Download Notes on The Renaissance EXPLORING THE TIME

Notes on The Renaissance EXPLORING THE TIME The cultures of Greece and of Rome continued long after these great nations ended. You have learned how the Byzantine Empire and the Moslem Empire preserved Greek and Roman ideas after these ideas almost disappeared in western Europe. And you have also learned how the scholars of western Europe began to study Greek and Roman ideas during the Middle Ages. In this chapter, you will learn how this study led to a great period—the period of the beginning of modern history in Europe. The Middle Ages slowly ended during the years between 1300 and 1600, the nations of Europe passed from the Middle Ages into modern history. The name that historians us for this great period of change is the Renaissance (IN­uh5AHN5). The word “Renaissance” means “rebirth.” Historians call this period the Renaissance because the cultures of Greece and Rome were reborn, or discovered again, at this time. Actually, the cultures of Greece and Rome were studied by European scholars in the Early Middle Ages. But the Renaissance scholars became much more interested in the Roman and Greek cultures than the scholars of the Middle Ages. The Renaissance Began in Italy The Renaissance took place at different times in different parts of Europe, but most
historians agree that it began in Italy during the 1300’s. The cultures of Greece and Rome always had been stronger in Italy than in other parts of Europe. And Italy also knew about the Byzantine and Moslem cultures because it ttaded with those lands. After the Crusades, some Italian merchants and nobles built up great fortunes from trade. Many of them wished to make theft cities more beautiful and make them great centers of culture. Therefore, these Italians became patrons of culture—the people who supported the work of the artists, writers, builders, musicians, and philosophers who started the Renaissance. The Humanists Helped the Renaissance to Develop Beginning in the 1300’s, many more scholars began to study the writings of the great Greek and Roman writers. These scholars were called humanists, because they were interested in everything that concerned human beings. Petrarch (PEE­trahrk) was the “founder of humanism.” It was Petrarch who gave the name “Renaissance” to this period of years. During the 1400’s, the humanists built up fine libraries for the Pope and for the rulers Italian cities. The Humanists Were Interested in People The humanists’ ideas were very different from the ideas of the scholars of the Middle Ages. The scholars of the Middle Ages were interested mainly in religion. But the humanists were more interested in people and their ability to think and use ideas. The scholars of the Middle Ages were interested in groups of people, not in persons. The humanists were interested in each individual as a person. The scholars of the Middle Ages had little interest in nature or beauty. But the humanists loved both nature and beauty. The humanist ideas were the basis of the Renaissance. And the rich Italian patrons of culture helped to support the work of many humanists. Humanist Ideas Spread to Northern Europe The humanist ideas spread from Italy northward into France, the German states, the Netherlands (Holland), and England. The most famous of the northern humanists was Erasmus (ih­Razz­mus). Erasmus was a great humanist, but he was also interested in religion. He translated, or wrote, the New Testament books of the Bible from Greek into Latin. In doing so, he corrected many mistakes in the old Bible that was used before. Erasmus tried to bring out the truth about many matters. And many later European thinkers built upon Erasmus’ ideas. Printed Books Helped Knowledge to Spread in Europe The greatest invention of the Renaissance was the printing press to print books. the printing press was based on movable type. In the old block printing method, blocks of wood with carved pictures and words were pressed onto a page of a book. But the carving of each block took a long time. With movable type, the letters were cut out of metal and were used over and over again to make up new words. The printer arranged the letters into words and put them onto a printing press. The first European to use the
printing press was probably Johann Gutenberg (GooT­un­BuRG), about the year 1450. Before the invention of the printing press, it often took a whole year or more to copy a book by hand. After the invention of the printing press, thousands of copies of a book were printed at one bne. As a result, books became much cheaper, and they were read by many more people. Now things that had been known before only by a few scholars became known by thousands of people. Many of the events that you will read about in later chapters were a result of this great invention that spread knowledge.