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

The Renaissance and Italian Humanism - The Renaissance (meaning "rebirth") marked the resurrection of classical texts and ideas from ancient Greece and Rome. - During the Middle Ages, much of this classical knowledge was lost to Europeans but preserved by Islamic scholars who translated works into Arabic and Latin. - Increased contact with Islamic people during the Crusades allowed Europeans to regain access to these ancient ideas, leading to the Renaissance starting in Italy. - petrarch is considered the first major player in this movement, laying the groundwork for the philosophy of humanism. - Humanism focuses on the unlimited potential of human beings as an end in themselves, characterized by petrarch as humans being "the bees knees." - Individualism, which emphasizes the triumph of the individual, became a primary mode of thought alongside humanism. - petrarch discovered the writings of the Roman orator cicero and proposed his magnificent Latin as the model for the Latin language. - Themes important to petrarch included cicero's eloquent support of the Roman Republic and his opposition to the tyrannical julius caesar. # Humanism and Philological Methodology - The Renaissance saw the development of new philological approaches, which is the study of the history and development of languages. - lorenzo valla used these methods in $1440$ to demonstrate that an authoritative Roman Catholic Church document, supposedly written by Emperor constantine in the $4^{th}$ century, was a forgery. - valla proved the document's Latin structure did not conform to $4^{th}$ century standards, undermining its authority. - This exemplified a shift from religious authority toward secular authority and scientific inquiry, moving away from the revealed authority of the Bible. - A shift occurred from communal understandings of humanity to individualistic conceptions. # The Transformation of Education and Civic Life - Medieval education focused on theological questions, but Renaissance scholars transformed the curriculum by introducing the humanities. - The humanities curriculum included history, moral philosophy, and poetry, all based on classical texts. - baldessari castiglione wrote The Courtier, a guide for how an educated young man should behave, emphasizing that a gentleman should be skilled in humanistic disciplines, physically strong, and mentally awake. - Civic humanism emerged in Italian city-states (which were a collection of regional kingdoms and self-governing communities), suggesting that educated men should be engaged in local politics. - leonardo bruni argued that the republicanism of ancient Rome was the best form of government and championed rule by an enlightened individual. # Machiavelli and Political Realism - nicolo machiavelli wrote The Prince, arguing that the basic function of a ruler is to maintain power at all costs. - machiavelli suggested rulers should strike a balance between benevolence and tyranny but ultimately prioritized order and security. - He famously stated that it is "much safer for the prince to be feared than loved," provided he avoids being hated. - This philosophy marked a departure from the Middle Ages, where rulers were defined by biblical virtues like prudence and wisdom. # Innovations in Renaissance Art and Architecture - Medieval art was flat, symbolic, and predominantly religious; Renaissance art emphasized naturalism to portray the world realistically. - Italian artists leaned toward an idealistic naturalism, while Northern artists used it to depict everyday scenes. - Geometric perspective was mastered to add depth and realism to paintings. - Renaissance artists expanded their subject matter to include personal, political, and classical themes alongside religious ones. - michelangelo sculpted David as a perfect specimen of the human man designed in the image of a Greek god, showcasing naturalism and musculature. - raphael painted the School of Athens, featuring classical heroes like plato and aristotle and utilizing geometric perspective. - filippo brunelleschi rejected gothic conventions for Roman columns and arches, most notably building the dome on the Florence cathedral to stand without outside support (flying buttresses). - Art was patronized by wealthy individuals (like the medici family), rulers, and popes to enhance their public prestige. # The Northern Renaissance and Christian Humanism - The printing press helped Renaissance ideas spread north of the Italian Alps, resulting in the Northern Renaissance. - The Northern Renaissance was more religious and focused on christian humanism, seeking to synthesize humanism with scriptural authority and social reform. - desidarious erasmus believed education in the classics and the Bible was the foundation of societal reform based on the "philosophy of Christ." - erasmus wrote In Praise of Folly, a satire criticizing corrupt political, social, and religious hierarchies. - Northern art remained naturalistic but was more human-centered, depicting ordinary people and objects. - peter broigle the elder painted The Peasant Wedding, showing ordinary people eating normal food with realistic features. - rembrandt was known for his mastery of light and shade, such as in The Return of the Prodigal Son, which sought to inhabit the narrative of scripture. # The Revolutionary Impact of the Printing Press - Before the printing press, books were hand-copied, expensive, and mostly limited to Latin, making them accessible only to the wealthy, priests, and monks. - In the $1440s$, johannes gutenberg and other metalsmiths developed movable type printing, allowing mass production of books. - The availability of paper, thanks to technology from China, made mass printing feasible. - gutenberg published the Gutenberg Bible in $1456$; within $50$ years, between $10,000,000$ and $20,000,000$ books were published across Europe. - All major classical authors were in print by $1515$. - The press facilitated the Protestant Reformation by allowing martin luther to spread his ideas far and wide. - The press created a demand for vernacular literature (written in the language of common people), helping develop national cultures and standardizing languages, such