THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE

YOU’RE NOT IN ITALY

ANYMORE, DOROTHY

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ITALY AND NORTHERN EUROPE

• Attitudes: Other Europeans were much less conscious of living in a “New Age”. Developments there were an outgrowth of what had gone before rather than a conscious rejection of the Middle Ages. The Northern Renaissance was more a blend of the old and the new

• Religion: The religious element was more important than in Italy. Stressed social reform based on Christian ideals.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ITALY AND NORTHERN EUROPE

• Language: The study of Latin and Greek inspired interest in the development of the vernacular languages and their use in the writing of literature.

• Gutenberg Bible

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ITALY AND NORTHERN EUROPE

• Mysticism: Italians glorified the spirit through art. In the northern Renaissance this spirituality surfaced in mysticism and moralism. The basis of this was the belief that the individual soul could in perfect solitude commune directly with God. Depending on interpretation, this idea undermined the control of the Church

CHRISTIAN HUMANISM

• Focus: Christian humanists (most schooled in Italy) used the humanist concern with original language and text to study the Hebrew and Greek classical texts of the Bible and to read the Church Fathers to:

CHRISTIAN HUMANISM

• 1. deepen their understanding of Christianity and to

• 2. restore its moral vitality

• Italian humanists had been more concerned with the secular subjects discussed in the writers of antiquity.

CHRISTIAN HUMANISM

• Founding of universities: Between 1386 and 1506, new universities sprang up outside of Italy in great numbers. 14 in Germany alone. The concept was to make better Christians through better education. There was particular interest in the education of women and schools were founded for girls.

CHRISTIAN HUMANISM

• Spirituality of the layman: Pre-Renaissance men moved with piety, would take holy orders. During the Northern Renaissance more men remained laymen and practices their spirituality in the public domain.

GERMAN RENAISSANCE

• German Renaissance: Political ill-defined and disparate, yet … first to feel the Italian Renaissance; short-lived because of the rise of Reformation activity.

GERMAN RENAISSANCE• Economy• 1. commercial giant due to strong city-states like

those of northern Italy.• 2. Dominant in banking (Fugger family) where

families controlled more capital than any others in Europe.

• 3. technically inventive – clocks, mechanical toys, etc• Mining developing

GERMAN RENAISSANCE• Printing: first books printed with movable type

by Gutenberg in Mainz in ~1453 promoted the more rapid spread of ideas.

• Obscured by Latin: Many German names were converted to a Latin form. Copernicus (1473-1543) was Niklas Koppernigk, from Polish part of East Prussia.

• Ulrich von Hutten (1488-1523 German) combined Christian humanism with German nationalism. Supported Luther against the pope.

DUTCH RENAISSANCE• Economy: Flourishing commerce and the

woolen industry created a rich merchant class eager to spend its money on the new learning and the new artists, particularly portrait painters.

DUTCH RENAISSANCEERASMUS

• Desiderius Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536): first author to live on the profits from his books

• 1. Short life; illegitimate son of a priest and a doctor’s daughter, they died in a plague, he became an Augustinian priest.

• 2. Characteristics: “Pure” humanist scholar – uninterested in politics, immersed in the classical writers of antiquity, wrote in the classical Latin style. Advocated education, enlightened discussion, gradual moral improvement. Emphasis on reasonableness, tolerance, peace, reform, thinking through a problem without emotion.

DUTCH RENAISSANCEERASMUS

• Writings– Adages (1500) 800 Latin saying from antiquity –

brought the wisdom of the classical period to the common reader

– Handbook of the Christian Knight (1503) showed how a man could take part in worldly affairs while remaining a devout Christian

– Education of a Christian Prince (1504)

DUTCH RENAISSANCEERASMUS

– In Praise of Folly (1511) satirized worldly pretensions and ambitions especially the clergy. Written at the home of his good friend, Sir Thomas More

– Published new Greek and Latin editions of the New Testament (1516) but also urged that the N.T. be read in the vernacular. His advise would see fruition in the polyglot Bible of 1552 which featured side-by-side translations.

