Renaissance and Reformation Study Guide Notes

Renaissance Study Guide

Why Did the Renaissance Start in Italy?

  • Legacy of Italy
    • Ruins of ancient Rome: Wealthy individuals recovered classics through architecture and art.
    • Old manuscripts: Monasteries stored manuscripts in new libraries for study.
    • Study of humanities: Grammar, rhetoric, poetry, philosophy, and history (Latin/Greek).
  • Location of Italy
    • City-states: First to benefit from the revival of trade.
    • Italian merchants: Transported goods to Northern Italy and Northern Europe.
    • Growing trade: Brought wealth to city-states.
    • Influence of new wealth: Bankers and merchants became patrons/supporters of the arts.
  • Political Conditions
    • Individualism: Political conditions fostered individualism.
    • Italian city-states: Not unified.
      • Elected officials, made laws, raised taxes.
      • Resulted in a Republican government.
      • Lack of central government led to problems with tyrants.
      • Rulers sought artists to glorify the city and family, remembered as wise and generous rulers, spending money on the arts.

Renaissance Art/Education vs. Medieval Art/Education

  • Renaissance Art
    • Connection of people and nature.
    • Artists took credit for their work.
    • People depicted as real individuals with feelings/emotions.
    • Non-religious settings.
  • Middle Ages Art
    • Subjects were important, not the creator.
    • Showed church teachings and human suffering, joys of life after death.
  • Renaissance Education
    • Aimed to make people more well-rounded.
    • Focused primarily on men.
    • Emphasis on humanities.
    • Majority wrote in the vernacular instead of Latin.
  • Middle Ages Education
    • Trained priests for preaching.
    • Trained scholars for debates.
    • Aimed at men.
    • Focused on theology.

Difference Between Northern Renaissance and Italian Art

  • Italy:
    • Inspired by humanism with emphasis on the revival of the values of classical antiquity.
  • Northern Europe:
    • Driven by religious reform, return to Christian values, and revolt against the authority of the Church.
    • Influence: Painting in oil, interests in landscapes, focus on middle class and peasant life.

Art Techniques

  • Perspective: Artistic technique that creates the appearance of three dimensions on a flat surface.
  • Sfumato: Technique of allowing tone and colors to shade gradually into one another, producing softened outlines or hazy forms.
  • Chiaroscuro: Treatment of light and shadow in drawing and painting.

Humanism

  • Interest in people, self-expression, and individuality.
  • Live a full life with experiences.
  • Return to the classics.

Renaissance Man

  • Someone skilled in many different fields but has mastered at least one skill.
  • Da Vinci is the perfect example.

Florence

  • Renaissance began in Florence, brought by Lorenzo the Magnificent from the Medici family.
  • Italy was not unified.

Renaissance Artists and Their Paintings

  • Brunelleschi
    • Known for the Cupola of St. Maria del Fiore (Il Duomo).
  • Donatello
    • Known for the Bronze David, the first free form bronze since Roman times.
  • Michelangelo
    • Represented the body in three dimensions of sculpture.
    • Works of Art:
      • Sistine Chapel Ceiling: Fresco, tells the story of the Bible.
      • The David: Realism, holding a slingshot, looking over left shoulder.
      • Last Judgement: Depicts the second coming of Christ.
      • Pieta: Sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding Jesus.
  • Raphael
    • Known for his Madonnas (Virgin Mary Paintings).
    • School of Athens: Painted Greek philosophers and possibly himself.
  • Da Vinci
    • Perfect example of a Renaissance Man.
    • Works of Art:
      • Vitruvian Man: Depiction of ideal human proportions, human anatomy/geometry.
      • Mona Lisa: Painting of Lisa Cherardini, wife of a banker.
      • Last Supper
  • Botticelli
    • Depicted gods as humanlike.
    • Works of Art:
      • Birth of Venus: Roman goddess of Love coming out of a seashell.
      • Primavera: Depicted classical gods as life-size, rebirth of spring.

