Chapter 12 - Recovery and Rebirth: The Age of Renaissance

What great work did Michelangelo end up producing?

What great work did Michelangelo end up producing?

The Ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

What is humanism?

A doctrine, attitude, or way of life centered on human interests or values.

Why was the age of rebirth called the Renaissance?

It was a rebirth of the classical civilizations of the Greeks and Romans, which led historians to use the French word “Renaissance,” to identify this age.

What was the middle period after the fall of the Roman Empire and before the Renaissance called? (being known to be characterized as darkness 😈 )

the Middle Ages

Who created the modern concept of the “Renaissance”?

Jacob Burckhardt, a Swiss historian and art critic.

What was the book that Jacob Burckhardt called?

The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (published in 1860)

How did Burckhardt portray the Renaissance?

Birthplace of the modern world (Italians being the firstborn among the sons of Modern Europe). He stated the renaissance saw the revival of antiquity, the “perfecting of the individual,” and secularism.

What is secularism?

Treating every religion equally and providing equal facility.

What do modern scholars think about Burckhardt’s work?

• Many believe Burckhardt exaggerated the individuality and secularism of the Renaissance

• Failed to recognize the depths of its religious sentiment.

• Contemporary scholars do not believe that the Renaissance represents sudden or dramatic cultural break with the Middle Ages, as he stated.

• But his work was ultimately the OG, the blueprint, and he was the basic framework for all the other modern interpretations that followed.

Was the renaissance a movement for everyone? If not who was affected and where were those people located?

It was mostly a movement for the wealthy class, however, many ordinary people were affected due to the showcases of this movement in cities and towns

What was the Hanseatic League or Hansa?

In the thirteenth century, a number of Northern German coastal towns had formed a commercial and military association, called Hansa or the Hanseatic League. By 1500, more than eighty cities belonged to the League, and established their own cities in England and Northern Europe, including chief towns in Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. For two hundred years they ran a monopoly of trade in timber, fish, grain, metals, honey, and wines.

WHATS A MONOPOLY BOIIII (just in case bro)

A monopoly is the control of the supply of or the trade of a product.

What became the economic crossroad of Europe in the fourteenth century, serving as a meeting place between Hanseatic merchants and the Flanders Fleet of Venice?

The Port City of Bruges

What happened to the economy as Europe entered the 15th century? What were some industries that came along at the time?

In the 15th century, Italian cities began to develop and expand luxury industries, especially silk, glassware, and handworked items in metals and precious stone.

New industries, like mining and metallurgy began to rival the textile industry in importance as well. Expanding this iron production and new skills in metal working contributed to the development of firearms.

What is Medici Family?

• The Medici expanded from cloth trade into commerce, real estate, and banking.

• Had greatest bank in all of Europe in the 15th with branches all over.

• The family also had controlling interests in industrial enterprises for wool, silk, and mining of alum, used in dying of textiles.

• Also, principal bankers of the papacy (office or authority of Pope), produced big profits and influence at the Papal Court.

WHAT HAPPENED TO THE MEDICI FAMILY AT THE CLOSE OF THE 15TH CENTURY?? (hint: its not good…)

• bruhs had poor leadership

• bruhs had a series of bad loans

• bruhs got kicked out by the French from Florence. The French confiscated their property and the Medici's collapsed.

The social system of the Middle Ages lingered into the renaissance. It was made out of 3 estates, what were they?

The three estates were:

1st Estate: The clergy —> They believed people should follow a more spiritual path of life

2nd Estate: The nobility —> Which believed in the principle of nobles providing justice and security to the people.

3rd Estate: The peasants/people —> The majority

This social structure came from the Middle Ages, and experienced certain adaptations in the Renaissance. (2nd and 3rd Estate).

What percent of the population constituted the aristocracy? What kind of roles did they play in society?

• Aristocracy : Highest class in certain societies, especially those holding hereditary titles or offices.

