Download The Renaissance 1300 -1600

The Renaissance
1350 -1650
SOL WHII.2
Review of the Medieval
Period/Middle Ages (750-1500)
• Europeans first introduced to the luxury goods of
Asia during the Crusades
• Trade grew due to the rise of cities
Cities grew when agricultural success
enabled more serfs to move away from
feudal manors.
Renaissance
• The glorification of classical (Greek and
Roman) civilizations
• Rebirth of society.
• The Renaissance began around 1300 A.D.
and lasted until around 1600 A.D.
– It was a time of cultural awakening for
Europe
– The Renaissance was also a time of
reforming education. People began to
develop new ideas about self and the
world around them.
City Life
• Italy had not become unified like France and England.
• 3 cities played leading roles in the Renaissance
– Florence, Rome and Venice
• Italy was culturally and economically more prepared
for the Renaissance because :
– 1) no central authority/more individual freedoms
– 2) center of international trade
• Each city-state was ruled by a wealthy family whose
fortunes usually came from trade or banking, working
outside of the Church’s influence
• The Medici family in Florence was evidence that the
power of government in the city-states originated with
the merchants
• The Medici were a famous ruling family that were
patrons of the arts and generally credited with
supporting the beginning of the Renaissance.
• Florence = birthplace of the Renaissance
• Cosimo de’Medici:
– Used taxes to make city improvements
• Lorenzo “the magnificent” de’Medici:
– supported artists, philosophers and writers
Humanists
• Humanists believed learning about the “classics” was the key
to reforming society (Society was in need of reform because of
the “Dark Ages”.
• Humanists believed the individual had self-dignity
and worth to society.
– Consequently, they strongly supported education for
everyone.
• Early Humanists were orators, poets, and writers.
– They studied original manuscripts….similar to studying
primary sources today.
– Petrarch wrote 366 sonnets (short poems) “Sonnets to Laura”
– Cellini wrote one of the first autobiographies
• Today, a “Renaissance Person” is one who is well-rounded and
successful in many varied fields.
Political Science
(the study of government)
• Niccolo Machiavelli wrote “The Prince”
• Advocated the idea that the end result justifies
the means and provided a set of rules for rulers
to take and hold power.
Artistic Achievements
• Renaissance art was famous for using perspective
(Depth/ 3D).
• Architecture:
– Brunelleschi:
• Dome design
• Sculpture:
– Donatello:
• first since ancient times to cast a statue in bronze
• Ghiberti:
– 21 years to complete 10 New Testament scenes in bronze.
• Painting:
– Giotto; human emotions
• Masaccio:
– lighting, life-like human bodies
• Leonardo da Vinci:
– Mona Lisa and The Last Supper
• Michelangelo:
– sculpted statue of David, La Pieta, Moses
– 1505 – Pope Julius II hired him to paint the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel with scenes from the Bible
Don’t
Look!
The Renaissance of
Northern Europe
• Spread of Renaissance to Northern Europe aided
by invention of Printing Press (around 1440) by
Johannes Gutenberg
• Prior to 1500, the compass, numerical system,
and silk were exchanged, but not the printing
press.
• The Renaissance in Northern Europe had a more
religious tone.
The Renaissance of
Northern Europe
• Erasmus = Christian humanist who was renowned for his
accomplishments in intellectual ideas. Wrote In Praise of Folly
• Thomas Moore = Utopia
• William Shakespeare
– English playwriter = King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream,
Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet
– Wrote line, “What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any
other name would smell so sweet.”
• Cervantes = Don Quixote (The first novel!)
• The novel became a widely popular form of literature during the
18th century, because of its new form and it reached a much
larger population.