Unit 1 AP European History: The Renaissance, Exploration, and the Commercial Revolution

THE RENAISSANCE AND THE BIRTH OF HUMANISM * The term Renaissance literally means rebirth, referring to the resurrection of classical texts and ideas from ancient Greeks and Romans that had been largely forgotten in Europe during the Middle Ages. * This recovery was facilitated by Islamic scholars who translated ancient works into Arabic and Latin and by increased contact between Europeans and the Islamic world during the Crusades. * Petrarch (Francesco Petrarca) is credited with laying the groundwork for Renaissance ideas, primarily through his discovery of Cicero's writings. * Humanism was the defining philosophy of the era, focusing on the unlimited potential of human beings as an end in themselves. * Individualism accompanied humanism, emphasizing the triumph and potential of the individual. * Petrarch modeled his Latin compositions on the Roman orator Cicero, favoring Cicero's support for the Roman Republic and his opposition to the tyranny of Julius Caesar. * Philology, the study of the history and development of languages, became a vital tool. In $1440$, Lorenzo Valla used philological methods to prove that a document supposedly written by Emperor Constantine in the $4^{th}$ century was a forgery because its Latin structure did not match $4^{th}$ century standards. * This period marked a significant shift from religious authority (the Bible and church dogma) to secular authority and scientific modes of inquiry. # THE PRINTING PRESS AND EDUCATIONAL TRANSFORMATIONS * Invented in the 1440$s$ by Johannes Gutenberg and other German metalsmiths, the movable type printing press allowed for the massive acceleration of information spread. * Between 1456$(the publication of the Gutenberg Bible) and roughly$50$years later, between$10,000,000$and$20,000,000 books were published in Europe. * Education shifted from medieval theological questions to the humanities, focusing on history, moral philosophy, and poetry based on classical texts. * Baldassare Castiglione's book, The Courtier, served as a guide for the ideal gentleman, who was expected to be physically strong, mentally awake, and skilled in humanistic disciplines. # CIVIC HUMANISM AND POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY * Civic Humanism was the application of humanistic ideas to politics, suggesting that educated men should be active in local political life. * Leonardo Bruni argued that the republicanism of ancient Rome was the best form of government and championed rule by an enlightened individual. * Niccolo Machiavelli wrote The Prince, arguing that a ruler's primary function is to maintain power at all costs. * Machiavelli famously stated it is much safer for a prince to be feared than loved, although he should avoid being hated. He argued for an enlightened balance of means to establish order and security, even if it required disregarding ethical or moral beliefs. # EVOLUTION AND TECHNIQUES OF RENAISSANCE ART * Medieval art was flat, symbolic, and religious; Renaissance art embraced naturalism, portraying the world realistically. * Italian artists leaned toward an idealistic naturalism, while Northern Renaissance artists focused on scenes of everyday life. * Geometric perspective was a major technical innovation used to add depth and realism to paintings. * Michelangelo: Known for the statue of David, which represents the perfect specimen of a human man sculpted in the image of a Greek god, showcasing musculature and facial detail (idealism/naturalism). * Raphael: His School of Athens features classical heroes like Plato and Aristotle and utilizes geometric perspective. * Filippo Brunelleschi: An architect who rejected Gothic conventions for Roman columns and arches. He engineered the dome of the Florence Cathedral to stand without external supports (flying buttresses). * Patronage: Art was commissioned by the papacy, rulers, and wealthy families (like the Medici) to enhance their public prestige. # THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE AND CHRISTIAN HUMANISM * The Printing Press helped Renaissance ideas spread north of the Alps, where they merged with Christian traditions to form Christian Humanism. * Christian Humanism aimed to combine humanist thought with scriptural authority to achieve social reform. * Desiderius Erasmus was the leading Christian Humanist. In his work In Praise of Folly, he used satire to criticize corrupt religious hierarchies and social institutions. * Northern Renaissance Art: Focused on ordinary people and everyday objects rather than lofty, otherworldly