Download The Renaissance

The Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance
• Renaissance: means “Rebirth”
• People wanted to make society better, interest
same as Greek and Romans.
• Believed people made a difference
• People became secular: meaning more
interested in world than religion and getting to
heaven
• Four important patterns of thought:
humanism, individualism, secularism
and skepticism.
Trevi
Fountain in
Rome,Italy
Why Italy?
1. Capitol of Roman empire connection
2. Had become very wealthy from trade.
3. City States competed for fame and
fortune.
Laocoon
defeated by
• Urban society created $ boom
snakes sent by
greek gods
• Ideas flowed with more people
Trade & Commerce
• Flourished because of renewed
contact with East
• Towns were centers for shipping
& banking; Venice, Pisa & Genoa
• Coined money of precious metals
used
Genoa
• Proliferation of banking
Pisa
• Florentine florin was base for
currency weighed “72 grains of
gold”, wars made it high finance.
• The “middle class” is formed,
formed in the urban centers,
charters formed w/ lords.
Venice
Trade & Commerce cont.
• Guilds associations of merchants,
then artisans governed cities;
established wages & prices.
Maintained standards of quality
on goods, settled conflicts.
• Each guild had a saint, hosted
festivals, guilds gave money to
build cathedrals and walls
• Invigorated trade allowed people
“new doors”
• Belief in individual pops up from
this.
City-States
• Renaissance started in N. Italy in 1300’s
• Was “cradle” of renaissance and independent.
• Florence Siena and Venice rose as powerful
city states, ruled a region
• Governed by guild members, citizens elected
• Selection of civic leaders was shady dealings
• Connected to Byzantine, Asian & Muslim
merchants
• City-States produced, Milan=Metal,
Florence= cloth & banking, Venice=transit
• Monarchs & nobles= debt to merchants
City-States cont.
• Florence was most influential City-State,
industry in wool and textile from England and
Flanders, 1/3 people worked with these.
• Used profits to buy lavish things to make profit
• Sold insurance to sea traders
• Banking was most lucrative, florin was respected
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Medici
Family was based in Florence
Made money cloth and other goods
Transitioned to banking in mid/late 1300’s
Chief banker of pope
In 1, 5 year period they profited 290,791 florins
about 4 million now
• Were very shrewd and had political control.
Medici cont.
• Medici ruled Florence at height
of renaissance = interest in
civic and cultural life of city
• Maintained peace w/ treaties
Milan, Naples and Venice
• Wars were decided by the Medici
• Lorenzo the magnificent, well
educated renaissance man, was
a scholar, poet composer, banker
philanthropist, patron of arts &
politician
• Threw parties and financed
civic projects.
The dome took more than
11 years to paint and was
begun in 1568. The
painting represents the
ascension to heaven and
fall to hell with heaven
represented in the upper
most sections and hell on
the lower ring of the dome.
As you might imagine the
Medici’s had their portraits
added to the mural in a
respectable high position of
the dome seen in the picture
above with crowns on their
heads.
Medici cont.
• Each Medici leader encouraged development in arts.
• Became patrons of painters, sculptors, architects and
scholars.
• Workshops and finances for artist, had fcinest collections
in palaces.
• Medici revived Greek and Roman classical idea of citizen
bodies
• Financial support of Italian city-states and their
important families inspired a mighty upsurge in
optimism, experimentation and creativity
Activity for the Day
• Earlier this week you read
section 2; it talked about
different inventions
• Your task today is…
1. You need to think of a
invention that could better
society/community
2. You will need to draw it
out like Leonardo did with
his projects.
3. You will need to include a
100 word explanation of
the invention on the back.
4. It needs to be done in
pencil
The Telescope,
The Microscope,
The Flush Toilet,
The Printing Press,
Clocks,
Eyeglasses/Spectacles,
The Submarine
The Spirit
• Rediscovery/reintroduction of ancient
Roman and Greek learning
• Quintilian writing on education. What do
think?
• Spirit of renewal-scholar called humanist
• Study of humankind and culture
• Believed it would make them well rounded
• 1st great humanist= Petrarch, discovery of
ancient text, led others, lasted till 1600’s
• Innovation sprung up, still Christian, but
with independence.
The Spirit cont.
• Gained a intense appreciation of
the individual.
• Valued public service, education
Led to a rewarding life.
• Renaissance well rounded person:
educated, witty, artistically
creative, & skilled in many fields.
• Went from the after life to the
world that people lived in.