Recovery and Rebirth: The Age of Renaissance

The revival of interest in Greek and Roman classics promoted by humanists and spread by the printing press engendered a more secular and individualistic value system in the ideal man.

Crash Course#

• labor became more valuable
• Petrarch's writing helped people transition
• Renaissance = "revival"
• Renaissance artist focused on details
• lives of average people weren't changed

Major Concepts#

• humanists
• printing press
• secular
• individualistic
• man of virtu
• Civic humanist culture
• Italian city-states
• Machiavelli (The Prince)
• new monarchs
• geometric perspective
• classical literary forms
• vernacular
• naturalism

Key Terms#

• Renaissance
• estates
• individualism
• secularism
• humanism
• civic humanism
• Neoplatonism
• Hermeticism
• pantheism
• new monarchies
• nepotism

Meaning and Characteristics of the Italian Renaissance#

• Renaissance means "rebirth," but when referencing the era of the "Renaissance" what exactly is it a rebirth of? (hint, read ALL of pg 333 before answering... there are multiple factors you should include in your answer.)
  • The Renaissance is a rebirth of new society types, rediscovery of Greek and Roman culture, new secular spirit and increasing wealth, and new ways of viewing human beings.
• Who was Jacob Burckhardt, and what was his argument about the Renaissance? Do modern scholars agree with Burckhardt? Why or why not?
  • The Swiss historian and art critic who created the modern concept of the Renaissance. He said the Italians were the "firstborn among the sons of modern Europe" and saw the revival of antiquity, the "perfecting of the individual", and secularism as its distinguishing features.
  • Contemporary scholars do not believe that the Renaissance represents a sudden or dramatic cultural break because of much continuity in economic, political, and social life.
• What was the birthplace of the Renaissance? Why here?
  • The birthplace was Northern Italy because of its commercial preeminence and political evolution, Northern Italy became an urban society in which a secular spirit emerged as increasing wealth created new possibilities for the enjoyment of worldly things.
• Was the Renaissance a movement for everyone? If not, who was affected by it and where were these people located?
  • No, it was mainly for the wealthy upper class who were a small percentage of the population. Indirectly, the intellectual and artistic accomplishments of the period impacted ordinary people because they were mostly visible.

The Making of Renaissance Society#

• What was the Hanseatic League, or Hansa? What is a monopoly?
  • The Hanseatic League or Hansa was an economic and military alliance of northern European trading cities that established a monopoly on trade from the Baltic to the North Sea.
  • A monopoly is when a person or group controls all the market of a specific good. The Hansa had a monopoly on northern European trade in timber, fish, grain, metals, honey, and wines.
• What happened to the economy as Europe entered the 15th century? What were some new industries that came along at that time?
  • As Europe entered the 15th century, the Hanseatic League went into slow decline because it was increasingly unable to compete with the developing larger territorial states.
  • New industries included the Florentine woolen industry, the silk industry, the glassware and handworked items industry (metal and precious stones), and printing, mining and metallurgy.
• What is the Medici family? What important service did they provide across Europe? What happened to them at the close of the 15th century (1400s)?
  • The Medici's were a family in Europe that provided banking to rulers and enterprises. After a change in leadership, the Medici bank suffered a rather sudden decline at the end of the century due to poor leadership and a series of bad loans, especially uncollectible loads to rulers. At the close of the 15th century, when the French expelled the Medici from Florence and confiscated their property, the Medici finanicial edifice collapsed.
• The social system of the Middle Ages lingered into the renaissance. It was made of 3 estates. What were they?
  • The First Estate: the clergy
  • The Second Estate: the nobility
  • The Third Estate: peasants
• What percent of the population constituted the aristocracy? What kinds of roles did they play in society?
  • The aristocracy was around 2-3% of the population and served as military officers and royal advisors.
• What did Baldassare Castiglione write? When was it written? What were the three basic attributes he wrote about?
  • Baldassare Castiglione wrote about ideals every noble or aristocrat should have in The Book of the Courtier which was published in 1528 and it discussed 3 main things: having traits such impeccable character, grace, talents, and noble birth, having participated in military and bodily exercises, and having a Classical education and to adorn his life with the arts by playing a musical instrument, drawing, and painting.
• During the Renaissance what percentage of the population was peasantry? What two major systems began to decline after the 14th century?
  • Peasants made up 85-90% of the European population, except in the highly urbanized areas of northern Italy and Flanders.
  • Manorialism and the practice of Serfdom were major systems that began to decline after the 14th century.
• Generally peasants don't live in towns, what kinds of activities did urban members of the Third Estate do?
  • Urban members of the Third Estate included shopkeepers, artisans, guild masters, and guild members.
• Agricultural slavery had been in decline for centuries by the 15th century. Why did it briefly return? Where did slaves re-emerge and how were their jobs different than before?
  • It returned because there was a shortage of workers after the Black Death. When they re-emerged in Italy, slaves were used as skilled workers, making handcrafted goods for their masters, or as household workers. Girls were nursemaids and boys as playmates.
• How was the concept of a "family" during the Renaissance different than most people probably think of a "family" today? (hint, there are a number of ways)
  • The family included all of the extended family and the familial surname conferred great status and prestige. The family bond was a source of great security in a dangerous and violent world.
• How was there a double standard for men and women in Renaissance Italy when it came to marriage and sexual norms?
  • Although sexual license for males was the norm for princes and their courts, women were supposed to follow different guidelines. Young, unmarried males encouraged extramarital sex as well as prostitution which was viewed as a necessary vice.

