The Renaissance

The Re-Birth

The Renaissance

• What caused the Renaissance?– The Crusades– The Black Death– New trade in Italy

The Renaissance

• The Crusades– Interaction

between Muslims and Christians during the four Crusades for the 12th to 14th C.

– Cultural Diffusion between both groups due to warfare and trade

The Renaissance

• Crusades– Muslims had held

onto Ancient Greek and Roman texts

– Practiced Greek and Roman ideas

– Muslims improved upon these ideas and then passed them back onto the Europeans

Renaissance

• Crusades– Europeans will also bring back new

ideas in manufacturing techniques• Now they could create goods they normally

had to buy

– New ideas in creating a world wide trade economy• Credit, banking which will lead to the

Commercial Revolution

Renaissance

• The Black Death– The plague will

account for the destruction of almost 1/3 of Europe’s population

– Disease is an equal opportunity killer so it killed off not only the serfs but also the nobles

Renaissance

• Black Death– Will last in Europe

from 1347-1351– While the plague

caused a demographic shift it also caused a political and economic shift

Renaissance

• The Black Death– The plague will cause

the end of the Manor System

• A shortage of serfs to work the land caused lords and nobles to have to pay serfs for production

• With the loss of lords there was now free land for serfs to claim and work for their own profit

Renaissance

• Black Death– End of the Feudal

System• With the Manor

System gone serfs were no longer tied to the land and could move to urban centers

• More free men and the growth of urban centers caused a rapid growth in trade.

Renaissance

• New Trade– Growth of cities coupled

with new manufacturing techniques allowed for an increase of trade.

– Italy was centrally located in the Mediterranean Sea which allowed for easy trade access

– The banking and business classes will grow and there will be more money and wealth in society

Renaissance

• New Trade– Allowed for opportunities of social

mobility– Increase of wealth in cities– Growth of educational centers

• These universities would start to question traditional ideas such as the church and the way in which people were ruled

• Scholasticism

The Renaissance

• Classicism– With the new influx of money into Europe,

Europeans were able to spend more time on leisure activities instead of fighting for survival

– Europeans began to study the literature of the Greeks and the Romans

– Europeans wanted to understand their cultural heritage and started to explore more deeply the legacy of the Greeks and Romans

• Remember the Europeans were only able to study Greek and Roman culture because the writing had been saved by the Muslims and the Jews

The Renaissance

• Secularism– As you remember most works of art during the

Middle Ages centered around the church because the church was seen as the center of the world

– During the Renaissance art , literature and philosophy began to center around the natural world and not the world of the church

– The Renaissance artist did not however turn their back on the church, this would have been very dangerous seeing the church still had a firm hold on the culture of Europe

The Renaissance• Works of art

– Writings– Paintings– Sculpture – All turned to natural ideas

• Renaissance scientist turned to Greek and Roman texts to solve the problems of the day– However Christianity still

needed to be incorporated into the solution otherwise it might lead to hearsay and excommunication or even death at the hands of the church

The Renaissance

• Humanism– In the Middle Ages the idea of salvation

and the afterlife is what kept most Europeans going through the hard times

– Personal life on earth was to be suffering while the afterlife was to be in glorious Heaven

The Renaissance

• With the re-discovery of the Greek and Roman texts many Europeans discovered that they could attain happiness in the worldly lifetime

The Renaissance

• The literature and the philosophy of ancient writers spoke about personal accomplishments

• European began to focus on the here and now not on the life after

• Hedonistic– Focused on worldly pleasures– Europeans did not become hedonistic-

focus was still on the church

The Renaissance Part II

Why Italy

• Italy had powerful city states such as – Florence, Venice, Milan

• Many of these city states had become rich off trade and their commercial economics– They generated a excess of wealth to support

a cultural revival

• There was a new rich class of citizens who were also educated– To show off their wealth and education they

sponsored artist and writers

Why Italy

• The Medici Family of Florence– Became the patrons

of Michelangelo and Brunelleschi

– Many family members became Pope

– Made their money in trade and banking

Major Figures and Trends• Key figures

– Writers• Petrarch 1304-1374• Giovanni Boccaccio 1313-

1375– Painters

• Giotto 1267-1337• Filippo Brunelleschi 1377-

1446• Raphael 1483-1520• Titan 1477-1576• Michelangelo 1472-1564

– Political philosophers• Niccolo Machiavelli 1469-

1527– Scientist

• Leonardo da Vinci 1452-1519

• Raphael’s Transfiguration

Trends

• Writing– Addressed;

• Worldly concerns• Political issues• Human emotions

– Love– Lust– Sex

• Earthly subjects– Many times writers

would be in direct conflict with the church

– Many of their works were banned by the church

• Painting– Depicted the human figure

as realistic as possible– Careful use of light and

shadow made figures appear full and real

– Many artist in an attempt to understand the human form participated in autopsies

– Artist used linear perspective

• Nearby objects were drawn big while objects farther away were drawn smaller

• Gave the painting a 3D feel

Middle Ages Artv.

Renaissance

• Middle Ages– Entirely religious– Existed only in

cathedrals– Flat, and stiff

• 1 or 2 D

– Was not worldly

• Renaissance– Was religious and

secular– Commissioned by

both religious and secular leaders

– Was shown in public buildings and private homes

– Realistic, softer and more human

Spread of the Artist Movement

• The Catholic Church understood the new importance in art and commissioned artist like Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel and architects to build churches in the style of Greek and Roman architecture

Spread of the Artist Movement

• The movement spread north and west– Artist centers

developed in the Dutch areas of Flanders

• Van Eyck• Albrecht Durer

– The styles were very realistic but remained religiously centered

• Jan van Eyck’s The Arnolfini Marriage

Gutenberg’s Moveable Type• While China had developed

moveable type in about 800, it wasn’t until the mid 1400’s when Europeans developed the skill

• Gutenberg’s printing press allowed books to be created at a faster pace

• More books also meant that more people could afford to buy them

• Books could now be written in the country’s native language and not Latin-more people understood what they were reading

Gutenberg’s Moveable Type

• Papermaking which had been one of the crafts learned from the Muslims during the Crusades became a growing industry– By the way the Muslims learned

papermaking from the Chinese– More books meant that society as whole

was becoming literate– More education increased the desire for

more books

Political Thought

• One of the biggest books to come out of the Renaissance period was The Prince

• The how to book for want a be rulers

Political Thought

• The book stated that rulers needed to be separated from the church

• Rulers should act on their own self interest• The ruler was the state not the people• Qualifications for rulers were

– Ruthless– Selfish– Scheming– Manipulative

• Machiavellian

Political Thought

• Just remember Machiavelli gets a bad name because people always associate him with the bad side of rulers

• Machiavelli did state that once a ruler was established that they needed to care for and protect their citizens and that citizens would learn to love the ruler and that this love needed to be returned to the people

Political Thought• Erasmus

– Wrote In the Praise of Folly– Wrote about foolish

political moves • Sir Thomas More

– Wrote Utopia• The ideal society in which

all people shared the wealth

• Unlike Machiavelli Erasmus and More were Christian Humanist-believed that leaders needed to ascribe to moral guidelines in the pursuit of their personal goals

Shakespeare

• The most famous writer of his time

• The writing primarily focused on humanism– Character strengths and

flaws– Comedy and tragedy– Illustrated the ideals of

the time, politics, mythology and classical civilizations

– Julius Caesar– The Merchant of Venice– Othello