Renaissance: Key Concepts, Art, and Political Changes

Renaissance

European movement that emerged from the rediscovery of the classics from ancient Greece and Rome.

Humanism

The intellectual movement that drove the renaissance that believed human potential was unlimited.

Petrarch

Considered the father of Humanism.

Secularism

Refers to the separation of religious belief from societal and governmental structures.

Individualism

Emphasizes the importance and triumph of the individual over the community.

Printing Press

Invented by Johannes Gutenberg, made the printing of books cheaper and faster.

Civic Humanism

Application of Humanistic principles to political and economic life.

Baldassarre Castiglione

Wrote The Courtier, a guide to how an educated young man should behave in society.

Leonardo Bruni

Wrote in The New Cicero that intellectuals had a duty to use their education in service to the state.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Wrote The Prince that stated the primary goal of the ruler should be to preserve power at all cost to maintain stability.

Naturalism

Art focused on realism and important figures from the church and society.

Patrons

Wealthy people or organizations that financially supported artists.

Leonardo da Vinci

Created The Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

Michelangelo

Created Creation of Adam (Sistine Chapel) and The David.

Raphael

Created School of Athens.

Northern Renaissance

Art maintained a more religious framework and focused more on everyday people doing everyday things.

Peter Breugel

Known for The procession to Calvary.

Rembrandt

Known for The Prodigal Son.

Christian Humanism

Formed by the combination of Humanism and Christian tradition.

Desiderius Erasmus

Wrote in Praise of Folly using satire to criticize political and social institutions as well as the Catholic Church.

Movable type

Letters could be rearranged to print multiple pages quickly.

Effects of the Printing Press

Rapid Spread of Ideas, Uniformity of Books, Increase in Literacy, Increased Demand for Vernacular Literature.

Henry VIII

Initially supported the Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation but made himself the head of the Church of England.

The Treason Act

Made it a capital crime to refuse to recognize the Church of England as the official state church.

Mary Tudor

Tried to return England to Catholicism.

Elizabeth I

Reversed many of Mary's policies.

Bureaucracy

Created by monarchs to take tax collection powers away from the Nobility.

Rise of Commercial and Professional Groups

Merchants and Bankers became more powerful during the Renaissance as trade became a more prominent part of the European economy.

The Medici family

A prominent banking family in Florence that became very important to the Monarchs.

Secular state

Refers to a government where the church has little to no influence.

Jean Bodin

Argued that the best structure for a secular state was an absolute Monarchy.

Divine right

The idea that a king's power comes directly from God.