The Renaissance in Italy

1. Jacob Burckhardt

   1. 19th century Swiss historian

   2. Italian Renaissance- “prototype of the modern world” 

   3. Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860)

      1. Ancient learning in 14th and 15th century Italy gave rise to secular and scientific values

      2. People adopted rational, empirical, and statistical approaches 

      3. Discovered latent creativity

   4. Critics said he overlooked the continuity of the Middle Ages and Renaissance

2. The Italian City-State

   1. Renaissance society happened in late medieval Italian merchant cities

   2. Italy

      1. Cultural Advantage

         1. Natural gateway between East and West in geography

      2. Venice, Genoa, and Pisa traded with near East throughout Middle Ages

      3. 11th century- mastered business skills of organizing, bookkeeping, developing new markets, and securing monopolies

      4. 15th century- trade-rich cities became bankers for Europe

   3. Growth of City-States

      1. Expansion of Italian cities and urban culture

         1. Helped by pope and Guelf (pro-papal) vs. emperor and Ghibelline (pro-imperial)

         2. Weakened one another which let merchant oligarchies thrive

      2. Italian cities remained free to expand on their own

         1. Became independent states, absorbing surrounding countryside and eliminating competitive states

      3. 5 major evolved states

         1. Duchy of Milan

         2. Republic of Florence 

         3. Republic of Venice

         4. Papal states

         5. Kingdom of Naples

      4. Social strife and competition for political power evolved cities into despotism (tyranny) to survive

         1. Venice stayed a merchant oligrachy

            1. Controlled by Council of Ten (judicial body) and 300 member patrician senate to stop rival groups

   4. Social Class and Conflict

      1. Florence- prime example of social division and anarchy

         1. 4 distinguishable social groups

            1. The old rich (grandi)

               1. Noblemen and merchants who ruled

            2. Newly rich merchant class

               1. Capitalists and bankers

               2. Popolo grosso, “fat people” who challenged old rich in 13th and 14th century

            3. Middling burgher ranks 

               1. Guild masters, shop owners, professionals, small business people who sided with new rich against conservative policies of old

            4. Popolo minuto, “little people”

               1. Bottom of society

               2. Lower socioeconomic classes

               3. 1457- 30,000 people listed as paupers with no wealth

         2. Social divisions caused conflict

            1. 1378- Ciompi (poor class uprising)

               1. Feuds between old and new rich

               2. Social anarchy because of Black Death halving the population

               3. Collapse of Bardi and Peruzzi great banking houses leaving poor vulnerable

               4. Chaotic 4-year reign of power by lower classes

            2. Stability did not return until Florentine banker and statesman Cosimo de’ Medici (1389-1464) in 1434

   5. Despotism and Diplomacy

      1. Cosimo de’ Medici

         1. Wealthiest Florentine and natural statesman

         2. Controlled the city through manipulating the constitution and influencing elections

      2. Signoria (group of 6 then 8) governed the city

         1. Men from powerful guilds, major clothing industries, and other strong groups (bankers, judges, doctors)

         2. Cosimo kept loyal councilors in it

      3. Cosimo’s grandson, Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492, r. 1478-1492) ruled Florence 

         1. Totalitarian ruling during last quarter of 15th century

         2. The Pazzi (rival family) who plotted with pope against the Medicis assassinated his brother 

            1. Lorenzo was a cautious, determined ruler

      4. Despotism elsewhere was less subtle

         1. To prevent internal social conflict and foreign interest from harming the city, dominant groups hired strongmen 

            1. or despots (podestà) which maintained law and order 

               1. Held executive, military, and judicial authority to maintain normal flow of business activity by whatever means necessary without a class prospering

               2. Operated through mercenary armies by military brokers (condottieri)

      5. Art of Diplomacy

         1. City-states stayed with foreign military developments and had advantages over enemies without war with skilled diplomats

            1. Also established embassies in 15th century to keep it that way

            2. Represented at ceremonies and negotiations and became eyes and ears at rival courts

   6. Italian Renaissance was promoted by despots, republicans, secularized popes, spiritual popes, tranquil Venice, democratic Florence, and despotistic Milan.

      1. Supported by very great wealth

3. Humanism

   1. Different meanings

      1. A philosophy driven by the dignity of humankind, individualism, and secular values

      2. Humanists- could have been champions of Catholic Christianity, opposing Aristotle and Scholasticism writings

         1. Orators and poets who wrote original literature in classical and vernacular languages

            1. Taught rhetoric in universities

            2. Sometimes hired by royal and papal courts as secretaries, speechwriters, and diplomats

      3. Neutral form of empirical-minded historical scholarship adopted to promote political liberty and civic responsibility

   2. Studia humanitatis

      1. Liberal arts program of study embracing grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, politics, and moral philosophy

         1. Uses Latin and Greek classics and ancient Church Fathers’ works

         2. Florentine humanist Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444) associated humanitas (“humanity) with the learning

            1. Star pupil to Manuel Chrysoloras (1355-1415)

               1. Taught Greek scholarship to Italian humanists when teaching in Florence (1397-1403)

   3. Petrarch, Dante, and Boccaccio

      1. Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)

         1. “Father of humanism”

         2. Pursued letters and poetry in Avignon

            1. Letters to the Ancient Dead

               1. Personal letters to Cicero, Livy, Vergil, Horace about Rome

            2. Africa

               1. Latin epic poetic tribute to Roman general Scipio Africanus

            3. Lives of Illustrious Men

               1. Biographies of famous Roman men

            4. Love sonnets, admiring a married woman

         3. In a popular revolt in Rome

         4. Served the Visconti family in Milan

         5. Latter humanists featured his critical textual studies, elitism, contempt for learning Scholastics, Classical and Christian values, imagined dialogues with Saint Augustine, and defended personal immortality of soul against Aristotelians

