European Renaissance1350 - 1600
What was the Renaissance?…a “rebirth in learning and doing”…a “challenge of the status quo”…encouragement within society to
“think outside of the box”…the beginning of the modern era in world history, by recreating the greatness of the
classical civilizations…an incredible time in which thinking leapt beyond the capabilities of civilization
Where did the Renaissance take place at?
… modern-day Italy (Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan and Naples)
... thus spreading throughout all of Europe from Italy to Germany,
France, the Netherlands and, eventually, England.
Who, or what, was effected by the Renaissance?
… “everyone” was in one way or another affected by the renaissance ideas.
… areas that changed, included artistic, literary, religious, scientific, exploratory and commercial endeavors at every level of society.
How and why did the Renaissance happen?
… a strong desire, or thirst, for knowledge that had been forgotten about since classical times.
… out of necessity, as society was too curious about every aspect of life and existence, which led to a “rebirth” in human curiosity.
Areas
of the
Renaissance
Art: life-like
realism in society; religious influence; idealism.
Literature: tragedy, comedy, drama; entertainment with messages about society.
Religion:
religious controversy that split church into Roman Catholic and Protestant.
Science: seeking
the truth about the reality of nature; science vs. religion/superstition.
Exploration:
discovery; exploration and conquest; “Glory, God and Gold”.
Commercial:
global banking; world markets and economies.
Arts
Humanism: a study of classical Greek and Roman culture
Petrarch: 1st humanist; created libraries and encouraged knowledge
Patron: a supporter of the arts
De Medici: a wealthy Italian family who supported renaissance art
Donatello: life-like statues and sculptures with classical influence
Raphael: combine Christian and classical images; School of Athens
Michelangelo: sculptor and painter; La Pieta, David, Moses and Sistine Chapel
Da Vinci: “true renaissance man”; artist, inventor, designer, painter, scientist…; Mona Lisa, Last Supper
Anguissola: “female” court painter
Brunelleschi: architect and designer; domes
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Durer: copper and woodcut engravings; book illustrations
Van Eyck: realistic paintings of town life
Bruegel: paintings of countryside and village scenes; criticized problems in society
Rubens: combination painter; classical and realistic daily life
Literature
Castiglione: writer; handbook for idealistic court behavior; “well-rounded” person; ideal man and woman
Machiavelli: described ideal governments and leaders; “feared than loved”; The Prince
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Erasmus: church needs to return to simple message of bible; wrote about ending church corruption
More: wrote about an ideal society; “utopia”
Rabelias: editorials about society; Gargantua and Pantagruel
Shakespeare: playwright; plays of virtue and mortality; Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo/Juliet and Julius Caesar
Cervantes: mocked medieval society and chivalry; Don Quixote
Guttenberg: printing press; allows knowledge and learning to become widespread
Religion
Roman-Catholic: dominant religion of Europe, but seen as flawed by many
Indulgences: selling of pardons for sins by the church; corrupt means of making money; leads to Christian church split
Luther: disliked church corruption and encouraged change; posted 95 theses; founder of Protestant church
Peace of Augsburg: (1555) meeting that allowed religious freedom in Europe; Roman-Catholic and Protestant
Protestant (North)
Vs.
Catholic (South)
Science
Ptolemy: “geocentric”
theory of universe; earth-centered
Copernicus: “heliocentric” theory of universe; sun-centered
Brahe: astronomy
Kepler: orbits of planets
Galileo: 1st telescope; “heliocentric” ideas contradicted church; Inquisition
Scientific Method: logical method to discover ‘truth’ and knowledge
Bacon: science can help humanity conquer nature and end suffering
Decartes: everything must be proven; inquiry; “I think therefore I am”
Newton: greatest scientist; motion and gravity; opened scientific thinking
Boyle: chemistry
Vesalius: anatomy; muscle and tissue
Pare: infections; stitches
Harvey: heart; circulation of the blood
Leeuwenhoek: microscope
Age of Exploration
…Renaissance ideas led to global curiosity and discovery, thus leading to further exploration with the way being paved by the leading nations of Europe…
Portugal
Spain
England
France
Netherlands
Characteristics of exploration…Commercial Revolution (money-lending) encouraged new ideas, methods and voyages
Desire to reach the exotic Far East wealth and luxury goods…by-pass the dangers of the Silk Road
“Glory, God and Gold”
Collision of cultures…”superior vs. inferior”…cultural destruction
Age of Exploration Explorers -Dias (1487-1488)
Portugal rounded southern tip
of Africa
Columbus (1492)SpainWest Indies/ New World
Da Gama (1497-1498)Portugal 1st to reach India
Vespucci (1497-1502)SpainWest Indies, South American coastline, “Americas”
Cabral (1500)PortugalBrazilian coast
Balboa (1513)SpainPacific Ocean
Magellan (1509-1522) Spain1st to
circumnavigate the globe
De Leon (1513) Spain
“Fountain of Youth”
Cortes (1519-1521)SpainConquered Aztecs
Pizarro (1531)SpainConquered Incas
Coronado (1540-1542)SpainAmerican Southwest
Drake (1577-1580)England 1st English explorer to circumnavigate the globe
…to finance all of the above endeavors from arts, literature, religion, science and exploration; the renaissance needed “means” to gain their “ends”. So to fulfill this monetary need, monarchies, patrons and other sources stepped up to support the renaissance spirit. These supporters also included the…
Dutch
&
Jews
…these financial sources lead to the creation of the Commerical Revolution, or modern-day banking…
…all of these incredible events and intriguing people changed the world and laid the foundation for the modern society.
European Renaissance1350 - 1600