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Unit 1.2A
THE
RENAISSANCE
Part I
The Renaissance
I. Background
A. Renaissance is considered the beginning of
modern European history
B. Renaissance (c. 1300-1600)
1. Occurred first in Italy c. 1300 and lasted
until 1527
2. The Renaissance spread to Northern Europe
around 1450
3. In England, the Renaissance did not begin
until the 16th century and lasted to the very
early 17the century (e.g. Shakespeare)
C. Origins of the concept of a “renaissance”:
19th-century historian Jacob Burckhardt
claimed the Renaissance stood in stark
contrast to the Middle Ages
D. Renaissance culture applied almost
exclusively to the upper classes
1. Upper classes had the luxury of time to
spend learning the classics
2. The peasantry was largely illiterate
3. Working classes and small merchants
were preoccupied with the concerns of
daily life
II. Rise of the Italian city-states
A. Northern cities developed international
trade: Venice, Genoa, and Milan
1. By 1300, signori (despots), or
oligarchies (rule of merchant
aristocracies) controlled all of the
Italian peninsula.
2. Commenda: a contract between a
merchant and “merchant-adventurer”
who agreed to take goods to distant
locations and return with the
proceeds (for 1/3 of the profits)
3. Italy became more urban: it had more
towns and cities with significant
populations than anywhere else in
Europe at this time
Italian CityStates in the
late-15th
century
B. Politics among the Italian City-States
1. Competition among city-states meant
that Italy did not unify politically
a. In effect, an early balance of power
emerged
b. Political disunity eventually led to
the downfall of the city-states in the
late 1400s and early 1500s
2. Condottieri: mercenary generals of
private armies who were hired by citystates for military purposes
Leonardo da
Vinci,
Condotierri,
c. 1476
C. Major city-states and figures
1. Republic of Florence (included Genoa)
a. Center of the Renaissance during the
14th and 15th centuries
b. Dominated by the Medici family
c. Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464): allied
with other powerful
families in Florence
and became the
unofficial ruler of the
republic
d. Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492):
perhaps the greatest patron of the arts
A 15th-century portrait by
Angelo Bronzino
1480, painted terracotta bust
by Verrocchio, 1480
2. Duchy of Milan
a. Ruled by the Sforza family after 1450
b. Milan was a major enemy of Florence
and Venice
c. Peace of Lodi (1454) created a 40-year
period of relative peace
3. Rome, the Papal States: Popes served as
religious & political leaders; controlled
much of central Italy
4. Venice, Venetian Republic
a. Longest lasting of the Italian city-states
b. Greatest maritime power in Italy
5. Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
a. Included southern Italian region of
Naples and the island of Sicily
b. Only Italian city-state to officially have
a “king”
c. Controlled by
France between
1266-1435
d. Controlled by
Spain after
1435
D. Decline of the Italian City-States
1. French invasion of Italy began in 1494.
a. Milan’s despot, Ludovico “the Moor”
invited French King Charles VIII
(1483-1498) to invade Naples, Milan’s
traditional enemy.
b. This was the beginning of foreign
invasions in Italy.
