Renaissance

1
Renaissance
2

• During the medieval period France and England
  emerged as unified states. The rest of Europe
  was a mass of fragmented small states and
  principalities
• Even as late as 1500 European states had there
  own ruler, laws, economic system, and judicial
  system the one unifying theme was the absolute
  power of the Catholic Church
• Italy, the birthplace of the Renaissance, was
  dominated by independent city-states
• During the medieval period there were hundreds of
  these city-states but over time many were
  absorbed by more powerful neighbors
• At the start of the Renaissance there were
  probably less than fifty city-states on the
  Italian peninsula

3

• Individual had a loyalty to their own city-state
• Five city-states dominated the peninsula Venice,
  Milan, Florence, the Papal State, and the kingdom
  of Naples
• Cesare Borgia (Machiavellis hero and son of Pope
  Alexander VI) tried to unite the peninsula
• Signing and breaking alliances was common
• Economic growth was the basis for the Renaissance
• Florentine merchants gained control of the papal
  banking
• Northern Italy (centrally located) benefited from
  the crusades and the spice trade
• Renaissance started in Florence and follows the
  success of the Medici family
• Society in the city-states was very stratified

4

• As the business class increased their wealth they
  gradually displaced the power of the nobility
• The top level, the elites, were known as the
  popolo grasso (fat people). They gained even
  more power, prestige, and wealth through
  patronage and flattery
• The popolo minuto (little people) hated their
  position and often used force to take over the
  cities
• The popolo could not retain power and were later
  replaced by despots or oligarchies
• Despots showed their wealth by patronizing the
  arts - Medici

5
Politics

• The city-states of northern Italy were not
  democratic
• Rebellions and uprisings were crushed
• By the fourteenth century many were oligarchies
  ruled by powerful families
• Some city-states became republics and then
  returned to an oligarchy
• Milan was ruled by the Sforza family as
  hereditary despots
• Venice remained a republic
• Since the city-states were usually small the
  ruler often hired condettieri (mercenaries) to
  fight against external threats
• The main city-states were very aggressive and
  when not dominating smaller neighbors they fought
  each other

6

• Savonarola of Florence attacked paganism, vice,
  undemocratic government of Lorenzo de Medici, and
  corruption of Pope Alexander VI.
• Initially people supported him but later he was
  burned at the stake (1498) because people did not
  share his opinions of the commercial elite
• Florentine, Niccolò Machiavelli had been removed
  from government when the Medicis had overthrown
  the republic in 1512
• He wrote The Prince as blueprint for government
• For Machiavelli the test of a good government
  was an effective government.
• Machiavellis work rests on two principles
• 1) Permanent social order reflecting Gods will
  is impossible
• 2) Politics should be considered a science

7
Renaissance Thought

• It was the awakening of the human spirit -
  feelings and thoughts
• High culture so only affected a few
• Was not religious or scientific but moral and
  personal
• In Italy an almost secular attitude appeared as
  people began to view themselves as civilized than
  other Europeans
• Renaissance was characterized by self-conscious
  awareness that Italians were living in a new era
• The Renaissance was the light after the gloom of
  the Dark Ages
• The Roman Empire was the peak of human
  civilization
• One of the founders of this movement was Petrarch

8

• The Romans had developed the idea of humanitas
  which included a combination of wisdom and virtue
• Eventually the term was used to describe the
  seven liberal arts
• Renaissance humanists moved away from the
  medieval scholasticism, which focused on applying
  reason to theological questions
• Humanists believed they were reviving the Roman
  classics
• Castiglione wrote The Courtier, a manual for good
  behavior. He described the ideal man as being
  able to dance, sing, write music, fight, and
  wrestle in short being a universal man or a
  Renaissance man, like da Vinci

9

• Humanism
• The study of the classics became known as new
  learning or humanism
• Cicero considered this important for anyone who
  considered himself civilized
• Humanism emphasized Individualism
• a) human beings
• b) human achievements
• c) human capabilities
• Italian humanism became more of an interest to
  lay people

