italian renaissance v. northern renaissance

Italian Renaissance v. Northern Renaissance

Recall: What characteristics of the era made the Italian Renaissance unique?

How the Renaissance spread to Northern Europe.

The Renaissance spread to Europe through various means:

• Warfare

• Trading

• Italian Renaissance artists

• The printing press

Northern Renaissance

• Blended old and new

• Religious connotations

• Charles Nauert suggests that the North accepted Renaissance culture when it suited them…is this an accurate assessment?

Universities

• established by clergy

• “scholastic” to humanists

• 15th c. – zero in Italy

• Continued development in north

Germany (Holy Roman Empire)• Leader in Northern Renaissance

• Unorganized region

• S. Germany – commercial center

• Scientists and technology

• Is there a connection between the unorganized nature of the Holy Roman Empire and the Renaissance culture that was accepted there?

German Examples

• Johannes Gutenberg

• Albrecht Durer and the Holbeins

• Copernicus, Behaim, Paracelsus

• Many studied in Italian city-states

Laymen in Religion and Mysticism

Mysticism

• Individual connection with god

• Institution not needed

• No rebellion against church

• How does mysticism reflect the characteristics of the Renaissance culture?

Religious Laymen

• 15th and 16th century

• “religiously inclined humanists”

• Division between laymen and clergy

• Laymen – critical of ecclesiastical abuses

Conclusions? Are there major philosophical differences between the Italian and the Northern

Renaissance?