renaissance： a very short introduction, the, jerry brotton

8/9/2019 Renaissance a Very Short Introduction, The, Jerry Brotton

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Renaissance A Very Short Introduction

Introduction

The Old Masters

"The Ambassadors" by Hans Holbein (1533) represents the emergence of

the modern identity and individuality.

An educated Renaissance

The items on the table such as the celestial globe and boo!s represent

essential obects that provided the basis of a #enaissance education

(Humanism $ using %reen and #oman te&ts).

The darker side of the Renaissance

'bects such the open hymn boo! and the silver cruci& signify the

religious debate (protestant reformation) and discord in the #enaissance.

ue to the printing press the #enaissance *as a time of instability

uncertainty and an&iety. This relationship bet*een achievement and

an&iety it creates is one of the characteristic features of the #enaissance.

The painting also contains a boo! on ho* to calculate prot and loss for

merchants. This references ho* #enaissance business and nance had

become connected to culture and art. +t also suggests that the artists *ere

a*are that the cultural achievements *ere built on the success of trade

and nance.


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Travel e&ploration and discovery *ere important and having the globe in

the painting suggests that Holbein *anted to picture to represent the

*orld as it *as perceived in 1533.

Where and when was the Renaissance?

today there is a consensus that the term ,#enaissance, refers to the

enduring upheaval and transformation of politics culture art and society

in -urope bet*een 1// and 10//.

Art historians often vie* the #enaissance as beginning as early as 13th

entury *ith the art of %iotto and imabue and ending in the late 10th

entury *ith the *or! of 2ichelangelo and enetian painters li!e Titian.

4iterary scholars focus on the rise of vernacular -nglish literature in the

10th and 1th centuries in the poetry and drama of 6penser 6ha!espeare

and 2ilton. Historians on the other hand label the period c.15//$1// as

,early modern, rather than ,#enaissance,.

oncerning the term ,#enaissance,7 it *as rst used by a 8rench Historian

9ules 2ichelet.

He dened it as " the disco!ery of the world and the disco!ery

of an The si#teenth century went fro $olu%us to

$o&ernicus' fro $o&ernicus to (alileo' fro the disco!ery of the

earth to that of the hea!ens Man re)found hiself"

To him it represented the celebration of great virtues $ #eason Truth Art

and :eauty.

Swiss Renaissance

9acob :urc!hardt dened the #enaissance as an +talian 15th entury

phenomenon. He argued that the political life in late 15th +taly led to the

creation of the modern individual. The revival of classical anti;uity meant

that ,man became a spiritual individual,.

This is in comparison *ith the ,2iddle Ages, *here "2an *as conscious of

himself only as a member of a race people party family or corporation.".

+n


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self$consciousness about fashioning of human identity. This self

fashioning he argues is seen through ctional characters such as 8autus

and Hamlet *ho consciously re>ect on and manipulate their o*n

identities.

He li!e other historians refer to the #enaissance as ,-arly modern,?

countering 2ichelet and :urc!hardt,s idealistic vie* of a sudden transition

from the 2iddle Ages to 2odern.

Theodor Adorno and 2ichel 8oucault in>uenced the changing vie* of the

#enaissance *ith their analysis of the catastrophes of @aism and

6talinism and ho* this compromises the #enaissance as a time of

,humane civilised values,.

$ha&ter ,

A -lo%al Renaissance

A problem *ith the classic denition of the #enaissance is that it

celebrates the achievements of -uropean civilisation to the e&clusion of all

others. This limiting of vision is also seen in the focus on painting *riting

sculpture and architecture *ith the omission of ceramics te&tiles

metal*or! and furniture.

West eets east

ue to the location of enice it *as able to receive commodities from

-astern baaars and transport them to the mar!ets of @orthern -urope.

Although this occurred from the 1th entury enice established its

dominance of trade from the #ed 6ea and the +ndian 'cean that

terminated at Ale&andria having fought competition li!e %enoa and

8lorence.


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$redits and de%its

'ne characteristics of the #enaissance *as a ne* e&pression of *ealth.

This ostentation ho*ever *as also coupled *ith the economic

depression lo* prices and *age slumping that aBected the maority. This

change in spending money has been lin!ed partly to the blac! death in

13C? "*idespread disease and death is often follo*ed by a radical social

change and upheaval,. The huge death toll also sa* the accumulation of

*ealth in the hands of a small but rich elite.

