Renaissance

I. Renaissance
A. means "rebirth"
i. focuses on culture, esp. art and philosophy
a) tried to regain knowledge from Greeks and Romans
B. started in Florence in the 1300s, but becomes popular and spreads in the late 1400s
C. began to see Classic (Greek/Roman) knowledge as separate from Christian teaching,
therefore allowing them to question what couldn't be questioned before
D. Humanism
i. study began to focus on man rather than God
ii. didn't deny existence of God, but began to celebrate human capabilities and
achievements
a) taught man could shape the world, not fate
iii. questioned Scholasticism and began focusing on history, literature, language and
rhetoric, and ethics (human experience)
II. Beginning in Italy
A. Venice and Florence were controlled by wealthy merchants and bankers, and both groups
prized education above all else
i. Universities and schools centered here, and little Church presence allowed them to
operate without much supervision
ii. extensive trade allowed these cities to employ painters, sculptors, architects, poets, and
scholars because they were rich enough to not worry about basic necessities
a) guilds competed to get these jobs, so only the best were hired
• many works still exist, and many of them are still ridiculously popular
B. during this time, Italy was repeatedly conquered by outsiders
i. France invaded in 1494, but was later driven out by Italians joined by the Spanish and
Holy Roman Empire (Germany)
ii. invaded again years later, and was driven out again by Spain
a) Spain stuck around and acted like occupiers
• Spanish king became Holy Roman Emperor (Charles V), and there was a power
struggle between the Pope and Emperor
• Spanish soldiers sacked Rome in 1527 without orders, nearly killing the Pope
III. Machiavelli
A. one of the most brilliant and controversial of the Italian philosophers
B. when the Medici's ran from France's invasion in 1494, Machiavelli became a high ranking
official in the Republic of Florence
i. he left when the Medici's returned and wrote his most famous work, The Prince
a) based on Cesare Borgia, the son of Rodrigo Borgia (Pope Alexander VI)
b) argued that a proper ruler must be ruthless and unbound by morality, and that evil
acts can be necessary to achieve good ends (ends justify the means)
C. in his writings, he seems to have a low opinion of mankind, describing us as sinful,
cowardly, and weak, but he supports the Humanist celebration of individual prowess
D. he supports despotic tyrants like Cesare Borgia and Lorenzo de Medici, but argues that
constitutional republicanism and the early Roman Republic is the best form of government
i. many historians believe he liked the idea of tyrants to run Spain and France out of Italy,
but once independence was won they should form city republics
IV.Leonardo da Vinci
A. most well known and well rounded man of the Renaissance
B. jobs included painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, musician, inventor, mathematician,
 engineer, botanist, historian, writer, etc
C. inventions include tank, parachute, and helicopter
i. many of his ideas were written in notebooks, but technology at the time was unable to
build them
D. most well known for painting The Last Supper and Mona Lisa
E. he is called today the true Renaissance Man and a true genius
V. End of Italian Renaissance
A. constant warfare in Italy helped destroy the wealth that had originally made the Renaissance
possible
B. trade was reduced as new trade routes were established by the Dutch, English, Portuguese,
and Spanish
i. cheaper to trade over water than over land
ii. less available money meant less patronage of the arts
C. early 1500s also saw the Protestant Reformation, which weakened the Church and by
extension Italy
i. Church then had a Counter-Reformation, which cracked down on the secularism of the
Renaissance
a) anyone who challenged the Church could be brought before a Church court, so new
discoveries by Renaissance men were reduced to avoid discovery
VI. Northern Renaissance
A. Renaissance ideas spread north
i. students who attended Italian Universities came back home to Germany and France
ii. also soldiers who had spent time in Italy brought back new ideas
iii. early to mid 1500s Italian Renaissance artists and philosophers fled the Counter-
Reformation and were employed by now wealthy merchants and kings in the North
B. new Christian Humanism began
i. northern kingdoms were less focused on Greeks and Romans and instead looked to early
Church Fathers (Sts. Augustine, Ambrose, Jerome)
ii. most well known is Desiderius Erasmus
a) spread ideas and attitudes towards scholarship, the arts, and ethics from a Christian
point of view
b) argued that the Church and people had strayed from the simple morals of the New
Testament
• said Christianity preached peace and that true Christians must be committed to
pacifism
iii. St. (Sir) Thomas Moore also very famous
a) writer of Utopia, which criticizes intolerance, materialistic greed, and war-loving by
English aristocrats and clergy
• book depicts an island kingdom (like England) where people live in perfect
harmony; no private property, tolerant of others' views, and no war
b) served under King Henry VIII until the King broke away from the Church
• wouldn't recognize Henry as the head of a new church and was executed
iv. Christian Humanism was opposed by the Church once people began to study the Bible
and Church teachings
a) studies led to questioning practices, especially by Martin Luther
C. Northern Renaissance Art
i. literature and art looked to Italy for inspiration, but the styles were noticeably different
a) later Northern art began to influence Italian art