THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

•Renaissance: a rebirth of ancient Greek and Roman culture•starts in Italy•Italy was largely an urban society with powerful city-states

•Intellectuals and artists wanted to separate themselves from “backwardness” of the Middle Ages, or Dark Ages•The Italian city-states were involved in trade due to their geography and served as the economic center of Europe

Renaissance: a rebirth of ancient Greek and Roman culture

The Italian City-States•I

taly was divided into several large city-states in the north and various kingdoms in the south

• Florence - Renaissance start here•Wealthy due to trade, the wool industry, and banking•The powerful de‘Medici family controlled this city-state

• The Papal States

•Controlled by the Pope, and in the pope’s absence, noble families•Rome became the center of the Renaissance after it declined in

Florence and it was called the High Renaissance•The upper classes were more affected by the Renaissance than

the lower classes and more likely to embrace its ideas – why? They had money

The Three Estates (Social Classes)1Clergy2Nobles -The old landed nobility began to intermarry with the new wealthy merchant families

3Peasants and townspeopleThree classes of the towns:1 Patricians = wealthy merchants and

bankers2 Burghers = shopkeepers, artisans, and

guild members who provided goods and services for the town

3 Workers = lives not good, urban poverty begins to increase – popolo – urban underclass

Politics and War•M

aintaining the balance of power• Try to create an alliance against foreign powers, but the

breakdown of the alliance will lead to the domination of Italy by foreign powers

•Invasion of Italy by Charles VIII of France•Attracted by the riches of Italy, Charles leads an army of 30,000

men into Italy in 1494• Charles occupies Naples in the south•Northern Italian states ask Spain for help• For the next 30 years, France and Spain make Italy their battle

ground• The sacking of Rome ends the wars and leaves Spain a dominant

force in Italy• It will also bring an end to the High Renaissance

Characteristics of the Renaissance•S

ecular society• People were becoming more concerned with the material world, had

more of a worldly focus• Still deeply religious, however they concentrated on the here and now,

not on life after death

•Individualism• People sought to receive personal credit for their achievements - want

money and success • This went against the medieval ideal of all glory going to God

•Humanism• “new learning” – interest in and study of the Latin classics to learn what

they reveal about human nature• Petrarch is considered to be the father of humanism

Renaissance Intellectuals• The Renaissance Man – a person who could do many things well

•Machiavelli - Wrote The Prince - about how a ruler should gain, maintain, and increase political power•He is upset about by what he sees as the foreign domination of

Italy and he feels that one ruler needs to unite Italy•Studied human nature - Concludes that humans are “ungrateful,

fickle, liars, and deceivers”•Decides that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved•Rulers must do whatever is necessary to maintain power and

protect the state - The end justifies the means•C

astiglione - Wrote The Courtier, a book on the expected behaviors and education of nobles•Used as a guide for nobles for the next several centuries

Renaissance Art•T

he Renaissance made its greatest impact in the area of art•N

ew artistic styles: use of oil painting, free-standing sculptures, portraits, nudity, and single-point perspective

•Many people sponsored the arts to glorify themselves and their families

•Two major periods:•Early Renaissance – takes place in Florence•High Renaissance – takes place in Rome

•Four major artists of the Renaissance:

1 Michelangelo – painted the Sistene Chapel, sculptural masterpiece = David

2. Leonardo da Vinci – Mona Lisa

and the Last Supper

1 Raphael – famous for his madonnas (images of Jesus and Mary)

2 Donatello – sculptor, lived during the Early Renaissance

The Northern Renaissance•L

ate 15th century, the Italian Renaissance begins to affect the rest of Europe•Moves into northern Europe, is more religious

•Christian Humanism•Christian humanists believed they could achieve this

higher understanding by studying early Christian works along with the Latin classics•Often criticized the Church

Christian Humanists•E

rasmus•The best of the northern humanists, was Dutch•Criticized the Church and wanted to reform it, but not leave it•Saw education as the means to reform

•Sir Thomas More•Englishman, lawyer, and chancellor to King Henry VIII•Wrote Utopia (“nowhere”) – about an ideal society•Gave his life for his beliefs

• Northern Renaissance art

• Jan van Eyck – one of the first to use oil paint•Albrecht Durer – famous for his woodcuts and altar panels

The Elizabethan Renaissance

•The greatest achievement in the arts in northern Europe took place in England•Most of what is referred to as the Elizabethan Renaissance

actually occurred during the reign of James I•G

eoffrey Chaucer•The Canterbury Tales consists of a collection of stories told by

a group of 29 pilgrims journeying to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury

•William Shakespeare•Wrote many plays that reveal an unsurpassed understanding

of the human psyche