Download What Should I Know About the Renaissance?

MAKING OF THE MODERN WORLD
What Should I know About the Renaissance?
— Renaissance means “rebirth” in French. Other good
descriptions of the Renaissance:
“flowering of civilization”
“growth”
“ progress of ideas”
“golden age”
— It is a paradigm shift (transition) from the way of life in the Middle
Ages to something new. It was caused in part by:
*A decline in the power of the Catholic Church (scandals, power
struggles, corruption etc.)
*Strong and powerful kings and queens begin to unify society
*There is constant warfare (Crusades and then the 100 Years War)
*1/3 of Europe’s population dies from the bubonic plague
*Trade and communication between Europe and Asia increases
-- People’s attitudes and outlook change drastically:
*loss of faith in the Church, people feel they don’t hold the only answers to
life’s questions
*Advances in technology create new ways of doing things and make
education more accessible:
Gunpowder— makes cannons and guns, knights are
obsolete
Printing Press— makes books and ideas available to more
people, more cheaply
Better diet— more food and better nutrition help people live
longer and healthier lives.
*Black Death (bubonic plague) makes people who survive and the skills
they possess more valuable
*Strong Kings and Queens keep peace, end fighting between feudal lords,
make laws that apply equally to everyone, coin money and increase
trade.
-- Renaissance begins in Italy.....Why?
*Organized into city-states each controlled by a powerful family (sort of like
the mafia)
Genoa, Venice, Milan, Florence are some of the most important
cities.
*City-states are urban
*City-states are involved in trade and so they are very wealthy, they have
money to spend on art and education
*They are the “cross-roads” of culture. Geographic location= in the middle
of the known world. Trade brings contact with many different
people in the world and spreads ideas and information.
*They are built on the site of the old Roman Empire, they feel they should
protect and preserve the Roman legacy.
--When was the Renaissance?
* The Renaissance lasted from roughly 1350 to 1600.
* The Renaissance overlaps many of the events we have been talking about
in Quarter 1…The Mongol Empire, the Ming Dynasty and the Age of
the Exploration… were all happening during the European
Renaissance.
* The Renaissance was broken up into two periods:
1. The Italian Renaissance 1350 -1450
2. The Northern Renaissance 1450-1600
--The Renaissance ideas and values STARTED in Italy and then spread
NORTH throughout Germany, France, The Netherlands and England.
Many ideas are carried by merchants and other travelers who have
visited Italy and want to copy what Italians are doing in their own
communities.
-- Important Renaissance Values:
1. Humanism-- the belief that the human person, individuals are very important.
Humanists believe people should be free to think about and question the
world around them. Focus on secular issues and concerns. People
occupy themselves with the world around them and earthly
matters. There is less focus on religious life and Church
authority in all things.
2. CLASSICAL KNOWLEDGE: People rediscover the ideas of classical (Greek
and Roman) civilization (mostly from the Byzantines and the Arabs) — People
begin to go to great lengths to learn old Greek and Latin languages so they can
read original texts, and make better translations of the ones they do have and find
new ideas.
“Renaissance people” are people who have knowledge in many
different areas. They are good at several things considered important
by society like art, music, athletics and scholarship. Leonardo da
Vinci is considered a classic example of a “Renaissance Man.”
THE BIG THREE OF THE RENAISSANCE:
Leonardo Da Vinci—Arts, science
Martin Luther—Religion
Niccolo Machiavelli—Politics
Other important people:
Michelangelo
Dante
Galileo
Catherine de Medici
Lorenzo de Medici
Geoffrey Chaucer
King Henry VIII
Marco Polo
Johann Gutenberg