subjects. * Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Known for The Peasant Wedding, showcasing ordinary people in realistic settings. * Rembrandt: A Dutch Renaissance master famous for his use of light and shade, exemplified in The Return of the Prodigal Son. # THE CONSOLIDATION OF MONARCHICAL POWER * In the Middle Ages, power was held largely by nobles; in this period, monarchs began consolidating power centrally. * English Monarchs: Henry VIII broke from the Catholic Church to form the Church of England (Anglican Church) via the Treason Act after the Pope denied his annulment. Elizabeth I later passed the Act of Uniformity, mandating weekly attendance at Anglican services to ensure top-down religious control. * Spanish Unification: Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile unified Spain through marriage. They established national taxes, a complex bureaucracy, and completed the Reconquista, driving out Muslims and Jews to establish Catholicism as the mandatory state religion. * France: Francis I and Pope Leo X signed the Concordat of Bologna in 1516$, giving the King the right to appoint church leaders while the Pope collected church income. * Holy Roman Empire: The Peace of Augsburg in$1555 granted individual leaders the right to determine if their subjects would be Catholic or Lutheran. # THE AGE OF EXPLORATION AND MERCANTILISM * Motivations: God (spreading Catholicism/Protestantism), Gold (accumulating wealth), and Glory (national rivalry). * Mercantilism: An economic system based on the idea that wealth is finite and measured in gold and silver. It emphasized a favorable balance of trade (more exports than imports) and the establishment of colonies to provide raw materials and mineral wealth. * Jean Baptiste Colbert: A French mercantilist who expanded French industry and claimed territories like Quebec and the Louisiana territory. * Navigational Technology: Included cartography (advanced mapmaking), the Caravel (fast ship), the Lateen sail (triangular sail for multi-directional wind), the compass (direction), and the astrolabe (latitude). # ESTABLISHMENT OF COLONIAL EMPIRES * Portugal: Established a trading post empire by sailing around Africa to reach the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia. * Spain: Christopher Columbus sailed west in 1492$, landing in the Bahamas and claiming territory in the Caribbean and Americas. * France: Interested primarily in the fur trade in North America and Canada. * England: Established settler colonies along the Eastern coast of North America and the Caribbean. * The Netherlands: Focused on trade, particularly in Southeast Asia, through the Dutch East India Company (established$1602$). * Treaty of Tordesillas ($1494): Mediated by Pope Alexander VI, it divided the New World between Spain (left of the line) and Portugal (right of the line). # THE COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE * Disease: Smallpox and measles decimated indigenous populations who lacked immunity. On Hispaniola, the Arawak and Taino populations suffered roughly 300,000$$ deaths. * Food: Maize, tomatoes, potatoes, and cacao went to Europe. Rice, wheat, soybeans, rye, and oats went to the Americas. * Animals: Horses, pigs, chickens, and cattle were introduced to the Americas, transforming diets and labor. * Minerals: Plunder of gold and silver from Aztec and Incan empires fueled European wealth and shifted the economic center from the Mediterranean (Venice) to Atlantic ports (Antwerp, Amsterdam, London, Bristol). * People: The forced migration of millions of Africans through the Middle Passage to replace indigenous labor on plantations (for sugar, coffee, etc.). # THE COMMERCIAL REVOLUTION AND SOCIAL CHANGE * Capitalism: Replaced feudalism, revolving around private ownership and open exchange. * Banking Innovations: Double-entry bookkeeping (balancing debits and credits) and joint-stock companies (raising capital through sold stock). * Agriculture: Shifted from subsistence to commercialization. Techniques included the two-field system (Mediterranean) and the three-field system (Northern Europe) to manage soil exhaustion and fallow land. * The Enclosure Movement: Legislation in England allowed investors to purchase and enclose common lands, increasing profits for large landowners but leading to peasant poverty and urbanization. * The Price Revolution: Influx of gold and silver combined with population growth led to significant inflation, further driving the commercialization of agriculture. * Urbanization: The migration of the landless poor into cities looking for work, alongside the movement of some nobles into urban centers.