Download The Northern Renaissance Begins

The Northern Renaissance
The Northern Renaissance
Begins
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By 1450 the population of Northern Europe was
recovering from the Bubonic Plague
 1453- 100 years war between France and England
was over
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England and France under strong monarchs who
sponsored the arts (i.e. Francis I of France invited da Vinci
to retire in France and hired Italian artists to rebuild his
castle at Fountainebleau
 As ideas left Italy, they mingled with northern
traditions- so, own character developed
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Northern humanists more interested in religious ideas
than secular Italy- some developed plan for social reform
based on Christian values
Artistic Ideas Spread to
Germany

1494 French king claimed the throne of Naples and
launched an invasion through northern Italy- this led many
Italian artists and writers to flee north
  German painters
• o Albrecht Duerer- son of a goldsmith, who decided to
become a painter. Went to Italy to study. Made woodcuts
and engravings. His work inspired other German artists
• o Hans Holbein the Younger – specialized in painting
portraits that are almost photographic in detail – had great
success in England
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And to Flanders…..
• Flemish Painters
• o Similar to Italy, wealthy merchant families liked the
emphasis on individualism and worldly pleasures and paid
for art
• o Jan van Eyck – used oil-based painting (which doesn’t
dry quickly and lends itself to blending)- very realistic
subjects and portrayals
• o Pieter Bruegel the Elder – interested in people, painted
everyday life, or anger at Spanish rule over them
Northern Writers try to reform
society
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Christian humanists- adapted humanism and gave it a
more religious slant
  Desiderius Erasmus
• o Holland- born in Rotterdam
• o Wrote The Praise of Folly, which poked fun at greedy
merchants, heartsick lovers, quarrelsome scholars, and
pompous priests
• o Believed in Christianity of the heart- everyone should
read the Bible
 § Thomas More
• o 1516 Utopia about an imaginary land of peace-loving
people (in Greek utopia means “no place” but in English
its meaning changed)
Francios Rebalais and William
Shakespeare
•o
Wrote in vernacular French instead of Latin (like More and
Erasmus)
• o Gargantua and Pantagruel- poked fun at society
• o Believed people were basically good and should live by their
instincts instead of religious rule
•
 § William Shakespeare
• o 1564 born in Stratford-upon-Avon, by 1592 living in London and
writing plays and poems
• o His work shows a deep understanding of human beings – Macbeth,
Hamlet, King Lear, Romeo and Juliet, A Midsummer Night’s Dreamall show human flaws
Elizabethan Age

Renaissance England is also called the
Elizabethan Age, for Queen Elizabeth I,
who reigned from 1558 – 1603- she was
well-educated, knew many languages, and
patronized the arts
•
Printing Spreads Renaissance
Ideas
  Chinese had invented block printing
• o 1045 Bi Sheng invented movable type
(but not practical for Chinese because they
had so many characters)
• o By 13th century block-printed items
reached Europe
Johann Gutenberg
§ a craftsman from Mainz, Germany,
reinvented movable type around 1440
• o Then went on to invent the printing press
(which was easy for European languages
which don’t have that many letters in their
alphabets)
• o 1455 printed the Gutenberg Bible- first
full-size book printed with movable type
Printing Spreads Learning
• o Printer could produce hundreds of copies
• o Books are cheap- so more people buy them
• o By 1500 presses in 250 cities had printed 9-10
million books
• o Spread of new ideas increased
• o Encouraged learning and led to rise in literacy
• o Writing in the vernacular- more people read the
Bible themselves- ultimately leads to church
reform