      2. Dante Alighieri (1265-1321)

         1. Near-cintemporary

         2. Vita Nuova and Divine Comedy (with the sonnets) made Italian vernacular literature

      3. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)

         1. Decameron

            1. 100 tales told by 3 men and 7 women in a safe country retreat away from plague that ravaged Florence in 1348 (Bubonic Plague)

            2. Exposes sexual and economic misconduct 

            3. Sympathetic view on human behavior

         2. Assembled an encyclopedia of Greek and Roman mythology

   4. Educational Reforms and Goals

      1. Humanists

         1. Refused to be slaves to their own times

         2. Made them innovative educators

         3. Kept them in search of new sources to solve society’s ills

         4. Created manuscript collections with past history, potent remedies for contemporaries, and sound advice for politicians and rulers

      2. Goal of Humanist studies

         1. Wisdom spoken: knowledge of the good and ability to persuade others of it

         2. Learning shouldn’t be abstract and unpracticed

         3. “Will the good rather than know the truth” - Petrarch taught

            1. Learning ennobled people

      3. Pietro Paolo Vergerio (1349-1420)

         1. Author of influential Renaissance tract on education, On the Morals That Befit a Free Man

         2. Humanist concept of liberal education- virtue and wisdom to develop body and mind gifts to ennoble people

      4. Reforms in traditional education

         1. Roman orator Quintilian’s (ca. 35-100) Education of the Orator (1416)

            1. Basic classical guide for humanist curriculum

         2. Vittorino da Feltre exemplified the ideas

            1. Made his students read difficult works and had physical exercise and games

      5. Baldassare Castiglione’s (1478-1529) Book of the Courtier

         1. Rediscovered past knowledge modeled and challenged the present

         2. Practical guide for court of Urbino (Italy) nobility

         3. Highest ideals of Italian humanism

         4. Merges ancient language knowledge and history with athletic, military, and musical skills

            1. With good manners and moral character

      6. Noblewomen promoted the new education and culture

         1. Christine de Pisan (1363?-1434), daughter of French king Charles V’s physician and astrologer

            1. Expert in classical, French, and Italian languages and literature

            2. Married at 15 but widowed mother of 3 at 27

            3. Wrote lyric poetry, read throughout European courts, to support herself

            4. Famous work The Treasure of the City of Ladies

               1. Accomplishments of great women in history

   5. The Florentine “Academy” and the Revivial of Platonism

      1. Revival of Greek studies in 15th century

         1. 1397- Manuel Chrysoloras came to Constantinople to promote Greek learning

         2. 1439- Council of Ferrara-Florence negotiated the reunion of the Eastern and Western churches which allowed Greek scholars and manuscripts to come from the West

         3. 1453- Constantinople fell to the Turks so many Greek scholars fled to Florence

         4. Florentine Platonic Academy 

            1. Evolved under Cosimo de’ Medici, Marsilio Ficino (1433-1499), and Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494)

            2. An informal gathering of influential Florentine humanists devoted to the revival of Plato and Neoplatonists’ works

            3. Ficino edited and published Plato’s completed works

      2. Platonism

         1. Appealing because of its view on human nature

            1. Eternal sphere of being and a perishable world in which humans actually live

            2. Human reason preexisted in pristine world and still commune with it because of the theory supported by human knowledge of eternal mathematical and moral truths

      3. Platonic influence

         1. Pico’s Oration on the Dignity of Man

            1. Most famous Renaissance statement on the nature of humankind

            2. Introduction to 900 theses

               1. Basis for public debate on all of life’s important topics

               2. Depicts humans as the only creatures in the world who have the freedom to do and be whatever they choose

            3. Published in Rome December 1486

   6. Critical Work of the Humanists: Lorenzo Valla

      1. Critics of tradition

         1. Learned humanists because they had scholarly ideals of philological accuracy and historical truth

         2. Shook long-standing foundations (medieval church)

      2. Lorenzo Valla (1406-1457)

         1. Elegances of the Latin Language (1444)

            1. Standard Renaissance text on Latin philology

            2. Reveals explosive character of the new learning

         2. Good Catholic and hero to Protestant reformers

            1. From Donation of Constantine and defense of predestination against advocates of free will

      3. Donation (18th century)

         1. Allegidly was a good faith grant of vast territories to the pope and church by Roman emperor Constantine (r. 307-337)

         2. Valla did not mean for it to have the devastating force the Protestants attributed it to be

            1. Proved in a careful, scholarly way 

            2. Filled with anachronistic terms (fief) and information not in a 4th century document --> a fraud

               1. Also errors in Latin Vulgate (authorized version of the Bible for Western Christendom)

            3. Still loyal to the church and faithfully fulfilled the office of apostolic secretary in Rome under Pope Nicholas V (r. 1447-1455)

      4. Historical humanistic criticism served people far less loyal to the medieval church

         1. These young humanists were the first identifiable group of Martin Luther’s supporters

   7. Civic Humanism

      1. Basic humanist criticism

         1. Uselessness of so much of its content

      2. Civis humanism

         1. Education should promote individual virtue and self-sacrificing public service

         2. Examples in Florence

            1. Coluccio Salutati (1331-1406)

            2. Leonardo Bruni (1370-1444)

            3. Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459)

         3. All rallied Florentines against their aggressors with rhetorical skills

            1. Doubt that it was for civic activity instead of great power

      3. End of Renaissance

         1. Humanists became cliquish and snobish intellectual elites concerned about narrow Latin scholarly interests than civic and social ife

         2. In response, Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527) and Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540) who wrote Italian and contemporary history as their primary source and subject matter 