Renaissance Writers

  • Castiglione
    • Masterpiece: The Courtier - book of manners and polite society.
  • Machiavelli
    • Masterpiece: The Prince - book about actual behavior of present and past leaders.
  • Boccaccio
    • Masterpieces: La Caccia di Diana; Filbstrato; and his most famous was Decameron - about the plague.
  • Petrarch
    • Known as the Father of Humanism.
    • Masterpieces: Rime Sparse - collection of poetry; Secretum - dialogue; De Vita Solitaria, Africa - epic poem.
  • Dante
    • Masterpiece: The Divine Comedy - made up of three books ~ Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso; La Vita Nuova - meaning New Life.
  • Rabelais
    • French humanist, vernacular and a secular writer.
    • Most popular book was Adventures of Gargantua and Pantagruel.

Renaissance in France

  • Francis I
    • Credited for bringing the Renaissance to France.
    • School of Fontainebleau: Revolved around the artists at Francis I’s Palace.

Renaissance in Flanders

  • Van Eyck
    • Flemish, invented oil painting.
    • Depicts lives of ordinary people and shows personalities of the people.
    • Examples of Art:
      • The Ghent Altarpiece: First major oil painting.
      • The Wedding Portrait: Secular/realistic painting.
  • Bruegel
    • Concerned with human vice and follies, purpose to convey a message.
    • A master of landscapes, Biblical scenes and daily life.
    • Example of Art:
      • The Peasant Wedding, 1567

Other Renaissance Figures

  • Erasmus
    • Christian humanist.
    • Made a new Latin translation of the new testament.
    • Wrote Praise of Folly, a book that attacked corrupt church leaders.
  • Holbein
    • German artists, artist to the Tudor.
    • Painted Anne of Cleves.
  • Durer
    • Scholar, painter, engraver, print maker, goldsmith, and woodcutter.
    • His patron was Emperor Maximilian I.
    • A scientist, first to publish scientific literature in Germany.

Gutenberg and Printing Press

  • Johann Gutenberg was credited for the movable type and printed the Gutenberg bible in 1454; he combined all the elements of printing into an effective system of production.
  • Results of the Printing Press:
    • Rapid creation, increase in quality, increase in accuracy, increase in availability.
    • People write about people; more for pleasure
    • Spread Renaissance spirit in the North.
    • Spread of religious ideas, knowledge (medicine and geography).

King Philip II

  • A religious ruler - didn’t trust scholars.
  • Charged scholars with heresy by the Spanish Inquisition.
  • Palace El Escorial - served as a royal court, art gallery, library, church, monastery and tomb/crypt for Spanish royalty.
  • Married Queen Mary I (Bloody Mary).

El Greco

  • Most famous artist in Spain (Was Greek, ironically).
  • Distorts & elongates his figures, seats them in a lurid, unearthly atmosphere.
  • Ignores rules of perspective; heightens the effect with brilliant color.
  • Artworks - Counter-Reformation

Other Renaissance Figures (cont.)

  • Cervantes
    • Wrote plays and short stories in vernacular.
    • Don Quixote: A novel about the adventures of a comical knight and his peasant squire.
  • Thomas More
    • English Humanist, called for reform, emphasized Christian values.
    • Published Utopia, criticized society by describing an imaginary, ideal society.
  • Shakespeare
    • Considered the greatest playwright of all time, even now possibly Elizabethan Era.
    • Renaissance peaked.

Reformation Study Guide

Reformation

  • The Reformation was a 16th-century movement for religious reform, leading to the founding of Christian churches that rejected the pope’s authority.
  • Causes of the Reformation
    • Long Term:
      • Spirit of Questioning → Authority/role of church questioned
      • Roman Catholic Church becomes secular/corrupt
        • Clergy members living in luxury.
        • Church officials got married.
        • Simony → Sell of church positions, accepting bribes
      • Strong Kings emerged who resented the Pope’s power → threatened by excommunication
    • Short Term:
      • Leo X seeks funds for St. Peter’s Basilica
      • Sale of indulgences by Johann Tetzel → ticket to heaven, pardon of sins promised.
      • Martin Luther posts the 95 Theses
      • Luther translates the New Testament into German (vernacular).
      • Printing Press→ many copies of German bible/95 Theses produced and his message is spread.
      • Reform is a call for a change → New christian denominations form.

