Renaissances

• Gunpowder empires

• Common threads; Islam, religious tolerance, social cohesion, growth in culture/arts 

  • Ottomans

    • Anatolia

      • Mediterranean and Middle East

      • Ruled by Turkish sultan located in Istanbul

    • 1281-1922

    • Most successful and long lasting of gunpowder empires

    • Militarism > public life

    • Osmanis

      • Namesake of Ottomans

      • Broke away from Seljuks, Turkish leaders in 1281

      • Faked ancestry that traced back to Muhammed

    • Conquered Adrianople in 1361 (second most powerful Byzantine city), Constantinople in May 1453

      • Use gunpowder in warfare, proved strength

    • Culture

      • Known for ceramics→made system to mass produce because so many people were buying, people bought for floors in houses, suggested economy was doing well

      • Calligraphy→Arabic could be used to draw and write at the same time

    • Very specific military organization

      • Janissaries

        • Taken from non-Muslim families when very young, converted to Islam, raised only to be private guard of sultan

        • Served throughout empire to be fighting force for sultan

        • Known for horsemanship, talent as foot soldiers 

        • Succeeded due to great training, skill, and gunpowder powered cannons 

        • Highly privileged in society 

        • 17th to 18th century→less military, more network of nobles, each city had Janissary neighborhood, lived very well even if surrounding area was poor

      • Viziers

        • Most educated/close advisors of sultan, promoted from Janissaries 

      • Pashas/beys

        • Sent throughout empire to govern far provinces

        • Collect taxes for sultan, ensure peace

    • Millet system

      • Ottoman empire Islamic

      • Defined people based on religion

      • Each community governed by own religious laws 

    • Downfall

      • Lost loyalty to central government

      • Weak sultans ridiculed by public  

      • Janissaries more interested in personal growth, started fighting with each other, distracted from tax collection

      • 1798→invaded by French, Napoleon I

      • Disbanded at end of WWI 

  • Safavids

    • Persia

      • Centered in Iran

    • 13th century-1722

    • Shiite Islam state religion

      • Made distinct from Sunni neighbors 

    • Ismael

      • Became leader of Safavid Sufi at age seven

      • Also traced ancestry back through Islam, made himself divine authority 

    • July 1501→ troops captured Tabriz

      • Ismael declared shah of Azerbaijan, next year shah of Iran

      • Able to convert many Muslims to Shiism 

    • Arch rivals of Ottoman Empire 

      • Ottoman had better military and gunpowder 

    • Struggled to convert independent Turkish tribal leaders 

    • Art

      • Miniatures→ small paintings, sponsored by royal family

      • Painting people would be seen as scandalous to average people in religious society

      • Came in long series 

      • rugs/tapestries→handmade, Europeans began to put rugs on wall instead of floor because so expensive, very intricate, seen as art 

    • Shah Abbas I

      • Reorganized military

      • 1603→ recaptured Baghdad from Ottomans  

    • Isfahan

      • Permanent capital of Safavids

      • Gained most international attention

      • Architecture, culture, religious life

    • Downfall

      • Began to decline financially and militarily after Abbas death

      • 1722→Isfahan captured by Afghans 

  • Mughals

    • India

      • Descended from Turks and Mongols 

      • Merged Persian and Indian culture →Islam as unifying force 

    • Ended 1722→ death of Aurangzeb

    • Akbar

      • Greatest leader of Mughals

      • Ruled during time of expansion through Deccan plateau 

        • Gunpowder used to crush existing forts, Mughals built new stronger ones 

      • Emphasized religious toleration→accepted Hindus, Jews, Christians, etc. as wives, set standard/maintain image of toleration 

    • Cultural growth

      • Taj Mahal built for Jahan Shah’s favorite wife

      • Akbar promoted arts 

      • Known for jewels, at the time only place known to have had diamonds

      • Mixed Islamic and Hindu styles of art→migrates to India when banned by Safavids 

        • Art showing synthesis of traditions promoted by Akbar 

        • Son of court painter of Safavids (Mir Sayid Ali) taken into Mughals, taught their painters 

    • Led many Indians to convert to Islam

    • Aurangzeb→final ruler

      • More forceful Muslim authority→no more religious tolerance

      • Destroyed sacred Hindu sites, taxed other religions 

      • Desired to capture entire subcontinent

      • Cost too much money, after death in 1707 Mughals fell, British gained control of the area 

      • Ming Dynasty 

        • China 1368 to 1644

        • Zhu Yuanzhang

          • Former Buddhist novice 

          • Leader of rebellion against Yuan Dynasty/Mongols

          • First emperor of Ming

          • Called Hongwu emperor 

          • Ruthless emperor, reestablished Chinese traditions 

  • Yongle emperor

    • Maintained and extended military strength→included navy

  • Nanjing

    • Capital of Ming dynasty→ 1368

  • Mongols

    • Executed 

    • Forced to marry only Chinese 

    • Purely foreign groups not allowed 

  • Arts and culture

    • Began to flourish

    • Used income from chinese traders 

    • Ming porcelains, Nanjing and Beijing palaces

    • “...literature and philosophy experienced a renaissance.”

