Download Renaissance - World Civilization II

Renaissance
Medieval or Modern?
Key Topics
• The politics, culture, and art of the
Italian Renaissance
• The powerful new monarchies of
northern Europe
• Political struggle and foreign
intervention in Italy
• Understanding the meaning of the
Renaissance.
What is the Renaissance?
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A collection of ideas?
A revival of the classical world?
A break with the medieval world?
A springboard for modernity?
Humanism
• A cultural and intellectual
movement of the Renaissance that
emphasized secular concerns as a
result of the rediscovery and study
of the literature, art, and civilization
of ancient Greece and Rome.
Medieval Artwork
Abstract and Formulaic
The Renaissance
Painter
3-Dimensional Paintings
Chiaroscuro & Linear Perspective
Architecture
• Middle Ages was steeped in Gothic Style
Architecture.
• Most prominent structures were churches.
• The Renaissance harked back to Antiquity
for models.
• Greek columns and Romanesque Style.
Medieval Literature
• The Middle Ages focused on religious
writing. Primarily theology and philosophy.
• Popular folk tales saw heroes who
embedded the ideal of Christianity.
– King Arthur
– Roland
– Robin Hood
Renaissance Literature
• The writers emulated the ancient Greeks
and Romans and wrote in the vernacular.
• Dante Alighieri, Francesco Petrarch, and
Giovanni Boccaccio concentrated on
humanity and man’s struggle.
• The Birth of Non-fiction as entertainment.
Benvenuto Cellini
• “All men of whatsoever quality they be,
who have done anything of excellence, or
which may properly resemble excellence,
ought, if they are persons of truth and
honesty, to describe their life with their own
hand.”
Renaissance in Italy
• The late Middle Ages
was a time of creative
fragmentation.
• Three Crises: Religion,
Plague, Government.
• Italy flourished between
1300-1450 mainly
because of location.
• The Italian City-State merchants and bankers
Growth of City-States
• Urbane culture was assisted by the constant
war between emperor (Ghibelline) and
Pope (Guelf).
• This war strengthened the merchant
oligarchies in the cities and by the 15th
century led to despotism.
• Unlike Northern Europe ruled by kingdoms,
Italy was made up of independent states.
A Nation Divided
• 1377 - The Church’s power starts to
fade.
• Avignon Papacy - splits the church
• Bishops lose their power to wealthy
families.
• Merchants and Bankers flourish
among the chaos.
Mercantilism
• The Italian Peninsula became the HUB
for Western Europe.
• Merchant Class developed
• Birth of the Banking System
• Working Class - Manufacturing goods
became popular.
Republic of Florence
• Ciompi Revolt - 1378 was a result of the
staggering social divisions.
• In 1434, Cosimo de’Medici arose to power
from behind the scenes.
• Signoria - Council that ruled Florence, which
was controlled by wealthy guilds.
• By 1478, Despotism emerged -> Pazzi Scandal
– podestà
The Prince
• Cities fought within - families seeking
power. (Medici and the Pazzi)
• Despots like Lorenzo de’ Medici hired
military brokers called condottieri
• Political turbulence and warfare gave birth
to positive attributes as well.
– Diplomacy and Growth
– Renaissance culture and Patronage
Humanism
• A cultural and intellectual movement
of the Renaissance that emphasized
secular concerns as a result of the
rediscovery and study of the literature,
art, and civilization of ancient Greece
and Rome.
French Nationalism
• Charles VII:1422-1461
“The Well-Served” unified
France following the
Hundred Years War.
– Strong National Identity
and Army
– Jacques Coeur
developed an economic
system
Nation-Building
• Louis XI: (1461-1483)
made France a great power.
• Mastermind of Dipolmacy
• League of the Public Weal
• Collapse of the English
Empire and the defeat of
Burgundy in the battle of
Nancy 1477.
Spanish Unification
• Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of
Aragon married in 1469.
• Kicked out the Moors and Christianize
Spain
• The Inquisition = National Unity
• Invested money in Ship Travel
– Columbus’ Voyage 1492
Isabella & Ferdinand
War of the Roses
• 1455-1485
• England’s first
major Civil War
• Dynastic instability
following the death
of Edward III.