      4. 2 sides of humanism

         1. Deep historical scholarship 

         2. Practical transparent politics

4. High Renaissance Art

   1. Lay people had a leading role and created models for the clergy to follow

      1. Mainly because of the church losing international power during late Middle Ages’ crises

      2. Rise of national sentiment and national bureaucracies worked by laymen encouraged lay education over 14th and 15th century

      3. Medieval Christians had a more this-worldly spirit and mission

   2. High Renaissance (1450-1527)

      1. Art and sculpture reached maturity

      2. Embraced the natural world and human emotions

         1. Medieval art- abstract and formulaic

      3. Works had a rational (mathematical) order

         1. Perfect symmetry and proportionality to reflect harmony of the universe

      4. Artists

         1. Helped by 15th century technical skill developments

         2. Availability of oil paints

         3. Two special techniques

            1. Shading to enhance naturalness (chiaroscuro)

            2. Adjustment of figure size to make a feeling of continuity (linear perspective)

            3. Artists now portrayed space realistically and painted a natural world

         4. 3D canvases with energy and life instead of flat Byzantine and Gothic canvases

   3. Giotto (1266-1336)

      1. Father of Renaissance painting

      2. Admirer of Saint Francis of Assisi and loved nature

      3. Painted a more natural world

         1. Still had religious seriousness but not abstract and unnatural 

   4. Artists who displayed the world literally and naturally

      1. Painter Masaccio (1401-1428)

      2. Sculptor Donatello (1386-1466)

   5. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519)

      1. Exhibited the Renaissance ideal of the universal person

      2. Advised Italian princes and French king Francis I (r. 1515-1547) on military engineering

      3. Approached his work by observations 

      4. Self-taught botanist

      5. Foresaw airplanes and submarines

      6. Painted the Mona Lisa

      7. Conveyed inner moods through complex facial expression 

   6. Raphael (1483-1520)

      1. Man of great kindness and painter of sensitivity

      2. Most famous for tender madonnas and great fresco in the Vatican, The School of Athens

         1. Perfect example of Renaissance techniques

         2. Plato and Aristotle surrounded by other philosophers and scientists of antiquity

   7. Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)

      1. 18-foot sculpture of David

         1. Harmony, symmetry, and proportion to serve the glorification of the human form

      2. Painting of frescoes in the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel

         1. Painted during term of pompus Pope Julius II (r. 1503-1513)

         2. 10,000 square feet and 343 figures (most over 10 feet tall)

         3. Took four years to complete

      3. Later works 

         1. More complex and reveal deep personal changes

         2. Mark the passing of High Renaissance painting to new style mannerism

            1. A style of art in the mid- to late-16th century allowing artists to express their own “manner” or feelings in contrast to the symmetry and simplicity of the art of the High Renaissance

               1. Strange and abnormal

            2. Made room for strange and abnormal

            3. More rein to individual perception and feelings of the artist

            4. Tintoretto and El Greco’s works are mannerism’s representatives

5. Slavery in the Renaissance

   1. Slavery flourished 

   2. Western slave market- (since 12th century) Spanish sold Muslim slaves captured in raids and war to wealthy Italians

   3. Contemporaries- slavery was merciful

   4.  Collective plantation slavery developed in eastern Mediterranean during High Middle Ages

      1. Savannas of Sudan and Venetian estates on Cyprus and Crete had slaves cut sugarcane which set the model for slave plantations

   5. After Black Death (1348-1350), the demand for slaves increased 

      1. Slaves were imported from Africa, Balkans, Constantinople, Cyprus, Crete, and surrounding Black Sea lands

         1. Consisted of many races: Tatars, Circassians, Greeks, Russians, Georgians, Iranians, Asians, and Africans

      2. Always a slave in the household

         1. Used as dowry, in lieu of fees, and with priests

   6. Italian law for slavery

      1. Owners have complete dominion over slaves

   7. Slaves cost = free servant wages for several years

      1. Worth the cost

   8. Tatars and Africans were worst treated

   9. Ancient Greece and Rome

      1. Slaves were accepted as family members and integrated into households

      2. Few female slaves became mothers of the masters’ children

         1. Fathers adopted children and raised them as legitimate heirs

      3. Keep slaves happy and healthy to be useful and not a threat

   10. Slaves

       1. Foreign and suspected presence in Italy

       2. Uprooted and resentful people

Italy’s Political Decline: The French Invasions (1492-1527)

1. Relied on internal cooperation for peace and safety from foreign invasion (Turks)

   1. Treaty of Lodi (1454-1455)

      1. Kept peace during second half of 15th century

      2. Brought Milan and Naples (enemies) into alliance with Florence

      3. Stood against Venice that joined the Papal states to maintain an internal balance of power

      4. All five states could be a unified front if necessary

   2. 1490- Milan vs. Naples because of the rise of Milanese despot Ludovico il Moro

      1. 1494- Treaty of Lodiś peace was ended when Naples threatened Milan

      2. Ludovico asked the French for aid (horrible decision)

         1. French kings ruled Naples (1266-1442) before being kicked out by Duke Alfonso of Sicily

         2. Allowed the French to enter Italy and take their dynastic claim to Naples

         3. France also had dynastic claims to Milan that Ludovico did not know about

         4. France now wanted lots of territory

2. Charles VIII’s March through Italy

   1. Charles VIII (r. 1483-1498) cross the Alps (August 1494) to try and eager to conquer Florence, the Papal States, and Naples 

      1. Florentine ruler, Piero de’ Medici, handed over Pisa and Florentine possessions to stop Charles

         1. Piero was exiled by citizenry revolutionized by Dominican preacher Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498)

