Birth of the Renaissance

Crusades and Renaissance—Birth of the Renaissance—Notes#3

The Big Idea

The Renaissance was a rebirth of learning and art

Key Terms and People

Renaissance-period of the revival of art and learning

humanism-an intellectual movement that focused on human potential and achievements

secular-a society that is worldly rather than spiritual

patron-financial supporter

BACKGROUND: During the late Middle Ages, Europe suffered from both war and plague. Those who survived wanted to celebrate life and the human spirit. They began to question institutions of the Middle Ages, which had been unable to prevent war or to relieve suffering brought by the plague. Some people questioned the Church, which taught Christians to endure suffering while they awaited their rewards in heaven. Some writers and artists began to express this new spirit and to experiment with different styles. These men and women would greatly change how Europeans saw themselves and their world

• From approximately 1300 to 1600, Europe experienced an explosion of creativity in art, architecture, writing, and thought. Historians call this period the Renaissance

• The term means “rebirth,” and in this context, it refers to a revival of art and learning

• People of the Renaissance hoped to bring back the culture of classical Greece and Rome

• Yet in striving to revive the past, they created something new

• The contributions made during this period led to innovative styles of art and literature

• They also led to new values, such as individualism, or a belief in the importance of the individual

• Although the developments of the Renaissance may seem to be a complete departure from the medieval era, they grew out of several important changes in society, politics, economics, and learning. These changes laid the foundation for the Renaissance

• As a result of waves of famine and disease, Europe’s population in 1450 was much smaller than it had been in 1300

• With far fewer people to feed, the general standard of living was much higher

• People were also generally better educated

• Schools in the growing towns provided at least a basic education, which was extended by recently developed universities

• As literacy rates increased, so did the demand for books

• Increased trade led to the development of a new class of people between the nobility at the top and the peasants at the bottom: the middle class

• The merchants, bankers, and tradespeople in the middle class had more than enough income to meet their basic needs

• They had extra money to buy luxury goods and fine homes, which helped to expand the economy still further

• After the fall of Rome, knowledge of Greek language and learning all but disappeared in Europe

• It was maintained in the Byzantine Empire, which lay at the crossroads of Europe and Asia

• In 1453, when the Ottomans captured Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, many eminent Byzantine scholars fled to Italy

• With their knowledge of the language and learning of classical Greece, they contributed to the new ways of thinking that helped lead to the Renaissance

• Many Greek texts, along with the knowledge to read them, were also preserved in the libraries of the Islamic Empire

• The capital of Islamic Spain, Córdoba, was a center of classical learning

• Scholars there wrote commentaries in Arabic on the works of Greek writers such as Aristotle and Plato. Jewish scholars in Spain translated these commentaries into Hebrew

• Later, these scholars translated into Latin both the original Greek texts and the commentaries

• As a result, Western scholars visiting the libraries of Islamic Spain were able to read the works of Greek writers

• Western Europeans also learned the technology of papermaking from Islamic Spain

• Paper was first manufactured in China around 105 AD

• In 751, technicians in the Abbasid caliphate learned the process

• Because paper made it easier to create and store books, its use contributed to the growth of libraries

• Papermaking soon spread through the Islamic world

• By 1400, paper mills were to be found in France, Italy, and Germany

• The availability of paper later helped make possible the development of printing

• Along with famine and disease, Europe had experienced almost constant warfare

• Over the course of the 15th century, peace returned to much of the continent

• The Hundred Years’ War between France and England ended in 1453

• The victory against England confirmed the French king’s authority

• A period of civil war followed in England, but when Henry VII came to power in 1485, England was again ruled by a strong central power

• In Spain, the Reconquista, or Reconquest, was completed in 1493 by Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile

• This ended Islamic rule and brought to a close 200 years of war on the peninsula

• The final major factor that contributed to the Renaissance was the rise of city-states in Italy

• At a time when most of Europe was rural, agricultural, and manorial, Italy was much more urban and commercial

• Since cities are often places where people exchange ideas, they were an ideal breeding ground for an intellectual revolution

• Overseas trade, spurred by the Crusades, led to the growth of large city-states in northern Italy

• By the year 1000, Italian cities were at the forefront of an impressive economic expansion that would carry on into the Renaissance some 300 years later

• Two decades into the 11th century, this financial success would allow Italian cities to begin to ignore the German emperor who claimed to control them

• Traditionally, wealth in Europe was based on land ownership

• The growth in foreign trade created an economy based on commerce rather than agriculture

• Merchants needed financial services, such as the ability to transfer money from one place to another

• This led to the rise of banks, which soon became an important part of the city-states’ economy

• Some crucial aspects of finance, which helped develop the modern economy, were pioneered by the banks of northern Italy

• A wealthy merchant class developed in the Italian city-states

• Unlike nobles, merchants did not inherit land and social rank

• To succeed in business, they used their wits

• As a result, many successful merchants believed they deserved power and wealth because of their individual merit

• This belief in individual achievement became important during the Renaissance

• In the 1300s, the bubonic plague struck these cities hard, killing up to 60 percent of the population

• This brought economic changes

• Because there were fewer laborers, survivors could demand higher wages

• With few opportunities to expand business, merchants began to pursue other interests, such as supporting the arts

• Political development in Italy was unlike that in other parts of Europe

• Whereas countries like England and France steadily moved toward the consolidation of power into the hands of dynastic royal families, Italy remained fragmented

• One reason for this was the development of a strong urban nobility that intermarried over time with rising commercial families

• These noble families with commercial backing were then able to establish vital, independent bases in a number of Italian cities, mostly in northern and central Italy