• Aristocracy was reconstructed in the 1500s, nobles started gaining popularity (2 to 3 percent of the population in most countries) and DOMINATED society compared to the Middle Ages.

• These nobles served as military officers and advisors for the King.

• In the 16th century, members of the aristocracy increasingly pursued education as the means to maintain their role in government.

What did Baldassare Castiglione write?

The Book of the Courtier

What ideals were expressed in The Book of the Courtier?

• The ideals of nobles and aristocrats

• Remained a fundamental handbook for European aristocrats for centuries

When was the The Book of the Courtier written?

1528

What are the three basic attributes found in the Book of the Courtier?

• Quality of Character

• A wide variety of skills and knowledge beyond just politics

• Eloquent speech and behavior

During the Renaissance what percentage of the population was peasantry?

• Made up the overwhelming mass of the Third Estate

• Constituted 85 to 90 percent of the population, except in Northern Italy and Flanders

What two major systems began to decline after the 14th century?

• Due to the economic crisis

• Decline of manorial system (peasants dependent on their land and their lord) and serfdom.

How did the two major systems begin to decline after the 14th century?

Drop of population due to disease

Generally, peasants don’t live in towns, what kind of activities did urban members of the Third Estate do?

The remainder of the Third Estate lived in towns and cities, originally the merchants and artisans who formed the bourgeoisie (middle class).

Agricultural slavery had been in decline for centuries by the 15th century. Why did it briefly return?

By the 15th century, Italian cities used slaves as skilled workers. They made handcrafted goods for their masters 😈 or did household tasks. By the end of the 15th century, slavery declined due to humanitarian reasons and the Turks conquering the Byzantine Empire (Black Sea markets closed :////)

How did slaves re-emerge and how were their jobs different than before?

slaves were in princely courts bruh where they were kept as curiosities. ( i think this means they were kept there to be looked at and observed, hella cruel man).

How were families during the renaissance different from today’s families?

Bro ok basically

• if a family member committed crime, it falls on the ENTIRE family (crazyyy)

• Parents enforced marriage (lame) to strengthen business/family ties

• By marrying a man with higher status (or maximum aura), a female could move up in society (vice versa if man has negative aura)

• Fathers would decide the fates of their own children and had to emancipate them in order for them to leave (mad controlla)

• NO LOVE IN THESE FAMILIES

Name the five major powers that dominated the Italian peninsula

• Milan 😎😎😉😉😁😁🤣🤣😘😘

• Venice

• Florence

• the Papal States

• Naples

What is an “oligarchy”

Small group of people having control over a country, organization, or institution.

How did an oligarchy manifest in the Republic of Florence?

Republic of Venice form and this small oligarchy of merchant-aristocrats governed it. The stupid Medici family then took over in 1434.

Who were Battista Sforza and Isabella d’Este?

Battista over here was the niece of the ruler of Milan, and was the wife of Federigo something something. Her husband was like hella absent most the time, so she had to take over and shit cuz she smart like that.

Isabella was the daughter of the duke Ferrara, she married Francesco Gonzaga, marquis of Mantua (i didn’t even know that was a real place bro). Their court was HELLA TIGHT, it was such an important center of art and learning in the renaissance. SHE WAS CALLED THE FIRST LADY OF THE WORLD CAN U BELIEVE THAT. and she had one of the finest libraries in all of Italy. She effectively ruled Mantua like an absolute BAUS. (even after her husband died).

The Italians utilized a “balance of power” that would later be applied on a larger scale to all of Europe. What was this and how well did it work?

Basically Milan, Florence, and Naples were like gang and formed an alliance system versus Venice and the Papacy. It failed to establish lasting corporations amongst powers doe ☹

What two nations competed to dominate Italy and who were their rulers?

French and Spanish nations. The French was led by this dude named Charles VIII and the Spanish was led by Ferdinand of Aragon (sick ass name). These nations ganged up on Italy because their balance of power failed and this began the ITALIAN WARS 🙅‍♂ .

