Renaissance Vocabulary

Learning Renaissance Humanism

• Graphic organizer: Renaissance as a flowering plant fed by trade, commerce, city-states, and humanism.

Aim: The Renaissance

• Explore how humanism shaped the Renaissance.

Question: Renaissance Man

• What defines a "Renaissance Man?"

Activity-1

• Characterize the Renaissance period.

• Why did authors emphasize learning multiple languages?

• Francois Rabelais' work stressed the value of the Renaissance, with the idea that all branches of science have been reestablished and languages have been restored. People can write in Greek and there are ample libraries.

• Author's intention for his son:

  • Learn all languages (Greek, Latin, Hebrew).

  • Master history, geometry, arithmetic, music, and astronomy.

  • Know civil law and compare philosophical works.

  • Study nature to know all living things and metals.

  • Acquire knowledge of man's world from Greek, Arabic, and Latin physicians.

  • Study the Holy Scriptures in their original languages.

  • Use knowledge to serve neighbors and love them as yourself.

Question: Renaissance Man

• What defines a "Renaissance Man?"

DO NOW

• Reflect on life-changing events/movements/trends during your lifetime.

What was the Renaissance?

• A shift in thinking.

• Less focus on religion, more on self, surroundings, and new knowledge.

• Creativity affected every sector of society.

• Major Middle Ages events forced questioning of religion.

  • The Crusades + Black Death + Commercial Revolution + Shifts in Feudalism.

  • Interest in other subjects other than religion.

New Thinking

• The Renaissance (1400s - 1600s) means "rebirth".

• Medieval period focus on religion.

• The Crusades, Black Death, Commercial Revolution, and feudalism shifts spurred interest in other subjects.

Activity-2

• What's humanism?

• Analyze the image, answer questions, and define Humanism.

• Pica della Mirandola highlighted the importance of man, calling man wonderful and a great miracle. Man is close to the gods with the sharpness of his senses, the acuity of his reason, and brilliance of his intelligence.

• Man can choose his nature. He is at the world's center to survey everything else. He has been made neither heavenly nor earthly, neither mortal nor immortal.

• Man with free choice can make himself into whatever form he chooses.

• Man is granted the power to be reborn into higher forms, the divine.

• All he needs to do is use his intellect and judgment.

• The happiness of man is that he is allowed to be whatever he chooses.

• How does Humanism relate to the Renaissance?

Graphic Organizer

• Travel & Commerce, Growth of City-States, Humanism.

Activity-3

• Humanism inspired Renaissance thinkers.

• Without Humanism, achievements of the Renaissance probably wouldn’t have happened!

• Roger Bacon compared the state with ancient philosophers, who, though not Christian, lived better and understood the world more through contemplation. Roger Bacon refers to their wisdom.

Humanism

• The philosophy argues that humans have great potential and should use reason to solve problems.

• It celebrated achievements of human beings.

• Humanism emphasized learning and opening up the mind, a core Renaissance value.

Representing Humanist Values in Artwork

• Comparison: Medieval vs. Renaissance painting (no content provided for comparison).

Humanism Concerns

• Humanist ideas clashed with the Church.

• Humanists were NOT atheists; they still believed in faith.

• Humanists believed God wanted humans to expand their knowledge.

• Humanism emphasized this life over afterlife.

Essential Understanding!

• Humanism + Commercial Revolution = The Renaissance.

  • Philosophical aspirations and motivations

  • Free time and wealth provided by the Commercial Revolution.

• Made Renaissance achievements possible.

Thinkers

• Medieval Thinkers believe in reason but based on the “higher truths” available from reading the Bible.

• Renaissance Thinkers based on inquiry and experimentation.

• Greeks and Romans are heretics.

• Held up the ideas and knowledge of the Greeks and Romans as models demonstrating the kind of great achievements humans are capable of.

• Art, culture were all meant ONLY for the glorification of God and to assist in humans’ salvation.

• Art and culture were good in themselves.

• God wanted humans to ‘recreate” ourselves in his images and use our full potential.

• Everyone should accept their specific station (place) in the world and duties and obligations and go with it.

• More social mobility, loosening of social obligations (go find your potential!).

• Leaders of society benefit from increased faith.

• Leaders of society benefit from increased knowledge.