The Italian States in the Renaissance#

• Name the five major powers that dominated the Italian peninsula.
  • Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States, and Naples.
• What is an "oligarchy"? Explain how this concept manifested itself in the Republic of Florence.
  • An oligarchy is when the power rests in the hands of a small number of people. This concept manifested itself in the Republic of Florence when the Medici's had control of a lot of the business and commerce in the area. Cosimo de' Medici took control of the oligarchy and the Medici's dominated the city.
• Who were Battista Sforza and Isabella d'Este? Why are they important in the landscape of Renaissance Italy? Read the “Letters of Isabella d’Este on p.342, what strategies did women use in order to influence politics?
  • Battista Sforza was an aristocrat woman who governed the state "with firmness and good sense." Isabella d'Este was another aristocrat woman who was known for her intelligence and political wisdom. She was called the "first lady of the world" and she attracted artists and intellectuals to the Mantuan court and made one of the finest libraries in all of Italy.
  • In the Letters of Isabella d'Este, readers notice her political skills and fierce determination. At the time, women frequently guilt-shamed the other monarchies and kingdoms (namely the Venetians and the Holy Roman Empire). She refused to do what they asked in hostage negotiations and was adamant on what she wanted.
• The Italian states utilized a "balance of power" that would later be applied on a larger scale to all of Europe. What was this and how well did it work? What two nations competed to dominate Italy and who were their rulers?
  • The "balance of power" was an alliance system between the 5 states of Italy. It didn't work however and Italy became a battlefield for the great power struggle between the French and Spanish monarchies. King Charles VIII of France wanted to intervene in Italian politics and marched his army down along to the Kingdom of Naples. Other Italian states looked at the Spanish for help which made King Ferdinand of Aragon interested. The French and the Spanish competed to dominate Italy for the next 15 years and soon later, Charles I brought an end to the wars and the Spaniards dominated Italy.
• The use of diplomacy expanded extensively during this time. What is a diplomat and what kind of duties do they perform?
  • A diplomat, or ambassador, is an agent that the Italian states started sending out to each other to ferret out useful information. "The first duty of an ambassador is exactly the same as that of any other servant of a government, that is, to do, say, advise, and think whatever may best serve the preservation and aggrandizement of his own state. An ambassador was only an agent of the territorial state that sent him, not the larger body of Christendom.
• Who was Niccolo Machiavelli? What was his book called and what was it generally about? (more specific questions to follow)
  • Niccolo Machiavelli was a secretary of the Florentine Council of Ten. He wrote The Prince which gave concrete expression to the Renaissance preoccupation with political power.
• What were Machiavelli's biggest concerns and what was it that caused him to develop his ideas?
  • Machiavelli's biggest concerns were the acquisition and expansion of political power to restore and maintain order in his time. He got these ideas from his knowledge of ancient Rome and his preoccupation with Italy's political problems.
• What was Machiavelli's view of human nature? How did this affect the morality of his ideas?
  • Machiavelli's view of human nature was "They are ungrateful, fickle, deceptive, and deceiving, avoiders of danger, [and] eager to gain." This made him believe that a ruler must, in order to remain in power, "be able to break their word, be uncharitable, be inhumane, and irreligious. He must be mentally prepared to act as circumstances and changes in fortune require. As I have said, he should do what is right if he can; but he must be prepared to do wrong if necessary."
• Who did Machiavelli point to as being a good example of a ruler? Why?
  • Machiavelli pointed at Cesare Borgia who used ruthless measures to achieve his goal of carving out a new state in central Italy. Borgia abandoned morality to get what he wanted which is what Machiavelli stated in The Prince.

