Unit 1 European History

Jacob Burkhardt

Definition: A Swiss historian and art critic known for his influential work on the Italian Renaissance. He emphasized the importance of cultural history and the development of individualism during this period. His major work, "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy," explores the social, political, and artistic changes that defined the era. His ideas laid the groundwork for modern cultural history and the study of art in its historical context.

Jacob Burkhardt

Patronage

Support or financial backing provided to artists, writers, or institutions. Typically done for social status.

Importance in this period:

Since Florence was filled with wealthy bankers and merchants, they used a lot of their money to support local artists

Commercial Revolution

This period, spanning from the late Middle Ages to the early modern period, saw significant changes in economic practices, including the establishment of new trade routes, the growth of banking systems, and the emergence of joint-stock companies. It contributed to the rise of capitalism and altered social structures.

Florence

City known for its Renaissance art and architecture.

• Center for trade

• Lots of loaning in this area

• In the same place as the Roman Empire

• Trade based economy allowed for more wealthy population

Banking

This system includes services such as savings and checking accounts, loans, mortgages, and investment options. Since Florence was the center of banking, lots of money flowed in and out of the city

Merchant Elite

In contrast with Medieval times, the wealthiest people were often non-title holding landowners who were typically merchants

Italian City-States

Autonomous and nationalistic regions that flourished between the 9th and 16th centuries, characterized by trade, banking, and artistic innovation. Major examples include Venice, Florence, and Genoa. They played a crucial role in the Renaissance, fostering advancements in art, science, and literature.

Sforza Family

Known for their patronage of the arts and architecture, they played a significant role in the political and cultural landscape of Northern Italy. Key figures include Francesco Sforza, who founded the dynasty, and Ludovico Sforza, who was a notable duke and patron of Leonardo da Vinci. Their influence waned after the 16th century, leading to Milan's incorporation into larger states.

Medici Family

Family ruling Florence. Patrons of artists like Michelangelo and Botticelli, they played a crucial role in the development of the Italian Renaissance. Their legacy includes the establishment of the Medici dynasty and the eventual rise to the Grand Duchy of Tuscany.

Girolamo Savonarola

This influential figure criticized the corruption of the church and secular society. Preached that god would punish Italy for bad leadership. He gained power in Florence after the Medici were expelled but was eventually excommunicated and executed in 1498 for his radical views and opposition to the papacy.

Petrarch

An Italian poet and scholar known for his sonnets, particularly those dedicated to Laura. He emphasized the revival of Ancient Roman works. His works laid the groundwork for Renaissance literature and inspired later writers.

Humanism

A philosophical and ethical stance that emphasizes the value and agency of human beings, focusing on human interests, values, and dignity. Centered on Roman philosophy

Pico della Mirandola

This Renaissance thinker emphasized free will and the unique role of humans in the universe. He is famous for his "Oration on the Dignity of Man," which argues that humans have the power to shape their own destiny and can ascend to divine knowledge through intellect and virtue. His ideas laid the groundwork for humanism and influenced later philosophical thought.

virtu

Someone who could change the course of history

Renaissance Man

A person who excels in multiple fields, combining knowledge and skills in areas such as art, science, literature, and philosophy.

ex. Da Vinci

Humanist Education

• Didn’t teach religion, much more general

• Focused primarily on Latin/Greek/Rome

• Women didn’t get to have an education, although noble women were expected to be skilled at art

The Book of Courtier

Renaissance dialogue written by Baldassare Castiglione, this work outlines the ideal qualities and behaviors of a nobleman. It emphasizes grace, wit, and the importance of arts and culture. The text also discusses the role of women in society and the concept of the "gentleman." It is set in the court of Urbino and reflects the values of humanism.

Niccolo Machiavelli

An Italian Renaissance political philosopher known for his work on political theory and ethics.

• Rulers must keep the city strong in order to prevent a civil war

• It’s much better for rulers to be feared than loved

Christian Humanism

This movement advocates for the study of classical texts and the application of reason and morality, promoting the idea that human beings can achieve fulfillment through education, virtue, and faith. It seeks to reconcile faith with reason, focusing on the dignity and potential of individuals.

Thomas More

Coined the idea of utopia, was heavily critiqued for it

Erasmus

• Wanted everyone to read the Bible, thought is was necessary for self-improvement

• Highlighted the importance of personal connections with god

• Translated the New Testament into Latin

Printing Press

Causes:

• Increased paper supply

• Culmination of technology up to that point

Effects:

• Increased urban literacy

• More schools

• People could discuss ideas

Michaelangelo

• Painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

• Famous and popular painter, given a celebrity status

Portraits

• Showed human ideals

• More realistic and expressive

• Use of perspective

• Geometric Arrangement

• Not always religious

Donatello

• Revolutionized sculpture by creating realistic forms

• Lots of similarities to Greco-Roman art

• Ex: David

Brunelleschi

• Architect

• Tried to create absolute harmony in his work

• Loved domes

Italian Renaissance

• Started in Florence

• Idealistic realism

• People more pretty and usually the main focus

• Patrons were merchants

• Started to become religious after the Catholic Church got themselves involved

Northern Renaissance

• Much more religious

• Emphasis on nature

• Depicted middle classes

• Princes were patrons

• Violent!

