Download Renaissance

Began in Italy
Spread north through Europe
Arrived late in England
What was the Renaissance?
What was the Renaissance, and where did it begin?
Renaissance = “rebirth” of classical Greek and
Roman culture and learning
•Italy
•Italian Cities
•Urban Societies
•Major Trading Centers
•Secular
•Moved away from life in the church
•Focuses more on material objects and enjoying
The Crusades 1095-late 1200s
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
How did the Crusades
contribute to the Renaissance?
• Church rule against usury and the banks
developed practices of finagling interest,
this 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.
Marco Polo 1271-1291
Ottoman Turks Capture Constantinople 1453
Scholars fled to Italy
Brought books and manuscripts written in Greek
Translated into Latin in Italy = restored knowledge
of classical Greek
Secular education in Byzantine Empire hadn’t died
out like in the West
Why Italy?
 Merchant Republics – similar to city states
 Oligarchies
 Wealthy merchant rulers became important
patrons of the arts and sciences
 Location, Location, Location!
Why Italy?
Location, Location, Location!
Why Italy?
Location, Location, Location!
• Celebrated the individual
emphasized the dignity and worth of the
individual
• Stimulated
the study of Greek and Roman
literature and culture
Humanism (idea or belief in) – Humanities
(state or condition of) - Humanist (person
who practices/concerned with something)
RENAISSANCE HUMANISM
Optimism about human
potential
Virtu: “the quality of being
man”
Artists try to compete with
great art of classical past
► Humanists
were laymen rather than
clergy and had ‘literary occupations’
 Teachers of humanities in
universities
 Secretaries in chancelleries of
Italian city-states
 Advisors or secretaries in courts of
Princes or Popes
The Emergence of
th
Humanism 14 C.
►Petrarch
(1304-1374)
 First to characterize the Middle Ages
as a period of darkness
 Promoted mistaken belief that
medieval culture was ignorant of
classical antiquity
 Gathered forgotten Latin manuscripts
from monasteries throughout Europe
PETRARCH
Humanism in
th
15
C. Italy
► In
the 14th C, Humanists lived in solitude
 Rejected family & community life
► Humanism became tied to community spirit
and pride
side called Civic Humanism
 Modeled on Cicero, a statesman &
intellectual
► New
Civic Humanism, cont.
 Explained in The New Cicero by
Leonardo Bruni
 Inspiration for Renaissance ideal that
“an individual grows to maturity both
intellectually and morally through
participation in the life of the state”
 Reflected values of urban society
 Humanists believed their services should
be used by the state
Does this humanistic ideal still exist
in our society today? If so, where?
► Human
Humanism in Education
beings could be profoundly changed by
education
► Founded secondary schools
► Taught liberal arts & phys. ed.
 History, philosophy, rhetoric, grammar,
logic, poetry, math, astronomy, music
 Javelin, archery, dancing, running,
wrestling, hunting, swimming
►Wanted
to produce individuals
who were virtuous & wise, could
convince others to be the same
► painting
of
Massimiliano
Sforza, the son of
the duke of Milan,
attending to his
lessons.
RENAISSANCE MEN
--men with driven, passionate, and compulsive personalities
--men who are highly accomplished in a variety of endeavors
Leonardo da Vinci
Michaelangelo
--engineering,
painting, sculpting,
writing, designing,
inventing
--architect, engineer,
painter, sculptor, poet