AP Euro Unit 1 Review: Renaissance and Exploration

Renaissance

  • Definition: "Rebirth" of classical texts and ideas from ancient Greece and Rome.
  • Context: During the Middle Ages, these teachings were largely forgotten in Europe, but Islamic scholars preserved and translated them into Arabic and Latin. The Crusades facilitated renewed European contact with these ideas.
  • Beginning: Started in Italy.

Humanism and Individualism

  • Petrarch: Laid the groundwork for Renaissance ideas.
  • Humanism: Focuses on the unlimited potential of human beings as an end in themselves.
  • Individualism: Emphasizes the triumph of the individual.

Petrarch and Cicero

  • Cicero's Writings: Petrarch admired Cicero's eloquent Latin compositions and support for the Roman Republic.
  • Opposition to Tyranny: Petrarch was moved by Cicero's opposition to Julius Caesar's usurpation of power.

Philology and Secular Authority

  • Philology: The study of the history and development of languages.
  • Lorenzo Valla: Demonstrated that the "Donation of Constantine," a document of the Roman Catholic Church, was a forgery based on Latin language standards.
  • Shift in Authority: Illustrated a move away from religious authority to secular authority.

Spread of Ideas

  • Printing Press: Invented in the 1440s, it allowed for the wide and rapid spread of new ideas, challenging the power of universities and other institutions.

Transformation of Education

  • Humanities: Renaissance scholars introduced the humanities (history, moral philosophy, poetry) into the curriculum, emphasizing classical texts.
  • Goal: To expand the humanity and unlimited potential of the human being.

The Courtier

  • Baldassare Castiglione: Wrote "The Courtier" as a guide for how an educated young man should behave in courtly society.
  • Qualities of a Gentleman: Skilled in humanistic disciplines, physically strong, and mentally alert.

Civic Humanism

  • Context: Applied to the Italian city-states, where Italy was composed of regional kingdoms and self-governing communities.
  • Definition: Educated men should be active and engaged in local politics.

Examples of Civic Humanism

  • Leonardo Bruni: Argued that the republicanism of ancient Rome was the best form of government.
  • Shift from Feudalism: A departure from the feudalistic government structure of the Middle Ages.
  • Niccolò Machiavelli: Wrote "The Prince," arguing that a ruler's primary function is to maintain power, using whatever means necessary.
  • Machiavelli's View: A ruler should maintain power even if it means making selfish decisions that disregard ethical and moral beliefs.

Renaissance Art

  • Shift from Middle Ages: From religious themes and symbolism to naturalism.
  • Naturalism: More realistic portrayal of the world.
  • Italian vs. Northern Renaissance: Italian leaned more towards idealism, Northern Renaissance depicted everyday life.
  • Geometric Perspective: Added depth and realism to paintings.
  • Themes: Religious, personal, political, and classical.

Key Artists

  • Michelangelo: Sculpture of David, showing humanist philosophy.
  • Raphael: "The School of Athens," using classical themes and geometric perspective.
  • Filippo Brunelleschi: Architect who rebuilt the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence and designed the dome on the Florence Cathedral without outside support.

Patronage of the Arts

  • Wealthy Patrons: Wealthy individuals, rulers, and popes patronized artists to enhance their public prestige.
  • Medici Family: Notable patrons of the arts.

Northern Renaissance

  • Spread of Ideas: With the help of the printing press, Italian Renaissance ideas spread to the rest of Europe north of the Italian Alps.
  • Christian Humanism: Synthesis of humanism with Christian ideas, emphasizing social reform.
  • Desiderius Erasmus: Believed education in the classics and the Bible is essential for societal reform.
  • Erasmus's Work: "In Praise of Folly," a satire criticizing corrupt political, social, and religious institutions.

