Download The Renaissance-Part 2

“A gentleman should speak not always of serious subjects,
but also of amusing things such as games and jests and jokes,
according to the occasion. He should always of course, speak
out fully and frankly and avoid talking nonsense. A
gentlewoman should know how to choose topics suitable for
the kind of person she is addressing…She should not
introduce jests and jokes into a discussion about serious
things. She should not pretend to know what she does not
know, but she should seek modestly to win credit for knowing
what she does. “
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New ideas appeared as economy/social
structure changed
Led to developments in art, literature,
science, and learning
The Renaissance-”rebirth”
Arose in Italy
 Thriving cities
 Increased trade
 Wealthy merchant class
Increased trade as a result of the Crusades
Growth of large, wealthy city-states in Italy
Classical learning of ancient Greece and Rome
Rise of rich and powerful merchants (patrons of
the arts)
 Increased desire for scientific and technical
knowledge
 Desire to beautify cities
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Greek scholars brought
ancient works to Italy
Inspired Italians to seek
information
Began to think more like
classical thinkers
 Believed in human ability
to create and achieve
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What should a good education include?
Church’s power lessens in favor of a classical education-the
humanities
 Rhetoric, grammar, poetry, history, Latin & Greek
Humanism: movement emphasizing individual achievement
and potential of human mind
How is this viewpoint different from previous ideas?
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Dante: Italian poet in Middle Ages
 Divine Comedy-journey through hell (inferno),
purgatory, and paradise
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Petrarch
Boccaccio
 All wrote literature in the vernacular
 Vernacular: everyday language of people
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People began looking to humanism for
comfort/guidance, instead of to church
Secular: worldly rather than spiritual focus
Stressed education and individual
achievement
Ideal Renaissance man: knowledge of
classics, but also a man of action
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Wrote The
Courtier (1528)
Describes how
Renaissance
man and
woman should
act
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Political philosopher/statesmen
The Prince
Power and ruthlessness more useful than
idealism
Separate morals and politics
The ends justify the means
Significance: idea that state exists separately
from ruler influences later generations
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“A prudent ruler cannot, and must not, honor
his word when it places him at a disadvantage
and when the reasons for which he made his
promise no longer exist”-Machiavelli, The
Prince
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New ideas about natural world
Challenged church teachings
Copernicus
 Polish astronomer
 Sun is at center of universe (heliocentric model)
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Galileo
 Italian astronomer
 Placed under house arrest for supporting
heliocentric model
What were some
important new ideas
of the Renaissance?
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http://www.virtourist.com/europe/florence/in
dex.html
Pick 3 of your favorite works in Florence.
Write 2 sentences for each explaining why
you chose them.
On looseleaf, to be handed in
Classwork grade
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Q/A:
-What is humanism?
-How did Castiglione’s book reveal a new idea
about the role of achievement?
Discussion:
-How might the new ideas of the Renaissance
affect society?