The Renaissance 3.03 Trace social, political, economic, and cultural changes associated with the Renaissance, Reformation, the rise of nation-states, and absolutism.

The Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance lasted from 1350 to 1550. It was a time period in which Europeans believed they had witnessed a rebirth of the ancient Greek and Roman worlds.

Characteristics of the Renaissance The Renaissance was mainly led by an urban society, and Italian city-states came to dominate political, social, and economic life. The Renaissance witnessed the rise of a secular viewpoint of wealth and material items.

Characteristics of the Renaissance The Renaissance occurred during a time of recovery from the disasters of the fourteenth century: the plague, political instability, and a decline of Church power. The Renaissance also stressed the individual ability of human beings. Well-rounded individuals, such as Leonardo da Vinci, emphasized the belief that individuals could create a new social ideal.

Major Cities of the Italian Renaissance With the lack of centralized power, Italian city-states such as Milan, Venice, and Florence played a crucial role in Italian economics and politics. Milan’s location as a crossroads between the coastal Italian cities and the Alpine passes made it a very wealthy state.

Major Cities of the Italian Renaissance In 1447, Francesco Sforza conquered Milan using an army of mercenaries. Sforza created wealth for the government by creating an efficient tax system. Venice was also located in a strategic position, as a trading link between Asia and Western Europe. Venice became the cultural center of Italy.

Major Cities of the Italian Renaissance In 1434, Cosimo de’ Medici and his family came to control Florence using their wealth and personal influence. Cosimo’s grandson Lorenzo de’ Medici later ruled the city.

War to Control Italy Powerful monarchial states in Europe were attracted to the wealth of the Italian city-states, and in 1494 Charles VIII of France occupied Naples in southern Italy. The Spanish replied to the Italian cries of assistance and engaged the French in a 30-year war on the Apennine Peninsula.

War to Control Italy The turning point of the war came in 1527 when soldiers and mercenaries of Spain’s King Charles I, who had not been paid in months, sacked Rome. Spain became the dominant force in Italy.

Machiavelli on Power

Machiavelli on Power Machiavelli’s The Prince has profoundly influenced political leaders. Niccolò Machiavelli wrote a book that influenced political thought in Italy and eventually all of Europe.

Machiavelli on Power In his influential work, The Prince, Machiavelli wrote about how to acquire and hold political power. He stated that a ruler must put the state first and not focus on moral principles. Machiavelli’s rejection of popular Christian values would have a profound influence on the political leaders who followed.

Renaissance Society

Renaissance Society Changes in the social classes occurred during the Renaissance. Despite being the minority, nobles dominated sixteenth-century Europe during the Renaissance.

Renaissance Society Nobles were expected to live up to certain ideals of European aristocracy. These ideals were expressed in Baldasarre Castiglione’s The Book of the Courtier. Peasants continued to make up the bulk of European society but were gaining more independence during the Renaissance.

Renaissance Society The growing numbers of townspeople were segregated into social groups. Patricians dominated the social and economic aspect of urban areas. Below them were the burghers, followed by the poverty-stricken workers and the unemployed.

Renaissance Society The family bond provided a great deal of security to Renaissance-era Italians. As in many societies, a dowry was required in marriage contracts.

Humanism

Humanism Humanism, based on study of the classics, revived an interest in ancient Latin; but many authors wrote great works in the vernacular. It was a key intellectual movement of the Renaissance. Humanists studied grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, and history.

Humanism Petrarch believed that intellectuals had a duty to live an active civic life and put their study of the humanities to the state’s service. The humanist emphasis on classical Latin led to an increase in the writings of scholars, lawyers, and theologians.

Humanist Writers

Humanist Writers The Italian author Dante and the English author Geoffrey Chaucer wrote in vernacular, making vernacular literature very popular. Dante’s masterpiece was the story of the soul’s journey to salvation, called the Divine Comedy.

Humanist Writers Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales used English dialect to tell the tale of pilgrims journeying to the tomb of Saint Thomas à Becket at Canterbury, England. Christine de Pizan wrote in French dialect defending women and their ability to learn if given the same educational opportunities as men.

Renaissance Education

Renaissance Education Education during the Renaissance focused on the liberal studies. The humanist movement led to changes in education. Humanists believed that individuals could attain wisdom and virtue by studying liberal studies. Physical education was also emphasized.

Renaissance Education Liberal Studies: history, moral philosophy, eloquence, letters, poetry, mathematics, astronomy, and music. Physical education: javelin throwing, archery, dancing, wrestling, hunting, and swimming.

Renaissance Education The goal of humanist educators was to create complete citizens, not great scholars. Humanist schools were the model for European education until the twentieth century.

Renaissance Art

Renaissance Art Renaissance artists sought to imitate nature through a human-focused worldview. Frescos created the illusion of three dimensions, leading to a new realistic style of painting. Realistic portrayal of the individual, especially nude depictions, became one of the chief aims of Italian Renaissance art.

Renaissance Art Advances in understanding human movement and anatomy led to advances in Renaissance sculpture and architecture. The final era of Italian Renaissance painting (1490 to 1520) is known as the High Renaissance. Leonardo da Vinci mastered the art of realistic painting and sought to advance to idealized forms of nature and humans.

Renaissance Art Raphael was a well known artist for his paintings of the madonna. His works reveal a world of balance, harmony, and order. Michelangelo was a painter, sculptor, and architect. His depictions of idealized humans are meant as a reflection of divine beauty.

The Northern Artistic Renaissance Artists in the Low Countries (today’s Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands) also sought to portray their world realistically As opposed to Italian artists who perfected their work on the large, open spaces of Italian churches, Northern European artists painted on much smaller canvases. One of the most important art schools in northern Europe was in Flanders, one of the Low Countries.

The Northern Artistic Renaissance Artists such as Jan van Eyck were among the first to use and perfect oil painting. Artists from northern Europe, such as German Albrecht Dürer, traveled to Italy to study the Italian standards and laws of perspective.

Vocabulary 1 urban society: a system in which cities are the center of political, economic, and social life

Vocabulary 2 Secular: worldly

Vocabulary 3 Mercenary: a soldier who sells his services to the highest bidder

Vocabulary 4 Humanism: an intellectual movement of the Renaissance based on the study of the humanities, which included grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, and history