Ch.1 Renaissance (1450-1550) Test Prep booklet Qs

Question 1

The Renaissance marks the beginning of the modern era in large part due to the development of all of the following EXCEPT

a. the foundations of capitalism were laid at this time
b. individualism emerged as a trend
c. trade with the New World began a trend of global trade
d. scientific thought emerged with an emphasis on the scientific method
e. northern Europe began to dominate southern Europe

Answer 1

northern Europe began to dominate southern Europe.

b/c Northern Europe did not dominate southern Europe until the decline of Spain in the 17th century

Question 2

“Geography is destiny” proved true for the Italians of the 14th and 15th centuries for all of the following reasons EXCEPT

a. their proximity to the Mediterranean
b. their establishment of overland trade with Asia
c. their role as the “middlemen” of Europe
d. their ability to adapt to victimization by more united peoples
e. their seagoing trade with the eastern Mediterranean

Answer 2

their establishment of overland trade with Asia.

Question 3

Which city-state is said to have been the cultural center of the Renaissance and has been compared to ancient Athens for its burst of creativity over a relatively short time span?

Answer 3

Florence.

Question 4

The powerful middle class that developed in the independent city-states of Renaissance Italy was involved in all of the following EXCEPT

a. making profitable loans to popes and monarchs
b. financing commercial ventures
c. patronizing the arts
d. encouraging manorialism
e. controlling the governments of the city-states

Answer 4

encouraging manorialism.
(b/c manorialism was a feature of feudalism, and the shift in power from the feudal nobility to the middle class eventually ended it because money took precedence over land)

Question 5

Which dynasty of merchants, bankers, and despots of Florence used its wealth to patronize the great creative artists of the day?

Answer 5

Medici.

b/c the Medici family dominated Florence

Question 6

Which of these concepts was NOT valued by Renaissance thinkers?

a. Humans as the measure of all things
b. The cloistered life
c. The ideas of ancient Greece
d. Pursuit of excellence
e. Living up to one’s potential

Answer 6

The cloistered life.

b/c the cloistered life was the dedication to piety, solitude, chastity, and poverty of the medieval monk

Question 7

For the majority of women in Europe during the period, the Renaissance

Answer 7

had very little impact.
(b/c ordinary women were powerless peasants with no political or economic status or power before the Renaissance and after. The Renaissance was also a time of declining status for women of noble, artisan, and merchant families, but they were far from ordinary women.)

Question 8

Michelangelo’s David displays which thematic innovations of Renaissance artists?

a. The depiction of religious personages
b. Accurate human anatomy
c. The use of marble as a material
d. The portrayal of enigmatic expressions
e. The depiction of classical costumes

Answer 8

Accurate human anatomy.
(b/c accurate and proportionate representations of anatomy was a Renaissance “innovation” reintroduced from classical sculpture)

Question 9

The sculpture of the Renaissance differed from that of the Middle Ages in all the following ways EXCEPT

a. the forms were anatomically proportional
b. the faces expressed emotion
c. the figures expressed animation
d. the artists prided themselves on the individuality of style
e. the subject matter was nonreligious

Answer 9

the subject matter was nonreligious.

b/c the people of the Renaissance were devout Roman Catholics and that dedication to faith is reflected in their art

Question 10

The social group that most often supported the centralizing efforts of the “new monarchs” was the

Answer 10

bourgeoisie.
(b/c the bourgeoisie was most supportive of the centralization of central power. In places like England, land was traded to them for their support, but either way, a strong gov’t was good for business. Nobility and the peasantry were most often against the increase in royal authority because they respectively lost power and freedom)

Question 11

The so-called pagan humanism of the Italian Renaissance differed from the so-called Christian humanism of the Northern Renaissance primarily because

Answer 11

the literature of the Northern Renaissance drew upon the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Bible and the writings of the Church Fathers.