• Politics and Wealth
controlled England.
Henry VI: House of Lancaster
• 1422-1461, 1470-71
• Son of Henry V
became King of
England and France at
9 months old.
• Went insane and killed
in the Tower of
London
Edward IV: House of York
• 1461-1470, 14701483
• Ambitious, cruel,
selfish, and extremely
able.
• Seized the throne
from Henry based on
the his father’s claim.
Richard III - York
• 1483 – 1485
• Duke of Gloucester
brother to Edward IV.
• Richard III was
supposed to be the
avuncular protector of
his two young
nephews.
“A horse, a horse, My Kingdom
for a horse!”
Gloriana Angelorum
• Henry VII: Tudor
Dynasty
• Bosworth Field
1485 ends the war.
• The Court of Star
Chamber 1487
Holy Roman Empire
• Extremely backwards, the system based in
feudal society.
• Germany was divided into 300 autonomous
political entities.
• 1356 – Golden Bull established a sevenmember electoral college.
• Imperial Diet – Reichstag
Italy’s Political Decline
• Treaty of Lodi: 1454-1494 brought peace
between Milan and Naples. Together they
joined an alliance with Florence.
• Florence’s chief enemy was Venice and
the Papacy.
Ludovico il Moro
• Comes to power in
Milan 1490 and ends
the Treaty of Lodi.
• Naples and Florence
side with the Borgia
family.
• Appeals to France
for aid.
Charles VIII de France
• r. 1483-1498
• Conquered Florence
and Papal States.
• Savonrola – 14521498 Dominican
Monk who preaches
the coming of
Charles as godsend.
Pope Alexander VI
• r. 1492-1503
• Corrupt member of
the Borgia Family.
• Machiavelli both
admired and
despised this guy.
• Allied with French
Louis XII
Pope Julius II
• r. 1503-1513
• Patron of Arts,
“Warrior Pope”
• Suppressed the
Borgias and placed
Romagna under
papal jurisdiction.
• Holy League against
France
Concordat of Bologna
• In 1515, the French once again invaded
Italy under the rule of Francis I.
• The Concordat of Bologna 1516 gave the
French King control over French clergy
in exchange for French recognition of the
pope’s superiority over church councils.
Niccolo’s Smile
The Modern State
• The biggest argument against
Machiavelli resides in his philosophy
• If we say The Prince is a political
theory, then we acknowledge his
amorality.
Machiavellian
• “Smile in men’s faces,
smooth, deceive, and cog.”
~Richard III
• “One may smile and smile
and still be a villain.”
~Hamlet
• The robbed that smiles, steals
something from the
thief. ~Othello
• “Where we are, there are
daggers in men’s smiles.”
~Macbeth
State of Nature
• Machiavelli purports the idea of a
state of nature, but he does not
theorize on the state’s issues.
• Political Activist = Concrete Thinker
Modern Man
• What made Machiavelli truly
unique was his lack of an ideal state.
• People are simply EVIL, so stop
trying to be something you’re NOT.
• By lowering the bar, he liberates
man.
Burckhardt’s Renaissance
• Writing during the 1860s in
Germany.
• Why does Burckhardt think the
Renaissance was the beginning of
Modernity?
Rediscovery
• Burckhardt makes a lot solid points regarding
Renaissance Italy.
– Revival of Classical Studies
– Self-Conscious Individuals
– Growth of Secular Ideas of the State
• But were the Middle Ages an irrelevant
interruption in the development of Modern
Society?
Revolt of the Medievalists
• Medievalists have pointed out that the
Middle Ages have produced:
– Passionate, fully self-aware individuals
– Coherent theories of state
– Great Nationalistic Art
• Changes made in the 14th & 15th centuries
not significant
Medieval Institutions
• Parliamentary
Government
• University Education
• Legal Tradition
Recasting the Renaissance
• One cannot deny the changes that occurred
from the 14th to the 15th century, but these
were not dramatic changes.
• The culture of the Renaissance can be
described as a boy growing into a man … it
is a gradual process, not immediate.
Next Week
• Next week we will look to developments in
Europe during the Reformation. In many
ways these developments were a
continuation from the Renaissance period.
• What exactly was Martin Luther so hot and
bothered about?