The Renaissance

From Lecture Notes and Wiesner-Hanks Textbook

How did the print revolution work alongside the Renaissance?

Print culture transformed access to texts, making ideas more widely available and accelerating the dissemination of scientific, religious, and secular knowledge → changed how intellectuals worked and how authority was contested

How did humanism shape education?

It reshaped curricula in many universities and secondary schools to promote classical languages, rhetoric, and broader cultural learning, however education continued to be uneven across regions, classes, and genders

What sort of academic shifts came with the Renaissance?

There was growing interest in experimentation, natural philosophy, new instruments, and challenging of frameworks

How was art important in the Renaissance?

Cultural productions were intertwined with political and religious patrons, with art becoming a tool for power, a way of visualising new world-views/status, as well as a way to link thinkers with elites

How were women involved in the Renaissance?

Women’s literacy rates, patronage roles, and participation in correspondence circles grew, but still remained small compared to men

How was cultural exchange present in the Renaissance?

Trade, exploration, translation of texts, and circulation of items broadened the horizons of thinkers and influenced the content of culture

How was continuity present in the Renaissance?

Older traditions such as classical learning, church-sponsored universities, and patronage persisted from earlier periods

How did the Renaissance move Europe into the modern era?

It included more widespread literacy, critical thinking, scientific inquiry, and visual/print culture

Was intellectual life in the Renaissance isolated?

No, intellectual life was not isolated, it related to social structures, economic capacity, and global context

Who came up with the term ‘Renaissance’ and what was its significance?

The term was coined by Jacob Burkhardt in 1860 to give distinction between the medieval period, or the Dark Ages, and Early Modern Europe, which he saw as a significant break from the Middle Ages

What are the central arguments against the idea of Burkhardt’s Renaissance?

• Medieval scholars aware of classical thought → Thomas Aquinas blending classical and theological thought while believing in reason and argumentation

• Blending of biblical and classical thought that was present in Middle Ages is central to humanists of Renaissance

• Urban development occurs in Middle Ages, with mercantile groups existing alongside developing trade → rise of Ottoman empire actually limited trade in Renaissance

• Parliamentary constitutions and discussions in Middle Ages with advances against autocratic power (Magna Carta, 1215) and ideas of balanced and expanded power (Simon de Montfort, 1265)

Knowledge and learning, urban development, and political structures are all continuous from Middle Ages to the Renaissance

What are the central arguments for the idea of Burkhardt’s Renaissance?

• Rise of Gothic architecture breaks from Romanesque architecture common in the Middle Ages → increased light and references to classical architecture; Palladian style indicating increased confidence in environment and break from superstition

• Shifts in visual arts with shifts to realism, better perspective, and classical inspirations → not only revolving around theology, art for art’s sake rather than for the church

• Way of thinking embodied by Leonardo da Vinci → idea of being well-versed in a variety of subjects reflecting Renaissance mind and spirit

Architecture, environmental confidence, visual arts, and changes in attitude towards thought are all breaks with the Middle Ages