Download Renaissance Assessment Study Guide Roots of the Renaissance

Renaissance Assessment Study Guide
Roots of the Renaissance: Ancient Greece and Rome
Greece
Synopsis
Formed by Indo-Europeans that moved into the Balkan Peninsula in the 1300 BCE and formed what is
called Greece. The civilization flourished and was very advanced for its time. They formed city-states,
which are cities that act as independent states, often with their own government and laws. They valued
order, balance, symmetry, clarity, and control. The reason the civilization was so successful is that they
used logic and reason. Looked for rational explanations behind things that they saw. They laid the
foundation for science. Spread far and wide by citizens of Greece that left their own city-states to form
new ones. Taken over by Philip of Macedon in around 350 BCE. His son, Alexander the Great, conquered
large areas to the east and this started the Hellenistic period (of Greece). Greece officially ends in 146
BCE when the Romans take over it.
Achievements
-Used logic and reason.
-Language: Greek.
-Math: Archimedes, Pythagoras, Euclid.
-Astronomy: Ptolemy.
-Architecture: Domes, arches, and pillars.
-Medicine: Studied cause of illness, created the Hippocratic Oath.
-Philosophy: Socrates, Aristotle, Plato.
-Politics: Democracy.
-Arts: Literature, epics, and theater.
Rome
Synopsis
In 146 BCE, the Greeks were conquered by the Romans. They kept their language (Latin), but quickly
assimilated many of the Greek intellectual and artistic culture. The Roman Republic (509-27 BCE)
conquered most of Europe and other lands, which is why so many European languages today are based
off of Latin. The Roman Empire (monarchy) replaced the Roman Republic (republic) in around 31 BCE,
and lasted until 476 CE. The Romans were adept in organization, administration, government, military,
and law. The pax Romana was a period of peace during the Roman rule.
Achievements
-pax Romana, a 200-300 year period of peace.
-Military: organization of military.
-Infrastructure: Roads, aqueducts, trade, military.
-Government: Bureaucracy, sovereign (centralized power), hierarchy, republic.
-Law: Court system, juries, judges, the state or everyone collectively is more important than an
individual.
Christianity
Synopsis
Christianity first spread among the poorer lower class. This is because they were already at the lowest
level of society, and society had nothing left to offer them. So they turned to Christianity for salvation
and equality in the eyes of god. Eventually, it spread to the middle class and in turn the upper class. An
important point to make is that the Greco-Roman emphasis on logic and reason conflicted with the
Christian emphasis on faith. Christianity was extremely important in the development of Rome and the
civilizations that came after it, because as the Greeks demonstrated the powers of the mind, Christianity
explored the soul. It is also the origin of many of the ethics and values that we have in society. However,
Christians were denounced by Roman officials because they refused to worship the emperor.
The Middle Ages
Synopsis
In ancient times, there was no Europe. In the Roman Empire, there was a West Latin speaking portion
and an East Greek speaking portion. The Emperor Constantine embraced Christianity and established a
new capital in Byzantium and renamed it Constantinople. Increasingly, the center of gravity moved
eastward towards Constantinople, and the Roman Empire was administered in two halves. The Roman
Empire fell in 476 CE, the West portion falling to pieces first.
Thereafter, “Europe” was split into three sections. The Latin West (becomes modern day Europe), the
Byzantine World (East), and the Arabic world. The Latin West stayed in third place in development until
the Renaissance. Barbarians were assimilated into the civilization and eventually the individual societies
became isolated. They were self-sufficient and were basically ruled by Feudalism. The Byzantine Empire
was the most developed at first, but were quickly overtaken by the Arabic World. The Byzantine Empire
falls in 1453 CE to the Ottoman Empire. Islam spread extremely quickly from 620 CE when it was
established, and 620 – 1258 CE is considered the Golden Age of Islam. Many of their conquests were
Byzantine territories. They also translated and preserved many ancient Greek texts.
Christianity
Christianity became very important during the “Dark Ages” of Europe. It was the on organized institution
that survived and even flourished after the fall of the Roman Empire. It offered education, and was a
source of civilization and unity. It also held power in the fact that it could excommunicate someone,
which at that time was a fate worse than death. The bishop of Rome claimed supremacy and was from
now on the Pope.
The Great Schism
The Great Schism was the split in Christianity that occurred in 1054. The main cause of the split was the
fight over who’s the true authority of the Christian Church, the pope in Rome, or the Patriarch in
Constantinople? The Latin West (Rome) because the Roman Catholic Church after the schism and the
Byzantine East became the Greek Orthodox Church.