• King Charles came in with like 30,000 men and advanced thru Italy, eventually occupying the kingdom of Naples

• Italy was like “Spanish please help” and the Spanish were like “nuh-uh we want ur shit too” So the French and Spanish fought over Italy like some babies fighting over toys.

• Then, in 1527, the Spanish were like “AYO WATCH THIS” and they captured Rome by a landslide and King Charles I was like “bro why would u do that 😔 “ and the war ended. THE SPANISH DOMINATED ITALY.

 The use of diplomacy expanded extensively during this time.  What is a diplomat and what kind of duties do they perform?

Diplomat is a person appointed by the government. He meant to conduct official negotiations, and maintain political, economic, and social relations with other countires.

• In Italy they were called “ambassadors” (omg us lol 😛 ). The duty of ambassador was to do, say, advise, and think about the welfare of their own state (like I said, us).

Who was Nicolo Machiavelli?

He was a diplomat. He came into the Florentine republic in 1498, four years after the Medici family got cut tf off. He was a secretary to the Florentine council of 10, made numerous diplomatic missions, went to France and Germany (what a guy amiright), and saw the workings of statecraft (“art of conduction government affairs” bro what) at first hand.

• Then (you’ll never believe this), in 1512, when the Spanish absolutely CLEARED the french in that lil battle, the MEDICI FAMILY RETURNED!!! and bro im so sad NICOLO GOT SENT INTO EXILE CUZ HE WAS A STAUNCH REPUBLICAN.

What book did Nicolo Machiavelli write and what was it about?

it was called The Prince (1513), a treatise on political power in the Western World.

• His politcal views stemmed from two things: knowledge of Ancient Rome and preoccupation with Italy’s political problems.

What was Machiavelli’s main concerns and what caused him to develop these ideas?

• Acquisition and expansion of political power as the means restore and maintain order in his time.

• He thought that a prince’s attitude toward power must be based on the understanding of human nature (self centered).

• He considered, Cesare Borgia, Italian Ruler and Son of Pope Alexander II to be the best model of this.

• Machiavelli was the first among many to abandon morality as the basis for the analysis of political activity.

Sorry no silly little notes here, I wasn’t feeling creative.

Individualism 3…2…1… GO!

Individualism —> Indepence, self-reliant 😃

Secularism 3….2…1…. GOOOO!!!

Treating every religion equally 😁 (king shit right there)

What areas were Secularism and Individualism most noticeable in Renaissance Italy?

INTELLECTUAL AND ARTISTIC REALMS!!! (i almost wrote autistic woops)

What is humanism ( tell me now Nina)

Intellectual movement based on the study of Classical literary works of Greece and Rome.

A.K.A. study of humanity which was like grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy/ethics, and history

Who is often called the FATHER of Humanism?

PETRARCH

• His father was like “be lawyer,” and Petrarch was like “nuh-uh” and took up a literary career instead.

• He was the first intellectual guy to characterize the Middle Ages as a period of darkness

• He was so deep in them Latin manuscripts he was worried he forgot all about God.

• He made other humanists use Cicero as model for prose (written or spoken language) and Virgil for poetry

Where was humanism found in the Italian Renaissance?

Mostly Northern Italy

ALSO

14th century Petrarch described the intellectual life as a life of solitude (innnn my solitudeeee 🎵) These humanists rejected family and a life of action in community.

In the busy civic world of Florence HOWEVER intellectuals started to switch shit up

Leonardo Bruni STATS… GO!!!!!!

• humanist

• Florentine patriot

• chancellor of city

• Wrote a biography of Cicero titled The New Cicero

• In this biography he yapped about the political action and literary creation in Cicero’s life (basically glazed Cicero heavily)

So….what is civic humanism???

• Reflects the values of the urban society of Italian Renaissance

• That the studies of humanities should be put to the service of the state.

• This is why most of them humanists served as chancellors, councilors, and advisers.

Lorenzo Valla STATS…GO!

