What was the Renaissance

Overview

Renaissance

• French word for “rebirth” of classical ideas (referring to the ancient Greeks and Romans)

• Middle Ages or the medieval period is NOT the Renaissance.

Renaissance Overview• Renaissance thinkers explored the human

experience in the here and now. They emphasized individual achievement.

• The Renaissance ideal was the person with talent in many fields.

• At the heart of the Italian renaissance was an intellectual movement known as humanism.

• Humanism was based on the study of classical culture and focused on worldly subjects rather than on religious issues.

Humanism

• Humanism: Philosophy that emphasized classical knowledge

• Human Feelings• Unreligious or secular• More classics (Greek and Romans)• Anatomy in Art• Need to ask questions-”What is Life?”• Individual worth• School: education• More Art: sculpture, oil paintings, and architecture

Italy’s Advantages

• The years 1300 to 1600 saw a rebirth of learning and culture in Europe called the Renaissance. This rebirth spread north from Italy. It began there for three reasons.

• First, Italy had several important cities. Cities were places where people exchanged ideas.

• Second, these cities included a class of merchants and bankers who were becoming wealthy and powerful. This class strongly believed in the idea of individual achievement.

Italy’s Advantages

• Third, Italian artists and scholars were inspired by the ruined buildings and other reminders of classical Rome.

• 1. What are three reasons why the Renaissance began in Italy?

• It had several important cities; these cities included a class of merchants and bankers; and artists were inspired by the classical ruins there.

Why did the Renaissance Begin in Italy?

• Florence, Venice, and Genoa had access to trade routes connecting Europe with Middle Eastern markets

• Served as trading centers for the distribution of goods to northern Europe

• Were initially independent city-states governed as republics

Classical and Worldly Values

• In the Middle Ages, the emphasis had been mostly on spiritual values. Renaissance thinkers stressed secular ideas. These ideas centered on the things of the world.

• One way that powerful or wealthy people showed this interest in worldly things was by paying artists, writers, and musicians to create beautiful works of art. Wealthy people who supported artists were known as patrons.

Classical and Worldly Values

• People tried to show that they could master many fields of study or work. Someone who succeeded in many fields was admired greatly. The artist Leonardo da Vinci was an example of this ideal.

• He was a painter, a scientist, and an inventor. Men were expected to be charming, witty, well-educated, well mannered, athletic, and self-controlled. Women were expected to have many accomplishments, too. But women were not to show them in public.

The Renaissance Revolutionizes Art

• Renaissance artists sometimes used new methods. Sculptors made figures more realistic than those from the Middle Ages. Painters used perspective to create the illusion that their paintings were three-dimensional.

• Art in the Middle Ages was mostly religious. Renaissance artists reproduced other views of life. Michelangelo showed great skill as an architect, a sculptor, and a painter.

Renaissance Revolutionizes Art

• How did the methods and subjects in art change?

• Painting became more realistic as a result of the use of perspective; its subject changed to go beyond only the religious.

Renaissance Writers Change Literature

• Renaissance writers also achieved greatness. Several wrote in the vernacular. This means they wrote in their native languages. It was a change from the Middle Ages, when most writing was done in Latin.

• Writers also changed their subject matter. They began to express their own thought and feelings. Sometimes they gave a detailed look at an individual.

Renaissance Writers

• Dante and others wrote poetry, letters, and stories that were more realistic.

• Niccoló Machiavelli took a new approach to understanding government. He focused on telling rulers how to expand their power. He believed rulers should do what was politically effective, even it if was not morally right.

• Renaissance writers wrote about their own thoughts and feelings; they also took a more detailed look at the individual.

Three Geniuses of The Italian Renaissance

Leonardo

Masterpieces include Mona Lisa and The

Last Supper

Studied botany, anatomy, optics,

music architecture, and engineering

Made sketches for flying machines and

undersea boats

Michelangelo

Talented sculptor, engineer, painter,

architect, and poet

Sculpted the Pieta and statue of David

Painted huge mural to decorate the

ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome

Petrarch

Wrote sonnets in Italian and Latin –

14-line poems

Renaissance Artists and Writers Explored New Themes and Techniques

Writers

Wrote self-help books to

help ambitious men and

women rise in the

Renaissance world

Architects

Rejected Gothic style Adopted

columns, domes, and arches that

had been favored by the Greeks and Romans

Painters

Developed realistic Style Learned rules

of perspective Used shading to

make objects look round and realStudied human

anatomyUsed live models

Contributions of the Renaissance

• Accomplishments in the visual arts: Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci.

• Accomplishments in literature (sonnets, plays, essays): Shakespeare

• Accomplishments in intellectual ideas (humanism): Erasmus

Essential Understanding

• New intellectual and artistic ideas that developed during the Renaissance marked the beginning of the modern world.

The Northern Renaissance

• By 1450, the bubonic plague had ended in northern Europe. Also, the Hundred Years’ War between France and England was ending. This allowed new ideas from Italy to spread to northern Europe. They were quickly adopted.

