AP Euro Chapter 12

Renaissance: a French word meaning “rebirth”, used to describe the rebirth of culture of classical antiquity in Italy during the 14th-16th centuries

Patronage: Financial support of writers and artists by cities, groups, and individuals, often to produce specific works or works in specific styles

Communes: Sworn associations of free men in Italian cities led by merchant guilds that sought political and economic independence from local nobles

Popolo: disenfranchised common people in Italian cities who resented their exclusion from power

Signori: government by one-man rule in Italian cities such as Milan; also refers to these rulers

Courts: magnificent households and palaces where signori and other rulers live, conducted business, and supported the arts

Humanism: a program of study designed by Italians that emphasized the study of Latin and Greek literature with the goal of understanding human nature

Virtù: the quality of being able to shape the world according to one’s own will

Christian humanists: northern humanists who interpreted Italian ideas about and attitudes toward classical antiquity and humanism in terms of their religious traditions

Debate about women: debate among writers and thinkers in the Renaissance about women’s qualities and proper role in society

New Christians: a term for Jews and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula who accepted Christianity, they included Christian families that converted centuries earlier

The five powers of Italy were Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States, and Naples in the 15th century

How did politics and economics shape the Renaissance?

Italian city-states became wealthy through overseas trade and they became commercial hubs. This economic prosperity caused wealthy and powerful merchant class families, like the Medici, to emerge. These families dominated the banking in cities like Florence and they spent their profits on the cities and urban industries, causing these cities to advance in many ways. These wealthy families also rules some of the cities in the five powers and many northern italian cities were communes with merchant guilds that kept civil order. The five powers dominated Italy and rules the smaller city-states, promising the cities prosperity.

What new ideas were associated with the Renaissance?

During the Renaissance, humanism and Christian humanism were developed. Humanism was the main intellectual aspect of the Renaissance and it emphasized the study of Latin and Greek literature to understand human nature. Within this, scholars looked for and studied people with virtù, or the ability to shape the world with their will. Humanism spread and became the basis of education for men. Similarly, Christian humanism developed in northern italy. This was similar to humanism but it believed Christian and classic cultures should be combined to reform the Church.

How did art reflect new Renaissance ideals?

Renaissance art mainly included religious beliefs, but some artists shifted to portraits of the patrons sponsoring the art or to pagan gods and goddesses. The art also began to be portrayed in more realistic ways through realism and artistis like Giotto portrayed the human body and face more realistically. New techniques were also introduced like oil paint, woodcuts, and more. Artists like Titian also began to use the art style mannerism which is when they distort figures, exaggerate musculature, and heighten color to express emotion.

What were the key social hierarchies in Renaissance Europe?

There were many social hierarchies during the Renaissance but the most essential ones were nobles and commoners along with race, class, and gender. Nobles often were the wealthiest class and they owned lots of land. However, wealthy merchants emerged after they started overseeing huge trading empires. They started rivalry with the nobles and the idea of hierarchy based on wealth increased. This hierarchy replaced noble and common hierarchy, but nobles still had higher status wealthy commoners. In terms of gender and race, women were often looked down upon compared to men and so were people of other races.

How did nation-states develop in this period?

After the Black Death and Hundred Years’ War, France and England suffered. To restore order, French King Charles VIII created the first royal army and he used it to control the nobles and came to an agreement about church and state powers. Similarly, in England, King Henry VII worked to restore royal prestige by crushing the noble power and establishing law and order. To do this, he selected small landowners and urban residents to be in the council instead of nobles. This way, aristocratic threats to the Crown and council were dealt with and left the country at peace. This, in turn, helped England and France become unified nation-states.

Venice, Genoa, Milan, and other Northern Italian cities became very rich through trade and they made advancements in shipbuilding which allowed them to sail faster and carry more goods. Florence, located on fertile soil along the Arno River, was a commercial hub that became wealthy by buying and selling goods throughout Europe. Merchants from Florence (Medici Family) took control of papal nanking at the end of the 13th century and they dominated European banking on both sides of the Alps (North African cities too). Florence was very strong in the 14th century, but King Edward III of England rejected his debts, causing Florentine bankers to go bankrupt. The Black Death affected Florence severely too.

Northern Italian cities were communes formed by merchant guilds who built and maintains the city walls, regulated trade, collected taxes, and kept civil order. The merging of northern Italian nobles and commercial elites created an oligarchy (a small group of people having control of a country, organization, or institution) that rules the city but rivalries among families created political instability. Popolo were heavily taxed and excluded from power, leading to resentment and attacks. The popolo established republics in many cities and they asserted their power with military leaders. Italian cities became signori but oligarchies remained the front of republics with tranches being limited to the wealthy class. In the 15th-16th century, signori transformed their households into courts, allowing them to show their wealth and power. Their celebrations were magnificent and elegant.

The five powers were all republics but they were ruled by one family or person. When one Italian state became more powerful, the other states worked to make a balance of power together. Venice and Florence were invaded by Milan and France, but the Dominican friar Savanorala already preached in popular sermons that God would punish Italy with this. As a result, Savanorala became the ruler of Florence, but people got tired of his strict rules and was excommunicated (formally excluded from the church's communion and sacraments) by the Pope and the Medici family returned to power. The French Invasion made Italy the center of the Habsburg-Valois wars, causing its cities to severely suffer. This led to centuries of subjection and it didn’t unify until 1870.

Humanists believed women should not recieve education because it wasn’t proper but women disagreed and they educated themselves in classics and argued in letters that reason that education wasn’t limited to just men. Castiglione’s The Courtier had a huge influence on education. It talked about what an educated man should do and be like and also talked about the characteristics of a perfect court lady. Machiavelli, secretary to a governing official in Florence after the Medici fell, was tortured after the Medici came back on suspicion of plotting against them and lost employment. Machiavelli published The Prince which talks about the necessities of a good leader and government. Medieval philosophies believed that governments should be judged on how they derive from God’s principles but Machiavelli believed governments should be judged on how well they maintain security and safety. Erasmus made a Latin translation of the new testament with the greek printed edition. The printing press was invented in 1440 in Germany by Johann Gutenberg. Printing press helped make books faster, making the book market expand and helped increase the literacy of laypeople.