+n the 13th entury a =isan merchant 4eonardo =isan (8ibonacci)

introduced the Hindu$Arabic numerals into -uropean commerce. This

commercial practice dre* from earlier developments in mathematics and

geometry. Around A CD5 the =ersian astronomer Abu 9a,far *rote a boo!

that included the rules of arithmetic.

This ne* method of trac!ing commercial translations *ere adopted in the

trading centres of enice 8lorence and %enoa.

Another ne* commercial idea *as the bill of e&change. -ssentially this

acts as a che;ue that a trader *ould pay either on a specic later date or

upon delivery of goods. 2erchant families *ho focused on these


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transformed themselves into ban!ers. 2oney *as made by charging

interest based on the amount of time it too! for the bill to be repaid and

through manipulating the rate of e&change bet*een diBerent

international currencies.

Although usury *as forbade by both hristianity and +slam they used

,loopholes, related *ith the diBerence in currency prices7 lending in one

currency and collecting in another. They could also employ a 9e*ish

merchant as they *ere free of any oEcial religious prohibition against

usury. +nterestingly this is *here the anti$6emitic stereotype of 9e*s and

their predisposition to +nternational nance.

This accumulation of *ealth and status in merchant ban!ers laid the

foundations for the political po*er and artistic innovation characterised of

the -uropean #enaissance. An e&ample is the 2edici family *hodominated 8lorentine politics and culture throughout the 15th entury.

.ast eets west

ue to the fall of onstantinople (153) 6ultan 2ehmed *ho captured

the city employed +talian humanists *ho ,read to the 6ultan daily from

ancient historians such as Herodotus and 4ivy,.

4i!e many #enaissance leaders 2ehmed used learning art and

architecture to magnify his claims of political authority. He remained the

city +stanbul and renovated the church of Hagia 6ophia. He also use

+talian architects to assist in th building of his ne* imperial palace the

Top!api 6aray.

This trade of -ast and


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$ha&ter *

The Huanist scri&t


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HumanismFs success lay in its claim to oBer t*o things to its follo*ers.

8irst it fostered a belief that the mastery of the classics made you a

better more GhumaneF person able to re>ect on the moral and ethical

problems that the individual faced in relation to

hisher social *orld. 6econdly it convinced students and employers that

the study of classical te&ts provided the practical s!ills necessary for a

future career as an ambassador la*yer priest or secretary *ithin the

layers of bureaucratic administration that began to emerge throughout

15th$century -urope

The &ersuaders

#enaissance humanisms begins *ith the 1th entury +talian *riter and

scholar =etrarch. He dre* his style primarily from icero 4ivy and irgil.

=iecing together te&ts from 4ivy,s History of #ome he *as able to imitate

their style in *riting a more linguistically >uent and rhetorically persuasive

form of 4atin.

Ising icero,s manuscripts such as the "'n the orator" and "The solitary

life" =etrarch dened humanism as the " the unication of the

philosophical ;uest for individual truth and the practical ability to function

eBectively in society through the use of rhetoric and persuasion. To obtain

the perfect balance the civilied individual needed rigorous training in the

disciplines of the studia humanitatis namely grammar rhetoric poetryhistory and moral philosophy".

2edieval scholasticism had trained students in 4atin letter$*riting and

philosophy but its teachers and thin!ers *ere generally subservient to

the authorities (usually the church) for *hich they *or!ed. iceroFs

denition of the civilied humanist able to philosophie on humanity *hile

also training the elite in the s!ills of public oratory and persuasion gave

humanism and its practitioners greater autonomy to GsellF their ideas to

social and political institutions.

/ack to the drawin- %oard

:y the mid$15th century the practice of humanism *as spreading

throughout schools universities and courts. +ts emphasis on rhetoric and

language elevated the status of the boo! as a material and intellectual

obect. HumanismFs revisions of ho* to spea! translate read and even

*rite 4atin all focused on the boo! as the perfect portable obect through

*hich to disseminate these ideas.


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The &rintin- &ress0 a re!olution in counication

The invention of movable type in %ermany around 15/ *as the most

important technological and cultural innovation of the #enaissance.

The invention of printing emerged from a commercial and technological

collaboration in 2ain in the 15/s bet*een 9ohann %utenberg 9ohann

8ust and =eter 6chJBer. %utenberg *as a goldsmith *ho adapted his

e&pertise to cast movable metal type for the press. 6chJBer *as a copyist

and calligrapher *ho used his s!ills in copying manuscripts to design

compose and set the printed te&t. 8ust provided the nance.