10

• Italian Humanists
• i) Deeply religious viewed the classics in a new
  light
• ii) Skeptical of the authority of the classics
  because of distance from the author
• iii) Studied classics to understand human nature
• iv) Very Christian - men and women were in Gods
  image
• v) Rejected classical ideas that opposed
  Christianity but sought a harmony between
  paganism, secularism, and Christianity.
• vi) Loved the language of the classics
• But most people lived exactly the same in the
  Renaissance period as the medieval period

11

• Secularism
• Concerned with the material world not the eternal
  world
• Lorenzo Valla On Pleasure defended pleasure also
  wrote On the False Donation of Constantine, which
  weakened the popes authority.
• Boccaccio Decameron about a worldly society.
• Papal interests actually encouraged worldliness

12
Renaissance Art

• Artists of the Renaissance had contempt for
  medieval predecessors
• Brunelleschi used the principles of classical
  architecture to the Foundling Hospital in
  Florence
• Renaissance art flourished because of patronage
• Michelangelo was hired to paint the Sistine
  Chapel and to design the Medici tombs in the the
  church of St Lorenzo in Florence
• Sometimes the patrons even appeared in the
  pictures
• Artists sought to paint realistic pictures and
  carve realistic sculptures emphasizing nature and
  human emotions

13
NORTHERN RENAISSANCE

• Politics and the State

14

• The Renaissance in the north was slightly later
  than in Italy
• It also tended to less of a complete break from
  the philosophies of the Middle Ages
• The greatest difference was that in the north it
  was much more religious
• The humanists in the north were called Christian
  humanists because they want to gain a deeper
  understanding of Christianity
• The source of their understanding was the work of
  the Church Fathers and the scriptures
• Christian humanists stressed biblical themes and
  finding an ethical way to live
• They advocated social reforms based on Christian
  ideals

15

• Humanists studied Greek and Hebrew texts for a
  greater understanding of Christianity, but they
  stressed the use of reason over accepted dogma
• Students from England, Holland, France, and
  Germany went to Italy for the new learning
• New universities opened across northern Europe,
  especially in Germany (Wittenberg was founded in
  1502)
• Northern humanists interpreted Italian ideas in
  terms of their own traditions
• They believed people could be improved through
  education

16
Northern Humanists

• In England
• Thomas More was the preeminent English humanist
• He had been trained as a lawyer
• His household was a model for Christian lifestyle
  and he was visited by humanists from all over
  Europe
• Deeply interested in the classics
• Entered government under Henry VIII and as
  ambassador to Flanders
• Wrote Utopia (1516) means nowhere where all
  children receive a humanist education

17

• More believed private property caused vices and
  civil disorder
• He believed the individual could be improved if
  the institutions of society were reformed
• Lost his life to maintain his convictions and
  refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy for Henry
  VIII

18

• Low Countries
• Desiderius Erasmus was probably the most
  respected man in Europe
• Influenced by John Colet in England
• Erasmus, like other humanists, had a deep
  appreciation for the classics
• Wrote The Education of a Christian Prince which
  made suggestions for the character of a ruler
  based on the work of classical scholars
• Also wrote The Praise of Folly

19

• Two main themes
• 1) Education is the means to reform
• 2) The philosophy of Christ Christianity is an
  inner feeling
• Erasmus criticized the abuses of the Catholic
  Church but he was very careful not to promote
  trouble
• He believed the Church could be made better by
  correcting the abuses
• Erasmus laid the egg that Luther hatched

20

• In France
• Jacques Lefevre dEtaples applied humanism to
  religion
• Believed in education
• Rabelais was secular
• Wrote Gargantua and Pantagruel
• John Calvin was a French humanist

21

• In Germany
• Western and southern Germany were economically
  advanced
• 14th century - mystics like Thomas a Kempis
  believed the human soul could communicate with
  God
• They did not rebel against the Church but wanted
  a deeper religion

22
New Monarchs

• While Italy remained a collection of relatively
  weak city-states in northern Europe the political
  landscape was changing
• Monarchs in England, France, and Spain were all
  actively building states
• This new breed of leader was ruthless and
  preferred security to love
• They used the monarchy to guarantee law and order
  and they also determined the role of religion
• The despots of Italy, Henry VII of England, Louis
  XI of France, Ferdinand of Aragon
• All Machiavellian (but could not have read The
  Prince)