• Rulers and merchants used their money to sponsor artists. But the northern Renaissance had a difference. Educated people combined classical learning with interest in religious ideas.

Northern Renaissance

• How was the northern Renaissance different from the Renaissance in Italy?

• In northern Europe, Renaissance thinkers combined classical learning with religious thinking.

Northern Writers Try to Reform Society; The Elizabethan Age

• Writers of the northern Renaissance combined humanism with a deep Christian faith.

• They urged reforms in the Church. They tried to make people more devoted to God. They also wanted society to be more fair.

• In England, Thomas More wrote a book about Utopia, an imaginary ideal society where greed, war, and conflict do not exist.

What did northern writers write?

• William Shakespeare is often called the greatest playwright of all time.

• His plays showed a brilliant command of the English language.

• They also show a deep understanding of people and how they interact with one another.

Machiavelli’s – The Prince

• An early modern treatise on government• Supported absolute power of the ruler• Maintains that the end justifies the means• Advises that one should do good if possible,

but do evil when necessary

Printing Spreads Renaissance Ideas; The Legacy of the Renaissance

• One reason that learning spread so rapidly during the Renaissance was the invention of movable type.

• The Chinese had invented the process of carving characters onto wooden blocks. They then arranged them in words, inked the blocks, and pressed them against paper to print pages.

Northern Renaissance

• Growing wealth in Northern Europe Supported Renaissance ideas

• Thinkers merged humanist ideas with Christianity• The movable type printing press and the

production and sale of books (Gutenberg Bible) helped disseminate ideas.

• Northern Renaissance writers – Erasmus – The Praise of Folly (1511) – Sir Thomas More – Utopia (1516)

The Printing Revolution• A printing revolution took place when: In 1456,

Johann Gutenberg printed the Bible using the first printing press and printing inks.

• Impact:• Printed books were cheaper and easier to

produce.• With books more readily available, more people

learned to read. (vernacular)• Readers gained access to a broad range of

knowledge and ideas.

Printing Spreads Renaissance Ideas

• Printing made it easier to make many copies of a book. As a result, written works became available far and wide.

• Books were printed in English, French, Spanish, Italian, or German. More people began to read. The Bible was a popular book.

• After reading the Bible, some people formed new ideas about Christianity. These ideas were different from the official teachings of the Church.

Printing Spreads Renaissance Ideas

• The Renaissance prompted changes in both art and society. Artists and writers portrayed people in more realistic ways and celebrated individual achievement.

• In a larger sense, the Renaissance opened up a world of new ideas to people and led them to examine and question things more closely.

The Legacy of the Renaissance

• What effects did the printing press have on northern European life?

• People read more. They also began to read the Bible on their own, which led to their forming their own ideas about Christianity.

Conflicts that challenged the authority of the Church in Rome

• Merchant wealth challenged the Church’s view of usury

• German and English nobility disliked Italian domination of the Church

• The Church’s great political power and wealth caused conflict.

• Church corruption and the sale of indulgences were widespread and caused conflict.

Martin Luther (the Lutheran tradition)

• Views: Salvation by faith alone, Bible as the ultimate authority, all humans equal before God

• Actions: 95 theses, birth of the Protestant Church

• Criticized the selling of indulgences

John Calvin (the Calvinist tradition)

• Views: Predestination, faith revealed by living a righteous life, work ethic

• Actions: Expansion of the Protestant Movement

King Henry VIII

• Views: Dismissed the authority of the Pope in Rome (was not given an annulment)

• Actions: Divorced ; broke with Rome; headed the national church in England; appropriated lands and wealth of the Roman Catholic Church in England

Queen Elizabeth I

• Anglican Church• Tolerance for dissenters• Expansion and colonialism• Victory over the Spanish Armada (1588)

Reformation in Germany

• Princes in Northern Germany converted to Protestantism, ending the authority of the Pope in their states.

• The Hapsburg family and the authority of the Holy Roman Empire continued to support the Roman Catholic Church

• Conflict between Protestants and Catholics resulted in devastating wars (e.g., 30 yrs. War)

Reformation in France

• Catholic monarchy granted Protestant Huguenots freedom of worship by the Edict of Nantes (later revoked).

• Cardinal Richelieu changed the focus of the Thirty Years’ War from a religious to a political conflict.

Catholic Reformation

• Dissenters prior to Martin Luther: Jan Huss, John Wycliffe

• Counter-Reformation:– The Council of Trent reaffirmed most Church

doctrine and practices.– The Society of Jesus (The Jesuits) was founded to

spread Catholic doctrine around the world.– The Inquisition was used to reinforce Catholic

doctrine.

Changing cultural values, traditions, and philosophies

• Growth of secularism• Growth of individualism• Eventual growth of religious tolerance

Role of the Printing Press

• Growth of literacy was stimulated by the Gutenberg printing press.

• The Bible was printed in English, French, and German.

• These factors had a important impact on spreading the ideas of the Reformation and the Renaissance.