RenaissanceRenaissance

• It was the awakening of the human spirit - feelings and thoughts

• High culture, so only affected a few

• Was not religious or scientific but moral and personal

• In Italy an almost secular attitude appeared

Economic growth was the basis for the Renaissance

Northern Italy (centrally located) benefited from the crusades and the spice trade

Renaissance started in Florence and follows the success of the Medici family

Florentine merchants gained control of the papal banking

1397 Giovanni de’Medici founded the Medici Bank

Even marriage vows were business arrangements

The popolo (poor class) hated their position and used force to take over the cities

The popolo could not retain power and were later replaced by despots or oligarchies

Northern Italian cities were communes

Despots showed their wealth by patronizing the arts - Medici

Individual had a loyalty to their own city-state

Five city-states dominated the peninsula: Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal State, and the kingdom of Naples

Cesare Borgia (Machiavelli’s hero and son of Pope Alexander VI) tried to unite the peninsula

Northern Europe was uniting - Italy remained fragmented

Signing and breaking alliances was common

Savonarola of Florence attacked paganism, vice, undemocratic government of Lorenzo de Medici, and corruption of Pope Alexander VI.

Initially people supported him but later he was burned

*People did not share his opinions of the commercial elite

Renaissance was characterized by self-conscious awareness that Italians were living in a new era

One of the founders of this movement was Petrarch

The Renaissance was the light after the gloom of the Dark Ages

The Roman Empire was the peak of human civilization

Artists of the Renaissance had contempt for medieval predecessors

But most people lived exactly the same in the Renaissance period as the medieval period

A new individualism appeared -

A deep interest in Latin, a revival of the antique lifestyle, and a more secular spirit.

Individualism stressed:

a) personality

b) uniqueness

c) fullest development of capabilities

d) the quest for glory

HumanismHumanism

The study of the classics became known as “new learning” or “humanism”

Cicero considered this important for anyone who considered himself civilized

Humanism emphasized:

a) human beings

b) human achievements

c) human capabilities

Italian humanism became more of an interest to lay people

Italian HumanistsItalian Humanists

i) Deeply religious viewed the classics in a new light

ii) Skeptical of the authority of the classics because of distance from the author

iii) Studied classics to understand human nature

iv) Very Christian - men and women were in God’s image

v) Rejected classical ideas that opposed Christianity but sought a harmony between paganism, secularism, and Christianity.

vi) Loved the language of the classics

SecularismSecularism

Concerned with the material world not the eternal world

Lorenzo Valla On Pleasure defended pleasure also wrote On the False Donation of Constantine which weakened the pope’s authority.

Boccaccio Decameron about a worldly society.

Papal interests actually encouraged worldliness

PoliticsThe Prince - MachiavelliFor Machiavelli the test was a ‘good’ government was an effective government. Machiavelli’s work rests on two principles:1) Permanent social order reflecting God’s will is impossible2) Politics should be considered a science.

NORTHERN NORTHERN RENAISSANCERENAISSANCE

Politics and the State

More of a blend of old and newMuch more religious than in ItalyStudied Greek and Hebrew texts for a greater

understanding of ChristianityStudents from England, Holland, France, and

Germany went to Italy for the ‘new learning’Northern humanists interpreted Italian ideas in

terms of their own traditions.

a) They were more religious b) They stressed the Bible and early Christian

themesc) They developed an ethical way of lifed) Classical and Christian cultures should be

combinede) They had a profound faith in the human intellectf) People could be improved through education

Northern HumanistsNorthern Humanists• In Germany:• Western and southern Germany were

economically advanced• 14th century - mystics like Thomas a Kempis

believed the human soul could communicate with God

• They did not rebel against the Church but wanted a deeper religion

In France

Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples applied humanism to religion

Believed in education

Rabelais was secular

Wrote Gargantua and Pantagruel

In EnglandMore was trained as a lawyerDeeply interested in the classicsEntered government under

Henry VIIIWrote Utopia where all children receive a

humanist education.