• Papal secretary

• Wrote The Elegances of the Latin Language (an attempt to purify medieval Latin and to restore Latin as the everyday language that is to be spoken)

• Created a new literary standard

Giovanni Pico della Mirandola STATS…GO!!!

• Produced Orianation on the Dignity of Man

• In the book he basically took multiple philosopher’s ideas to find common, or universal truths that were all part of God’s revelation to humanity.

• Took interest in Hermetic philosophy, accepting it as the Science of Divine, which “embraces the deepest contemplation of the most secret things…” (so ominous).

Marsilio Ficino STATS….GO!!!

• basically people started glazing Plato hella hard in this group called the Florentine Platonic Academy.

• Marsilio Ficino (one of the academy leaders) translated one of Plato’s dialogues for Cosimo de Medici (those goddamn Medicis…)

• Ficino dedicated his life translating Plato’s awesome texts and the exposition of the Platonic philosophy known as Neoplatonism

• AGAIN the Medici guy was like “TRANSLATE FOR ME” and Marsilio was like “okkkk bet”. He translated Corpus Hermeticum, from Greek to Latin which was about occult sciences and theological beliefs

• Embodied pantheism, seeing divinity in all aspects of nature and in heavenly bodies as well as earthly objects

What is neoplatonism? (i hate this section of the chapter sm)

World where we experience is a copy of an ideal reality which lies beyond the material world

What is hermeticism?

Dualistic faith that portrays the body of men and their interactions with the material world as antagonistic to the soul.

What about Pantheism?

no God, God and Universe are the same things rather than separate things.

What do hermaticsm, neoplatonism, and pantheism all have in common?

All three are connected to spiritual ideals, comparing souls spiritually with the material world.

What is Liberal Studies?

Education given to someone to realize their full potential. Taught through history. Having more education = being a more “universal person”. Liberal Study students were taught rhetoric, math but also archery, dancing, hunting, running and wrestling. 😉

What segment was most likely to receive education at this time?

The wealthy ones 🤑 and the most elite men.

How did women fit into the concept of humanism?

Women taught

• The classics, some history and some music

• WERENT ALLOWED TO LEARN MATH OR RHETORIC (how stupid)

How did the study of humanism affect women?

• Their conditions saw little to no change during the renaissance.

• Certain women however benefited in religious and intellectual humanist environments, saying it helped them develop a new sense of “self”.

Roman Catholic church have power…how did humanists manage to “secularize” the writing of History?

• Humanists reduced and eliminated the role of miracles in historical interpretations (YASSSS)

• Approached history in a new way involving more critical thinking while examining documents.

WHAT WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT INVENTION OF THE 15TH CENTURY?

THE PRINTING PRESS!!!!!! made by silly guy named Jonannes Gultenburg. Most works were created by the press were religous. (bibles, commentary, devotions, sermons).

Who was the first artist since Giotto to begin imitating nature in his work? Where can his work be seen?

Massacio was the first to imitate nature since Giotto. This can be seen by the Brancacci Chapel.

Explain at least 4 features of Renaissance art and how it portrayed humanism.

• Paintings and sculptures of individual people (promoted humanists)

• Emphasis on reaching your potential

• Artists were valuable members of society

• Art honored prominent citizens

Leonardo De Vinci Stats…go!… (im so tired)

The Last Supper

High

One element : Gesture and movement, depicted inner character

Antonio Pollaiulo stats

The Martyrdom of St. Sebastian

Early

Classical motifs

Bodies under stress

Botticelli

Primavera

Early

Depicted Greek mythology

Donatello (sorry if these artist flashcards suck, im on a time crunch here)

David

Early

Nudity 🤯 (antiquity)

Brunellescni

Dome of the Duomo

Early

Inspired by Roman Architecture

Raphael

School of Athens

High

Humanism

Michael Angelo

David

High

Idealistic depiction of the human body

Donato Brumante

St. Peters Martyrdom

High

Doric Columns

So what is the difference between Early Renaissance and High Renaissance?

High —> Individualistic forms of creative expression

Early —> More scientific observation of the world