Renaissance & Enlightenment

Renaissance: Reaching Your Potential (1300-1798)

• Rebirth and return to the classics: learning of ancient Greece and Rome

• Arts flourished• Focus on human potential: enlightenment or

Age of Reason• New views

– Government– Science– Arts

• Celebration of the beauty & potential of humans– Michelangelo’s David

Early Renaissance (1300-1495)• Italy

– Cities grew & became powerful– Trade promoted an exchange of ideas– Merchants had time & money for art and literature – Ancient Greek and Roman heritage inspired thinkers

• Scholars challenged traditional thinking• News ideas spread rapidly• Catholic Church

– Greatly opposed to changes– Expected all to be more concerned with heaven– Less concerned about worldly matters

• Discovering a New World - 1492– Christopher Columbus sailed westward from Spain toward

Asia– Never reached Asia but opened up European settlement

opportunities elsewhere

Renaissance cont.

• High Renaissance (1495-1530) – Princes, church leaders, and men of money

dominated politics• Sponsored artists, ie. Michelangelo & de Vinci• Encouraged new ways of viewing oneself

• Late Renaissance & Reformation (1530-1600)– Printing press helped spread new ideas– Religious reform due to church corruption– Protestants fought Catholics across Europe

• The Pope’s power declined• England and Spain took center stage

Battles of Faith• Catholic church had been the most

powerful spiritual, social, and political force

• Martin Luther posted ninety-five protests against the church in Germany

• Religious reform, “Reformation,” began

• Wars of words and weapons followed!!

Power of Monarchs

• Renaissance thinkers revived classics & created the concept of “Nation”

• Powerful monarchs rose to lead new nations

• Elizabeth I of England (1558-1603)– Great influence and power– Renaissance in England is often referred to

as the Elizabethan Age

Age of Kings (1600-1700)• Monarchs were convinced they had divine right to rule• Monarchs achieved absolute power• Spain

– Philip II • Empire stretched from Africa to the New World

• France– Louis XIV

• Made France most powerful nation in Europe• His lavish lifestyle and wars lead to suffering of the people

• Russia– Peter the Great

• Made isolate Russia powerful• Able to compete with other European nations

• England– Government limited the power of the monarch– Create constitutional monarchy still in place today

Age of Enlightenment (1700-1789)• Human concerns were subjects of thought

– Government– Personal happiness

• Thomas Hobbes– Government must control people’s evil nature

• John Locke– People are mostly good and can self-govern

• Mary Wollstonecraft– Argued women’s potential was equal to men’s

• Voltaire and others– Challenged assumptions of upper-class privilege– Rights of kings– Authority of the church

• End of the era lead to new beliefs– Rights of the individual

• Revolution in America & France• Change course of Western civilization

Science & Technology

• Scientific Method was developed• Knowledge in math, physics, astronomy,

etc expanded greatly • Galileo & others stated the Earth was not

the center of the universe– He was imprisoned

• Newton used the theories of others to create the laws of motion

• “Light” was shone on individual rights, government, and social responsibilities

The Arts• Literature

– Latin was replaced by native languages– Spirits of experimentation had influenced – The novel genre was further developed through the 14th to 18th

centuries– Lyric poetry was practiced– Dramatists (Shakespeare, et al) provided entertainment– 17th & 18th century literature reflected the restraint of ancient Rome

and is referred to as Neoclassical• Painting, Sculpture, & Architecture

– New way of looking at world – Anatomical studies to create realistic figures neared perfection

• Music– Renaissance

• Sacred mixed with new forms to reflect national tastes• New types of instrumental music

– Baroque• Experimentation with complex melodies and dance rhythms • Drama and music combined to make opera

– Classical• Tightly structured rhythms and melodies• Leading instrument was the piano

Society• Aristocrats

– Not a matter of birth– Merchants who made fortunes also received titles– Many self made wealthy promoted culture not self

• Supported artists

• Clergy– Power forces changed and all examined their roles in

a changing world– Some brought about reform

• Separated from the church• Criticized the church from within• Established alliances with those of power

• Soldiers– No longer a pass to wealth and influence– Hard and short life with a dangerous job

Society cont.• Middle Class

– Thriving class– Craftsman, shopkeepers, manufacturers, bankers, traders,

etc– Made money with less back braking work and effort– Art and literature could not provide a livable wage

• Peasants & Farmers– Long hours working land they did not own– Death provided little release, most money went to masters– Those peasant that became tenant farmers, laborers, or

craftsman still seldom escaped poverty• Women

– Some powerful monarchs were making changes– Seldom had voice on their lives, religion, philosophy, or

politics– Wollstonecraft argued for sexual equality: rights &

education

Reading – Candide by Voltaire• Pangloss – a true optimist, represents the

“logical errors” of enlightened thinkers of the day • Candide - illegitimate son of the baroness

adopted into a Baron's family; neither smart or talented; representative for the attitudes and events that surround him; romantic and passionate about Cunegonde

• Cunegonde - the rather bland, daughter of a German baron; like Candide is neither intelligent or complex

• Jacques the Anabaptist - cares for Candide and Pangloss; pessimistic about human nature

• Don Fernando - governor of Buenos Aires; takes Cunegonde as a mistress

• Cacambo - intelligent and honest; helps and rescues Candide; is Candide's tailor

Candide by Voltaire cont.• Vanderdendur - cruel slave owner and corrupt

businessman• Martin- cynical scholar who becomes Candide's travel

companion; suffered a lot and expects the worst of the world; preaches unyielding pessimism; very knowledgeable and intelligent; believes "man [is] bound to live either in convulsions of misery or in the lethargy of boredom."

• Brother Giroflee - unhappy monk; in the monastery against his wishes; sleeps with the prostitute, Paquette

• Paquette - chambermaid of Cunegonde's mother; her affair with Pangloss gives him syphilis; she turns to prostitution

• Count Pococurante - wealthy Venetian; bored and critical with everything