Feudalism
Feudalism was essentially a self-sufficient society that consists of lords, vassals, and serfs. Serfs are
almost like slaves that work in the land their entire lives. The vassals (lesser lords) controlled the serfs
and the piece of land they worked on, and the lords controlled the vassals. The vassals offered loyalty
and military service to the lord, who in turn provide land and protection. Because of this system, almost
all trade and education were nonexistent.
Rise of Towns and Commerce
Venice was founded in about 570 CE, and started up long distance trade again. Once this process started
it tended to snowball. The more people that settled in a town, the more food they need to buy from the
country, and the more craftsmen that left, the more the feudal lords had to buy crafts from the towns.
By 1100 CE, many of these centers or towns existed all over Europe. With the rise of towns and
commerce, towns became wealthier and more education resulted from it. A new middle class of
merchants and craftsmen also appeared.
Christian Reforms
Synopsis
Over the course of the Dark Ages, even though the Church was so powerful, it still declined. Most of the
clergy couldn’t read or write, the church was fragmented and localized, and Rome was barely more than
a faint memory to people. Also, corruption in the church was a big problem. To try to reform the church,
serious Christians formed a new monastery in Cluny, France, which soon spread to many other areas.
Pope Gregory VII also made strong efforts to reform the church. Together, they banned lay investiture,
forced priests to practice celibacy, and tried to rid the Church of greed, ignorance, and immorality.
Thomas Aquinas
Biography
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) was a scholar that wrote the Summa Theologica, which was a survey of all
knowledge. His chief achievement was combining faith and logic & reason. In other words, he
demonstrated that Christianity and Greco-Roman knowledge were not in conflict. His philosophy was to
examine the world around him intently and that reason could not weaken faith.
A History of World Societies: Europe in the Renaissance
Economic and Political Origins of the Italian Renaissance
Synopsis
The period from about 1050 to 1300 (CE) witnessed phenomenal commercial and financial development,
the growing political power of self-governing cities in Italy, and great population expansion. The period
from the 1300s to 1500s is called the Renaissance. The cultural achievements in the Renaissance rested
on the economic and political developments of earlier centuries.
The period from 1050 to 1300 is called the Commercial Revolution. Northern Italian cities (Venice,
Florence, Milan, Papal States, and the Kingdom of Naples) led the way. All of these cities, except
Florence, were near in a body of water, which provided transportation for trade. Florence flourished
from bankers that acquired control of papal banking, and also its wool industry.
Italian Cities/States
All of the cities were republics in name, but they were ruled de facto by a couple of important, powerful
Roman families. So these cities were actually oligarchies. Florence was ruled by the Medici family.
Overall, their biggest failure was their inability to form a common alliance against foreign enemies,
always trying to sabotage each other in order to gain the upper hand, but in the end this just made them
susceptible to invasion.
Intellectual Hallmarks of the Renaissance
The “-isms” of the Renaissance
Individualism stressed personality, uniqueness, and the full development of capabilities and talents. In
short, it was feeding your own ego and saying that you’re special and different from everyone else.
Humanism was very similar to this, and it focused on the achievements, interest, and capabilities of
human beings, especially the ancient Greek thinkers.
Secularism was the basic concern with the material world instead of with eternal and spiritual matters.
Contrary to the first two, this directly went against Christianity and religion. Attention was concentrated
on the here and now, often on the acquisition of material things, rather than focusing on the
otherworldly, on life after death. This was most likely due to the new middle class of merchants that
were focused on obtaining wealth that could bring material pleasures.
Realism in the arts is the depiction of subjects as they appear in everyday life. This resulted in more
“realistic” paintings that used perspective.
Pico della Mirandola
Pico della Mirandola was a Florentine writer that wrote the essay On the Dignity of Man. He stressed
that man possessed great dignity, and man’s place in the universe is somewhere between the beasts
and the angels, but, because of the divine image planted in him, there are no limits to what he can
accomplish. This paralleled Thomas Aquinas’ thinking because they both allowed humans to study and
explore the “real” world and stated that this did not conflict with Christianity.
Art and the Artists
The themes in the art of the Renaissance were more classical values. They valued physical appearance
and symmetry and balance. Pagan influences also crept into the art, which depicted ancient Greek gods
in addition to Christian images. Secular influences and realism also were part of Renaissance art.
The Renaissance was actually an elitist movement that only affected about 10% of the population at the
top, which consisted of thinkers, artists, and intellectuals. For the lower 90% of the population, life
remained the same throughout the Renaissance. A contributing factor to this were the artists/sculptors
reputations and egos. They would only create art for the upper class of nobles that could actually afford
this and would raise their status.
