Introduction to the Renaissance

Ah, yes… The Renaissance.

The Renaissance was an intellectual and artistic “rebirth” that began in the city-state of Florence.

Speaking of city-states, Italy was composed of a bunch of those. Venice, Genoa, and Milan were other greatly powerful and economically thriving city-states during the Renaissance. At this time, there was no sense of collective Italian identity – instead, these independent city-states would constantly vie for power.

Italy was a prime location for the renaissance to begin for three main reasons:

1.     Political/military – Italian city-states were constantly striving for a balance of power. Masked as republics, there wasn’t much political stability at this time in these states.

Here’s some terms you should know about government during the time:
• Signori - despots, one man ruler
• Oligarchies - despots, one man rulers
• Popolo - Italian underclass; left heavily taxed and disenfranchised, the popolo used armed force and violence to take over city governments

DEFINITELY NOT...

2.     Intellectual/religious – a reemergence of the classics and a decline in religious focus calls for the spark of an intellectual and artistic movement. The invention of the printing press by Johann Gutenberg also served as an important part of the education movement; as books were printed more quickly, knowledge was more accessible.

3.     Social/economic – Italian society was thriving. The city-states were economically stable, and trade was huge. This is why port cities especially saw the most of the Renaissance.

The Renaissance was based upon three major ideals that changed man’s way of thinking. I’ll make it easy for you.

INDIVIDUALISM – I am important. My life is mine alone, and I should enjoy it and focus on bettering myself. My liberties, rights, and actions are mine alone, and they are important.

SECULARISM –There may not be an afterlife, so why am I sitting here suffering worrying about what God thinks of me? We should not be ruled by our religion. Sure, we’ll still be Christians, and worship our god, but we also have to focus on things important to man and realize that within our lives there is so much more to do than pray for redemption and await the afterlife.

HUMANISM – Let’s write about, learn about, and study topics that aren’t just religious but also secular and put a focus on humans and the world we live in. Let’s turn away from medieval scholasticism and bring back interest in ancient Greek and Roman thought. We can open up schools and libraries and create art and all sorts of things to better the world and ourselves. Look at all we can learn!

These three ways of thinking led to great developments in science, art, philosophy, literature, astronomy, etc.

They were, in part, caused by the crises that preceded them. The collapse of the Medieval lifestyle incited a focus on the individual and accordingly a life not completely dedicated to religion. Furthermore, the classics began to reemerge at this era, and people quickly began to abandon medieval philosophy and recognize the classics as right.

People also became obsessed with the idea of a perfect man – he would be physically ideal, and an intelligent master of the arts and sciences. Today, we look back on these men who dabbled in science, philosophy, art, math, etc., and call them “Renaissance Men.”

Leonardo Da Vinci would be a fine example of a Renaissance Man.

Whoops… 

Here are some of his works: 

Invention of the Parachute

 

The Vitruvian Man

 Shows realistic depiction of and anatomical focus on the human body, as well as the “perfect proportions” of man

 

The Mona Lisa

Here are some other people you should probably know, and some of their works:

Michelangelo – David, Pieta, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (shown below)

 

Raphael – Sistine Madonna, School of Athens (shown below)

à An important depiction of learning and the humanities

Donatello – the bronze David

Batocelli – Birth of Venus

 

Authors, Inventors and Women, oh my!

Although the Renaissance had a plethora of important people, four emerged in the social sphere. The first two were authors. Each one wrote to guide wealthy young men in the world.

Castiglione’s Courtier focused on the social aspects of society. He wrote that young men needed to be trained both physically and spiritually with a background in a broad range of subjects. But no pressure.

Machiavelli wrote The Prince in order to guide men in the political world. Instead of writing about an idealized government, Machiavelli writes on reality and offers practical advice.

The next influential person was Gutenberg, arguable the most important person in the century. He invented the movable type printing press, which allowed people to easily print any word they could imagine. This method of printing allowed the flow of information leading to the stimulation of literacy in the public. 

