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The Renaissance
 The Renaissance Attitude:
• Individualism
• Secularism (Humanism)- not anti-Christian
• Revival of Classical values
 Means rebirth
• Revival of Antiquity (Ancient Greece & Rome)
• Begins in Italy
Characteristics
 Urban society = “city states”
 Recovery from “horror” of 14th Century (plague (black death), church problems, political
instability)
 Belief in human achievement & individualism
 Largely reserved for wealthy upper class
The Italian States
 Dominant force in Italy’s economic, social, and political life
 Milan, Venice, and Florence = prosperous trading centers that help promote “Renaissance
spirit”
 Italy= no king
 How did they get there?
Medici Family
 13th - 17th Century Florentines
• Attained great wealth via banking & trade industries
• Wealth = political power
• Greatest contribution to the Renaissance was in sponsorship of artists and
architects
Renaissance Society
 Middle Ages =society divided into 3 estates or social classes:
1. Nobility
2. Peasants or Townspeople
3. Clergy
 Similar structure during Renaissance, however, important change taking place
Nobility
 Only 3% of population but dominate European society:
• Hold important political posts
• Advisors to monarchs, popes, princes
• Land & business owners
• Intent on acquiring, holding, and keeping POWER
Nobility and Behavior
 Noble or aristocrat expected to fulfill certain ideals or standards
 Outlined by Castiglione (kahs–teel–yoh-nay) in The Book of Courtier (1528)
1. A noble is born, not made; “blood will out”
2. Military skill & classical education
3. Code of conduct
Power
 Machiavelli – The Prince, (1505)
1. One of most influential books ever written on “how to acquire and keep political
power”
2. A political realist = The “end justifies the mean”
Peasants and Townspeople
 By 1500:
 More and more peasants became legally free from the “manorial system”
 Artisans & merchants constituted townspeople, diverse urban setting
 Still a rather miserable life
Marriage and the Family
 Arranged marriages
 Dowry (sum of $ paid by wife’s family to husband upon marriage)
 Father is absolute head of household
 Adulthood reached when children officially “freed” from father’s rule
Humanism
 Renaissance marked by “secularism” or focus on the “individual” = Humanism
 Quote, pg. 164
 Humanism based on study of the “classics” (Greek & Roman literary works)
 Humanists’ studied subjects such as: grammar, poetry, philosophy, history
• Emphasized interest in civic life – serve mankind
Intellectual and Artistic Contributors
 Petrarch (1304-1374)
• Often called father of Renaissance
• Gathered, recovered, and organized Latin manuscripts thus creating large
collections or libraries for scholarly study
• Humanists’ stressed using Latin
 Dante (1265-1321)
• Famous work = Divine Comedy (soul’s journey to salvation)
 Chaucer (1343-1400)
• Famous work = The Canterbury Tales (collection of stories – 29 pilgrims
journeying to the tomb of St. Thomas Becket at Canterbury, England)
• Both Chaucer and Dante= vernacular literature
 Christine de Pizan (1365-1430)
• Famous work = The Book of the City of Ladies (denounced male scholars &
writers that argued women, by nature, were unable to learn to level equal with
men)
 Masaccio (1401-1428)
• Famous work = Known for “fresco” painting – done on fresh, wet plaster with
water-based paints
 Brunelleschi (1377-1446)
• Famous work = architect, best known for cathedrals, especially Santa Maria del
Fiore
 Donatello (1386-1466)
• Famous work = sculptor, best known for St. George and St. Mark statues in
Florence
 Raphael (1483-1520)
• Famous works = painter with countless achievements (Madonna paintings)
 Michelangelo (1483-1520)
• Famous works = painter, sculptor – best known for Sistine Chapel & David