            1. Convinced people that the king’s arrival was justified divine vengeance on their immortality

   2. With Savonarola, Charles could enter Florence

      1. Fatal flattery and large ransom payment allowed the city to escape destruction

   3. Charles passed through

      1. Savonarola now ruled Florence (4 years)

      2. His moral rigor and antipapal policies prevented him from surviving in Italy

      3. After Italian cities reunited and kicked out the French, in May 1498 Savonarola was imprisoned and executed

   4. Terror in non-Italian hearts

      1. Ferdinand of Aragon (r. 1479-1516)

         1. Wanted to expand in Italy from sicily but became vulnerable to French-Italian axis

         2. Created a new counteralliance, League of Venice

            1. March 1495

            2. Venice, Papal States, Emperor Maximilian I (r. 1493-1519), and Ferdinand vs. France

            3. Set up France-Spain conflict until 1559

   5. Ludovico il Moro

      1. Realized the French threatened Italy

      2. Joined the League of Venice

         1. Now able to retreat Charles and end the trouble he brought to Italy 

3. Pope Alexander VI and the Borgia Family

   1. French returned to Italy under Louis XII (r. 1498-1515; Charles’ successor)

      1. Italian ally, the Borgia pope Alexander VI helped

         1. Most corrupt pope on papal throme 

         2. Promoted Cesare and Lucrezia Borgia’s political careers

            1. His children before he was pope

         3. Papal policy + his family’s effort to have a political base in Romagna in north central Italy

            1. Venice (pope ally within League of Venice) fought Papal states for loyalty

            2. French alliance would help Alexander control Venice/Romagna (Italy regions)

   2. Alexander VI secured French favor

      1. Annulled Louis XII’s marriage to Charles VIII’s sister

      2. Louis then married Charles’ widow, Anne of Brittany

         1. Political move to keep Brittany French

      3. Cardinal’s hat given to archbishop of Rouen, Louis’s favorite 

         1. Promoted

      4. Agreed to abandon League of Venice

         1. Made league weak so French could conquer Milan

   3. August 1499- Louis invaded Milan 

   4. Ludovico il Marco

      1. Originally started French invasion

      2. Rotted in French prison

   5. 1500- Louis and Ferdinand of Aragon divided Naples

   6. Pope and Cesare Borgia conquered Romagnan cities without resistance

      1. Cesare now “duke of Romagna”

4. Pope Julius II

   1. Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere

      1. Succeeded Alexander VI as Pope Julius II (r. 1503-1513)

      2. Suppressed the Borgias (enemies)

      3. Romagnan lands under papal jurisdiction

      4. Gained title “warrior pope”

         1. Brought Renaissance papacy to its peak of military prowess and diplomatic intrigue

   2. Julius Excluded from Heaven

      1. Described Julius’s unsuccessful attempts to convince Saint Peter he was admitted to heaven

   3. Pope Julius drove Venetians out of Rogmagna (1509) and secured Papal States

      1. Now tried to rid Italy of French invader

      2. Holy League (October 1511)

         1. Julius, Ferdinand of Aragon, and Venice + Emperor Maximilian I and Swiss

         2. 1512- French in retreat

         3. 1513- Swiss defeated France at Novara

   4. Francis I (r. 1515-1547)

      1. Louis’s successor

      2. Invaded Italy 3rd time

      3. Massacred Swiss soldiers of Holy League at Marignano, September 1515

      4. August 1516- won Concordat of Bologna 

         1. French king controls French clergy and French recognition of pope superiority and right to college annates

         2. Kept France Catholic after Protestant Reformation

5. Niccolo Machiavelli

   1. Watched French, Spanish, and German armies wreak havoc on Italy

   2. Virtú in Roman rulers and citizens

      1. Ability to act decisively and heroically for the country’s good

   3. Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540)

      1. More sober historian who wrote truer chronicles of Florentine and Italian history

   4. Held republican ideals

      1. Strong and determined people could struggle successfully with fortune

      2. Internal fueding causing self-destruction

   5. “Machiavellian” epithet

      1. Ruthless political expediency

      2. Italy needed cunning dictators to help divided, selfish people

   6. The Prince (1513)

      1. Cynical satire how rulers behave but not recommendation of despotic rule

      2. Kinda contradicts himself 

         1. But advises rulers to use advantages of fraud and brutality 

      3. Dedicated to Lorenzo de’ Medici

   7. Wanted a strong ruler from the Medici family 

      1. Controlled the papacy in 1513 of Leo X (r. 1513-1521)

      2. Controlled Florence

   8. 1527

      1. Machiavelli’s death

      2. Medici pope Clement VII (r. 1523-1534) watched as Emperor Charles V sacked Rome

Revival of Monarchy in Northern Europe

1. Shift from divided feudal monarchy to unified national monarchies

   1. Dynastic and chivalric ideals of feudal monarchy did not disappear

      1. Territorial princes and representative bodies stayed

2. Feudal monarchy of High Middle Ages

   1. Divison of basic powers between king and semiautonomous vassals

   2. Nobility and towns had different unity and success to stop royal centralization by evolving representative assemblies

      1. English Parliament

      2. French Estates General

      3. Spanish Cortés 

   3. After Hundred Years’ War and Great Schism, nobility and clergy decreased

3. Towns allied with king

   1. Townspeople staffed royal offices and became king’s lawyers, bookkeepers, military tacticians, and foreign diplomats

      1. Broke feudal society 

      2. Possible rise of sovereign states

4. Sovereign States

   1. Monarch and his/her chosen agents decisions (national matters)

      1. Taxation

      2. War-making

      3. Law enforcement

   2. Monarch overcame decentralization that impedes nation-building

   3. Last half of 15th century

      1. Rulers made/used the law

      2. Appointed civil servants (national vision now)

      3. Names

         1. Castile- corregidores

         2. England- justices of the peace

         3. France- bailiffs operating as well-drilled lieutenants

5. National Armies

   1. Noble cavalry became infantry and artillery

   2. “Kings army”