:y 1C/ printing presses *ere successfully established in all the maor

cities of %ermany 8rance the @etherlands -ngland 6pain Hungary and=oland.

As more people spo!e and *rote in the -uropean vernacular languages K

%erman 8rench +talian 6panish and -nglish K the printing presses

increasingly published these languages rather than 4atin and %ree!. This

ultimately led individuals to dene themselves in relation to a nation

rather than a religion or ruler a situation *hich had profound

conse;uences for religious authority *ith the erosion of the absolute

authority of the atholic hurch and the rise of a more secular form of

=rotestantism.

The huanist &ress

The most famous northern -uropean humanist esiderius -rasmus of

#otterdam (100K1530) used the printing press as a *ay of distributing

his o*n particular brand of humanism and in the process self$consciously

styling himself as the G=rince of HumanismF.


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:et*een 1// and 10// religious belief *as an integral part of everyday

life. +t *as also impossible to separate religion from the practice of

political authority the *orld of international nance and the

achievements of art and learning. As the atholic hurch struggled to

assert its temporal and spiritual po*er throughout this period it facedperpetual con>ict dissent and division. This culminated in the

#eformation that s*ept through 10th$century northern -urope creating

the greatest crisis in the history of the #oman hurch. The atholic

ounter$#eformation of the mid$10th century transformed the hurch

forever and combined *ith the =rotestant #eformation led by 2artin

4uther established the general shape of hristianity as it e&ists today.

The other development that transformed religious authority *ithin this

period *as the rise of ne* forms of political authority. 8rom the late 15th

century political organiations increasingly came to control the everydaylives of many people. The *ealth and administrative innovation that

accompanied the uneven commercial and urban e&pansion of the 15th

century created the conditions for signicant political upheaval and

e&pansion. +talian cities li!e 8lorence and enice e&perimented *ith

republican governments *hile the courts of 2ilan @aples Irbino and

8errara ruled as petty principalities.

:y the beginning of the 15th century the atholic hurch *as in crisis. The church had already e&perienced division *ith its separation into the


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6ubse;uent revisions by #aphael 6angallo and 2ichelangelo throughout the

10th century led to the completion of 6t =eterFs as it loo!s today.

6t. =eter,s :asilica as painted by %iovanni =aolo =anini

+n 151/ four years years after *or! began on 6t =eterFs and as 2ichelangelo

laboured on his frescos for the ceiling of the 6istine hapel the %erman mon!2artin 4uther arrived in #ome. His disillusionment *ith the corruption and

conspicuous consumption he *itnessed provided the inspiration for the

beginning of his attac! upon the abuses of the atholic hurch K the circulation

of his M5 theses against indulgences in 'ctober 151.

2aith wars

4uther did indeed set out *ith the idea of reforming the church but reformation

;uic!ly turned into revolution. 4utherFs protest against indulgences soon

crystallied into a systematic reection of every religious assumption upon *hich

the atholic hurch rested. 4uther argued that the individual possessed a directrelationship *ith %od and could not rely on the mediation of priests saints or

indulgences to grant salvation? the individual could only maintain absolute faith

in the grace of an inscrutable but ultimately merciful %od in the hope of being

saved. As 4uther himself concluded GA hristian has all that he needs in faith

and needs no *or!s to ustify him.F

:y the time of his death in 150 councils *ith reformed church tendencies

controlled


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*ere destroyed in iconoclastic riots. +n their place came ne* sites and methods

of *orship and idealistic e&periments in social and political reform. +n 15D the

%erman peasants rose up see!ing ustication for their grievances in 4utherFs

teachings.

:y the 15/s %eneva *as under the control of the theology of 9ohn alvin *hoargued that man *as po*erless to in>uence divine predestination. 8or alvin

%od had al*ays already decided *ho *ould be damned and *ho saved. +n

-ngland Henry +++Fs political decision to split from #ome in 1533 led ultimately

to the e&communication of HenryFs daughter Queen -liabeth + for *hat *as by

then called her G=rotestantismF.