Northern Renaissance Artists

  • Religious Focus: Retained a more religious, Christian focus compared to the Italian Renaissance.
  • Pieter Bruegel the Elder: "The Peasant Wedding," depicting ordinary people and everyday life.
  • Rembrandt: Famous for painting light and shade, emphasizing emotional depth and inhabiting the narrative of scripture.

The Printing Press

  • Impact: Played a massive role in the spread of Renaissance and humanist ideas.
  • Before the Printing Press: Important books were copied by hand, making them rare and expensive.
  • Johannes Gutenberg: Associated with the technology of the printing press, which allowed for the quick and cheap production of books.
  • Movable Type: Metal letters were slid into rows, blotted with ink, and pressed upon paper.
  • Gutenberg Bible: Gutenberg's first major work, published in 1456.

Impact of the Printing Press

  • Rapid Spread of Ideas: By 1515, major classical authors were in print and spreading rapidly.
  • Protestant Reformation: Martin Luther used the printing press to spread his ideas, challenging the Catholic Church.
  • Vernacular Literature: Created demand for literature in the language of the common people, fostering the development of national cultures.

Politics and Power Consolidation

  • Shift in Power: Monarchs and princes started taking power from the nobility.
  • Top-Down Religious Reform: Kings exercised and consolidated their power.

Henry VIII

  • Defender of the Faith: Initially opposed the Protestant Reformation.
  • Break with the Catholic Church: After being denied an annulment, Henry denounced the Pope and formed the Church of England.
  • Treason Act: Made it punishable by death to refuse to recognize the Church of England.

Elizabeth I

  • Act of Uniformity: Mandated that English subjects attend an Anglican church or be fined.

Foundation for the Modern State

  • Monopolies: Establishing monopolies on tax collection, employing military force, dispensing justice, and gaining the right to determine the religion of their subjects.

Spain

  • Ferdinand and Isabella: Their marriage began the unification of Spain.
  • Revenue: Raised revenue through national taxes.
  • Bureaucracy: Established an elaborate bureaucracy to collect taxes and decide questions of justice.
  • Reconquista: Drove out Muslims and Jews and established Catholicism as the official religion.

France

  • Consolidation of Power: Achieved through national taxes and a complex bureaucracy.
  • Concordat of Bologna (1516): Agreement between King Francis I and Pope Leo X.
    • Terms: The Pope got the right to collect income from the French Catholic Church, and Francis retained the right to appoint French Catholic Church leaders, restricting their right to communicate with the Pope directly.

Peace of Augsburg (1555)

  • Right to Determine Religion: Gave individual leaders in the Holy Roman Empire the right to decide whether their subjects would be Catholic or Lutheran.
  • Consolidation of Power: If a monarch's people believed contrary doctrines it could weaken their sway over the people.

Commercial and Professional Groups

  • Rise of Merchants and Bankers: Especially in the Italian and German states.
  • Medici and Fuggers Families: Established the banking industry in Italy and Germany, respectively.
  • Increased Political Power: The rise of the money economy allowed these groups to exercise increased political power.

European Exploration

  • Motivations: Gold, God, and glory.

Motivations for Exploration

  • God: To spread Christianity and convert new people to Catholicism.
  • Spain: Wanted to spread Catholicism as far as they could. By 1492, they had completed the Reconquista and driven Jews and Muslims from their land.
  • Gold: Mercantilism, the dominant economic system, emphasized accumulating gold and silver.
  • Mercantilism: A country needed more exports than imports.
  • Colonies: Provided the motherland with mineral wealth and raw materials.
  • Jean-Baptiste Colbert: Believed a country's wealth should serve the state and aimed to claim as much of North America as possible.
  • Asia: Europeans were motivated to explore due to the increasing demand for luxury goods from Asia.
  • Glory: Bitter rivalry among European powers to grab as many colonial possessions as possible.
  • Cartography: More detailed maps.
  • Caravel: Fast and highly navigable ship.
  • Lateen Sail: Could take wind from any side.
  • Compass and Astrolabe: Helped establish direction and latitude.