Question 12

Which of the following was NOT an important development of the Northern Renaissance?

a. The use of the first movable-type printing press in Europe
b. The formulation of the heliocentric view
c. The establishment of a brilliant English vernacular literature
d. Mysticism’s assertion that an individual could commune directly with God, unaided by the Church
e. The invention of the banking system

Answer 12

The invention of the banking system.
(b/c banking developed in Europe in Italy among the “merchant princes” who sought to invest their surplus capital by lending, for profit, to the popes and monarchs)

Question 13

The “Prince of Humanists,” who attempted through satiric writings to reform the Roman Catholic Church while remaining loyal to it was

Answer 13

Erasmus.

In his day, Erasmus was one of the most famous people in Christendom

Question 14

“It was a literary movement that reflected a new way of looking at the human condition. The writers were laymen, not clergy, who examined secular issues such as politics and the emotional life of the individual. While they drew on the themes of the ancient classics and often wrote in classical Latin and Greek, they also laid the foundations for modern language and literature by writing in their mother tongues.”

The literary movement described above is

Answer 14

humanism.
(b/c Humanism was primarily a development of the secular writers of the period who looked at human life from another perspective than that of the medieval clerics. It involved “classicism,” a study of ancient writings; it encouraged individualism, the glorification of individual experience and value; it resulted in secularism, the consideration of nonreligious issues. Virtu was a quality of extreme individualism.)

Question 15

Italian balance-of-power diplomacy

Answer 15

was designed to prevent a single Italian state from dominating the peninsula.
(b/c the original purpose of balance-of-power diplomacy was to prevent any one city-state from dominating the peninsula, allowing all to flourish.)

Question 16

What is the denotation definition of “Renaissance”?

Answer 16

“rebirth”

Question 17

What is secularism?

Answer 17

a belief that life was more than a preparation for the hereafter

Question 18

Name the major city-states in the Republic of Florence.

Answer 18

Republic of Genoa
Duchy of Milan
Rome, the Papal states
Naples, Kingdom of the Two Sicilies
Venice, Venetian Republic

Question 19

Who was Giovanni de Medici?

d. 1429

Answer 19

A merchant and banker of Florence who founded the Medici family dynasty. Could be considered one of the world’s first modern people, an ultimate adapter who ignored the church’s prohibitions of lending for interest to provide the necessary finds for a changing world economy.

Question 20

Who was Cosimo de Medici?

1389-1464

Answer 20

Son of Giovanni who used the family fortune to fill the vacuum of power created by the lack of a national monarchy. Allied with other powerful families of Florence, he became unofficial ruler of the republic.

Question 21

Who was Lorenzo the Magnificent?

1449-1492

Answer 21

Cosimo’s grandson and the republic’s ruler who was a lavish patron of the arts. He personified the Renaissance attitude of living life rather than waiting for its fulfillment after death.

Question 22

Where did the Medici family rule?

Answer 22

The Grand Duchy of Tuscany (of which Florence was the principal city, well into the 18th century.)

Question 23

What was significant about the Medici family?

Answer 23

The Medici family was the most famous dynasty of those merchants and bankers who used their vast wealth both to govern the city-states and to patronize illustrious creators in the arts. Two popes, many cardinals, and two queens of France belonged to the family.

Question 24

What three ideals was the Renaissance focused on?

Answer 24

Humanism, secularism, and individualism

Question 25

Why did the Renaissance occur primarily in cities?

Answer 25

Because contact with other cultures happened there first.

Question 26

Did the Renaissance abandon interest in religion?

Answer 26

No, secularism became more pervasive in the cities and art but the Renaissance did not abandon interest in religion. In fact, the greatest patron of the arts continued to be the Church.

Question 27

Intellectually what was the focus during the Renaissance?

Answer 27

There was a focus on this world rather than the afterlife, and on description of the world and universe rather than a prescription to religious dogma.

Question 28

What was the effect of the vernacular in literature?

Answer 28

The use of the vernacular in literature revolutionized literature and helped national identities solidify.

Question 29

What was and how did the ideal of a “Renaissance Man” emerge?

Answer 29

The ideal of a “Renaissance Man” emerged in the writings of Castiglione and Alberti as someone who is virtuous in every way and has many talents, such as the abilities to sing, compose poetry, dance, and combat.