      1. Mercenary soldiers from Switzerland and Germany

   3. Professional soldiers were better than feudal vassals

      1. Fought for pay

   4. Consequence

      1. Failed to meet payrolls had foreign troops to worry about

   5. Growing warfare cost = new national sources of income need

      1. Government taxation

         1. Highest social class thought they were immune

         2. It was an insult and humiliation to them

         3. Revenues were now at expense of those not able to pay

      2. Feudal lords

         1. Collect rent from royal domains

         2. Levy national taxes on food and clothing 

            1. Salt tax (gabelle) in France

            2. 10% sales tax (alcabala) on commercial transactions in Spain

            3. Direct taxes on peasantry (taille) 

      3. Sale of public offices and issuances of high-interest government bonds

      4. Borrow from rich and great bankers of Italy and Germany

      5. Kings’ creditors and competitors were the privilege classes

6. France

   1. France king Charles VII (r. 1422-1461) made great by people who served

      1. Ministers created a permanent professional army

         1. Inspired by Joan of Arc

         2. Drove English out of France

      2. Jacques Coeur

         1. Independent merchant banker 

         2. developed an economy, diplomatic corps, and natinoal administration

            1. helped his son Louis XI make France powerful

   2. 2 political cornerstones in 15th century

      1. Collapse of English Empire in France after Hundred Years’ War

      2. Defeat of Charles the Bold (r. 1467-1477) and duchy of Burgundy

         1. Burgundy

            1. Maybe Europe’s strongest political power in mid-15th century

            2. Wanted to dwarf Franch and Holy Roman Empire

            3. Could have if continental powers did not stop him

            4. Charles died in defeat at Nancy in 1477 so Burgundian Empire died with him

            5. Split between Louis XI and Hashburgs (got better part)

               1. Louis secured the monarchy

               2. Ended his reign with 2x the size he inherited

               3. Harnessed the nobility, expanded trade and industry, created national postal system, and established a silk industry

   3. 2-edge sword

      1. With secure and efficient govenrment, went to pursue that was ultimately a bad foreign policy

      2. Conquests in Italy in 1490s and losing wars against Habsburgs in first half of 16th century had France (mid-16th century) as a defeated, divided nation

7. Spain

   1. Union of Isabella of Castile (r 1474-1504) and Ferdinand of Aragon (r. 1479-1516) in 1469

      1. Unified Castile and Aragon and now ruled properly in mid-15th century

         1. Constitutionally separated with respective government agencies and cultural traditions

         2. Subdued the realms, secured borders, ventured abroad militarily, Christianized Spain

            1. Before had 3 religions (Islam, Christianity, Judaism)

         3. 1482-1492: conquered the Moors in Granada

         4. 1504- possessed Naples

         5.  Won allegiance of Hermandad (powerful league of cities and towns that went against noble landowners)

      2. Portugal and France protested the marriage

      3. Castile

         1. 5 million people

         2. Sheep-farming industry

         3. Run by Mesta

            1. Government-backed industry 

            2. Centralized economic planning

      4. Aragon

         1. <1 million people

   2. Spanish Church

      1. Isabella and Ferdinand controlled

      2. Appointed higher clergy and officers of Inquisition

         1. Tomás de Torquemada (Isabella’s confessor) ran the officers’ national agency in 1479 to monitor activity of converted Jews (conversos) and Muslims (Moriscos) 

            1. Jews and Moors were exiled unless they converted

         2. Cardinal Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1437-1517) exiled Moors helped Spain remain a Catholic country

            1. Secured an operation base for European Counter-Reformation

   3. Their kids’ marriages

      1. Eldest daughter Joanna

         1. “The Mad”

         2. 1496- married Archduke Philip, son of Emperor Maximilian I

            1. First kid, Charles I, ruled united Spain 

      2. Catherine of Aragon, second daughter

         1. Married Authur, son of English king Henry VII

            1. He died

         2. Married future King Henry VIII (r. 1509-1547)

            1. Failed which helped emerge the Anglican church and English Reformation

   4. Overseas exploration

      1. Isabella and Ferdinand of Spain sponsored Genoese adventurer Christopher Columbus (1451-1506)

         1. Arrived at Caribbean islands while sailing west in search of shorter route to spice markets in Far East (East Indies)

         2. Created Spanish Empire in Mexico and Peru

            1. Made Spain Europe’s dominant power because of gold and silver mines in 16th century

8. England

   1. After Hundred Years’ War, civil warfare brokeout between the House of York and the House of Lancaster

      1. Roots of war lay in forced deposition of king Richard II 

      2. Wars of the Roses (York- white rose; Lancaster- red rose)

      3. Lasted from 1455 to 1485

      4. Duke of York challenged Lancastrian monarchy of Henry VI (r. 1377-1399)

      5. 1461- Edward IV (r. 1461-1483), son of York duke, seized power and instituted a strong arm rule

         1. 20 years straight without Henry’s short restoration

         2. Increased monarchy’s power and finances

      6. Edward’s brother, Richard III, took the throne from Edward’s son

         1. Tudor dynasty took it after Richard died and portrayed him as a villain who murdered Edward’s sons in the Tower of London to get the throne

            1. Shakespear’s Richard III

         2. Richard’s reign got support for exiled Lancastrian Henry Turdor who defeated him in August 1485

      7. Henry Turdor, ruled as Henry VII (r. 1485-1509)

         1. 1st of Turdor dynasty that dominated England in 16th century

         2. Henry married Edward IV’s daughter, Elizabeth of York

            1. United rival royal family and made offsprings’ claim uncontestable

         3. Disciplined English nobility through Court of Star Chamber

            1. Aimed to end perversion of English justice by powerful nobles who used intimidation and bribery to win favorable verdicts in court cases