The mechanical clock also emerged in Europe at this time. This invention was more important to city people than those in the country. It allowed them to schedule their work hours and control how they spent their time. 

The final person was a woman named Laura Cereta. Cereta was educated with her own literary career by 15. However, she lived with the stigma of being smart in a time when women were supposed to only care about the domestic side of life. Cereta believed that women brought their own inferiority upon themselves. She believed that women had the capability to succeed but keep themselves down. Instead of focusing on parties, women should work to better themselves.

Although intellectually the Renaissance was monumental, social matters played a part in the eventual path of history. Without these four influential people, society might have been a different place. 

You Have Potential! You have Potential! The Renaissance

The Renaissance is a time often thought of as a new age of Enlightenment. A time where humans turned away from the primitive Middle Age way of thinking and entered a new era of arts and intellect. However, the Renaissance and its ideas affected only a few people. Those people were none other than the rich and the very elite. Shocker! 

For the people the Renaissance did effect it created three main intellectual hallmarks: individualism, humanism, and secularism. The main concept individualism lead to the other two occurring for once people began accepting their own uniqueness and potential, it lead them to better themselves and humanity through humanism and enjoy the material world through secularism. These three concepts combined lead to a strong belief in humanity's and the individual's potential and uniqueness. 

One of the byproducts of individualism was humanism. Humanism was a new time of learning to "reveal human nature". It was based in the ideas from the classics of ancient Rome and Greece. Petrarch was said to be the godfather of humanism because he realized he was living in a new age and began translating many of these classic documents. 

 

Through the studying human's individualities, the art at this time was also affected. Artists began to stress the human form like the artist of ancient Greece did. However, since they were also living during a time of praising the human form, artists would paint and sculpt the perfect human body. The art was based in realism but also had strong connections to individualism for praising human's uniqueness. 

Bad Things Come in Threes

The 14th and 15th centuries were plagued with three crises: the Bubonic Plague, the Hundred Years War, and the Great Schism. These three events were the cause of many divisions. People had to choose a side. As a result, Europe during this time was filled with turmoil, panic, chaos, and confusion.

The first evil is the Bubonic Plague or Black Death. I’ll spare you guys horrid images of these terrible inflictions. The Plague arrived in mainland Europe and 1348 and spread through out the continent through ports via rats and fleas. 

As a result of the plague, many were inflicted and Europe suffered a huge population loss. This brings us to our first division: the fight between laborers and businessmen.  Since there was less labor available, those that could work asked for higher wages and revolts broke out. 

Another division rose within the church. The church at this time was becoming more wealthy. Many archbishops and others in high positions would not go near peasants in an attempt to survive.  Basically, they thought they were Regina George or Beyoncé.

               

This created a disconnect between the people and those who represent the hierarchy of the church. It also hurt the church’s reputation. It seemed as if they were unconcerned for the plight of the laymen. Despite this there were many local priests in the country side who attempted to help those who were sick. So not only was the church ostracized from the people, it was divided within itself.

The second evil is that of the Hundred Years War. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=01-2pNCZiNk The obvious division here is that of England vs. France. The war increased nationalism within the two countries and hatred between the two countries. The cause of the war: land and power. 

The war also had an affect on the political and cultural lives of the two countries. Since King Edward of England kept having to ask Parliament for more and more money, he kept it strong. As a result, a large general assembly became an important part of the English government. On the other hand, the French held smaller assemblies so as not to threaten the power of the king. Although this is not a division between people, it is a division of ideas within Europe. 

The final evil is that of the Great Schism within the church.  Here's the breakdown of what happened:

Everyone had to choose which pope they were going to recognize. England went for Urban. France (Scotland, Aragon, Castile, and Portugal) went for Clement. The common people were just confused. The church was what held Europe together so since the organization crumbled, so did Europe as a whole.

A house divided cannot stand. As a result, the traditional medieval society in Europe crumbled as evidenced.

• You can check out the above "AP Euro Biographies" link for some people to review for the exam.  
• These powerpoints were created by former students. If I find more I will update the site.