The Renaissance

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The Renaissance

• The beginning of the Modern Period
• A period of transition

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renaissance means rebirth

• The Renaissance began a period of renewed
  interest and engagement with classical (Ancient
  Greece and Rome) learning, culture, literature,
  art, style, etc.

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How did the Renaissance change thought?
Before
Focus on Afterlife
The Individual not important
Little focus on learning and the arts
Dark Ages
Age of Faith
After
Focus on this life
The Individual is important
Focus on learning the Classics (The Iliad, Aristotle) to inspire learning and the arts
Rebirth
Age of Reason
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Two Major Divisions of the Renaissance
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The Italian Renaissance

• The Italian Renaissance (occurred first)
• Focused on the city-states of northern Italy and
  Rome
• The Italian Renaissance tended to be more worldly
  with a great emphasis on secular pursuits, the
  humanities, and the arts
• Wealth and power
• Knowledge was the key

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Renaissance Italy

• Major trading cities Milan, Florence, Genoa,
  Venice
• Florence wealthy from wool and banking
• Medici family were bankers with political power
• Hired artists and architects to make Florence
  great

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Often called the Father of Renaissance humanism

• The Italian poet, Petrarch

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Renaissance People

• Focus on humans and their abilities and actions
  (humanism)

• Machiavelli wrote The Prince
• Said rulers should be mean instead of nice
• End justifies the Means

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Humanism
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• Really an old idea from Ancient Greece and Rome
• Based on the Socratic and Platonic ideas of
  observation and reasoning
• Idea that man, not God, was the center of the
  universe
• Man controls his own destiny
• Man can learn about and understand his world by
  observation and reason without Gods help
• Helped spark a new age of secular learning and
  the development of early modern schools and
  universities such as Oxford and Cambridge
• Led many to question both governments and the
  institutional Church

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The Northern Renaissance

• The Northern Renaissance occurred later
• Involved the regions of Northern Europe
• England
• Spain
• France
• Germanic regions (Holy Roman Empire)
• The Netherlands

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Northern Renaissance

• The spread of the Renaissance was delayed in
  Northern Europe
• War and political unrest
• Hundred Years War
• War of the Roses in Britain
• Plague and famine

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Major Themes of the Renaissance

• Humanism (both secular and religious)
• Human potential, human progress, expansion of
  human knowledge
• Secularism-greater emphasis on non-religious
  values and concerns
• Individualism-focus on the unique qualities and
  abilities of the individual person

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Major Historical Events of the Renaissance Period

• Age of Exploration (Period of European Expansion)
• Protestant Reformation and the Religious Wars
• Scientific Revolution- Rise of Modern Science
• The Rise of the Modern Nation-state

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Background of the Renaissance- High and Late
Middle Ages

• Increased trade and commercial activity during
  the High Middle Ages
• Urbanization-growth of cities and towns
• Commercial and business developments (banking)
• Middle class merchant elite developed
• Decline in feudalism
• A decline in the Churchs hold and control on
  society and government
• Growth in vernacular literature/growing literacy
• Rise of universities and the expansion of learning

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The Birthplace of the Renaissance

• The city-states of Northern Italy
• Florence was the center of the Renaissance
• Italy was politically fragmented and the
  city-states often fought for power and control
• City-states came to be ruled by wealthy and
  powerful business people (not necessarily
  nobility)
• Signori- (despots) and oligarchies (group of
  individuals) maintained order

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Florence

• Major center of trade, banking, cloth production,
  and the arts

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The Medici family of Florence

• The most powerful family of the Italian
  Renaissance
• Came to power through business dealings and
  banking
• Bank of the Vatican and the papacy
• Spent tremendous amounts of money supporting the
  arts and cultural development (patrons)
• Medici power often involved corruption and
  intrigue

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The Medici Family
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Medici Pope
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The Adoration of the Magi depicts the Medici
family in procession -Celebration of Medici power
and influence
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Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)The Prince

• Machiavelli was from Florence
• Well educated in the classics
• Career was in public service and he eventually
  served as the ambassador to France
• Favored republican rule over despotism
• Machiavelli was tortured and imprisoned for a
  time when Medici rule was reinstated after a
  conflict with a Spanish mercenary army
• He retired to the country and wrote The Prince

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The Prince

• Written in Italian (not Latin)
• Observations and commentary on political rule and
  power (Medicis)
• Addressed the issue of effective rule
• How to gain and maintain order and control
• Stressed the practical (pragmatic) over the
  ethical or moral
• More secular and humanistic
• Challenged the idea of a social order based on
  Gods will
• Political science- Politics was to be governed by
  its own laws
• it is safer to be feared than to be loved

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The Courtier by Castiglione 1528

• Written in Italian
• Treatise on the training of young men in the
  courtly ideal of a Renaissance gentleman
• Stressed the value of education and manners
• Influenced social mores and norms during the
  period

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The Renaissance spread to Northern Europe
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Focus of the Northern Renaissance

• The focus of the Renaissance in Northern Europe
  was more religious
• Many sought religious reform and a return of the
  Church to its true mission and spirituality
• Many were highly critical of the worldliness and
  corruption in the Church and papacy
• Northern Renaissance figures believed that
  education and literacy were key to social and
  religious reform
• Advocated the translation of the scriptures into
  the vernacular languages

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Major figures of the Northern Renaissance
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Desiderius Erasmus scholar and theologian

• The Praise of Folly
• Criticism of the abuses and worldliness of the
  Church and papacy

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Sir Thomas More

• Lord Chancellor of England during the reign of
  Henry VIII- highest political office in England
• Lawyer and scholar
• Wrote Utopia explored the idea of a perfect
  society
• Eventually executed by Henry VIII for refusing to
  agree to the king and Parliaments Act of
  Supremacy

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Utopia
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Martin Luther

• Associated with the Protestant Reformation
• Critical of Church corruption and abuses
• Sought reform
• Wrote the first translation of the Bible in German

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Renaissance Art

• A reflection of Renaissance ideals and values
• Emphasis on the classical style and classical
  themes
• Humanistic - with an emphasis on the individual
• Religious art remained very important

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Characteristics of Renaissance Art

• Realism
• Three-dimensional
• Balanced and ordered
• Portraits
• Landscapes and attention to depictions of nature
• Classical style
• Depiction of classical themes and stories

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Humanism The School of Athens by Raphael- a
celebration of classical learning
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Individualism Portraits -portraits celebrated
the unique qualities and personality of the
individual person (two examples by Leonardo da
Vinci)
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Secularism-non-religious Renaissance art
often depicted stories and scenes from classical
literature
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Religion remained a major focal point of
Renaissance art -The Sistine Chapel-Michelangelo
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Michelangelos Pieta
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Northern Renaissance Art
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Albrecht Durer
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Hans Holbein
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Bruegel
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Major innovations of the Renaissance
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Printing Press

• 1455
• Moveable type printing
• Developed in Germany
• Associated with Gutenburg
• 1456 the first Gutenburg Bible was printed
• Printing press allowed for the spread of
  knowledge and ideas throughout Europe

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The Clock

• The idea of quantification developed
• The universe came to be conceived in more
  quantifiable terms (measurable terms)
• Allowed for more precise measurements
• Changed the focus of daily life which had been
  guided by the rhythms of the Church

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The Renaissance brought a new way of thinking and
living to Europe

• A new worldview was emerging
• The medieval Christian worldview was giving way
  to a more MODERN (secular and humanistic) view of
  the world and humanity