What was the Renaissance?

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What was the Renaissance?

• What was the Renaissance, and where did it begin?

• Italy
• Italian Cities
• Urban Societies
• Major Trading Centers
• Secular
• Moved away from life in the church
• Focuses more on material objects and enjoying life

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The Renaissance was a time of renewal Renaissance
means rebirth and Europe was recovering from the
Dark ages and the plague. People had lost their
faith in the church and began to put more focus
on human beings.
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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.
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Major Italian Cities
Italy failed to become united during the
Ages. Many independent city-states emerged in
northern and central Italy that played an
important role in Italian politics and art.
Milan One of the richest cities, it controls
trade through the Alps.
Venice
Milan
Venice Sitting on the Adriatic, it attracts trade
from all over the world.
Genoa
Florence
Florence Controlled by the De Medici Family, who
became great patrons of the arts.
Adriatic Sea
Genoa Had Access to Trade Routes
Tyrrhenian Sea
All of these cities 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
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Political Ideas of the Renaissance
Niccolò Machiavelli The Prince Machiavelli
believed One can make this generalization about
men they are ungrateful, fickle, liars, and
deceivers, they shun danger and are greedy for
profit 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.
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• 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

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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.
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Renaissance Artists embraced some of the 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 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
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Born in 1475 in a small town near Florence, is
considered to be one of the most inspired men who
ever lived
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David
Michelangelo created his masterpiece David in
1504.
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Sistine Chapel
About 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.
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La Pieta 1499Marble Sculpture
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Moses
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1452-1519 Painter, Sculptor, Architect, Engineer
Genius!
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Mona Lisa
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The Last Supper
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Notebooks
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RaphaelPainter1483-1520
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The School of Athens
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Pythagoras
Plato and Aristotle
Socrates
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How did classical knowledge of the ancient Greeks
and Romans foster humanism in the Italian
Renaissance?
Humanism Celebrated the individual Stimulated
the study of Greek and Roman literature and
culture Was supported by wealthy patrons
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PetrarchSonnets, humanistscholarship
Francesco Petrarch 1304-1374 Assembled Greek and
Roman writings. Wrote Sonnets to Laura, love
poems in the Vernacular
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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 ErasmusThe Praise
of Folly (1511) Sir Thomas MoreUtopia
(1516) Northern Renaissance artists portrayed
religious and secular subjects.
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Literature flourished during the Renaissance This
can be greatly attributed to Johannes
Gutenberg In 1455 Gutenberg printed the first
book produced by using moveable type. The Bible
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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.
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Sir Thomas More
English 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.
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Bibliography
Images from Corbis.com Web Gallary of
Art www.wga.hu
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Clocks

• The oldest surviving mechanical clock were made
  in the 1300s.
• Italian scientist Galileo discovered the
  pendulum.
• This made for better time keeping.

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Water clocks and hourglasses

• Water clocks and hourglasses were widely using in
  the 1500s.

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The Watch (portable timepiece)

• The portable watch was invented by German Peter
  Henlein in 1505
• He created his watch to be spring powered making
  it much smaller.
• This watch was a pocket watch. The wrist watch
  didnt come into widespread use until the 1800s.

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Printing

• The Chinese were the first to invent printing in
  868.
• In the mid-1400s, Johan Gutenberg of Germany
  invented a printing press using moveable type.
• Now books could be printed with greater speed and
  less effort.
• The Gutenberg Bible is considered one of the
  first books ever printed.

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Eyeglasses

• Eyeglasses were invented in the 1300s.
• With the invention of the printing press in the
  1400s, the demand for eyeglasses increased.
• Far-sighted glasses (for reading) were developed
  first.
• Later on near-sightedness was able to be
  corrected.

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Lenses

• Lenses were used for more than just eyeglasses.
• Galileo used lenses to make an astronomical
  telescope to look at the stars and planets in
  1606.
• Isaac Newton made the first reflecting telescope
  in 1668.

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The Musket

• The musket was the first usable rifle that
  soldiers could carry into battle.
• It was developed in Spain in the 1500s.
• It could fire a metal ball that could seriously
  kill or hurt someone.
• The first muskets were very large weighing 40
  pounds and being over 6 feet long.
• They were very hard to use.

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The Rudder

• The invention of the rudder in the 1200s greatly
  increased the control over steering a ship.

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The Flush Toilet

• The flush toilet, or water closet as it was
  called dates back to 1589 when it was invented by
  Sir John Harington.
• Harington invented a valve that when pulled would
  release water from a water closet. Sir John
  recommended flushing the toilet once or twice a
  day, although with our modern technology, we know
  that is probably not sufficient. (Rumor has it
  that, in Robin Hood's day, King Arthur - angry
  with how his brother ruled the country while the
  King was gone, named the toilet, 'the john' - aka
  as 'the jon' to you folks.)

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Adding Machine

• The French scientist, Blaise Pascal has been
  credited with inventing the very first digital
  calculator. In 1642, the 18-year-old Pascal, the
  son of a French tax collector, invented his
  numerical wheel calculator called the Pascaline,
  to help his father count taxes.

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Thermometer

• The Thermometer was invented by Galileo in 1593
  which, for the first time, allowed temperature
  variations to be measured. In 1714, Gabriel
  Fahrenheit invented the first mercury
  thermometer, the modern thermometer.
• Thermometers measure temperature, by using
  materials that change in some way when they are
  heated or cooled.

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Submarine

• The submarine was invented in 1624 by a man named
  Cornelius van Drebbel.
• Leonardo da Vinci drew out the basic concept of a
  submarine over one hundred years before.
• Drebbel, a Dutch inventor and engineer employed
  by the British navy constructed a leather-
  covered rowboat from which oars protruded through
  watertight seals.
• Drubbel's ship could stay underwater for a few
  hours, but it only went about fifteen feet under
  the surface.

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The Match

• Fire - our worst enemy, our best friend - was
  difficult to create until Robert Boyle invented
  the match in 1680.
• Although fire could be made by rubbing sticks
  together or by striking flint to steel, this was
  a time consuming process. Boyle discovered that
  when phosphorus and sulfur were rubbed together,
  they would burst into flame.
• Although convenient, Boyle's matches were not
  very safe, because sometimes they accidentally
  went up in flames while in a pocket. (Warm
  surprise!)
• With some improvements and a little fine tuning,
  this invention led to your modern safety match
  many years later.

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