More believed private property caused vices and civil disorder

Lost his life to maintain his convictions

Low CountriesErasmus had a deep appreciation for the

classicsMost well-respected man in EuropeInfluenced by John Colet in EnglandWrote The Education of a Christian Prince

and The Praise of Folly

Two main themes:

1) Education is the means to reform

2) ‘The philosophy of Christ’ Christianity is an inner feeling

‘‘new monarchs’new monarchs’A new breed of leaders - ruthless, preferred security

to loveOutside of Italy they were actively building statesThey used the monarchy to guarantee law and orderThe despots of Italy, Henry VII of England, Louis XI

of France, Ferdinand of AragonAll Machiavellian (but could not have read The

Prince)

1) invested kingship with strong authority and national purpose

2) Monarchy linked all classes of society within a boundary

3) Insisted on respect and loyalty4) Ruthless oppressed rebellions and opposition5) Loved the business of kingship6) Tended to rely on the middle-class - new

bourgeoisie

FRANCEFRANCECharles VII revived the monarchyi) expelled the Englishii) increased the influence of the middle classiii) strengthened finances through taxes like salt (gabelle)

and land (taille)iv) created first permanent royal armyv) by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438) asserted

French Church supremacy over the papacyvi) crown could appoint bishops

• His son, Louis XI (Valois) was a Renaissance prince• Promoted industry

improved the armysigned international treaties

• The Estates General met only once during his reign• 1516 Francis I signed the Concordat of Bologna which

rescinded the Pragmatic Sanction - king could appoint bishops (keeping France Catholic)

Decimated by the Black DeathThe Tudors (1485-1603) won War of the RosesThey passed laws against nobles having standing

armiesThe monarch did not depend on government for money

so much more independentRoyal Council (Star Chamber) was the center of

authority

ENGLANDENGLAND

The Royal Council handled the king’s business including arranging marriages.

Aristocratic threats were dealt with by the Star ChamberStar Chamber used Roman Law and methods to enforce the

lawa) accused people were not entitled to see the evidence

against themb) sessions were in secretc) torture was often usedd) there were no juries

The Tudors promoted peace and orderHenry VII (1485) rebuilt the monarchyRuled through unpaid officialsa) he encouraged tradeb) built up the merchant fleetc) crushed an invasion from Irelandd) secured peace with Scotland (his daughter

Margaret married the Scottish king)

SPAINSPAINIsabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon

married (1469) and united the regionsThey ruled through ‘hermandades’Restructured the royal council - excluded the rich

and powerfulThe church was the linchpin of the reform.Alliance with the Spanish pope Alexander VI

Spanish monarchs gained great power and a national church

reconquista (1492) - expulsion of the Jews and Moors from Spainlasted over 100 years

Conversos- Jews that convertedMoriscos - Christians of Moorish backgroundMarranos - Christians of Jewish backgroundinquisition - the ruthless court that decided if

conversos were telling the truth later used against the Protestants

Ferdinand and Isabella expelling all Jews from Spain had major economic consequences

Absolute religious orthodoxy and pure blood were the foundation of Spain

Ferdinand and Isabella’s daughter Joanna married Philip. Their son was Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor.

Charles V - the ‘Universal Monarch’

GermanyGermany• Part of the Holy Roman Empire• Local lords recognized the supremacy of the Emperor,

who was elected by 7 Electors• 1452 Archduke of Austria (Habsburg) was elected

Emperor Maximilian I (1493-1519)• He married the heiress of the Duke of Burgundy• Their son, Philip married Mad Joanna, daughter of

Ferdinand and Isabella• Their son was Charles V

• Johann Gutenberg changed the course of history with the movable print. Printing made propaganda possible and forced people into groups i.e. church and state or Crown and nobility.

• Printing stimulated literacy of lay people.

WomenWomen

The status of upper-class women declined

women generally had less power than in the Middle Ages

Renaissance humanism represented an educational advance for a small minority.

Women had to choose marriage or education

Education brought jealousy and envy

Girls in the upper-class were taught how to dance, paint, and play music - they were decorative

Women belonged at home

Educational opportunities were severely limitedLiterary and art works had no effect on ordinary women

Women were a sign of wealth.