23

• 1) invested kingship with strong authority and
  national purpose
• 2) Monarchy linked all classes of society within
  a boundary
• 3) Insisted on respect and loyalty
• 4) Ruthless oppressed rebellions and opposition
• 5) Loved the business of kingship
• 6) Tended to rely on the middle-class - new
  bourgeoisie, who benefited from political
  stability and peace
• Kings were able to use taxes to build armies and
  then they used the armies to eliminate
  competition and solidify their rule
• Advances in military technology (first the
  longbow and the gun) enabled foot soldiers to
  fight against cavalry
• Military success was now based on peasants not
  nobles

24
ENGLAND

• Decimated by the Black Death
• The Tudors (1485-1603) won War of the Roses
• Henry VII was the first Tudor monarch
• He passed laws against nobles having standing
  armies
• The monarch did not depend on government for
  money so much more independent
• Royal Council (Star Chamber) was the center of
  authority and used to maintain law and order

25

• The Royal Council handled the kings business
  including arranging marriages
• Aristocratic threats were dealt with by the Star
  Chamber
• Star Chamber used Roman Law and methods to
  enforce the law
• a) accused people were not entitled to see the
  evidence against them
• b) sessions were in secret
• c) torture was often used
• d) there were no juries

26

• The Tudors promoted peace and order
• Henry VII (1485) rebuilt the monarchy and created
  sense of national identity
• Ruled through unpaid officials
• a) he encouraged trade
• b) built up the merchant fleet
• c) crushed the Irish
• d) secured peace with Scotland (his daughter
  Margaret married the Scottish king)

27
FRANCE

• Charles VII revived the monarchy
• i) expelled the English
• ii) increased the influence of the middle class
• iii) strengthened finances through taxes like
  salt (gabelle) and land (taille)
• iv) created first permanent royal army

28

• His son, Louis XI (Valois - 1461) was a
  Renaissance prince
• Promoted industryimproved the armysigned
  international treaties
• The Estates General met only once during his
  reign
• 1516 Pope Leo X and Francis I signed the
  Concordat of Bologna the king could appoint
  bishops

29
SPAIN

• Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon
  married (1469) and united the regions
• They ruled through hermandades
• Restructured the royal council - excluded the
  rich and powerful
• The church was the linchpin of the reform.
• Alliance with the Spanish pope Alexander VI
  Spanish monarchs gained great power and a
  national church

30

• reconquista (1492) - expulsion of the Jews and
  Moors from Spainlasted over 100 years
• Conversos- Jews that converted
• Moriscos - Christians of Moorish background
• Marranos - Christians of Jewish background
• inquisition - the ruthless court that decided if
  conversos were telling the truth later used
  against the Protestants

31

• Ferdinand and Isabella expelling all Jews from
  Spain had major economic consequences
• Absolute religious orthodoxy and pure blood were
  the foundation of Spain
• Ferdinand and Isabellas daughter Joanna married
  Philip. Their son was Charles V, the Holy Roman
  Emperor.
• Charles V - the Universal Monarch

32
Germany

• Part of the Holy Roman Empire
• Local lords recognized the supremacy of the
  Emperor, who was elected by 7 Electors
• 1452 Archduke of Austria (Habsburg) was elected
  Emperor Maximilian I (1493-1519)
• He married the heiress of the Duke of Burgundy
• Their son, Philip married Mad Joanna, daughter of
  Ferdinand and Isabella
• Their son was Charles V

33

• Johann Gutenberg changed the course of history
  with the movable print. Printing made propaganda
  possible and forced people into groups i.e.
  church and state or Crown and nobility
• Printing stimulated literacy of lay people

34
Women

• The status of upper-class women declined
• women generally had less power than in the Middle
  Ages
• Renaissance humanism represented an educational
  advance for a small minority
• Women had to choose marriage or education
• Education brought jealousy and envy

35

• Girls in the upper-class were taught how to
  dance, paint, and play music - they were
  decorative
• Love and sex also worsened during the Renaissance
• Women belonged at home
• Educational opportunities were severely
  limitedLiterary and art works had no effect on
  ordinary women
• Women were a sign of wealth