Summary Questions

• Paragraph on how the Renaissance and Humanism changed European society.

• Who benefited most/least.

The Medicis

• Chart the Medici family tree.

The Medicis: Godfathers of the Renaissance

• Questions about dynasty, godfathers, Cosimo de' Medici's search, and Florence's description.

Medici Family Questions

• Who were the Medici family?

• How did Giovanni de' Medici choose his clients?

• Why the Cossa loan? Did it pay off?

• Who did the Medici protect and pay for.

Brunelleschi

• Why was the unfinished cathedral a humiliation to the people of Florence?

• What kind of person was Filippo Brunelleschi.

• How did Brunelleschi's work on the orphanage showcase his new ideas?

• How did Brunelleschi protect his ideas from theft?

• Describe Brunelleschi demonstration? Why did he do this?

• Why did Cosimo and Brunelleschi study The Pantheon for inspiration?

• Brunelleschi's dome would have to support itself.

Italy

• Why Italy?

Aim

• Why did the Renaissance flourish in Italian city-states?

DO NOW

• What does flourish mean? What are some synonyms?

• Examples include prosper, bloom, succeed, shine, excel, etc.

Geographic Benefits

• Of being located in Italy.

Map

• The map shows mediaeval commerce and trade routes.

Geography

• Location and maritime routes related to trade.

Aim

• Why did The Renaissance flourish in Italian city-states?

The Crusades & Italy

• How did the Crusades contribute to making Italy the starting point of the Renaissance?

Renaissance due to Crusades

• A result of the Crusades was increased trade with the Middle East (and later Asia).

• Most of the trade routes went through Italy - Venice & Genoa.

• Italy became the gateway for European trade, with the Middle East or Asia.

• Classical texts, collected by the Abbasid House of Wisdom, would be most easily procured by trade with the Muslim world.

Trade Routes Map

• Shows routes to China & Venice.

Italy and Humanism

• How did Italy allow humanism to manifest itself in The Renaissance?

• Refreshing memory on what Humanism is, values, and support.

Italy and Renaissance?

• Italy = center of Mediterranean world & connected Europe and Middle East.

• Humanism emphasized education and learning from classical cultures (Greece and Rome).

• For Western Europeans, Italy was a place where people could see examples of classical cultures.

Brunelleschi Research

• Where did Brunelleschi travel for research on solving the problem of The Dome of Florence?

The Pantheon

• Reference to The Pantheon as research material.

City States

• Famous Italian cities (today, but not back then).

• Florence, Rome, Milan, Venice.

Italian city-states

• Florence became the center of the Renaissance and most of the new ideas originated there.

• Italians did not identify as Italian, but rather as Roman, Venetian, Florentine, etc.

LONG TERM IMPACT?

• The Dog of Venice/The Doge of Venice.

Italian Maritime Republic

• List of republics: Noli, Genova, Pisa, Venezia, Gaeta, Ragusa, Ancona, Amalfi.

Map

• Map of the Italian Peninsula in 1499, showing various states, republics, and bishoprics.

• Many small, short-lived republics.

Florence

• Emphasis on Florence.

City State

• Reasons as to why the Italian city states contributed to Renaissance development.

The Reading

• Benedetto Dei described Florence in a letter in 1472. Florence is 500 years older than Venice with 30,000 estates from Nobleman, merchants, craftsmen. Witness all the European cities where Florentine merchants sell Florentine goods. There are 270 shops belonging to wool merchants and 83 splendid warehouses of silk. Florence furnishes gold, silver, velvet, and satin to Rome, Naples, Spain, Turkey, and North Africa.

• There are 33 banks in Florence, 84 cabinet-makers' shops, 54 workshops for stonecutters and marble workers, and 44 goldsmiths' and jewelers' shops.

Thrive

• How did Italian city states help the Renaissance thrive?

• Competition between city-states.

• Economic activity in each city.

• Wealth generation.

The Medicis

• Were one of the most famous banking and political families.

Medici Influence

• The Medicis were patrons of the arts.

• They had the money to fund the artwork of artists like Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, Donatello.

• The art that the Medicis funded made Florence famous and revolutionized business/banking.

• They were a family in the right place.

Video Questions

• About the Medici.

• What the Medici's solve the problem/fear and how their