Renaissance and Humanism

The Renaissance was….

an intellectual movement regarding the rebirth of ancient culture

The ‘Studia Humanitas’ included what?

Grammar, rhetoric, moral philosophy, history, and poetry

What situation was aided by humanism? Case study

Italy’s precarious situation, through justification of rhetoric and patronage

What was ‘ad fontes’?

Returning to the sources

Name two new approaches and methods, instead of just an attachment to the ancient world?

Philology, historicity

Which group was first to realise the evolution of language?

Humanists

All these new methods and approaches were intended to…

make people and society better

Classical reference and Latin grammar useful in city-states why?

Merchants required contracts, and those who could make them

Who wrote ‘In Praise of Florence’ and when?

Leonardo Bruni, 1403 (ish)

What did ‘In Praise of Florence’ do?

Highlight Florences’ greatness, because it was a city-state like the classical period

What was the oratory genre?

Arguably recycled

humanism assisted principalities and rulers how?

Could convince legitimacy and right to rule

Humanism spread through which institutions in order:

Schools, elite educations, libraries, printer works, universities

Pope Sixtus IV does what?

Founds the Vatican library

What was a watershed for universities and humanism?

1515 Letters of Obscure Men

Notable Humanist figure

Francesco Petraca, d.1374

Petraca’s ego prompted what…

Birth of the individual, perhaps even of propaganda

Nme another humanist figure

Lorenzo Valla, d.1457

Why did Valla write the ‘Discourse on the Forgery of the Alleged Donation of Constantine’?

Instructed by King Alfonso of Naples, who wanted to attack papal land claims

Which humanist figure set the stage for the Reformation but valued concord?

Desiderius Erasmus

What was the 3 major city-states of Italy c.1494

Florence, Venice, Milan

Which two Italian regions were dominated by foreign powers?

Naples and Sicily

Venice was known for its…

Stability and Turkish and Armenian trade

Florence was the centre of Italy’s….

Banking, and the Florin would become European standard currency

Which two events sandwiches the ‘height’ of Italian renaissance?

1454 (Peace of Lodi against France and Ottomans) and 1494 (Italian Wars)

16th century rise in Italy of ____ prompts decline?

Despots and little monarchies (except Venice)

The Black Death sees Florence and Venice lose…

Florence loses 80% of its population and Venice loses 2/3rd

Notable event of Italian instability and invasion:

1527 Sack of Rome

Major flaw with Papyrus

Had to be re-copied every 30-60 years

Paper enters Europe via…

Spain and Middle East

Why does Gutenberg’s printing press take off?

Roman Alphabet

When does printing hit Paris?

1470

By 1500 how many French-speaking countries have printing?

40

When does printing enter the Low Countries?

1473

Of 200 printing places, how much printing came from 12 major commercial locations?

2/3rds between 1450-1500

Despite printing, there is emphasis on …

manuscript culture

printing often focusses on…

Conservative Roman and Greek classics

Which language of book survives…

Latin books survive better than vernacular ones

the Northern Renaissance developed from what?

World of court

What made the climate of the northern renaissance so different?

more complicated relationship with pagan antiquity, with independent culture and intellectual climate

2 Flemish painters who inspired the Italians

Jan van Eycke and Rogier van der Weyden

What did not play well in Northern states?

Italian city-states

What style continued to dominate the north

Gothic

What type of goods were popular?

Tapestries

2 features of northern renaissance:

genuine religious piety and realism

Which northern painter combined traditions, and is notable for engaging with religious ideals? (Greatest woodcut artist of his generation) Name and notable work.

Albrecht Drürer, Knight Death and Devil (1513)

Which northern artist explored the tension between material and spirtual, with an emphasis on worldly service and devout contemplation? Name and notable work

Hans Holbein the Younger, Portrait of Erasmus Writing

Which northern artists employed a native Flemish tradition, and the theologically sophisticated painting? Name and notable work

Mattheas Grunewald, Altarpiece at Eisenheim

Shared characteristics of the North and South Renaissances (6): AP, AaAfNHC, AoPASTiFoCH, RI, HC, HC

Asserted patriotism, art and architecture from native high culture, admiration of pagan antiquity slowly tempered in favour of Christian humanism, religious intensity, humanist curriculum, humanist controversies,