Download Chapter 17: European Renaissance and Reformation

Chapter 12
Renaissance and
Reformation
Section 1
The Renaissance
Learning Objectives
The students will be able to:
• List three characteristics of
the Renaissance
• Characterize the city-states
which were centers of
political, economic, and social
life in Renaissance Italy.
What was the Renaissance?
What was the Renaissance, and where did it begin?
•Italy
•Italian Cities
•Urban Societies
•Major Trading Centers
•Secular
•Moved away from life in the church
•Focuses more on material objects and enjoying life
1300-1600
Renaissance = Rebirth
of art and learning
The Renaissance was a time of renewal
Renaissance means rebirth and Europe
was recovering from the Dark ages and
the plague.
People had lost their faith in the church
and began to put more focus on human
beings.
Renewal
of
interest in
GrecoRoman
heritage
Laocoon
Italian
States
•Began in Northern Italy
Three important
characteristics of
the Renaissance
1. Wealthy Urban
Centers (City-States)
with a secular outlook
on life = possibility to
enjoy material things
How did the Crusades contribute
to the Renaissance?
• Increased demand for Middle Eastern products
• Stimulated production of goods to trade in Middle Eastern markets
• Encouraged the use of credit and banking
• Church rule against usury and the banks’ practice of charging
interest helped to secularize northern Italy.
• Letters of credit served to expand the supply of money and
expedite trade.
• New accounting and bookkeeping practices (use of Arabic numerals)
were introduced.
Secularism:
Focus on good living,
worldly concerns
2. Recovery from
disaster & a rebirth
of interest in
ancient culture
3. A new view of
human beings with
regard to ability &
individual worth
Renaissance Man:
Skilled in many
areas:
Well educated
Witty
Artistic
Athletic
Benozzo Gozzoli 1420
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/index1.html
Renaissance
Woman:
• Beautiful
• Charming
• Educated: but
not ambitious
– even less
politically
active than
Medieval
women
http://www.kfki.hu/~arthp/index1.html
Leonardo
da Vinci
Renaissance Man
painter,
sculptor,
architect,
inventor, &
mathematician
Three Italian CityStates played an
important role in
Italian politics
Italian
States
Milan
• Located at the
crossroads of trade
routes = rich &
powerful
• Visconti family was
in power until 1447
• Francesco Sforza
conquered the city
Francesco Sforza
Venice
• Republic with an
elected leader called
a Doge
• Truly ruled by a
small group of
wealthy merchantaristocrats.
Florence
• Major city of
the
Renaissance in
northern Italy
• Controlled by
the Medici
Family
Cosimo de Medici
• Controlled Florence behind
scenes for 30 years
• Inherited his money and
business from his father
– Used his wealth to control
votes in the city
• People became angry
because of this
• Ran him out of the city
• All the money went with
him!
• Begged to have him back!
• Brought peace to northern
Italy
• Patron of the arts
– Spent a fortune on sponsoring
artists
http://sgwww.epfl.ch/berger/Jardinnoframe/cosme-eleonore_english.html
Lorenzo
de Medici
Cosimo’s
grandson
Girolamo Savonarola
• A Dominican preacher who
condemns the corruption and
excesses of the Medici Family
• Takes control of Florence
• Regulates gambling, horseracing,
swearing, painting, music, & books
Major Italian
Cities
Italy failed to become united during the Ages.
Many independent city-states emerged in
northern and central Italy that played an
important role in Italian politics and art.
Milan
One of the richest cities, it controls
trade through the Alps.
Venice
Sitting on the Adriatic, it attracts
trade from all over the world.
Florence
Controlled by the De Medici Family, who
became great patrons of the arts.
Genoa
Had Access to Trade Routes
All of these cities:
Had access to trade routes connecting
Europe with Middle Eastern markets
• Served as trading centers for the
distribution of goods to northern Europe
• Were initially independent city-states
governed as republics
Milan
Venice
Genoa
Florence
Niccolo
Machiavelli
and the
New
Statecraft
Political Ideas of the Renaissance
Niccolò Machiavelli
The Prince
Machiavelli believed:
“One can make this generalization about
men: they are ungrateful, fickle, liars,
and deceivers, they shun danger and are
greedy for profit”
Machiavelli observed city-state rulers of
his day and produced guidelines for the
acquisition and maintenance of power by
absolute rule.
He felt that a ruler should be willing to
do anything to maintain control without
worrying about conscience.
• Better for a ruler to be feared than to be loved
• Ruler should be quick and decisive in decision
making
• Ruler keeps power by any means necessary
• The end justifies the means
• Be good when possible, and evil when necessary
The Prince
• How to get and keep political power
• Abandoned morality as the basis for
analyzing political power
• “the end justifies the means”
• For the sake of the state, a prince
must be willing to let his conscience
sleep
Renaissance
Society
Nobles
• Ideals of the nobles written in
The Book of the Courtier
• Noble born, not made
• must gain a classical education
and be a warrior
• Show achievements with grace
Peasants & Townspeople
• Peasants:
– 85-90% of the total population
– End of Serfdom
• Townspeople:
– Patricians (wealthy merchants )
– Burghers (shopkeepers & masters)
– Workers
Family & Marriage
• Arranged marriages – to strengthen
family ties
• Dowry – money given by the wife’s
family to the husband upon marriage
• Father-husband was the center of the
family
– Authority was absolute till he died or
freed his children