Download The Renaissance

15th to 17th century
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Humanism: a new view of human beings that emphasized individual ability. From this the concept of “Renaissance
Man”, a universal person who was capable of achievements in many areas of life. People were interested in
expanding their knowledge.
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Art: the development of realistic linear perspective and of the other techniques like the light, the shadow and
the study of human anatomy (Leonardo da Vinci). Artists tried to reconcile religious subjects with scenes and
objects from life of everyday.From this, the concepts of naturalism and realism.
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Science: “the scientific method”, the process for discovery. The new scientific method led to great
contributions in the fields of astronomy, physics, biology, and anatomy. Very famous are the “Copernican and
Galilean” Revolution. But not only. The Renaissance was the time of change in technology. For example very
important for the publication of classic texts and so for the diffusion of the culture was the invention of
printing.
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Literature: Renaissance writers didn’t write in the Classic Latin because they used the “vernacular”. Then they
wrote for self-expression or to portray the individuality of their subjects. Also women wrote. They wrote about
their personal subjects, not politics. The emblem of the English literature is William Shakespeare who is
considered the greatest play write ever and who used the classics as an aspiration.
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Religion: the new ideals of humanism developed against a Cgristian backdrop, especially in the Northern
Renaissance. The Renaissance, in fact, began in times of religious turmoil. The Church was accused of
nepotism,simony,absenteeism luxury and lovers. As times changed, in fact, with the coming of the Renaissane,
people began to question the Church.
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Key words: Christian / protest / reform
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What was the Reformation?
-The Reformation was a split in the Christian Church;
-It happened because people were unhappy about the Church;
-they protested and wanted the reform of Christianity.
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Why reform?
-This reform movement divided western Church into Catholic and Protestant groups;
-Popes were corrupted by power and loss focus of spiritual leadership;
-People wanted to know how to save their souls;
-Due to indulgences, release of a soul from purgatory for a monetary donation;
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Who was the leader of this reformation?
-Martin Luther was a German priest;
-He moved against the Church to overthrow Papal power;
-He was supported by many German princes because he needed their support;
-He wanted to introduce the movement of “Protestantism”;
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The Catholic Church was the only Church in Western Europe.
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The Bible was the only to be read by Priests or Bishops.
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Church services were only in Latin language.
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In 1517 a priest started offering indulgences to anyone offering money to rebuild
St.Peter ‘s cathedral in Rome.
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This was the last straw for Martin Luther, a German monk.
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Salvation is achieved through faith alone.
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The Bible is the sole source of religious truth.
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All Christian had equal access to God through faith and Bible.
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Against the indulgences.
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Luther’s main argument was faith alone could save people.
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Luther was excommunicated by the Church but he continued to preach his message and
to encourage people to search the truth, questioning the Church.
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Some historians consider it the beginning of the modern history.
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Its influence was felt in literature, philosophy, art, music, politics, science,
religion, and other aspects of intellectual inquiry.
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Renaissance scholars employed the humanist method in study, and searched for
realism and human emotion in art.
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It has origins in late 13th century in Firenze, in particular with the writing Dante
and Petrarca and with the painter Giotto.
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There is a keen observation of the natural world and a search for the ideal
beauty.
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Renaissance scholars, influenced by the northern European humanism ,focused
themselves on studying Greek and Roman works of the five
humanities:poetry,grammar,history,moral philosophy and rhetoric.
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Printers and booksellers were very numerous.
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The population and the price of food increased in 16th century.
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It began in Italy in the Late Middle-Ages.
1.First of all, Italy had been the center of Roman Empire. So ruins and art
surronded Italians and remined them of their past. It was natural that
they became interested in Greek and Roman art and tried to make their
own art as good.
2.By 1300s , Italy’s cities had become were wealthy. They could afford to
pay painters, sculptors , architects and other artists to produce new works
which increased the fame of these cities and characterized this period. For
example Firenze was dominated by the “Medici family” which, together other
ducats encouraged the development of many talents.
3.Italy was still divided into many small city-states. Firenze,Venice , Genoa,
Milan and Rome were some of the most important cities of the
Renaissance. The Italian city-states competed with each other. This helped
bring about Renaissance.