Martin Luther

  • Martin Luther was a monk/professor who decided to take a public stand against the actions of a friar named Johann Teztzel.
  • Author of the 95 Theses.
  • Started the Reformation and started the protestant denomination called the Lutherans.
  • When Pope Leo X threatened to excommunicate Luther, Luther gathered his students and threw the pope’s decree along with books of canon law into a bonfire → Leo excommunicates him.
  • Holy Roman Emperor Charles V issued the Edict of Worms → Prince Federick the Wise of Saxony sends his troops to kidnap Luther and bring him to his castle where Luther ends up translating the New Testament into German.

95 Theses

  • Action that marked the beginning of the Reformation.
  • The 95 Theses were formal statements written by Martin Luther that attacked “pardon-merchants” –grievances against the church, especially against indulgences.
  • Luther posted these on the door of the castle in Wittenberg, which were then taken to a printer and mass-produced.
  • Translated the bible in German (vernacular).

Printing Press (Reformation)

  • The printing was pivotal for the spread of ideas and the Reformation. Thanks to it, the 95 Theses and the translated Bible were mass produced, which helped Luther to gain supporters.

Pope Leo X

  • Pope Leo X, aligned with Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, was fearful of the support Luther was getting → threatens to excommunicate him unless he recanted his statements → Luther refuses and is excommunicated.

Edict of Worms

  • Decree issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V declaring Martin Luther a heretic and forbidding anyone in the Holy Roman Empire from supporting or sheltering him (Prince Federick the Wise of Saxony disobeys). It also banned all of Luther’s writings and ordered their destruction.

Tetzel

  • Friar who raised money to rebuild St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome by selling indulgences → gave people the impression that by buying indulgences, they could buy their way into heaven

Indulgences

  • Indulgences are pardons releasing a sinner from performing the penalty that a priest imposed for sins, weren’t meant to affect God’s right to judge but thanks to Teztel, people saw them as tickets to heaven

Peasant Revolt in Germany

  • German Peasants inspired by Luther’s teachers (which were spiritual) started to revolt (which is a social movement) to demand an end to serfdom → Luther was horrified and urged the German princes to stamp out the rebellion, resulting in the deaths of many peasants ~ Peasants don’t like Luther anymore

Peace of Augsburg

  • German Princes who supported the Pope fought against those who supported Luther → Charles V sends Holy Roman Empire troops to defeat the Protestant German Princes and wins but couldn’t force them back into the Catholic Church → Peace of Augsburg is signed and states that each ruler would decide the religion of his own state
  • This allowed Protestant rulers more control as they didn’t have to pay a tithe and controlled more (previously church owned) land

Zwingli

  • Leader of Protestant movement in Zurich, Switzerland.
  • Ordered removal of images from churches and waited to close monasteries.
  • Led Protestants in a battle against Catholics and was killed.
  • Church established after his death.

Henry VIII

  • Was a devout Catholic
  • Awarded title “Defender of the Faith” by the Pope (Was critical against Luther)
  • Was later excommunicated by Pope Clement VII
    ➔ Henry, married to Catherine of Aragon at the time, had no male heir and wanted the pope to annul his marriage → Pope refused (didn’t want to offend Catherine’s nephew, Charles V), Henry took matters into his own hands and got Parliament (Reform Parliament) to pass the Act of Supremacy ~ Break from Rome is accomplished through law
  • Thomas Cromwell/Thomas Cranmer helped him make changes and seize the church’s wealth, Cromwell was his chief minister
  • Had six wives

Act of Supremacy

  • Monarch is head of the Church.
  • Monarch appoints all church positions.
  • All church lands belong to the government.
  • All clergy must swear allegiance to monarch.