$ha&ter 3

Rewritin- the Renaissance

4oetry

Alongside epic lyric poetry *as esteemed as the pinnacle of literary

creativity in the #enaissance. 'ne of its most in>uential pioneers *as the

humanist scholar =etrarch. His *riting of +l anoniere a collection of 305

poems *ritten bet*een 13D and 13 dre* on anteFs collection of

lyrics the @e* 4ife. =etrarch rened the sonnet a heavily stylied poem of

1 lines bro!en do*n into t*o sections (the octave or rst eight lines

and sestet or nal si& lines) *ith a highly specic rhyme structure.

=etrarch complained in one sonnet that G+n this state 4ady + am because

of youF. This intimate introspective poetic style *hich allo*ed the poet to

e&plore his o*n moral state in relation to either his beloved or his religion

(and the t*o *ere often con>ated) came to in>uence courtly #enaissance

culture and poetry throughout the 15th and 10th centuries.

.&ics

4udovico Ariosto an ambassador to one of the greatest +talian dynastiesof the 15th century the -ste of 8errara. +n the opening of his epic poem

'rlando 8urioso (1510) Ariosto announces G+ sing of !nights and ladies of

love and arms of courtly chivalry of courageous deeds K all from the time

*hen the 2oors crossed the sea from Africa and *rought havoc in 8rance.F

This *as a bac!*ard$loo!ing chivalric poem about Cth$century con>ict

bet*een the hristian !nights of -mperor harlemagne and the 6aracens.

Ariosto *as unable to oBer a more contemporary setting precisely

because -ste po*er *as in terminal decline by the beginning of the 10th

century. #eading and listening to AriostoFs poem the noblemen of -stecould fantasie about defeating Tur!s the latter$day e;uivalent of


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6aracens but this *as a purely aesthetic fantasy. :y the 10th century

real imperial po*er lay outside +taly.

4uRs de amSesFs epic poem The 4usiads (15D) returned to a moreimmediate past the fading glory of another -uropean po*er the

=ortuguese -mpire. amSes *as a soldier and imperial administrator *ho

composed his poem as he *or!ed in Africa +ndia and 2acau in the mid$

10th century. The 4usiads mythologied the rise of the 15th$century

=ortuguese -mpire by focusing on the voyage of asco da %ama to +ndia

in 1M.


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Tieline

1333 =etrarch discovers iceroFs =ro Archia

13C =lague throughout -urope

13C :eginning of =apal 6chism

13M 2edici :an! established in 8lorence

1// :runi =anegyric to the ity of 8lorence

11 ouncil of onstance

11 -nd of =apal 6chism? 2artin elected pope

1D/ =ortuguese colonie 2adeira? 2artin returns to #ome

13C ouncil of 8errara$8lorence

1/ 8rederic! ++ elected Holy #oman -mperor? alla e&poses onation of

onstantine as a forgery

1 Alberti 'n the 8amily

c.15/ %utenberg invents movable type

153 8all of onstantinople? end of the Hundred ears


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15// abral lands in :rail

15/5 4eonardo 2ona 4isa? urer in +taly

15/0 :ramante begins *or! on 6t =eterFs #ome

15/M Accession of Uing Henry +++ in -ngland (rules until

1553)

1511 -rasmus =raise of 8olly

151D 2ichelangelo completes 6istine hapel ceiling? -rasmus e opia.

1513 ortes in 2e&ico? =ortuguese capture Hormu? 2achiavelli The =rince

1515 Accession of Uing 8rancis + in 8rance (rules until 15)

1510 harles !ing of 6pain? -rasmusFs %ree! @e* Testament? 2ore Itopia

151 4utherFs M5 theses

15D/ Accession of 6ultan 6uleyman the 2agnicent

15D1 iet of


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150M 2ercatorFs *orld map

15/ -liabeth + e&communicated? 'rtelius Theatrum 'rbis Terrarum

151 efeat of 'ttoman naval forces at the :attle of 4epanto

15D 6t :artholome*Fs ay 2assacre? amoes The 4usiads

15C/ 2ontaigne -ssays

15M/ 6penser The 8aerie Queene

10/3 6ha!espeare 'thello? death of -liabeth +? accession of 9ames +

10/ ervantes on Qui&ote

10/5 :acon Advancement of 4earning

2urther readin-

Introduction

Hans :aron The risis of the -arly +talian #enaissance (=rinceton 1M55)


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$ha&ter *

Anthony %rafton and 4isa 9ardine 8rom Humanism to the Humanities7 -ducation

and the 4iberal Arts in 8ifteenth$ and 6i&teenth$entury -urope (4ondon 1MC0)

renaissance： a very short introduction, the, jerry brotton

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