The Renaissance World History

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The RenaissanceWorld History
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Johann Gutenberg The Printing Press

• Printing pioneered by the Chinese
• German Gutenberg dev. movable type techniques
• Process more efficient
• 1st printed work certificates of indulgences
• Gutenberg Bible (1455) 200 copies printed
• 1st mass produced work
• Cost 300 Florins
• Cheaper faster than monk, hand-written copies
• Caused a cultural rev. in Europe
• Enabled the spread of new ideas Renaissance and
  Reformation
• Turning point btwn. Middle Ages and Early Modern
  Period
• Resulted in a rise in literacy

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Town Life during the Renaissance

• Guilds and the middle class continue their ascent
  to power that began in the Middle Ages
• Merchants and bankers became the most important
  segment of society
• Society
• Towns grew as commerce grew, people began to
  urbanize and farm less
• Power
• Middle class held most of the power by forcing
  lords to grant charters for new towns and
  controlling banking
• Status
• Determined by wealth and ability

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The Growth of Italian City-States

• What is the Renaissance, why Italy?
• French for rebirth a revival in arts and
  learning
• Renewed interest in ancient Greek and Roman
  culture
• Italian city-states displayed their wealth by
  supporting artists
• Why were Italian City-States so powerful?
• Strong ties w/ Byzantine and Muslim merchants
• Each city-state specialized in one economic area
• Milan metal goods and military armor
• Florence banking and textiles
• Venice Asian Goods
• Rome religious center for pilgrims

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Florence the most influential city-state

• Maintained a thriving wool and silk industry
• acted as the middle man in exchange of goods
  from the East
• sold insurance to sea traders
• created banks that made loans to monarchs and
  popes and exchanged currencies
• Medici family promoted trade, banking, art,
  learning, and intense civic pride

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Humanism The Spirit of the Renaissance

• A new interest in Ancient Culture
• Knowledge of classical works was rediscovered in
  the Middle Ages- only those in holy orders could
  read the Greek and Roman writings
• Crusades made people eager to learn about the
  world outside of Europe
• Scholars believed classical writings would help
  solve modern problems

• A Fascination with Classical Culture
• Artists used ancient art as models
• Donatello copied the Roman ideal of the human
  body
• Brunelleschi designed buildings after studying
  ancient ruins in Rome
• The practice of copying ancient style led to
  innovations in technique

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Donatellos David
Donatellos Atys
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Brunelleschis il Duomo
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A New Type of Scholar Called a Humanist

• A Belief in Human Potential
• Believed each person could achieve great things.
• Claimed people educated in the classics could
  create a better world
• Emphasized human achievement on earth, rather
  than the afterlife

• Studied ancient writings
• Studied Latin, Greek, history, and mathematics
• Opened schools
• Emphasized studying works in language they were
  written in
• Studied and wrote literature written in the
  vernacular
• Secularism was emphasized by many while
  maintaining Christian beliefs

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Petrarch (Petrarca) 1304-1374
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• Background
• 1st Humanist (1300s)
• Petrarch and Dante are considered the fathers of
  the Renaissance
• Scholar, poet
• Wrote in Latin
• Works include a guide to the Holy Land, sonnets
  to his love Laura, an early self-help book,
  letters to historical figures

• Philosophy
• Believed in the value of studying ancient history
  and literature
• Study of human thought and action
• Saw no conflict with realizing humanitys
  potential and having religious faith
• Emphasized solitude study or a contemplative
  life, rather than an active life experiencing the
  world

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Dante Alighieri 1265-1321
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La Divina Commedia The Divine Comedy

• This dialect became the basis for the modern
  Italian language
• Describes a fictionalized account of Dantes
  journey through Hell (Inferno), Purgatory
  (Purgatorio), and Paradise (Paradiso)
• Inferno described as having 9 levels, each level
  getting worse and being the home to worse sins
• 9th level is home to those who commit treachery

• The greatest literary statement produced in
  Europe in the late Medieval Period
• Written in vernacular, the Tuscan dialect
• Established the vernacular as an appropriate
  language for all works, replacing Latin (access
  to more people)

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Erasmus of Rotterdam 1466-1536
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Philosophy and Contributions

• Criticized Renaissance Popes as corrupt and
  unconcerned with religious matters
• Wrote in Latin, but encouraged the works to be
  translated into the vernacular
• Blamed for introducing the ideas that led to the
  Reformation, he laid the egg according to the
  Church
• Known to question some Church practices and
  Luthers ideas
• Many of his translations are still in use today

• Northern Europe was still more religious
• Christian Humanism reform the Church by
  eliminating abuses and restore piety
• Promoted learning as a way to understand
  Christianity better
• Studied original versions of the Bible written in
  Hebrew and Latin

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Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)

• Florentine statesman
• The Prince
• A handbook for politicians
• Offers a realistic analysis of politics
• Put ideas that already existed on paper
• The End Justifies the Means