as luther's German Bible. # New Monarchs and State Consolidation - Monarchs began taking power from the nobility and organizing it under themselves, leading to top-down religious and moral reform. - henry viii of England broke from the Catholic Church after the Pope denied his annulment from his wife (daughter of ferdinand and isabella). - Parliament passed laws making henry viii the head of the Church of England and the Treason Act, making it punishable by death to refuse recognition of the state religion. - elizabeth i steered England back to Anglicanism via the Act of Uniformity, mandating weekly church attendance under threat of fines. - ferdinand (Aragon) and isabella (Castillo) married to unify Spain, establishing national taxes, an elaborate bureaucracy, and completing the Reconquista in $1492$ to drive out Muslims and Jews. - In France, king francis i and Pope leo the tenth signed the Concordat of Bologna in $1516$, giving the king the right to appoint church leaders while the Pope collected church income. - In the Holy Roman Empire, the Peace of Augsburg in $1555$ allowed individual leaders to decide if their subjects would be Catholic or lutheran as a means of consolidating power. # The Economic Power of Merchants and Bankers - Commercial and professional groups like merchants and bankers gained significant political influence. - The medici family established the banking industry in Italy, while the fugger family did the same in Augsburg, Germany. - The rise of the money economy allowed these wealthy groups to form close alliances with monarchs to exercise political power. # Motives and Technology of European Exploration - Motivations for exploration are summarized as God, Gold, and Glory. - Religion (God): Spain sought to spread Catholicism via jesuit missionaries. While some used Christianity for subjugation, others like bartolome de las casas fought for indigenous dignity. - Economics (Gold): mercantilism was the dominant system, arguing wealth is finite and measured in gold and silver. It demanded a favorable balance of trade (more exports than imports). - Jean-baptiste colbert proposed mercantilist policies for France, including claiming territory like Quebec and Louisiana for raw materials. - Glory: Rivalries among European powers drove competition for colonial possessions to achieve dominance. - Technical Innovations: Cartography (map making), the caravel ship (fast and navigable), the Latin sail (triangular for all winds), the compass (direction), and the astrolabe (latitude). # Colonial Empires and International Rivalries - Portugal established a trading post empire along the African coast and into the Indian Ocean. - Spain commissioned christopher columbus to sail west across the Atlantic in $1492$, leading to claims in the Caribbean and Americas. - France focused on the fur trade in North America and Canada without establishing many large settlements. - England established settler colonies in North America, Canada, and the Caribbean. - The Dutch focused on trade in Southeast Asia and the Americas. - Tensions were handled via diplomacy, such as the Treaty of Tordesillas in $1494$ which divided the world between Spain and Portugal, or through coercion and war (e.g., War of Spanish Succession). - The primary goal was maintaining a balance of power among European states. # The Columbian Exchange and Its Global Impact - The Columbian Exchange was the global exchange of goods, flora, fauna, culture, and disease between the Old and New Worlds. - Disease: Smallpox and measles devastated indigenous populations lacking immunity. On Hispaniola, $300,000$ people died from smallpox. - Food: Maize, tomatoes, potatoes, and cacao moved to Europe; rice, wheat, and soybeans moved to the Americas, leading to longer lifespans. - Animals: Horses, pigs, and cattle were introduced to the Americas, revolutionizing farming and warfare. - Minerals: Vast quantities of gold and silver from the incan and aztec empires made Spain exceptionally wealthy. - People: The African slave trade forcibly moved millions across the Atlantic to work plantations. - Economic shift: Power moved from the Mediterranean (Venice) to Atlantic ports (Antwerp, Amsterdam, London, Bristol). # Forced Labor Systems and Early Capitalism - The influx of wealth hastened the end of feudalism, replaced by an early form of capitalism based on private ownership and free exchange. - The Spanish introduced the encomienda system, where in comenderos were granted land and indigenous laborers for farming and mining. - This system was legally justified by the Requerimiento, granting monarchs the right to proselytize and claim land. - Indigenous labor was eventually replaced by enslaved African labor because Africans had more immunity to European disease and didn't know the land as well to escape. - The Middle Passage journey to the Americas took between $1$ and $6$ months under inhuman, overcrowded conditions. # The Commercial Revolution and Financial Innovation - The commercial revolution saw an increase in global commerce and the rise of a money economy where cash replaced gold/silver for wages and investment. - Banking centers rose in Genoa, Amsterdam, and London. - Double-entry bookkeeping was developed to manage massive amounts of money. - Joint stock companies allowed private investors to buy stock in a company's profits to raise capital (e.g., the Dutch East India Company in $1602$). # Agriculture, the Price Revolution, and the Enclosure Movement - Subsistence agriculture remained the norm in local communities, relying on manors and seasonal cycles. - Soil exhaustion was addressed through crop rotation: the two-field system in Mediterranean Europe and the three-field system in Northern Europe. - The Price Revolution was an extended period of inflation caused by population growth and the influx of precious metals. - This led to the commercialization of agriculture. The Enclosure Movement in England allowed investors to buy and enclose "the commons" (public land used by peasants), increasing crop yields but causing widespread poverty. - This disruption led many landless poor to migrate to cities, a process known as urbanization, creating resentment among merchant classes regarding housing shortages.