            2. King’s councilors sat as judges

            3. Created a fair court system

         4. Used English law to futher monarchy ends

            1. Confiscated noble’s lands and fortunes so he did not depend on Parliament for royal funds

         5. Helped develop monarchy into one of early modern Europe’s exemplary governments during his granddaughter Elizabeth I’s reign (r. 1558-1603)

9. The Holy Roman Empire

   1. Germany

      1. Territorial rulers and cities stopped national consolidation and unity

      2. By late 15th century, hopelessly divided into 300 autonomous political entities

   2. Golden Bull

      1. 7-member electoral college with archbishops of Mainz, Trier, Cologne; duke of Saxony; margrave of Brandenburg; count Palatine; king of Bohemia

         1. Administrative body

         2. Elected the emperor to cooperate to create transregional unity and administration

         3. Gave a single ruler

         4. Conditions of his rule and extent were negotiated at each election

            1. Always balanced

      2. Emperor Charles IV (r. 1346-1378) + major German rulers

   3. Reichstag

      1. Creation of an imperial diet to attempt to control incessant feuding in 15th century

      2. National assembly of seven electors, non-electoral princes, 65 representatives from free cities

      3. 1495 assembly in Worms- members won an imperial ban on private warface, created Supreme Court of Justice to enforce internal peace, and created Council of Regency to coordinate German policy

         1. Still poor substitute for national unity

   4. 16th & 17th century- territorial princes became sovereign rulers

      1. Disunity helped religious dissent and conflict

      2. Protestant Reformation broke out in 16th

The Northern Renaissance

1. Northern humanists

   1. Created a climate for religious and educational reforms on Reformation

   2. Came from diverse social backgrounds and more devoted to religious reforms than Italian counterparts

   3. Wrote for lay audiences and narrow intelligentsia

2. Northern Humanism

   1. Initially stimulated Italian learning by students who studied in Italy, merchants, and Brothers of the Common Life

      1. Brothers of Common Life- lay religious movement started in the Netherlands that permitted men and women to live a shared religious life without formal vows of poverty, chastity, obedience

3. The Printing Press

   1. 15th century- literate lay public was created by expansion of schools and universities

   2. Cheap way to manufacture paper

      1. Made books economical

      2. Manuscripts were written on vellum 

         1. Expensive and cumbersome

         2. Carving words and pictures onto wook, inking it, and stamping out copies

         3. A cheap modern poster

   3. Johann Gutenberg 

      1. Invented printing in mid-15th century in Mainz, Germany

      2. Books now had profund and practical topics

         1. Everyone could have them

   4. 1500- printing presses operated in >60 German cities and >200 European cities

      1. Helpful to humanists who now had international audiences

   5. Literacy

      1. Nurtured self-esteem and critical frame of mind

      2. Rulers in church and state now dealt with more intelligent people (wanted answers and not naive)

      3. Print useful for propaganda (political/religious)

         1. A lot of indoctrinates, indulgences, and pamphlets

4. Erasmus

   1. Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536)

      1. Most famous northern humanist

      2. Illustrates impact of printing press

      3. Educational and (Catholic) religious reformer

      4. Tutored well-to-do youths as a job

         1. Used short Latin dialogues to teach them how to speak and live well and instill good manners and language through reading

         2. Colloquies

            1. Included anticlerical dialogues and satires on religious dogmatism and superstition

         3. Adages

            1. 5,000 ancient, contemporary proverbs

            2. with expressions like “leave no stone unturned”

      5. Beliefs

         1. Unite classical ideals of humanity and civic virtue with Christian ideals of love and piety

            1. Could reform individuals and society

         2. Summarized beliefs in philosophia Christi

            1. Simple, ethical piety in imitation of Christ

            2. Opposite of dogmatic, ceremonial, bullying religious practices of Middle Ages

         3. Didn’t like Scholastics, Middle Ages and new Protestant ones, because dogma and argument was valued over Christian piety and practice

      6. True idealist

         1. Expected more from people than theologians believe them capable

         2. Made ancient Christian sources available in original versions to recover moral and religious health the New Testaments promised

         3. Edited Church Fathers’ works to produce Greek Edition (1516) and Latin edition (1519) of New Testament

         4. Church authorities didn’t like it

            1. All Erasmus’s works were on church’s Index of Forbidden Books in mid-16th century

      7. His works were sturdy tools of reform in Protestant and Catholic reformers

         1. Laid the groundwork for Luther to use

5. Humanism and Reform

   1. Germany protestant reform

      1. Rudolf Agricola (1433-1485)

         1. “Father of German humanism”

         2. Spent 10 years in Italy and introduced Italian learning to Germany

      2. Conrad Celtis (1st poet laureate) and Ulrich von Hutten (1488-1523), fiery knight

         1. Gave German humanism a nationalist coloring hostile to non-german cultures, Roman cultures

         2. Von Hutten illustrated union of humanism, German nationalism, and Luther’s religious reform and attacked indulgences

      3. Reuchlin affair

         1. Brought von Hutten onto historical stage and unified reform-minded German humanists

         2. Johann Reuchlin (1455-1522)

            1. Europe’s Christian authority on Hebrew and Jewish learning

            2. Wrote the 1st Hebrew grammar and attracted to Jewish mysticism

         3. 1506- Pfefferkorn and Dominican order tried to suppress Jewish writings and attacked Reuchlin

