Chapter 17: European Renaissance and Reformation

17.1 - Italy: Birthplace of the Renaissance

The Crusades had sparked an increase in outside trade, which contributed to the rise of great city-states in northern Italy. * There were also several large towns in the area. * As a result, northern Italy became increasingly urbanized, while the rest of Europe remained predominantly agricultural. * Cities were an ideal birthing ground for an intellectual revolution since they are frequently sites where people exchange ideas.
The art and literature of the Middle Ages were scorned by Renaissance scholars. * Instead, they desired to revert to the Greek and Roman ways of learning. * They did so in a variety of ways.
Humanism, an intellectual movement centered on human potential and achievements, arose from the study of classical writings. * Humanists examined classical works to better comprehend ancient Greek principles, rather than seeking to make them accord with Christian teaching as medieval scholars had done.
Some people in the Middle Ages displayed their piety by dressing in ragged garments and eating simple cuisine. * Humanists, on the other hand, suggested that a person may enjoy life without offending God. * The wealthy in Renaissance Italy valued material opulence, beautiful music, and delectable cuisine.
Some people in the Middle Ages displayed their piety by dressing in ragged garments and eating simple cuisine. * Humanists, on the other hand, suggested that a person may enjoy life without offending God. * Material luxury, wonderful music, and fine cuisine were treasured by the wealthy in Renaissance Italy.
Painters began to depict important residents in response to the growing emphasis on persons. * These realistic photographs demonstrated what made each person unique.
Women's roles were generally limited in Renaissance society. * A few Italian women, on the other hand, became well-known painters.

17.2: The Northern Renaissance

Flanders became the creative capital of northern Europe because to the backing of wealthy commercial families. * Jan van Eyck was the first famous Flemish Renaissance painter.
The vast majority of Europeans were unable to read or write throughout this time. Those households who could afford it frequently sent only their sons to school. * This practice was condemned by one woman.
Blockprinted objects made their way to Europe from China in the 13th century. Block printing was first used by European printers to make entire pages for binding into books. * This procedure, however, was too sluggish to meet the Renaissance's thirst for knowledge, information, and literature.
A printer might print hundreds of copies of a single piece using a printing press.
For the first time, books became affordable to a wide range of individuals. Initially, printers mostly created religious publications. * They soon began to publish books on a variety of topics, including travel guides and medical manuals.
Because there are hundreds of different characters in the Chinese writing system, most Chinese printers considered moveable type unworkable. * The technique, on the other hand, would be useful for Europeans because their alphabets have a very limited number of letters.

17.3 - Luther Leads the Reformation

The Church's leaders were accused of being corrupt by critics. * During the Renaissance, popes supported the arts, spent lavishly on personal pleasures, and fought wars.
People are influenced by reformers. * Priests had come to be held to a higher standard of conduct as well as church leaders John lived in the late 1300s and early 1400s.
England's Wycliffe and Bohemia's Jan Hus had argued for it.
At first, Church officials in Rome saw of Luther as a disobedient monk who ought to be punished by his superiors. * As Luther's beliefs grew in popularity, the pope understood that this monk posed a significant threat.
In one enraged response to Church censure, Luther even recommended that Christians forcibly remove the pope from the Church.
Charles ruled over a vast kingdom that included the United Kingdom.
Germany is divided into several states.
Luther's revolutionary views were being applied to society by some. In 1524, peasants in Germany desired the abolition of serfdom, enthused by reformers' rhetoric of Christian liberty. * Bands of enraged peasants raided monasteries, pillaged them, and set fire to them. Luther was terrified by the uprising. * He penned a leaflet asking German princes to show no mercy to the peasants.
Unlike the enraged peasants, many northern German princes were staunch supporters of Lutheranism. * While some princes sincerely embraced Luther's beliefs, others were just interested in Luther's ideas for personal gain. * They saw his teachings as a justification to steal Church property and declare independence from Charles V.

17.4: The Reformation Continues

John Calvin was just eight years old when Martin Luther published his 95 Theses in 1517. * Calvin, on the other hand, grew up to have just as much influence as Luther in the development of Protestantism. * He was going to bring Luther's faith into order.
A Scottish preacher named John Knox was one of Geneva's admirers. Knox put Calvin's theories into practice when he returned to Scotland in 1559. * A group of laymen known as elders or presbyters governed each community church.
Only those who were old enough to make the decision to become Christians were baptized by one such group. * Adults who had been baptized as children should be rebaptized, according to them. * The name Anabaptist comes from a Greek term that means "rebaptize anew."’
Ignatius grew up in Loyola, Spain, in his father's castle. When he was injured in a conflict in 1521, it was a watershed moment in his life. * He reflected on his previous sins and the life of Jesus as he recovered. * He believed that his daily devotions purified his soul.
Protestant churches thrived despite religious wars and persecutions, and new denominations arose. * As a result of the reforms begun at the Council of Trent, the Roman Catholic Church became more cohesive.
Individual monarchs and governments gained influence as the Catholic Church's moral and political authority waned. * This resulted in the formation of contemporary nation-states. * In the 1600s, rulers of nationstates used battle, exploration, and expansion to gain more power for themselves and their countries.