• A lot darker in theme and color wise

Jan Van Eyck

First painter to use oils

• Arnofili Portrait

Albrect Durer

Woodblock and etching style

Pieter Bruegel the Elder

Flemish painter depicting scenes of peasants

“The Hunters in the Snow”

Raphael

• Painted portraits in Rome

• Verrrryyyyy famous

• The School of Athens

Women in the Arts

Never got famous: noble women could paint but never got “big” for it

Black Africans in Renaissance Europe

• High Black Enslaved population in Lisbon

• Usually were servants in elite households

• Renaissance + Exploration fostered the idea of race

Querrelles des Femmes

• Debate about the role of women in society

Christine de Pizan

Female author who wrote about women and why they were misrepresented

• Treasure of Ladies

New Monarchs

• People who made attempts at consolidating power

• Prioritized exploration

• Wanted social uniformity

• Ex: Ferdinand and Isabella, Charles V, Henry VII, Mehmet II

Henry VII

Worked with Richard III to bring back power to the English monarch

• Heavily distrusted the nobles + took land back from them

• Struggles with the Yorks

Court of the Star Chamber

• Dealt with judicial affairs in harsh ways (such as public shame)

• Nobles were pretty much forced to behave

Isabella and Ferdinand

• Consolidated power through preventing nobles from joining the parliament

• National Church

• Religious uniformity

Reconquista

• A series of wars fought to take back land from the Muslims in certain parts of the Iberian Peninsula

Inquisition

Killing/Converting non-Catholics

• People were mad that converted Catholics got good positions in society

• Lots of Jews and Muslims fleeing Spain

Purity of Blood Laws

Once foreign blood was in the family, you can’t wash it out

Ivan III

• From the House of Rurik in Russia

• Fully Eastern Orthodox, wanted more cathedral construction

• Revised the Russian Law Code, had a standing army

• Oprichnik: To squash people who are opposing the centralized government + nobles

Mehmet II

• House of Osman from the Ottoman Empire

• Religiously tolerant, Muslim

• Won over the Byzantine Empire, and many Christians didn’t acknowledge his power

• Used Janisseries to consolidate power

Charles V

• Hapsburg

• Lots of tensions with Protestants

• Rebellion from the Netherlands

• Captured most of Europe

Carnival

A way people spent leisure time during the Medieval Ages/Early Renaissance.

Nuclear family

People lived in small units with mother, father, and children — no extended family

Effects: Structure and purpose of the family changed, increased role of the government on familial matters

Delayed Marriage

• People wanted to reach a certain socioeconomic status before marriage

• Problems with inheritance

Results:

• Less children

Blood Sports

Another form of mass leisure that typically occurred at fairs. People would watch animals fight for funsies

Stocks

The stocks were a form of public punishment from medieval times. The offender sat on a bench with ankles closed into holes in boards for several hours. The wrists and neck might similarly be restrained. Townspeople might throw waste at the prisoner. 

Causes of the Age of Exploration

• Governments starting to centralized

• Necessity for new trade routes to other countries due to increased trade tax

• Power

• leaders wanting to spread religion

Indian Ocean Trade

• Greatly grew as a medium for trade

• Allowed for the spread of Islam to islands in the Indian Ocean

• Lots of Chinese explorers roaming around this area (Zheng He)

• People would acknowledge each other’s political boundaries

• Lots of African trade here as well

Malacca

Prominent trading post where good were shipped allowing various trades to prosper

• Site of Muslim learning

Gold/Slave trade in Africa

• African gold became extremely popular and highly coveted

• People wanted to find direct routes to Africa for gold trade

• Beginning of slave trade due to exploration

1453

Fall of Constantinople to the Ottomans. This led to the growth of the Ottoman Empire, which began to control trade

Venetian and Genoese

• Major trade post in Europe

• Genoese desperately tried to control spice trade but lost to Venice

• Genoese helped fund Spanish Exploration

• Venetian trade managed the slave trade

Effects:

Both city states became critical to slave trade due to their connections to Africa + the Middle East

Economic Motives for Exploration

Wanted direct access to trade routes

Religious Motives for Exploration

• People saw Exploration as the “New Crusades”