            1. German humanists rushed to Reuchlin’s defense

               1. In name of academic freedom and good scholarship

               2. Martin Luther was attacked in 1517 so Germans saw it as a repetition and rushed to his side too

            2. Controversy lasted for years and produced satire Letters of Obscure Men (1515)

   2. England protestant reform

      1. English scholars and merchants brought Italian learning to England

      2. English humanism maturation

         1. Lectures by William Grocyn and Thomas Linacre at Oxford and Erasmus at Cambridge

      3. John Colet (1467-1519)

         1. Dean of Saint Paul’s Cathedral

         2. Patronized humanist studies for the young and promoted religious reform

      4. Thomas More (1478-1535)

         1. Best-known English humanist

         2. Close friend of Erasmus

         3. Utopia (1516)

            1. Conservative criticism of contemporary society

            2. Rivals Shakespeare plays as most read in 16th century

            3. Imaginary society based on reason and tolerance that overcame social and political injustice by holding all property and goods in common and requiring people to work for bread

         4. One of Henry VIII’s trusted diplomats

         5. Act of Supremacy (1534)

            1. England king was head of English church

            2. Refusal to recognize king’s marriage to Anne Boleyn led to his execution, July 1535

   3. France protestant reform

      1. French invasions of Italy helped Italian learning spread to France

      2. French humanism

         1. Leaders- Guillaume Budé (1468-1540) and Jacques Lefèvre d’Étaples (1454-1536)

         2. Lefèvre

            1. Works exemplified critical scholarship and influenced Luther

      3. Guillaume Briconnet and Marguerite d’ Angouleme

         1. Cultivated a generation of young reform-minded humanists

            1. Including Protestant reformer John Calvin

   4. Spain

      1. Entered the service of the Catholic Church

      2. Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1437-1517) 

         1. After 1508, “Grand Inquisitor”

            1. Could enforce strict religious orthodoxy

         2. Founded University of Alacala near Madrid in 1509

         3. Printed New Testament Greek edition

         4. Translate religious tracts to reform clerical life and direct lay piety

         5. Complutensian Polyglot Bible

            1. Greatest achievement

            2. Six-volume work that placed the Hebrew, Greek, and Latin versions of the Bible in parallel columns

      3. Scholarly projects + internal church reforms + Ferdinand and Isabella’s repressive measures = Catholic Spain

         1. During Age of Reformation

Voyages of Discovery and the New Empires in the West and East

1. The Portuguese Chart the Course

   1. Prince Henry “the Navigator” (1394-1460) captured the North African Muslim city of Cueta

      1. 77 years before Columbus

      2. Motives- mercenary and religious

         1. Wanted gold and spices but also saving souls of Muslims and pagans with no knowledge of Christ

      3. Began Portuguese exploration of a sea route from Africa to Asia’s spice markets

         1. Pepper and clover specifically

         2. Africans slaves were taken in replace of horses, grain, and cloth and brassawre

            1. 2nd half of 15th century, 150,000 slaves went to Europe

   2. Spice market

      1. Before sea route to East, only found through Venetians, who got them from Muslim merchants in Egypt or Ottoman Empire

      2. Land routes were too rough but sea ones were dangerous and unknown

         1. Every success gave knowledge for future ones

   3. Allies against Muslims (Western Europe’s archenemies)

      1. 1455- pope gave Portuguese explorers land, goods, and slaves (spoils of war) of Guinea to Indies in East Asia

      2. Exploration = mass conversions 

         1. Christian coup and mercantile advantage

      3. Kept an eye out for Eastern Christian ruler Prester John

   4. Bartholomew Dias (ca. 1450-1500)

      1. Pioneered Eastern Portuguese Empire after rounding Cape of Good Hope at Africa’s tip in 1487

   5. Vasco da Gama (1469-1525)

      1. 1498- went to India

         1. Carried cargo of spices worth 60x the voyage cost

   6. Portuguese had colonies in Goa and Calcutta on Indian coast

      1. Challenge Arabs and Venetians for spice trade control

2. The Spanish Voyages of Columbus

   1. Columbus landed on San Salvador in eastern Bahamas

      1. 33 days after Canary Islands

         1. October 12, 1492

      2. Thought he was on outer island of Japan

         1. Believe Marco Polo’s 13th century account of his years in China and Martin Behaim’s spherical map of only ocean and Japan between Europe and Asia

      3. 1498 (3rd voyage)- realized that Cuba was not Japan and South
         America was not China

      4. Taino Indians met him on the beaches

         1. Naked and friendly

         2. Spoke a variant of Arawak

         3. Thought he was in India so called them Indians

         4. Freely gave him corn, yams, and sexual favors

         5. Thought they were easy to enslave

   2. Amerigo Vespucci (1451-1512) and Ferdinand Magellan (1480-1521)

      1. Explored South American coastline

      2. Proved that it was an unknown continent that opened to Pacific Ocean

      3. Magellan made to around South America and to Philippines

         1. His squad made it back to Spain, 1st people to sail across the globe

   3. Intended and Unintended Consequences

      1. Voyage of discovery became expeditions of conquest

         1. Like warfare Christian Aragon and Castile had against Islamic Moors

            1. Reconquista

            2. Ended in 1492 so the Spanish explorers wanted to conquere and convert more

         2. Created Europe’s largest and longest surviving trading bloc and convinced other countries to have their own colonial ventures