  • Downfall

    • Less capable rulers

    • Jurchen and Manchu tribes threatened from northeast

    • Peasant uprisings in northwest

    • weakened in 1590s fighting against Japan in Korea 

    • Manchu gained power to revolt against Ming, Ming had no money due to taxpayer revolt

    • Emperor hanged himself in 1644, Qing dynasty created 

  • Zheng He 

    • 28 years, seven voyages

      • Larger ships and fleets than ever known before

      • Sailed farther than any recorded (at the time)

      • Sailed China to east Africa, Middle East, India

      • First voyage→317 ships, about 28,000 men, treasure ships; Vietnam, Java, Thailand, Brunei 

    • Areas traveled through;

      • Vietnam, Java, Thailand, Brunei, India, Sri Lanka, Sumatra, Hormuz, Oman, Kenya

    • Explorer, diplomat, fleet admiral 

    • Taken prisoner at age 10 (named Ma He), Ming invaded Yunnan

      • Won favor of emperor, was freed and slowly given more responsibilities 

      • 1405→ 34 years old, assigned to lead fleet of ships to India by Yongle emperor (Zhu Di)

    • equipment/advancements

      • Magnetic compass

      • Very detailed maps

      • Song Dynasty→gunpowder, ship building 

  • Ming despotism

    • Trust no one

    • Very tyrannical 

    • Don’t even trust own people→created new capital

• Start of Renaissance→ renaissance implies a society is somehow “starting over”, returning to how things used to be and then progressing from that point; increased interest in ancient values, skills, techniques, etc., notable improvement in art and literature, improvement in standard of living, greater access to education

  • Most people not well educated

    • Education became more widespread

    • People became more confident in themselves→question authority

  • Italians begin to grow again

    • Bring back old strategies→architecture, art, etc.

    • knew  that things were better in past than current

    • Approx. 1400→Italians feel they have overcome gap, got back to where they were before, bring back classical styles

    • Urban trading hubs revived, money came in, needed for great art and literature→urban middle class comes back

    • Scholars fleeing from Byzantine empire go to Italy→reeducate western Europe, had been preserving knowledge 

    • Revival of Greek, reading original Bible, question translation

    • Pope ran Papal States in center of Italy; Venice state in north; Spanish state in south; Florence, controlled my Milan, heart of renaissance→Europeans divided, not unified, at time

    • Build banking industry, lots of banks created because of new trading opportunities 

    • Spices came into demand in Europe→ ex. Cinnamon cheaper in Holy Land (grows there), can sell in Europe where more expensive, profit from just moving cinnamon→Italians begin to gain money, become doorway to Europe, can transport goods by ship

  • Supply and demand

    • Supply→amount of a good or service that sellers are willing and able to sell at various prices, positive slope

    • Demand→the amount of a good or service buyers are willing to buy at various prices, negative slope

    • The more money able to make, more willing to sell

    • As prices go down, more people willing/able to buy

    • Find equilibrium of both to find price to make sellers and buyers happy→ intersection on two lines of graph, equal number of sellers and buyers at a certain price, point where sellers make most money because most sales 

  • Humanism and writers

    • Humanism→appreciation for human world

      • Middle ages→obsessed with afterlife

      • Increase in social mobility changes how world is seen

    • Middle class have made profit from trade, have money, want to spend it

      • Buy bigger home, then need furniture, carpets, tapestries, plumbing→involves many trades, merchant bring money, spend, goes to other people; artists began to make money

    • Urban middle class invests money in education

      • Not possible without money, connected to banking

      • Creates culture of commerce and education

    • Five characteristics 

      • Secularism

        • Appreciation for the world of the living→ex. Ancient Romans threw large parties, brought back in renaissance

      • Individualism 

        • People want to be celebrated for individual fame

        • Era of renaissance never truly ended→told everyone they are special, unique potential to be whatever you want, opposite of Middle Ages 

      • Pursuit of knowledge

      • Patronage of the arts 

        • Supporting the arts

        • Ordinary people willing to pay for arts 

        • Sponsoring arts→way of self promotion; your name tied to the art 

        • Greatest patrons sponsor art schools, first to see art→ Medicchi family, Lorenzo the Magnificent

        • Single greatest patron in renaissance was Catholic church

      • Development of politics 

        • Middle Ages→mostly monarchy, not democratic

        • More republics created 

        • People themselves intelligent enough to make decisions→seen as worthy of voting for ruler 

        • People start to run their own republics in Italy ex. Venice and Milan

        • Political science 

    • Major writers; 

      • Dante Alighieri

        • Transitional; wrote Dante’s Inferno, not secular, before renaissance, 1200s, best selling Italian poet, wrote in Italian rather than Latin (Latin international language, Italian vernacular language), so popular his Florence dialect became dominant in all of Italy, individualism, appreciation for ordinary people, wants common people to get to be more educated and ignorant people to read and see they were wrong, wrote in Latin to other writers urging them to write in vernacular rather than Latin, wrote The Divine Comedy, includes Dante’s Inferno, guided by Roman poet Virgil, appreciation of arts, used ancient Greek underworld in story, combined with Christianity, made himself equivalent of great hero, Individualism