• Wanted to spread Christianity

Conquistadors

People who explored new lands and took power over the indigenous people

Caravel

Two/Three masted ship that allowed for people to travel long distances

• Was able to hold canons, beginning of Naval Warfare

Ptolemy’s Geography

• Accurately depicted the “globe” as round

• Latitude and longitude

• No Americas

• Asia was made too small

Compass

• Originated in China

• Allowed for navigation

• Inspired the creation of the Astrolab

Prince Henry the Navigator

• Supported exploration

• Aided with the capture of multiple islands around Europe

Church role in Exploration

• Supported Exploration b/c it spread Christianity

• Legitimized Portuguese travel

Trading Posts

• Important areas for trade

• Portugal didn’t really “colonize,” they just wanted trade partners

Bartholomeu Dias

Tried to get to India through Africa, but failed

Vasco de Gama

• Successful in reaching India

• Came back with a bunch of spices

• Caused people to become interested in Indian spice

Christopher Columbus

• Interested in the Portuguese exploration

• Heavily religious and wanted to spread Christianity

• Used to work with Portugal but then switched to work for Spain

• First landed in the Bahamas

Treaty of Tordesillas

• Created by the Pope to mediate exploratory tensions between Portugal and Spain

• Created an imaginary line separating Spanish from Portuguese territory

Ferdinand Magellan

• Spain mad that Portugal is getting rich

• Wanted to find a west route to Asia and succeeded

• Was wayyy too long and dangerous, no one ever attempted it again

French Fur

The French thought they were in China but were actually in Canada, used local beaver for fur

• Became very popular

Aztec Empire

• Had a strong hierarchical system

• Lots of wars with neighboring states

• The Spanish brought translators and partnered with local enemy states in order to take down the Aztecs

Incas

• Emperor thought he could trick the Spaniards

• Spain ended up winning over the Incan empire as well

How'd the Spanish always win?

• Good weapons

• Internal divisions amongst the indigenous people made it much easier to attack

• Disease killed off lots of indigenous populations

Spain/Portugal Exploration vs Northern Europe

Spain/Portugal:

• Expeditions were government funded

• Conquered indigenous empires

• Tried to gain monopoly of goods

• (Portugal) - didn’t really colonize

Northern Europe

• Expeditions were led by charter companies

• Didn’t conquer entire empires

• Explored Africa

Viceroroyalties

The four possessions of Spain rules by Spanish representatives

Effects:

Caused other countries to engage in direct rule over their holdings

Encomienda System

• System where Native Americans had to labor for a place to live

• Spanish used this to also force conversions

Ethical Dilemmas with the Natives

• After converting, Native Americans became free

• New necessity for labor caused increased African slavery

Mita

Less aggressive form of the Encomienda system

• Native Americans only had to labor for certain time periods

• Usually in a mine

Women and Colonialism

• Served as translators

• Were often raped and sexually abused by colonizers

Columbian Exchange

• The exchange of goods, ideas, and diseases between the Old and New World

Small Pox

Disease spread to the new world

• Caused indigenous death alongside poor working conditions

Livestock

Europeans brought livestock (like horse) to the New World on ships.

Maize and Potatoes

• Crops that were easily grown in the Americas

• Europeans prized these crops because they were calorically dense and allowed people to have more energy for work

Sugar Plantations

• Although sugarcane was more prominent in India, the Americas had a great climate for cultivation of sugarcane

• Really hard to grow, so new supplies of slaves were needed

Potosi

• Area in Bolivia with a lot of silver

• Caused a need for labor

• Spain milked all the $

• Caused inflation in all of Europe

How did inflation affect the nobles?

• Since nobles were on fixed wages, they were unable to sustain themselves during inflation

• On the contrary, poorer people who had loads of debt were able to pay off their debt faster

• “Price Revolution”

Dutch East India Company

Spain and Portugal were going through some internal issues…

• Dutch seized the opportunity and stole spice trade from Portugal

• Captured Indonesia and Sri Lanka from Portuguese

Jesuits

Group of Christians who tried to convert Japanese and Chinese

Bartolome de Las Casas

• First person to speak out against indigenous exploitation

• Resulted in the Crown detailing how to interact with Natives

Castas

• Basically a caste system

• Resulted in limits on Spanish women and sexual activity w/ natives

• Spaniards → Converted Indigenous → Indigenous → Africans

de Montaigne

• Thought no culture is superior

• Book, “Of Cannibals”

• People thought he was crazy

• Lots of essays based on the idea of skepticism

Shakespeare

• Wrote for Elizabeth 1st and the English court

• Lots of social commentary

• Painted a black man in a good light, creating a character with lots of complexity

Joint-Stock Company

• ownership is represented by shares of stock.

• Each shareholder owns a portion of the company proportional to the number of shares they hold.

• Shares can typically be bought or sold, which provides liquidity and flexibility for investors.

Bank of Amsterdam

-played a central role in Amsterdam's rise as a major financial hub in the 17th century. It facilitated trade and commerce, providing a stable financial environment for merchants and investors.

-most similar to current banking models

Mercantilism

• belief that countries should export more than import.

• The idea was that a country should accumulate wealth by maintaining a trade surplus, thus bringing in more money than it spent.

taille

a form of tax imposed on the peasants of France to fund various wars (100 Years, 30 years)

• People really disliked it and led to peasant uprisings

Polish Problems

Refers to the internal political and social issues faced by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, including power struggles among the nobility, external threats from neighboring states, and challenges to central authority.