Was Renaissance Europe a Great Civilization?

Farming• Agriculture in Europe

since pre-Roman times• Grew grains (wheat,

barley, rye), and legumes (peas, beans)

• Plow used (came from China)

• Animals helped plow• 3 field crop rotation -

kept fields fertile• Cleared many fields for

sheep pasture - no longer overcrowded land

New Farming Techniques:

Domesticated Animals

• Cows• Pigs• Horses• Dogs• Fowl• Many Others

Many Artisans

• Carpenter• Shipwright• Weaver• Tailor• Blacksmith• Printer

Other Specialized Jobs

• Merchants• Herders• Priests, nuns, monks• Royalty• Professors• Doctors• Artists• Philosophers• Scientists

Arts – Renaissance• Renaissance = “rebirth” of art and learning• Art still to honor and to serve God, but also to

celebrate humans• Art became more nuanced – human form studied• Painting, sculpture, architecture, music

The School at Athens, with lines to show perspective

Michelangelo

Leonardo da Vinci

Cities

• Beautiful, powerful, crowded, filthy• Powerful cities due to trade &/or

having a cathedral– Venice, Florence, Paris, Rome, London

• Cities were centers for merchants, religious beliefs, education

• Also where diseases spread most quickly

Buildings

• Centers of power made of stone (castles, cathedrals, universities)

• Homes built of wood or mud brick• In some places, poor homes were built

of mud walls (wattle and daub) with thatched roofs

Changes in Society• Middle Ages: (Europe in the 4th - 14th

centuries)– Feudal society (everyone has a master but

the king and the Pope)– Catholic church had absolute power

• Renaissance: (15-17th centuries)– Catholic church questioned; peoples’

worlds began to expand– Poor still had masters but everyone began

to rebel against authority

Government• Powerful kings ruled - absolute

authority• Their advisors carried out laws -

Disobedience meant prison or death• Very high taxes on the poor, had to

pay with cash or land• England is different

– had a Parliament (people who made laws)

– Taxes were never allowed to be so high

Religion in Europe• Corrupt Catholic Church

questioned by Martin Luther

• Protestors (reformers) rejected Pope’s authority

• New Protestant churches divided European church (lots of arguing)

• Jews, Muslims, also lived in Europe, but faced harsh treatment

Education & Science• Many universities

(Oxford, University of Paris, etc.)– Centers of learning

and radical thought

Education & Science

• Scientists needed patrons (someone wealthy to pay for their research)– Johannes Gutenburg –

invented printing press (1430’s)

– Copernicus, then Galileo – proved earth revolves around sun (Church made Galileo recant his “heretical” ideas)

Trade and Money

• Every country had its own currency– gold and silver coins– Jewels also valued

• Trade existed throughout Europe– Bad roads, boats could sink

• Venice most powerful merchant city - traded with Asia (silks, spices)– Marco Polo went to Asia in 1271,

opened up that continent for trade

Writing and Record Keeping• Keepers of Information

– Universities, Monasteries, King’s Court

• Printing press means more books available for cheaper prices - lower classes can read!