the church and focused more on enjoying life.
• Stressed education and individual achievement. Major support of the arts.
• Spirit of adventure and exploration. The Italian navigator Christopher Columbus embodied that spirit.
Humanism• An intellectual movement based on the study of
Greek and Roman literature and culture. • Focused on worldly subjects rather than on
religious issues. • Believed that education could stimulate creative
powers. Returned course of study to the humanities, the subjects taught in ancient Greek and Roman schools. Grammar, rhetoric, poetry, and history.
Francesco Petrarch
• Petrarch, 1304-1374, was an early Renaissance humanist.
• Assembled Greek and Roman writings in monastery & church libraries. Revived Homer & Virgil.
• Wrote Sonnets to Laura, a collection of love poems in the vernacular
The Renaissance produced new ideas that were reflected in the arts, philosophy, and literature.
Patrons, wealthy from newly expanded trade, sponsored works which glorified city-states in northern Italy.
Education became increasingly secular.
Medieval art and literature focused on the Church and salvation
Renaissance art and literature focused on individuals and worldly matters, along with Christianity.
Renaissance artists embraced ideals of Greece and Rome in their art
They wanted their subjects to be realistic and focused on humanity and emotion. New techniques also emerged including perspective which made paintings appear more 3-dimensional. Used shading to make objects look more round and real. Artists studied from live models as well.
Frescos: Painting done on wet plaster became popular because it gave depth to the paintings
Sculpture emphasized realism and the human form
Architecture reached new heights of design. Adopted columns, arches, and domes favored by Greeks and Romans.
“The Renaissance Man”:
Dissected human corpses to learn how bones and muscles work.
Though he considered himself an artist his talents extended beyond that to botany, anatomy, optics, music, architecture, and engineering.
Made sketches for flying machines and undersea boats centuries before the first airplane or submarine was actually built.
Notebooks
The Last Supper
Mona Lisa
• Like Leonardo, Michelangelo was a multi-faceted genius. Sculptor, engineer, painter, architect, and poet.
• One of his greatest projects was painting the huge mural on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
• Took 4 years to paint. Lay on his back on a wooden platform suspended inches from the chapel ceiling.
David
Michelangelo created
his masterpiece David in
1504.
Sistine ChapelAbout a year after
creating David, Pope Julius II summoned
Michelangelo to Rome to work on his most famous project, the ceiling of the Sistine
Chapel.
Creation of Eve Creation of Adam
Separation of Light and Darkness
The Last Judgment
La Pieta 1499Marble Sculpture
Moses
Raphael
• Raphael studied the work of Leonardo and Michelangelo.
• His paintings blended Christian and classical styles.
• Most famous work was The School of Athens. Embodied Renaissance revival of classical learning.
The School of Athens
Pythagoras
Socrates
Plato and Aristotle
Euclid
Zoroaster & Ptolemy
Raphael (back)
Renaissance Writers: Castiglione
• Began the trend of “how-to” books that became popular in Renaissance Italy.
• His handbook, The Book of the Courtier, describes the manners, skills, learning, and virtues that a member of the court should have.
• Ideal courtier was well-educated, well-mannered aristocrat who mastered many fields from poetry to music to sports.
• Ideal woman was kind, lively, and reserved. Believed outer beauty was “the true sign of inner goodness.”
Political Ideas of the Renaissance
Niccolò Machiavelli
The Prince, 1513“One can make this generalization about men: they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for profit”
As a Florentine diplomat, Machiavelli observed city-state rulers of his day and produced guidelines for the acquisition and maintenance of power by absolute rule.
He felt that a ruler should be willing to do anything to maintain control without worrying about conscience.
• Better for a ruler to be feared than to be loved• Ruler should be quick and decisive in decision making• Ruler keeps power by any means necessary. The end justifies
the means• Be good when possible, and evil when necessary• Machiavelli saw himself as an enemy of oppression and
corruption, but critics claimed that he was inspired by the devil. The term “Machiavellian” refers to the use of deceit in politics.
• Later students of government, however, argued that he provided a realistic look at politics. His work continues to spark debate.
The Renaissance Moves North
• Flanders • (Northern France,
Belgium, & Netherlands)
Jan Van Eyck
Portrait of Giovanni
Arnolfini and his Wife (1434)
Northern Renaissance
Van Eyck
Portrait of Giovanni
Arnolfini and his Wife (detail)
Northern Renaissance
• Growing wealth in Northern Europe supported Renaissance ideas.
• Northern Renaissance thinkers merged humanist ideas with Christianity.
• The movable type printing press and the production and sale of books
(Gutenberg Bible) helped disseminate ideas.
Northern Renaissance writers
• Erasmus—The Praise of Folly (1511)
• Sir Thomas More—Utopia (1516)
Northern Renaissance artists portrayed religious and secular subjects.
Northern Renaissance writers/humanists
• Like Italian humanists, northern European humanists embraced education & classical learning along with religious themes.
• They believed that the revival of ancient learning should be used to bring about religious and moral reform.
• Erasmus (1511). Inspired by a visit to Rome, he helped spread the Renaissance to northern Europe.
• Sir Thomas More—(1516)
Literature flourished during the RenaissanceThis can be greatly attributed to Johannes
GutenbergIn 1455 Gutenberg printed the first book
produced by using moveable type.
The Bible
Erasmus Dutch humanist
Desiderius Erasmus
Pushed for a Vernacular form of the Bible
“I disagree very much with those who are unwilling that Holy Scripture, translated into the vernacular, be read by the uneducated . . . As if the strength of the Christian religion consisted in the ignorance of it”
The Praise of Folly
Used humor to show the immoral and ignorant behavior of people, including the clergy. He felt people would be open minded and be kind to others.
Sir Thomas MoreEnglish Humanist
Wrote: Utopia
A book about a perfect society
Believed men and women live in harmony. No private
property, no one is lazy, all people are educated and the justice system is used to end crime instead of executing
criminals.
Shakespeare
• Most celebrated Renaissance writer. • Between 1590-1613, he wrote 37 plays that are
still performed globally. • Wrote comedies such as Twelfth Night, history
plays such as Richard III, tragedies such as Rome & Juliet.
• His body of work enriched the English language and the way words were written and spoken. Coined more than 1,700 words such as bedroom, lonely, generous, gloomy, heartsick, hurry, and sneak.
The Gutenberg Press
• Literature flourished during the Northern Renaissance primarily due to the invention of the Gutenberg Press.
• In 1456, a German named Johannes Gutenberg printed the first book produced by using moveable type. The Bible.
Printing Revolution
• The Gutenberg printing press made mass production of books possible.
• Widespread availability of books transformed Europe. Cheaper & easier production than hand-copied books.
• More books= more readers= more learning. Revolutionized learning & dissemination of ideas.
BibliographyImages from:
Corbis.com
Web Gallary of Artwww.wga.hu
Ellis, E.G., & Esler. (2005). A. World History: Connections to Today.
Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.