The Renaissance in the North
Synopsis
The Italian and Northern European Renaissance were different in several ways. This included countries
such as Flanders, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany. The Italian Renaissance was more secular,
focused on appearance, and more materialistic. However, the Northern Renaissance focused more on
ethics, morals, and the values of Christianity. They tried to incorporate Christian values into everyday life
in order to improve it. They believed that the classical ideals of calmness, stoical patience, and
broad-mindedness should be joined with the Christian values of love, faith, and hope. They both
believed that society could be improved through education.
Thomas More
Thomas More wrote the book Utopia, which described an ideal socialistic community on an island
somewhere where society and life are perfect. All the children receive a good education, and adults
divide their days between manual labor/business pursuit and intellectual activities. It says the
institutions such as the church and government are the sources of evil and corruption, not individuals. It
reflected the mood of the Renaissance because it dealt with reform of society. It suggested that people
should focus on learning, and by this way they learn to reason, which will result in peace and prosperity.
The Prince and Utopia both talk about how things should be, and ideals. However, Utopia deals more
with idealism, and something that couldn’t happen. The Prince is more realistic and provides guideline
for a ruler, which is very possible.
Desiderius Eramus
Eramus was a dutch humanist that defined the principles of Christian humanism in the Northern
Renaissance. He said the education, study of the Bible and the classic, is the means to reform, and the
key to moral and intellectual improvement. Christianity is an inner attitude of the heart, not formalism,
special ceremonies, or law.
Social Changes during the Renaissance
Renaissance Man
A Renaissance man is someone who is well rounded and able to excel in everything he does. He should
have a broad background in many academic subjects, and his spiritual, physical, and intellectual
capabilities should be trained. Baldassare Castiglione wrote The Courtier, which served as the guidebook
for a Renaissance man.
Women
Upper class women received much more education during the Renaissance than they did in the Middle
Ages, but had fewer opportunities to exercise that knowledge. They had fewer positions in government,
and had less power than in the Middle Ages. They were generally bound to home, though there were a
few exceptions.
Printing Press
The printing press was developed by Jonannes Gutenberg in 1455, which allowed printed paper to be
mass produced. It helped people to express their ideas on paper, and made propaganda much easier. It
helped people spread their ideas on posters and flyers, and encouraged people to start social
movements.
Girolamo Savonarola
Biography
Savonarola was an Italian religious and political reformer. He was a Dominican monk. He was strictly
against secularism/materialism and the Renaissance and the Medici family. He and his follower, “The
Weepers”, made huge “bonfires of the vanities”, which was the burning of material possessions. This is
an example of religious fundamentalism. He purposely made himself look and dress at the bare
minimum, to be a model of this. His views were extreme and he practiced self-flagellation, which is
whipping of oneself to become more humble in the eyes of god. In 1498, he was hung for falsely
claiming to have seen visions and uttered prophecies.
Religious Fundamentalism
A movement or point of view characterized by a return to fundamental principles, by rigid adherence to
those principles, and often by intolerance of other views and opposition to secularism.
Sermon XIII On Haggai
According to Savonarola, the superior form of government would be one with a single person ruling as
the head. He wanted a theocratic monarchy. This person would have to be a good person and favorable
to unity. He looked down on the Medici family because they weren’t granted power to rule by god, and
yet they still were the de facto rulers of Florence. He also denounced the art the Medici commissioned
and the Renaissance as whole. He also believed that secularism was corrupting people’s souls, and in
order to save them, he believed that people should live by God, not for worldly matters. He also believes
that the clergy should be reformed. He said that the clergy should be a model on how people should live,
and they were not. He said that the clergy should let go of material wealth, especially the way they
dressed. He criticizes the superficial, egotistical, and self-focused values of the Renaissance.
Timeline
Roman Republic ends and
the Roman Empire
replaces it
The Great Schism splits the
Christian church into the
Roman Catholic Church
(west) and the Greek
Orthodox Church (east)
27 (~30) BCE
1054 CE
The Renaissance takes
place in Western Europe
1300 CE – 1500 CE
Indo-Europeans move into
the Balkan Peninsula and
form Greece
The Roman Empire falls
Savonarola is hung
1300 BCE
476 CE
1498 CE
0 BCE/CE
146 BCE
620 CE
1455 CE
The Romans take over
Greece and incorporate it
into the Roman Republic
Islam is founded
Johannes Gutenberg
invents the printing press
1100 CE – 1300 CE
The commercial revolution
takes place in Western
Europe