The Intellectual Renaissance in Italy#

• Define the terms individualism and secularism. What areas were these two characteristics most noticeable in Renaissance Italy?
  • Individualism is the belief that individual humans are capable of great accomplishments. Secularism is the concept that government or other entities should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs (separation of church and state).
• What is humanism? Who is often called the father of humanism? Where is humanism found in the Italian Renaissance?
  • Humanism was an intellectual movement based on the study of the Classical literary works of Greece and Rome. The Father of Humanism was Petrarch because he first identified the Middle Ages as a period of darkness, promoting the mistaken belief that medieval culture was ignorant of Classical antiquity. Humanism is found in art, literature, and culture throughout the Renaissance.
• What is "civic humanism" and where was it most prominent?
  • Civic Humanism, modeled on Cicero, was the belief that it was an intellectual's civic duty to be involved in politics and help the community. It was most prominent in the busy civic world of Florence.
• Fill in the chart below pertaining to humanists and civic humanists

• What is Neoplatonism? Hermeticism? Pantheism? What do all three of these concepts have in common?
  • Neoplatonism is the exposition of Plato's philosophy, based on two ideas; the hierarchy of substances, and a theory of spiritual love.
  • Hermeticism is a philosophy, where there was a stress of astrology, alchemy, and magic, as well as theological views and philosophical beliefs.
  • Pantheism is seeing divinity embodied in all aspects of nature and in the heavenly bodies as well as in early objects. "God as a whole is in all things".
  • These are all related to each other in that each one is based on the other. These were all things the ideal Renaissance man would have embraced.
• Humanism is often linked to the "liberal studies" - what are these, and how does this relate to the concept of "l'uomo universale" mentioned back on pg.333? What kinds of physical education skills were taught?
  • The liberal studies are grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, ethics, or history. All of these were based on Greek and Roman texts which were characteristic of l'uomo universale or the ideal renaissance man.
  • The Renaissance Period made clear that physical education is necessary for health, as a preparation for warfare, as a means of developing the body.
• Although education was emphasized in this time, what segment of the population was most likely to receive a formal education at this time?
  • The upper class was most likely to recieve a formal education at the time. The lower class occasionally got free education.
• How did women generally fit into the concept of a humanist education? How would you summarize the effect of the Renaissance on women of Italy?
  • Some historians maintain that during the Middle Ages upper-class women in particular had greater freedom to satisfy their emotional needs and that upper-class women in the Renaissance experienced a contraction of both social and personal options as they became even more subject to male authority and patterns.
• If the Roman Catholic Church had so much power, how did the humanists manage to "secularize" the writing of history. (pg 350).
  • The invention of the printing press greatly increased the spread of secular beliefs and because of this printing became one of the largest industries.
• What was the most important invention of the 15th century? Who invented it? About half of the items created by this invention were about what?
  • The most important invention was the printing press. Johannes Gutenberg invented the process of movable type and half of the items created by this were religious (Bibles, sermons, and biblical commentaries).

The Artistic Renaissance#

• Who was the first artist since Giotto to begin imitating nature in his work? Where can his work be seen?
  • Masaccio imitated nature and landscapes in his work and can be seen in Florence in the Brancacci Chapel.
• Explain at least 4 features of Renaissance art and how it portrayed humanism.
  • 1) A revival of Classical Greek/Roman art forms and styles
  • 2) A faith in the nobility of Man (Humanism)
  • 3) The mastery of illusionistic painting techniques, maximizing 'depth' in a picture, including linear perspective, foreshortening and, later, quadratura
  • 4) The naturalistic realism of its faces and figures, enhanced by oil painting techniques like sfumato
• Fill in the chart of Renaissance artists and their major works.

