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Which important European developments paved the way for loosening the grip on the Church and Feudal System?
The Crusades (helped Europeans and and Islamic scholars exchange ideas).
The Black Death (decline of population led to the destruction of serfdom by improving wages for peasants)
Renaissance means…
Rebirth
What did the Renaissance introduce in the 1300’s with the Age of Discovery?
Resurgence of classical learning, art, and values, of Greek-Roman antiquity.
Individualism (secular ideology inspired by classical Greek-Roman writing and culture).
Developments of navigation and cartography (overseas colonies, trade networks, connections across cultures)
Advancement in agriculture and financing/banking
Spread of Christianity with transportation (Salvation missions by Christians from Europe)
What’s humanism?
Focusing on human beings and their inherent dignity. More secular thinking
Where did the Renaissance begin?
Northern Italy
What is Scholasticism?
Focused on Roman Catholicism and religious inquiries, proving the existence of God.
Petrarch
Father of Humanism
Italian poet and scholar
(1304-1374)
Searched forgotten Latin manuscripts
Key Discovery —> Letters to Atticus by Cicero
Adopted Cicero as a model for writing in Latin
Was one of the first scholars of his era to write in Italian vernacular.
Marsilio Ficono
Italian humanist
(1433-1499)
Studied Greek + Works of Plato
Connected Plato’s philosophy to more recent Christian theology
Translated Plato’s well known writing into Latin
Interested in “Platonic love”
Got his studies financed by the Medici Family
Pico della Mirandola
(1463-1494)
Took philosophical views and blended them.
Studied languages such as Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic), in the major learning centers (Paris, Bologna, Padua, and Florence).
“Oration on the Dignity of Man” —> Place of humans and their relationship to God.
What did Liberal Arts Universities teach in the 15th century?
History
Moral Philosophy
Eloquence
Poetry
Mathematics
Astronomy
(Students were required to know classical Latin and Greek to read these works directly).
What did Humanists believe education could do?
Allow humans to reach their potential
Prepare them to be active, productive citizens
Created secondary schools to teach the humanities to develop an individual who could excel in multiple areas
What challenges did the Catholic Church experience with the rise of secular Renaissance culture?
Lost spiritual authority
Christian humanists in northern Europe, focused on early texts of the Catholic Church, advocated for simpler form of Christianity and criticized practices that they believed were not based on Scripture
How did Humanists base their governments of antiquity?
Athens —> home of democracy
Roman republic —> representative government
Roman politician, Cicero, became secular model for active, engaged, and eloquent leadership.
Humanists saw classical examples of civic humanist culture, and sought to promote it in their own era.
Baldassare Castiglione
Writer in Milan
(1478-1529)
The Book of Courtier
This book outlined how to act like a proper gentleman or lady
The ideal courtier: similar to a medieval knight but classically educated, skilled in the arts, and engaged in civic life.
Also wrote about female courtier: educated, patron of the arts, helped her husband to rise to his fullest potential
Niccolo Machiavelli
Began serving as a diplomat in republic of Florence
Became familiar with French and German politics.
Shift in political power in republic of Florence —> Machiavelli exiled
The Prince —> most famous worked, better to be feared than loved.
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