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By about 1450 , the Renaissance is finally starting to move outside of Italy.
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Italy had a civil war and many of its writers and artists traveled north to get out the success.Thus
spreading the classics to northern Europe.
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German painters began to paint the monarchs of England.
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Printing press produced Bible’s copies, other books and music so these new artistic ideas and
techniques were practiced.
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While in Italy Renaissance was inspired by humanism with its emphasis on the revival of the values of
classic antiquity, in Northern Europe...
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...in Northern Europe, change was driven by religious reform, the return to Christian values and the
revolt against the authority of the Church.
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The rulers of England and France bought paintings of the artists to place in their palaces.
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Population growth rebounded from the years of the plague and from the 100 years war between France
and England ended.
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Due in part to the plague and in part to the Hundred Years War, northern Europe had centralized
power in the form of monarchies because northern Europe didn’t have independent city-states. So it
was mainly the kings and some nobles who were responsible for the Renaissance’s spread, not wealthy
patron families.
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Northern Renaissance influenced the German Renaissance, French Renaissance, Polish Renaissance and
English Renaissance.
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It’s a period of great change from Middle-Ages view.
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It’s a flowering of literary, artistic and intellectual development.
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It reached the highest point during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign.
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The ideal man won’t be a medieval and simple knight but a courtier who was interested
in music, letters and art.
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Social classes were enforced.
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The period is also characterized by widespread religious wars, geographical discovery
and colonization, and major reforms of the state.
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Literary culture was influenced by the advent of printing.
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Rise of rich and powerful merchants who abandoned feudal traditions and became
interested in art and culture. This phenomenon was called “patronage”.
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Desire to beautiful cities which became political, economic and social centers.
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It started after “The war of Roses” and when Henry Tudor took the throne and ended
with king James I.
In 1485, a powerful nobleman named
HenryTudor(VII) defeated the King Richard
III in the battle of Bosworth Field, bringing
to the end a strife (War of Roses) between
two families, the House of York and the
House of Lancaster, that last almost a
century.
Henry was declared the new king and was
given to him the title of Henry VII. He
established the powerful Tudor Dinasty, the
first monarchy of English Renaissance which
would rule Britain for over 100 years. With
this dinasty England became the centre of
literacy culture.
He came to the throne when “Wars of the
Roses” ended.
 He was not a member of the royal family, so
he needed to justify his new dinasty.
 He restored the reputation of the monarch as
one who rules, so as one who thinks to
expande the power, not having legislative
works.
 He encouraged both trade, making
advantageous commercial treaties, spending
money on the building of ships and on
extending the militar power.
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A king’s protest
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1509, Henry VIII became king at the age of 17.
Devout Catholic.
Wrote angry protests against Luther.
Received by the Church the title of “Defender of Faith”.
1525 the wife Catherine of Aragon gave birth to Mary.
Annulment
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Henry wanted male heir.
Wanted marriage to Catherine annulled.
Pope Clement VII would not agree to annulment.
Opposition
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Catherine & nephew H.R.E. Charles V, opposed annulment.
Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn from who he had another
women,Elizabeth.
Henry takes over
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Reformation Parliament declared England no longer under authority
of pope.
Henry became head of “Church of England”,Anglican Church.
Anglican Church
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Henry changed Church’s rituals.
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Closed Chatolic monasteries and convents.
Act of Supremacy
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1533, Anne Boleyn & Henry married; marriage to Catherine
annulled.
Act of Supremacy passed; Henry VIII “Supreme head of Church
of England”.