• Venice is in the north of Italy, on the Adriatic Coast

• The city is built on a lagoon and is made up of over 100 islands where people first moved to find safety from raids after the fall of Rome

• It grew into an international powerhouse after shedding the domination of first the Byzantines and then the Franks

• The Crusades boosted Venice’s standing even further, as Venetian merchants made fortunes supplying and transporting the crusaders

• At this time, the city established a Mediterranean empire, controlling Crete and a number of other Greek islands

• As an inland city, Milan lagged behind coastal trading powers such as Venice and Genoa in commercial terms

• But it quickly arose as a center of manufacturing

• Of Milan’s four principal industries—cloth, arms, metallurgy, and leather—cloth was the largest

• But the trade in arms and metallurgy (tools, utensils, needles) was more profitable

• Milanese body armor and weapons were prized throughout Europe and beyond

• Trade was boosted in the 13th century by the opening of free passage along roads, canals, and rivers through much of northern Italy

• In Milan, prosperity spurred civic pride and energy and resulted in an up swelling of artistic creativity, public building, and further entrepreneurial endeavor

• Unfortunately, this was also a time of frequent warfare—against nearby cities such as Pavia and Como and also the forces of the Holy Roman Empire

• By the late 800s, Naples (in the south of Italy on the west coast) was relatively free from Lombard attacks and able to concentrate on trade, mostly with the Arab world

• Increased wealth led to a flowering of architecture, the arts, and scholarship

• At the beginning of the 10th century, Naples was a flourishing, independent city-state

• This came to an end in the 1130s, when Norman invaders took over southern Italy

• Next came the German emperor, Henry VI, to oust the Normans in 1194

• Finally, the armies of Charles of Anjou ejected the Germans and established the Kingdom of Naples and Sicily in 1266

• The Angevin dynasty ruled from Naples, boosting trade, mostly in arms and luxury goods, and the city’s population, which grew to as much as 60,000 by the 1300s

• Robert the Wise, king from 1309 to 1343, supported both public building and the arts, but the end of his reign marked the end of Neapolitan prosperity

• Earthquakes in 1343 and 1349 and the Black Death in 1348 made sure that Naples limped along toward the Renaissance

• Since the late 1200s, the city-state of Florence had a republican form of government

• But during the Renaissance, Florence came under the rule of one powerful banking family, the Medici

• The Medici bank had branch offices throughout Italy and in the major cities of Europe

• Cosimo de Medici was the wealthiest European of his time

• In 1434, he won control of Florence’s government

• He did not seek political office for himself but influenced members of the ruling council by giving them loans

• For 30 years, he was dictator of Florence

• Cosimo de Medici died in 1464, but his family continued to control Florence

• His grandson, Lorenzo de Medici, came to power in 1469

• Known as Lorenzo the Magnificent, he ruled as a dictator yet kept up the appearance of having an elected government

• By the mid-700s, Rome was the center of the Papal States—territories controlled by the pope

• Rome’s wealthy, landholding families controlled the city and the papacy from about 900 until about 1050, when wealthy Romans whose money came from business and banking supported the papacy

• In 1143, a revolt resulted in the Roman commune, in which Rome became a self-governing city with a republican constitution

• As European scholars studied Greek writers and thinkers, they became more influenced by classical ideas

• These ideas helped them develop a new outlook on life and art

• The study of classical texts led to humanism, an intellectual movement that focused on human potential and achievements

• Instead of trying to make classical texts agree with Christian teaching as medieval scholars had, humanists studied them to understand ancient Greek values

• Humanists influenced artists and architects to carry on classical traditions

• Also, humanists popularized the study of subjects common to classical education, such as history, literature, and philosophy

• These subjects are called the humanities

• In the Middle Ages, some people had demonstrated their piety by wearing rough clothing and eating plain foods

• However, humanists suggested that a person might enjoy life without offending God

• In Renaissance Italy, the wealthy enjoyed material luxuries, good music, and fine foods

• Most people remained devout Catholics

• However, the basic spirit of Renaissance society was secular—worldly rather than spiritual, and concerned with the here and now instead of the hereafter

• Even church leaders became more worldly

• Some lived in beautiful mansions, threw lavish banquets, and wore expensive clothes

• Church leaders during the Renaissance beautified Rome and other cities by spending huge amounts of money for art

• They became patrons of the arts by financially supporting artists

• Renaissance merchants and wealthy families also became patrons of the arts

• By having their portraits painted or by donating art to the city to place in public squares, the wealthy demonstrated their own importance

• During the Renaissance, as the idea of the individual became increasingly important, Renaissance writers introduced the idea of the “ideal” individual

• This ideal person was expected to create art and to try to master almost every area of study

• A man who excelled in many fields was praised as a “universal man.”

• Later ages called such people “Renaissance men.”

• Baldassare Castiglione wrote a book called The Courtier (1528) that described how to become such a person

• A young man should be charming, witty, and well educated in the classics. He should dance, sing, play music, and write poetry. In addition, he should be a skilled rider, wrestler, and swordsman

• According to The Courtier, upper-class women should also know the classics and be charming. Yet they were not expected to seek fame.

• They were expected to inspire art but rarely to create it

• Upper-class Renaissance women were better educated than medieval women

• However, most Renaissance women had little influence in politics

• A few women, such as Isabella d’Este, did exercise power

• Born into the ruling family of the city-state of Ferrara, she married the ruler of another city-state, Mantua

• She brought many Renaissance artists to her court and built a famous art collection

• She was also skilled in politics

• When her husband was taken captive in war, she defended Mantua and won his release.