DUTCH RENAISSANCEERASMUS

• Reputation: International eminence corresponded with the greats of Europe. Criticized only the abuses in the Church, not the basic teachings. Interesting to speculate if the Erasmian influence could have brought about reform – but the Protestant Reformation negated that possibility.

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

• The Tudors• Henry VIII (1509-1547)• Elizabeth I (1558-1603)– Were great promoters of the new

learning– Henry fancied himself a poet.

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

• Sir Thomas More (1478-1535)• London lawyer, friend of Erasmus.• Became Chancellor of England, Speaker

of the House of Commons, Privy Councilor, companion to Henry VIII.

• He wrote Utopia (1516 –means “Nowhere”) presentation of a perfect world to satirize current social conditions; he said private property and society’s protection of it were the problems.

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

• William Shakespeare (1546-1616) Capstone of numerous literary giants at the court of Elizabeth I. Lyric poet and dramatist. Genius at character creation and portrayal of human nature. The human personality was central to his work.

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

• Christopher Marlowe (1563-1593) Dramatist; tanslated Ovid’s poems; wrote “Dr. Faustus”; ranked second to Shakespeare; career shortened when he was stabbed to death in a tavern brawl in London

ENGLISH RENAISSANCE

• Edmund Spenser (1552-1599) poet; “The Faerie Queene” – written to pay tribute to Elizabeth I as “Gloriana” VII

FRENCH RENAISSANCE

• Supported by King Francis I (1515-1547) who enticed Italian artists to his court and built the great Renaissance palace at Fountainbleau. French humanism was begun by Lefevre d’Etaples (1455-1536) who thought that more accurate translations of the Bible would help people live better lives

FRENCH RENAISSANCE

• Christine de Pizan (1365-1429) First woman to write professionally, first published feminist. Tutored by her father (Thomas). Widowed at age 25, she supported her three children by her writing and the patronage of wealthy noblewomen. Her literary defense of women touched off a Renaissance debate over the nature of women.

FRENCH RENAISSANCE

• 1. The Body of Policy – advice to princes• 2. The Book of Feats of Arms and Chivalry• 3. The Book of the City of Ladies (1405) –

fantasy about a world in which women did all the jobs of running the city.

FRENCH RENAISSANCE

• Francois Villon (1431-1464) Greatest 15th century French lyric poet. Vagabond ruffian, imprisoned for fatally stabbing a priest in a 1455 drunken quarrel.

• Francois Rabelais (1494-1553) Erstwhile student, monk, doctor. Opposed to hypocrisy and repression; corresponded with Erasmus; wrote satires (advocating education reform and attacking abuses in the Church) which were condemned by the University of Paris as obscene – he was protected by his patron, the Bishop of Paris

FRENCH RENAISSANCE

• Rabelais (con’t)– 1. Gargantua (1532) dedicated to “most noble

boozers and you my very esteemed and pxy friends”; hero’s motto –”Do what you wish”

– 2. Pantagruel• Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592); Skeptic.

Developed the new literary form, the essay. Promoted open-mindedness and tolerance.

SPANISH RENAISSANCE

• Delayed until the final defeat of the Moors in 1492 under Ferdinand and Isabella

• Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616) Fought during the Battle of Lepanto (1571) against the Ottomans. His ship was captured by Moorish pirates on its way back to Spain and he was sold into slavery. He was ransomed in 1580. He married ; took a government job, was arrested for irregular financial records, imprisoned, and the charges were dismissed.

SPANISH RENAISSANCE

• Miguel de Cervantes• Experiences were setting for the telling

of his masterpiece Don Quixote de la Mancha. Satirized the old chivalric code in light of new , practical demands. Cervantes died on April 23,1616. (Same day as Shakespeare)

SPANISH RENAISSANCE

• Lope de Vega (1562-1635):• Dramatist, wrote over 500 plays, many of

them comedies