Son of Henry VII
 Musician and linguist
 He was a famous public
personality
 He was very beautiful and he
received a chilvary education
 He has six wives
 Head of the Church of England
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Son of Henry VIII’s third
wife,Jane Seymour
 The achievement of his reign
was the “Protestan Reformation”
 Replaced the Old Latin like main
language but also the English
language for religious books
 Assumed the throne at 9
 Died at 15
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Daughter of Henry VIII’s first
wife,Catherine of Aragon
 Restored England to Catholicism
 Restored Pope’s authority over the
English Church
 Married her cousin Phillip, making
England appear to be an apendage of
Spain
 Ordered the death of 300
Protestants
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Daughter of Henry VIII’s second wife,Anne Boleyn
Her main achievement was the settlement of the religious question
Elizabeth was very well educated and cultured
Her court was more brilliant than her father Edward VI’s
She was not a beautiful woman
She started going bald when she was young
She had a magnetic personality and she was very sensible
She never married
She use the fact she was unmarried like a political weapon
She used to say her love affair was with nation
A lot of men wanted to get married with her to condivide her powerful
She increased the role of the Parliament and of the government
Thanks to her, England had some “coloniae” in India
She drafted new Supremacy Act , splitting England from Rome
Physical characteristics
Phisically “Elizabeth I” had a large forehead because it was a symbol of intelligence. Elizabeth’s high
forehead in her paintings may have been natural but may have been exaggerated by the painters or may
have been due to the fact that the Queen wore wigs and may have shaved the front of her hair or she may
have been some hair loss.
Very famous is heir collar. Even today, in fact, is called so the classic collar for dogs.
Elizabeth, the sex and the men.
Elizabeth had certanly the opportunity to be in love , in fact she was constantly surrounded by men and
because she was in advantageous political position. All her relationships were not passional. Elizabeth’s sex
life remains a topic of considerable interest and debate, also today. Rumors suppose nobody wanted to
marry her because she was infertile or had some sexual deformations. But it could be also that Elizabeth
would have been afraid of marriage from a young age , since her father killed many of his wives.
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The reign of Elizabeth I was a turbulent period,
but she successfully coped with all the difficulties.
England was threatened by the superpowers of the
age (Spain and France).
Elizabeth was excommunicated by the Pope in 1570.
She was in a constant fear for her life.
Elizabeth managed to maintain a relative peace
between the Protestants and the Catholics.
She tried to unite her people, by insisting that they
are all English. So the people developed a sense of
national pride.
During the 45 years she was in power, Elizabeth
brought her nation together and England’s position
became stronger: it was the…
…”Golden Age of English Literature”
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The English Literary Renaissance consists of
four subsets: the Elizabethan Age, the
Jacobean Age, the Caroline Age and the
Commonwealth Period.
The Elizabethan era saw a great flourishing
of literature, especially in the field of
drama. The other major literary style was
“lyric poetry”
Many of the most important dramatists were
also excellent poets.
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Before and during Elizabethan Age, medieval
tradition blended with Renaissance spirit of
optimism and freedom
Most writers to the early Renaissance drew
inspiration from classical antiquity: some of
them, in fact, wrote in Latin
Authors began to describe everyday situations
and characters. Their heroes were explorers,
teachers, merchants and craftsmen so the old
medieval knights, kings and lovers disappeared
At that time, the writing of poetry was part of
the education of gentleman
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Origins: Italy, 13° C. – Petrarch with the “Canzoniere”
sonnet as one of the major poetic form: love poem.
established the
The themes:
-Unrequited love;
-Desperate love;
-Eternal love;
-Tragic love.
The structure: 14 lines divided into two distinct paths;
The octave
-Introduces a situation, presents a problem or raises a question;
-Rhyme scheme:abbaabba;
-First 8 lines.
The seste
-Where the speaker comments on or resolves the problem or question;
-Rhyme scheme:cdecde;
-The last 6 lines.
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Shakespeare changed the pattern and rhyme scheme of the
“Petrarchan sonnet”, creating the English sonnet.
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Shakespeare’s sonnets broke conventions of his time.
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Sonnets were…
-more complex;
-less predictable
-addressed death, change etc…, not just love.
The structure:
-3 quatrains and a couplet
-rhyme scheme:abab cdcd efef gg
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The language is full of oxymora, a figure of speech which
combines two usually contradictory terms in a compressed paradox
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The subjects: the traditional remained the love but Shakeseare
introduced the theme of beauty, decay and art.
1564-1616
 English poet playwright
 154 sonnets
 Nine tragedies: (Othello, Romeo and
Juliet, Hamlet and Macbeth
 38 plays
 Powerful language
 Understanding of human nature
 Expanded dramatic potential
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