Colonial Empires

  • Portugal: Established a trading post empire by sailing around Africa to the Indian Ocean.
  • Spain: Claimed much of the Caribbean, Central America, North America, and the coastline of South America after Columbus landed in the Bahamas.
  • France: Claimed large parts of North America and Canada for fur trade.
  • England: Built settler colonies along the eastern coast of North America.
  • Netherlands: Focused mainly on dominating trade in Southeast Asia.

Effects on European Relationships

  • Diplomacy and Negotiation: Treaty of Tordesillas in 1494 divided the Americas between Spain and Portugal.
  • Coercion and War: Rivalries led to armed conflict.

Balance of Power

  • European Goal: To ensure no single European power became too dominant.

Columbian Exchange

  • Definition: The global exchange of goods, flora, fauna, cultural practices, and disease between the Old World and the New World.

Major Exchanges

  • Disease: Europeans brought diseases like smallpox and measles, which devastated Native American populations.
  • Food: Exchange of high-yielding foods between the Americas and Europe.
    • Americas to Europe: Maize, tomatoes, potatoes, and cacao.
    • Europe and Africa to Americas: Rice, wheat, soybeans, rye, oats, lemons, and oranges.
  • Animals: Europeans introduced horses, pigs, chickens, and cattle to the Americas.
  • Minerals: Europeans plundered gold and silver from the Incan and Aztec empires, transforming the Americas and Europe.
  • People: The African slave trade, where millions of Africans were forcibly removed from their land.

Impact on Europe

  • Shift in Economic Power: From the Mediterranean to the Atlantic states.
  • New Societal Structure: The Spanish created a completely new societal structure in the Americas.
  • Encomienda System: Encomenderos were granted land, and natives became unpaid laborers for farming or mining. It was a brutal system that was justified on religious grounds.
  • Legal DocumentationLegal document issued to initiate this system.

African Slave Trade

  • Connection to Encomienda System: Due to the deaths from disease and escape, a demand for enslaved African labor in the Americas arose.
  • Reasons: Europeans had been in contact with diseases for millennia and thus had immunity, did not know the land well and were less likely to escape.
  • The Middle Passage: The inhumane journey across the Atlantic.

Commercial Revolution

  • Definition: The great increase in global commerce during this period changed the face of economics in Europe.
  • Beginnings of Capitalism: Started to replace mercantilism.

Changes in Banking and Finance

  • Money Economy: Goods, services, wages, and investments were made with cash.
  • Banking Centers: Rise of great banking centers in Genoa, Amsterdam, and London.
  • Innovations: Banking practices that facilitated growth.
    • Double-Entry Bookkeeping: Detailed ledger kept of all debits and credits.
    • Joint-Stock Company: Investors bought stock in a company's profits, raising large amounts of capital.
      Dutch East India Company formed in 1602 to finance trade in Asia, as a good example of free market competition.

Social Hierarchies

  • End of Feudalism: Largely replaced by new system.
  • Manor life: System in which a king granted land to nobles who farmed the land and protected it.
  • Subsistence Agriculture: Families grew what they needed to survive.
  • Soil Exhaustion: Constant threat due to planting the same crops year after year.
  • Crop Rotation: A solution to soil exhaustion.
    • Two-Field systemHalf of the land lay fallow for a period of time in order to replenish the nutrients while the other half was planted and harvested.
    • Three-Field System: Fields were split into sections. Two-thirds of the land was productive during planting season while one-third was left fallow to replenish its nutrients.

Price Revolution

  • Cause: Influx of Spanish silver and gold to the European economy, along with greater circulation of money and population growth.
  • Commercialization of Agriculture: Large landowners and capitalist investors began to see the open field system as wasteful.
  • Enclosure Movement: The land that was previously available to all was being enclosed.
  • Results: Benefited large landowners but disrupted life for the peasantry and led to increased poverty.
  • Urbanization: Massive migration movement of the landless poor into cities to look for work.