      • Geoffery Chaucer

        • Transitional; 1300s, wrote in middle English, Canterbury Tales, Canterbury center for religious pilgrimage, wrote stories told at night during travelling that characters told reflecting their characters, would not have been published in Middle Ages, Secularism, published a lot because popular, used money on it, 

      • Francesco Petrarca/Petrarch

        • Father of humanism, want to learn more besides just business, encouraged free thinking, study writing/art from classical era, most influential western writer before Shakespeare, created own poetic forms, wrote poems to woman named Laura that he is not married to, has real personality and doesn’t make her into a metaphor, never wrote about her again after Black Death gets to Florence, focused on real life

      • Baldassare Castiglione

        • Wrote best selling book of entire renaissance, Book of the Courtier, how-to manual for good manners, court home of upper class person, Italian community revolved around parish church and local court, Italians just started becoming rich, behavior crude for status, encouraged poetry, discouraged fighting, spread dancing instead 

      • Desiderius Erasmus

        • Dutch so called Dutch humanist, wrote satire, used people with influence to make fun of, even Pope, individualism, pointed out corruption in church at time, forerunner of idea common people standing up to authority, In Praise of Folly, wrote about Pope Julius II (warrior pope), goes to heaven and is forgotten/denied

      • Niccolo Machiavelli

        • Humanist; involved in politics, supportive of arts, secular, encouraged manipulation over being a good person in politics, 

    • Humanities/Liberal arts

      • Anything created by for or about humans

      • Language, social studies, history, art 

      • Thought to free your mind, liberating

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Machiavelli questions:

1. In what ways is Niccolo Machiavelli’s advice to princes a break from the teachings of medieval political and moral philosophers?

Niccolo Machiavelli’s advice to princes is a break from the teachings of medieval political and moral philosophers because most people at the time believed the ruler should be governed by religion, but he disagreed strongly with that. He thought the ruler should be cruel and feared.

2. Would Machiavelli’s political advice help or hurt a politician in a modern democratic society?

I think Machiavelli’s political advice would hurt a politician in a democracy today because if a ruler is too cruel, it is not likely the people will vote for them today. Especially in America, freedom and safe living are very important.

3. What is Machiavelli’s opinion of the place of virtues and vices in the prince’s daily life?

Machiavelli believed that there should be no ethics included in political thinking. He didn’t like the idea of mixing Christian morals with politics. He believed that rulers should learn to not be good and then decided how much they should use this skill in different situations. He says that rulers should be wary of vices that could take their power over the state away from them. He also says that virtues may at first seem like vices, and the other way around, so rulers should remain wary.

4. Does Machiavelli see Cesare Borgia as a successful or unsuccessful ruler? Why? 

Machiavelli sees Cesare Borgia as a successful ruler because he was cruel, but he was cruel in a way that allowed the people he ruled over to keep peace. He united and brought order to the Romagna. 

5. According to Machiavelli, is it better to be loved or feared? Why?

Machiavelli says that it is safer to be feared more than loved, but someone should try to be both. He says love is kept alive through obligation, which can be broken whenever, but fear is kept alive through punishment, which is much harder to get rid of. 

6. Why should a prince have a cruel reputation according to Machiavelli?

According to Machiavelli, a prince should have a cruel reputation because it helps to keep people in line. He says that without a cruel reputation, a ruler would not be able to unite an army or get them to carry out any duty for him.

7. Explain Machiavelli’s fox and lion analogy.

Machiavelli’s fox and lion analogy is basically saying that to be a good ruler, you must be two different people at the same time; one sly and cunning and the other powerful and fearsome.

Imagine the following scenarios. What would you do if you were a prince? What would Machiavelli advise you to do?

1. You have the city of Firenze under siege and will defeat it at any moment. A young man from the city comes to you and offers you his life and complete surrender, if you will just spare the city from destruction. What will you do?

If I were a prince, I would try to defeat the city while sparing as many common people as possible, including the man begging me. If he was really convincing, I might even let his whole city go. Machiavelli, carrying a belief in a cruel reputation, would probably advise me to not listen to this man and continue to defeat the city and any person who got in the way, including the man.

2. You have conquered Sinegalia and your army is preparing to invade the city. You receive news that some of your troops are preparing to loot the city. Do you stop them?

I would stop the troops from looting the city; it is unnecessary, and can cause destruction that may hurt us more than help us, especially if we are taking control of the city. I think that Machiavelli would encourage the looting of the city because not looting is listening too much to conventional moral codes. Also, looting the city could bring more money into his empire, which could help them to grow and gain more power.

3. Leaders from two nearby rebel factions came to you on the same day, but separately, asking for your support in their war against the same neighboring government. Do you support either of them?

I would support both groups, and maybe even try to bring them together against the common enemy so that our side of the war is stronger. I think that Machiavelli would do something similar, but use the allies to the advantage of his own state too. I think that ties in with his idea of the ruler needing to be a fox and a lion; sly with his partners and strong with his enemies.