Chapter 12 Flashcards
Renaissance
A French word meaning “rebirth”, used to describe the rebirth of the culture classical antiquity in Italy during the 14th-16th centuries.
patronage
Financial support of writers and artists by cities, groups, and individuals, often to produce specific works or works in specific styles.
communes
Sworn associations of free men in Italian cities led by merchant guilds that sought political and economic independence from local nobles.
popolo
Disenfranchised common people in Italian cities who resented their exclusion from power.
signori
Government by one-man rule in Italian cities such as Milan; also refers to these rulers.
courts
Magnificent households and palaces where signori and other rulers lived, conducted business, and supported the arts.
humanism
A program of study designed by Italians that emphasized the critical study of Latin and Greek literature with the goal of understanding human nature.
virtu
The quality of being able to shape the world according to the one’s own will.
Christian humanists
Northern humanists who interpreted Italian ideas about and attitudes toward classical antiquity and humanism in terms of their own religious traditions.
debate about women
Debate among writers and thinkers in the Renaissance about women’s qualities and proper role society.
New Christians
A term for Jews and Muslims in the Iberian Peninsula who accepted Christianity; in many cases they included Christians whose families had converted centuries earlier.