2. Florence
a. When Florence tried to appease France
during its 1494 invasion, it led to the
overthrow of the Medici family
b. Girolamo Savonarola became the unofficial
ruler of Florence between 1494-1498
• Pledged to rid Florence of its decadence
and corruption
• Oversaw a theocracy
• Predicted French invasions
due to the paganism &
moral decay of Florence
(and other states)
• When France was removed
from Italy in 1498, he was
burned at the stake
3. Italy became a battleground in a series of
struggles between Spain and France
-- Spanish fears of a French-Italian
alliance led to its alliance with Venice,
the Papal States and the Holy Roman
Empire
4. Niccolò Machiavelli:
The Prince (1513)
a. Quintessential
political treatise
of the 16th century
b. Observed the political leadership of Cesare
Borgia (son of Pope Alexander VI) who had
ambitions of uniting Italy under his control
c. Stated that politically, “the ends justifies the
means”
d. For rulers, “it is better to be feared
than to be loved
e. Rulers had to be
practical and cunning,
in addition to being
aggressive and ruthless
f. The Prince continued to
influence European
rulers for centuries
5. 1527, Sack of Rome by the armies of
Charles V (who was also king of Spain)
marked the end of Italy’s cultural
dominance
III. Humanism
A. Characteristics
1. Revival of ideas from ancient Rome &
Greece in philosophy, literature, & art
-- Sought to reconcile pagan literature
with Christian thought
2. Individualism
-- Virtú: excellence in one’s pursuits
3. Study of ancient languages
a. Initially, Latin was the focus
b. After the fall of Byzantium, Greek
became a major focus
c. By 1500, all rediscovered Greek and
Roman texts were translated and printed
4. Largely rejected Aristotelian views and
medieval Scholasticism in favor of:
a. Roman authors such as Cicero,
Livy, Virgil, and Quintilian
b. Greek writers such as Plato
c. Early Christian writers, especially
those of the New Testament
-- Predominantly northern Europe
5. Liberal arts educational program:
grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history,
politics, and moral philosophy
6. Civic humanism: education should
prepare leaders who would be active in
civic affairs
-- Prominent humanistic political
leaders included Salutati and Bruni
7. Often, humanism was more secular
and lay dominated
-- Most humanists remained deeply
Christian, in both Italy and
Northern Europe
B. Petrarch (1304-1374): “father of
humanism”
1. Considered the first modern writer
2. Considered the Middle Ages to be the
“dark ages”
3. Perhaps the first to use critical textual
analysis to ancient texts
-- Especially influenced
by Cicero
4. Wrote his most
well-known poetry in
the Italian vernacular
C. Giovanni Boccacio (1313-1375)
1. Encyclopedia of Greek and Roman
mythology
2. Decameron is his most famous work
a. 100 tales provide social commentary
on 14th-century Italy
b. Sought to impart
wisdom of human
character and
behavior
D. Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444)
1. First to use the term “humanism”
2. Among the most important civic
humanists
3. Wrote perhaps the first modern history
E. Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457)
1. Foremost expert on the Latin language:
Elegances of the Latin Language, 1444
2. On the False Donation of Constantine, 1444
a. Exposed the Donation of Constantine
as an 8th-century fraud
b. The Church had claimed it had been
granted vast territories by the 4thcentury Roman emperor,
Constantine
3. He also exposed errors in
the Latin Vulgate, the
official Catholic Bible
F. Marsilio Ficino: Platonic Academy
1. One of most influential humanist
philosophers of the 15th century
2. Founded the Platonic Academy at the
behest of Cosimo de Medici, 1460s
-- Resulted in the spread of Plato’s
works throughout much of Europe
3. Translated Plato’s work
into Latin, giving modern
Europeans access to
these works for the first
time
G. Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494)
1. Member of the Platonic Academy
2. Oration on the Dignity of Man, 1486
a. Perhaps the most famous Renaissance
work on the nature of mankind
b. Humans were created by God and
therefore given tremendous potential for
greatness
c. Humans had free will to
be great or to fail
H. Machiavelli
1. Secular ideas and emphasis on individualism
reflected humanist philosophy
2. Studied classical history thoroughly
I. Baldassare Castiglione (1478- 1529) -Book of the Courtier, 1528
1. Perhaps most important Renaissance
work on social etiquette
2. Specified qualities
necessary to be a true
gentlemen
3. Ideal of the “Renaissance
Man”
I. Johann Gutenburg (c. 1395-1468):
printing press
1. One of the most important inventions in
human history
2. Development of moveable type made
possible the spread of humanistic
literature at an astonishing speed
3. No longer would copies of works need to
be done individually by hand
4. 1457-58: published the first printed Bible
in the city of Mainz
5. Facilitated the spread of the Reformation
This is one of
48 complete
Gutenburg
Bibles still in
existence. It is
housed at the
Library of
Congress in
Washington,
D.C.
The Diffusion of
the Moveable
Type Printing
Press