• Where did artists rank among society? How did their social position change over time?
  • At first, they began to master in craft guilds, once mastered they'd own workshops then viewed as artisans, next artistic geniuses.
• What are the "Low Countries," where are they located geographically in Europe, and how did their art differ from Italian art?
  • "Low Countries" - coastal region; NW Europe ex. Belgium, Netherlands
  • Italian: realistic, human
  • North: Gothic, detailed
• What city was considered the center of ITALIAN art? What city was considered the center of Northern art? Name two famous Northern Renaissance artists and one famous work each completed.
  • Italy: Florentine, Northern Flanders
  • Jan Van Eyck: Giovanni Arnottini & his wife
  • Albrecht Dürer: Adoration of the Magi

The European State in the Renaissance#

• What are the "New Monarchies" or "Renaissance States" and when did they develop?
  • 1st half of the 15th century: Euro states = disintegrated
  • 2nd half: recover/reestablish central power of monarch
• What were Louis XI of France's major accomplishments? What do historians give him credit for?
  • Developing a French territorial state, expanded land to create a base for the development of a strong French monarch.
• What was the "War of the Roses" in England? Why was it called this? What event caused the Plantagenet dynasty to be replaced? What was the new dynasty?
  • A war between 2 parts of England because each division of England both has roses to represent them. Split between Lancaster and York. Replaced by Tudors.
• Henry VII of England was a very important king. What were some cunning political moves he used to legitimize his reign and keep power?
  • He ended the private wars of the nobility by abolishing "livery and maintenance" parliament never had to grant him funds
• Prior to the 15th century, Spain was actually many different independent kingdoms. What were the two largest kingdoms, who ruled them, and what brought them together to eventually unite?
  • Aragon ~ Ruled by Ferdinand
  • Castille ~ Ruled by Isabella
  • United by the marriage of Ferdinand & Isabella
• What were the two large religious minorities in Spain? How were they treated during the renaissance? (hint… read carefully)
  • Muslims and Jews; Jews were forced to convert/or be forced to leave.
• What was the Spanish Inquisition? What was the Fall of Grenada?
  • 1478: Pope introduced inquisition, worked to guarantee orthodox over converts; had no power over jews
  • 1492: Jews were forced to leave Spain
• What dynasty controlled the Holy Roman Empire, where modern day Germany and Austria are located? How did this dynasty manage to become so successful?
  • Habsburg Dynasty; by gradually acquiring a # of possessions along the Danube and well-executed policy of dynastic marriages.
• How were central and Eastern European kingdoms fundamentally different from those in the West?
  • Central and Eastern European states struggled to establish a monarchy.
• Briefly describe the situations in Poland, Hungary, and Russia during this time.
  • The preoccupation of the rulers with problems in Bohemia of Hungary as well as the war with Russians/Turks enabled aristocrats to establish power.
• Who were the biggest threat to Eastern Europe beginning in the 14th century? What empire did they trample and what city fell under their control in 1453? What European cultures were most imminently threatened by this new empire?
  • Ottoman Turks ~ they trampled Constantinople and Byzantine Empire; religion.

Short Answer Practice#

1. Explain the context in which the Renaissance developed. (What had happened immediately before that set the stage for the Renaissance? Be sure to explain HOW it led to the Renaissance.)
   • The Black Plague left social, economic, and religious changes. Because for a while strict religion softened up, this lead to rebirth out of the dark medieval ages into the Renaissance.
2. Explain how the revival of classical texts contributed to the development of the Renaissance in Italy.
   • Greek and Roman text revivals supported the rise of humanism, which would eventually be the stem for renaissance thinking. Humanism also led to individualism which also had an impact on the Renaissance way of life.
3. Explain the political, intellectual, and cultural effects of the Italian Renaissance.
   • The power both economically and politically wealthy families like the Medici family consolidated and increased number of the new kind of art. Secularism and religion grew while philosophy and humanism expanded.
4. Explain how the Renaissance ideas were developed, maintained, and changed as the Renaissance spread to northern Europe. (hint: Erasmus!)
   • Merchants & travelers would go to Italy to bring back theories. The printing press invention helped spread/disperse ideas from Italy.
5. Explain the Influence of the printing press on cultural and intellectual developments in modern European history.
   • The printing press helped influence by making it easier to translate and give more people access to the source. The invention also gave people the urge to want more knowledge.
6. Explain the causes and effects of the development of political institutions from 1450- 1648.
   • This time was titled Age of New Monarchies. The new monarchies arose in England, France, and Spain which gave the pope the urge to go out of his spiritual jurisdiction and participate in politics.
7. Explain European Commercial and agricultural developments and their economic effects from 1450-1648. (banking, urbanization, agriculture, manorialism, trade)
   • Banking was widespread which gave many new economic wealth. This caused an increase in urban growth, although most economies still relied on agriculture.
8. Explain European commercial and agricultural developments and their social effects from 1450-1648. (status of women, nobles, artists, serfs, marriage patterns)
   • Very few women were allowed to have a voice in politics, but women found ways to make money. Marriages at this time were mostly arranged.