Thomas Cromwell

  • Chief Minister to Henry VIII
  • Oversaw Reformation Parliament
  • BEHEADED

Thomas Cranmer

  • Archbishop of Canterbury.
  • Guided changes in policy/oversaw the monasteries.
  • Helped Henry VIII make changes/seized wealth of Church

Thomas More

  • Chancellor
  • Tries to resign from his post in SILENT protest to the Supremacy and Succession Acts
  • Refuses to swear oath to the king → was sent to the Tower of London and eventually BEHEADED

Henry VIII's Wives

  • Catherine of Aragon
    • Wife #1
    • Catholic
    • Originally married to Henry VIII’s brother, King Arthur of Wales, but married Henry after Arthur died
    • Had a daughter - Mary I (Bloody Mary)
    • Henry tried to get her to sign annulment papers, she refused
    • DIVORCED (technically got an annulment)
  • Ann Boleyn
    • Wife #2
    • Protestant
    • Catholics felt that her child Elizabeth I was illegitimate
    • Failed to produce a male heir…and Henry had met Jane Seymour
    • Tried to woo Henry back → charged with adultery and incest
    • BEHEADED
  • Jane Seymour
    • Wife #3
    • Protestant
    • Finally gave Henry a male heir - Edward VI; ended succession argument
    • DIED shortly after childbirth
  • Anne of Cleves
    • Wife #4
    • Protestant
    • Marriage only lasted 6 months, Henry thought she smelled
    • DIVORCED (technically got an annulment)
    • Thomas Cromwell had convinced Henry to marry her, so Henry blamed him
  • Catherine Howard
    • Wife #5
    • Protestant
    • BEHEADED for adultery
  • Catherine Parr
    • Wife #6
    • Protestant
    • Final wife of Henry (he dies) 🥳

Edward I

  • The son of Jane Seymour - a Protestant king
  • The Church of England expanded
  • He was sick and died at 16 → Never actually ruled on his own
  • England was under the rule of Edward’s council, which included Thomas Seymour
    ➔ After his death, Mary I would rule → Parliament convinced Edward I to take Lady Jane Grey as his wife but he was too ill, so he named her his heir instead

Mary I (Bloody Mary)

  • Daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon
  • Catholic
  • Gained supporters to push Lady Jane Grey out of the throne
  • Attempted to restore Catholicism, and married young Philip II from Spain
  • Had more than 300 Protestants killed → Nicknamed Bloody Mary

Elizabeth I

  • England’s greatest leader
  • Kept religious wars down (made a lot of compromises)
  • Advanced exploration (of America)
  • A patron of the arts (Elizabethan Era)
  • Re-established Protestant Church
  • Became strict after Pope criticism (and excommunication)
  • Brought England to the position of world power with the defeat of the Spanish Armada
    • Act of Uniformity
      • Set form of worship
      • Book of Common Prayer books of Edward VI were to be used in everyday Church in the land
      • Church attendance on Sundays and holy days was mandatory

Spanish Armada

  • Philip II sends the Spanish Armada to England for three reasons:
    1. He’s Catholic and Elizabeth I, current ruler, is Protestant - Religious War
    2. Age of Exploration - Spain took the lead, but the English sea dogs supposedly stole the goods from Spanish ships and Elizabeth approved which made Philip boy mad
    3. Spain had a lot of power in the Dutch lands and Elizabeth was encouraging the people there to revolt

John Calvin

  • Splits from Luther’s Church
  • Starts theocracy in Switzerland
  • Religion spreads across Europe (Calvinism)
  • Many are persecuted for their beliefs

Theocracy

  • A theocracy is a government controlled by religious leaders

Predestination

  • Predestination is the doctrine that God has decided all things beforehand, including which people will be eternally saved → Calvinist belief

John Knox

  • Scotsman who visited Geneva and applied Calvin’s ideas to Scottish towns
  • Religion grew out of the Scottish interpretation of Calvin’s ideas and became the Presbyterian Church, another Protestant Sect

Presbyterianism

  • Founded by John Knox
  • Each community church was governed by a group of laymen called elders or presbyters
  • Based on Calvinisms, less strict

Civil War in France

  • The Valois Family:
    • After the last powerful Valois king died, Henry II, there were three sons: Francis II, Charles IX, and Henry III
    • Their mother, Catherine de Medici (from Florence) controlled the sons and played both sides of the civil war, developing a reputation for cruelty
  • The French Civil War had two sides: The Guise Family and the Bourbon Family
    • They were both fighting for royal inheritance
      • Guise family led the Catholics in the north
      • Bourbon family led the Huguenots in the south
    • Catherine originally supported the Guises
  • Hatred between Catholics and Huguenots frequently led to violence → most violent class occurred in Paris on the Catholic feast of St. Bartholomew’s Day
    • St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre: On the wedding day of Margaret (youngest daughter of Catherine/Henry II) and Henry of Navarre (a Bourbon), it was believed that Catherine orchestrated an attack that resulted in many Huguenots being killed
  • Catherine started to support the Bourbons
  • Henry of Navarre defeated the Catholic League and became Henry IV of France
    • Effects:
      • France left divided by religion.
      • Royal power weakened.
      • Valois family replaced by Bourbons.