         3. Lots of wealth gained from American 

            1. Financed Spain’s religious and political wars in 16th and 17th century

               1. Fueled Europe’s economic expansion

      2. Europe’s expansion

         1. New species of fruits, vegetables, and animals into the Americas

         2. American species were brought to Europe

         3. Spread European disease

            1. A lot of Native American died from measles and smallpox epidemics

         4. Europeans died from a form of syphilis 

            1. Probably from Americas

      3. Spanish rule left a lasting imprint of Roman Catholicism, economic dependency, and hierarchical social structure

3. The Spanish Empire in the New World

   1. The Aztecs in Mexico

      1. 12th century- Aztecs arrived in Valley of Mexico

      2. 1428- imperial expansion

      3. Spanish conquest- Aztecs rules most of Mexico from their capital Tenochtitlán (mexico city)

      4. Demanded heavy tribute in goods and labor 

         1. Gods must be fed with human blood to guarantee sunshine and fertility

         2. Took thousands of captives each year for human sacrifice

         3. Bred resentment and fear

      5. 1519- Hernán Cortés (1485-1547) landed in Mexico with crew

         1. Aztec emperor Moctezume I (1466-1520) may have thought he wwas god Quetzalcoatl, who was driven away only to promise to return

            1. Hesitated to confront him

            2. Tried to appease him with gold

         2. Allied with subjects and Tlaxcala (independent state and traditional enemy of the Aztecs)

            1. Went with Cortés to Moctezuma

            2. Cortés seized Moctezuma and he died mysteriously

         3. Aztecs now were hostile to Spaniards

            1. Driven from Tenochtitlán and almost wiped out

            2. 1521- Spaniards retaliated and defeated Aztecs and Cuauhtemoc (1495-1525) 

         4. Raised Tenochtitlán and proclaimed Aztec Empire as New Spain

   2. The Incas in Peru

      1. 2nd great Native American civilization

      2. 15th century- expanded rapidly

      3. Subjects worked regularly

      4. 1532- Francisco Pizarro (1478-1541) landed on western coast of South America with 200 men

         1. Inspired by Cortés

         2. Lured Atahualpa (1500-1533), Inca ruler, into a conference then seized him and killed hundreds of his followers

         3. Imprisioned Atahualpa to ransom for gold

            1. Executed in 1533

         4. Spaniards captured Cuzco, Inca capital

            1. Inca resistended until 1570s

4. The Church in Spanish America

   1. Roman Catholic priest accompained explorers

      1. New World- Christian humanism and Erasmus’s concept of “the philosophy of Christ”

         1. Also bring European learning and civilization

   2. Most priests (friars) disagreed with conquerors’ tactics

      1. Bartolomé de Las Casas (1474-1566), Dominican

         1. Outspoken clerical critic of Spanish conquerors

         2. “Black Legend”

            1. All Spanish treatment of Native Americans was unprincipled and inhumane

            2. Exaggerated some because the native empire rulers were also cruel to their subjects

   3. End of 16th century- Spanish American church was an institution upholding the colonial status quo

      1. Priests defended Indian people’s rights

      2. Colonial church

         1. Spanish elite eploited resources and peoples of New World

         2. Economic and spirtual life

         3. Indicated that Spanish America was conquered

         4. Critics were only for extreme modes of economic exploitation

5. The Economy of Exploration

   1. Mining

      1. Conquistadores (“conquerors)

         1. Interested in gold but by mid-16th century, silving mining was metallic wealth

      2. Mining centers

         1. Potosí in Peru

         2. Northern Mexico

      3. Spanish crown received ⅕ (quinto) of mining revenues

         1. Monopoly over mercury production and sale

      4. Exploring for silver continued through colonial era and helped the extractive economy 

   2. Agriculture

      1. Hacienda

         1. Large landed estate owned by persons originally born in Spain (peninsulares) or persons of Spanish descent born in America (creoles)

         2. Usually legally bound to owner and could not go from one landowner to another

         3. Its economy produced:

            1. foodstuffs for mining areas and urban centers 

            2. leather goods for mining machinery

      2. Basic agricultural unit

         1. West Indies- plantation 

         2. Cuba, Hispanola, Puerto Rico, and other islands- labor of black slaves to produce sugar

      3. Urban service occupations

         1. Major area of economic activity

         2. Government offices, legal profession, shipping

         3. The people were peninsulares (mainly) or creoles

   3. Labor Servitude

      1. Encomienda

         1. Formal grant of the right to the labor of Indians for a particular period

         2. In decline mid-16th century because the Spanish monarchs thought the holders would be too powerful

            1. Humanitarian objections too

      2. Repartimiento

         1. Adult male Indians had to devote some days of labor annually to Spanish economic enterprises

         2. Peruvian mines- named mita, Inca tax for labor tax

         3. Often harsh and some died

            1. Limitation on labor time had managers abusing their workers to have fresh workers replace them

      3. Eventual shortage of workers and crown’s pressure against extreme forced labor led to free labor

         1. More of an appearance than reality

         2. Free laborers had to purchas goods from landowner or mine owner, then become indebted

            1. Debt peonage

      4. Black Slavery

         1. Last forced labor in New World

         2. Spain and Portugal- african slaves

         3. West Indies and Brazil- sugar plantations

6. The Impact on Europe

   1. Columbus’s Discovery

      1. Folishness of relying on a fixed body of presumed authoritative knowledge

      2. Made cooperation, civility, and peace among different people of the world

   2. Inflation

      1. Influx of spices and precious metals contributed to a rise in prices in 16th century

         1. 2% per year for inflation rate

      2. Supply from Americas increated European production so more coinage was needed

         1. Fed inflation

      3. Prices doubled, triple, quadrupled in 16th century

   3. New wealth

      1. Sponsor research and expansion of printing, shipping, mining, tactile, and weapon industries

      2. Ventures in French silk industry and Habsburg-Fugger development of mines in Austria and Hungary

   4. Capitalist institutions and practices

      1. Entrepreneurs created monopolies in basic goods

      2. High interest on loans

      3. “Capitalist” virtues of thrift, industry, and orderly planning were everywhere to permit accumulation of wealth

      4. 15th/16th century- maturation of capitalism with social problems

         1. Raised expectations of poor and ambitiosu and wealthy’s reactionary tendencies

         2. Aggravated traditional social divisions