Welcome to the Renaissance!  Cultural revival (change) in Europe (begins in Italy) 1300s – 1500s  French for “Rebirth”  Focus on learning education, history, literature and art General Overview : (2 ½ minutes) United Streaming: (14 minutes)

Let’s look at where it started: 1. Physical Environment: Italy  Peninsula with three major rivers  Mountains & mild climate  Ports allowed the spread of people, goods, ideas  Major trade route with the Middle East & China

Money Matters! 2. Economics of the Renaissance: A switch from an agricultural system to a urban mercantile system.  Related to commerce or trade  Countries attempted to control as many different raw materials (resources) as possible

Export raw materials & Import finished goods  Goods : Wool, Shipbuilding, Silk Manufacturing, and Livestock  Services : Banking and Trade  Powerful Guilds (an organized group of people who have joined together because they share the same job or interest)

3.Government during the Renaissance:  Wealthy merchants formed oligarchies (a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution) that governed each city-state  Competition fueled the birth of the artistic development.

Medici Family:  Rulers and bank lenders in Florence  Were successful because they never gave money to royalty –led to the birth of capitalism  Devoted Christians and believed money lending was a mortal sin.  Needed a way to save themselves from spending eternity “downstairs.” The Medici Family: Makers of Modern Art dhWI

THERE IS A WAY OUT!  Money lenders could find redemption (the action of saving or being saved from sin, error, or evil) by becoming patrons (paying customers) who sponsored/funded (gave money) to many artist and architects.  HOWEVER….must be the art or construction of churches or any aspect showing supporting for religion.  Would have themselves occasionally added into paintings for added “insurance.”

4. Social Classes: 1. The Nobles:  owned much of the land, and lived on large estates outside the city walls. 2. The Merchants:  “The New Rich,” married into noble families.  Built enormous gilded mansions in the city, villas in the country, and contributed to the construction of grand cathedrals.

Social Classes (cont.) 3. Middle Class:  shopkeepers and lived in the cities 4. The Peasants:  farmers and lived in rural areas (the majority)

5. Religions & Values:  Monotheism (one God)  Roman Catholic Church  People were encouraged to learn Latin and know the “word” of God. Theology: The study of religion and faith

6. Science and Technology: New view points and ideas were part of:  Secularism  Humanism  Individualism

6. Science and Technology: Secularism:  Topics or ideas not related to religion  Law, Medicine, Philosophy, Engineering, and Science  Decisions not always based on the Church or the Bible  Writings were meant to inform/entertain vs. spirituality  Wrote in Vernacular- everyday language

The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.  Political writing aimed to manipulated others  Negative view of human nature: ungrateful and selfish  Leaders should be:  Strong as a lion, smart like a fox  Should remember ‘the end justifies the means.’ Example of Secularism Writing:

Scientific Discovery of Our Universe Copernicus:  correctly placed the sun at the center of the solar system Galileo:  physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher  Improvements to the telescope, astronomical observations Refer to Questioning of Galileo Worksheet for additional information

Galileo (continued):  Roman Inquisition believed the Sun and planets revolved around the Earth.  Galileo believed in the idea of heliocentrism (planets evolved around a stationary sun)  Put on trial for heresy (belief opinion that does not agree with the official belief or opinion of a particular religion)  Book was banned and spent the rest of his life under house arrest.

Humanism:  Cultural change based on “Classical” works  Borrowed Greek and Roman ideas  Attempt to live a good life on Earth  Self-worth vs. spirituality

Individualism:  The belief that the individual is more important than the larger community  “Man is the measure of all things”- Protagoras

The Printing Press  Invented by Johannes Gutenberg, Germany1450  Could print copies of books quickly  By 1500, twenty million books produced  Increased literacy, spread ideas  Literacy: The ability to read and write printed/written words

Literacy and Censorship  Publishers printed medical manuals, travel accounts, and broadsheets.  People published criticisms of the Catholic Church.  The Church began to censor what people could read. It published a list of prohibited books.

Censor  To remove material from published works or to prevent its publication

7.Cultural Developments:  Art & Architecture: Classic ideas with realism  Literature: William Shakespeare wrote about human weaknesses  Books written in Vernacular

Cultural Developments (continued): Painting and Sculptors:  Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa and the Last Supper  Michelangelo sculpted the Statue of David and painted the Sistine Chapel Architecture:  Filippo Brunelleschi created the Dome

Basic Artist Styles  Balance  Harmony  Perspective  Proportion  Symmetry