Henry of Navarre (IV)

  • Ended Spanish interference in France
  • Converted to Catholicism compromise and make peace
  • Passed the Edict of Nantes

Edict of Nantes

  • Granted religious rights to Huguenots (DID NOT GRANT RELIGIOUS FREEDOM TO ALL–HUGUENOTS ONLY!)

Counter-Reformation

  • Goals:
    • Create a more spiritual outlook in the Catholic Church
    • Define Catholic doctrines more clearly
    • Win converts back to Catholic Church and suppress Protestantism
    • WHAT FOUR THINGS DID THE CATHOLIC CHURCH DO IN RESPONSE TO THE REFORMATION?
      1. New Religious Order:
        • The society of Jesus (The Jesuits) was founded by a Spanish nobleman, Ignatius Loyola
          • Created colleges, seminaries, missionaries to countries
          • Ran charitable organizations
          • Converted non-Christians
          • Tried to stop the spread of Protestantism
      2. Council of Trent:
        • A meeting of Catholic Church Leaders to deal with problems facing church and investigate
          • Clarify and con firm church doctrine
          • Clergy should be more educated, concerned about people in need
          • Fight against new ideas spread by Protestants
          • Regain political and religious authority of the Catholic Church
          • Solve problems of abuses/proposal reforms
            • Banned the *false sale of indulgences
            • Only worthy people would be allowed to enter the clergy
            • Established seminaries for educating priests
            • Tightened discipline in monasteries and convents
      3. Index of Forbidden Books - A list of books deemed dangerous to Catholic faith
        • All books considered heretical were collected and burned
      4. Inquisition reestablished - heretics burned at the stake
        Key word: false because the church didn’t disapprove of indulgences themselves, just the sale of indulgences for pro fit and the idea that they were a ticket to heaven

Seminary

  • A seminary is a theological graduate school that provides education and training for those aspiring to leadership roles within religious organizations, prepares students for careers like pastors, priests, or other ministerial positions, focusing on theology, religious studies, and practical ministry skills
  • PRIEST SCHOOL

Anabaptist

  • Anabaptists were a Protestant denomination who only baptized those who were old enough to decide to be Christian, those who had been baptized as children were rebaptized as adults
  • Taught that church and state should be separate
  • Refused to fight in wars
  • Shared possessions

Effects of Reformation

  • Religion Divided Europe:
    • Catholic - South Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and most of France, Eastern Europe (they weren’t really ever affected by the Reformation as they follow Eastern Orthodox)
    • Protestant - England, Scotland, Switzerland, North Germany, Netherlands, Scandinavia
  • New interests and spread of education–read the bible
  • Jesuits start Catholic schools and universities
  • Increase power of national governments
  • Weakened Catholic Church

Comparison of Catholics/Lutherans/Calvinists

  • Views on Bible:
    • Catholics: Only church officials could interpret the bible
    • Lutherans: Everyone should read/interpret it for themselves
    • Calvinists: Same as Lutherans
  • Church Rituals:
    • Catholics: 7 sacraments
    • Lutherans: Saw sacraments as less important, only 2 primary sacraments - Baptism/Holy Eucharist
    • Calvinists: Same as Lutherans
  • Views on Church Officials Marrying:
    • Catholics: No
    • Lutherans: Yes
    • Calvinists: Yes
  • Views on Pope:
    • Catholics: Head of Church
    • Lutherans: Not important/no pope
    • Calvinists: Same as Lutherans
  • Views on Salvation:
    • Catholics: Participate in sacraments, good deeds, penance, etc.
    • Lutherans: FAITH
    • Calvinists: Predestination