All the Stuff Left to Cover i.e., the Renaissance and the
Beginning of the Reformation
Slide 3
Causes of the Renaissance H.R.E. Frederick II lost Northern
Italy; it breaks up into a number of independent city states
Slide 4
The Crusades brought trade to Northern Italy (mostly Venice and
Genoa)
Slide 5
The Black Death resulted in better-off peasants IN GENERAL,
GREATER WEALTH BROUGHT A CERTAIN JOY IN LIFE, IN BEING HUMAN
Slide 6
The Hundred Years War brought a lot of money to Italy (England
borrowed money from bankers, France bought armor) Englishmen who
were peasants at home could be violent mercenaries for individual
Italian city-states, contributing to their competition Sir John
Hawkood, an English mercenary captain who left France for
Italy
Slide 7
The Ottoman Turks invasions caused many Greeks to flee to
Italy, bringing their books with them.
Slide 8
Even the Avignon Papacy had a part to play. How? Well, the
Renaissance is all about Humanism, and the Father of Humanism is
Francesco Petrarch. And Petrarch worked as an ambassador for the
Avignon papal court. Petrarch would visit monasteries all over
Europe on his travels for the Pope, and he would often examine old
books, mostly by ancient Roman authors, especially his favorite,
Cicero.
Slide 9
WHAT THE RENAISSANCE IS ALL ABOUT: HUMANISM IN LETTERS AND ART
Humanism in the Renaissance sense has two basic ideas: 1.A focus on
the study and cultivation of what is human for its own sake; man is
examined and perfected in himself, rather than simply as a part of
the universe 2.The study of the humanities (studia humanitatis was
the term of the time): a turn away from law, theology, philosophy
and medicine, and toward history, ethics, literature, rhetoric and
rhetoric. PETRARCH
Slide 10
In art, there was also a rebirth, mostly due to the efforts of
Brunelleschi. Brunelleschi wrote a treatise on linear perspective,
i.e., the ability to create the appearance of distance by drawing
lines toward a vanishing point on the horizon. But he is most
famous for his engineering of the dome of the Duomo of Florence,
and amazing architectural feat that many thought couldnt be
done.
Slide 11
This was the age of the famous great artists, such as Leonardo
Da Vinci The Mona Lisa The Vitruvian Man The Last Supper
Slide 12
RAPHAEL SANZIO The Fire in the Borgo
Slide 13
and, of course, Michelangelo Buonarotti The Pieta The David The
Sistine Chapel, ceiling and apse
Slide 14
In general, the Italian artists were noted for their attention
to the idealized human form (Michelangelo studied peasants and
Leonardo cut up dead bodies to study muscles, even though the pope
told him not too), and of their aim for a glorious setting,
separated from the viewer.
Slide 15
But Italy wasnt the only place where the early Renaissance took
hold. There was also the Northern European Renaissance, in Flanders
and Germany.
Slide 16
In the Northern European Renaissance, the painting was very
different; it was oil paint on canvas (instead of tempera paint on
plaster); and the details of everyday life were included, and the
aim was to draw the viewer into the painting. Arnolfini and His
Bride, by Jan van Eyck Jan van Eyck
Slide 17
The cultivation of letters was also very different. The
Northern European Renaissance was known for a movement we call
Christian Humanism, i.e., a humanism based on Christian roots. The
best example of this was Desiderius Erasmus, the Prince of
Humanist, who translated the Bible from Greek into Latin and
encouraged the study of the Fathers of the Church (ancient
Christian writers). This version of Humanism was a quieter version
of Humanism: the ideal Renaissance man in this version was a
contemplative student, who studied, studied, studied (unlike Italy,
where the Renaissance man was supposed to be involved in the
politics of his city).
Slide 18
Though he championed Christian humanism, Erasmus did criticize
the abuses in the Church, especially in his most famous work, In
Praise of Folly. In fact it has often been said that Erasmus laid
the egg that Luther hatched.
Slide 19
Of course, neither Erasmus, nor Martin Luther, nor anyone in
the Renaissance would have gotten anywhere if it wasnt for the
German Johannes Gutenberg, who, some time in the 1440s, invented
the printing press, a machine that could make several copies of one
page in minutes by the use of movable type. Books became abundant,
available, and cheap. Ideas, both old and new, could now spread
much more easily and quickly.
Slide 20
POLITICS DURING THE RENAISSANCE The art of the Renaissance
required patronage, i.e., people to pay for the art projects. The
most famous art city of the Renaissance was Florence, where the art
was patronized and the city was ruled by one family: the DE
MEDICIS.
Slide 21
Ironically, although many of the Italian city-states modeled
their governments on the Roman Republic, and Florence in particular
had a long tradition of rule by the guilds (the trade unions of
various craftsmen), the De Medicis became the de facto rulers of
Florence for the simple reason that they were successful bankers,
and everybody in Florence owed them money or favors. This started
with the patriarch of the family, Cosimo De Medici. Cosimo de
Medici Cosimos grandson, Lorenzo il Magnifico was, at first, a very
popular ruler of Florence, who especially poured a lot of money
into the arts. It was under him that Florence became the
Renaissance art superpower. Lorenzo il Magnifico
Slide 22
But Lorenzo soon ran into problems. For one thing, he depleted
the De Medici wealth very quickly. Also, there were still other
banking families that were very jealous of the De Medici family. In
fact, on one occasion, the Pazzi and Salviati families tried to
murder Lorenzo while he was attending Mass at the Duomo in
Florence. It turned out to be a huge conspiracy: the priest was in
on it, as was the Archbishop of Pisa, etc. Lorenzo had all these
people executed, and told Leonardo Da Vinci and Raphael to paint
pictures of their hanging dead bodies, as a warning to others.
Slide 23
And not everybody liked the new humanistic ways of Florence. In
particular, one Dominican friar named Girolamo Savonarola preached
against the sinful vanities of the Renaissance.
Slide 24
Savonarola told the Florentines that if they did not
repent,