Medieval/Renaissance

Question 1

What was Dante’s most famous work?

Answer 1

The Divine Comedy

Question 2

What are some themes of the Divine Comedy?

Answer 2

Moral neutrality is worse than being wrong, virtue within reason (balance)

Question 3

Why is Dante going on a journey in the Divine Comedy?

Answer 3

He is on a purgatory journey to reach heaven

Question 4

What language is the divine comedy and the Decameron written in and why?

Answer 4

Vernacular, it’s more inclusive

Question 5

What is a city-state?

Answer 5

A city with weak central authority (usually a bishop)

Question 6

Why did city-states become communes?

Answer 6

Larger population, political activism, demand for reform, and economic growth

Question 7

What are some social aspects of the communes?

Answer 7

Role of bishop decreased, high rates of land ownership, popolo (common folk) vs nobles

Question 8

What is a palazzo?

Answer 8

Large, governmental building, indicates wide representation and is welcoming, area to address public

Question 9

What is a piazza?

Answer 9

A public space or marketplace, center of the community

Question 10

Who wrote the Decameron?

Answer 10

Boccaccio

Question 11

What was the Decameron?

Answer 11

10 stories over 10 days

Question 12

What purpose did the Decameron serve?

Answer 12

Entertainment/distraction during the plague, women as primary audience

Question 13

What were some themes in the Decameron?

Answer 13

Winners are clever, opportunistic, god protects the innocent

Question 14

Who are the three crowns?

Answer 14

Dante, Boccaccio, and Petratch

Question 15

Who coined the term “Renaissance”?

Answer 15

Michelet

Question 16

Who popularized the term “Renaissance”?

Answer 16

Burckhardt

Question 17

What does renaissance mean?

Answer 17

rebirth

Question 18

What are some key aspects of the Renaissance?

Answer 18

Return to classical (greek/roman) works, de-centering of church, increase in public secular thought, more focus on the human as an individual

Question 19

What are some key aspects of humanism?

Answer 19

Intellectual movement lead by humanists, emphasis on classical texts and humanity over religion

Question 20

How did latin and vernacular differ?

Answer 20

Latin: people who had power, exclusionary
Vernacular: inclusive, local, supported spread of ideas

Question 21

What was bubo?

Answer 21

Symptom of the bubonic plague, swelling in armpits and groin

Question 22

Who were the Medici family?

Answer 22

A famous banking family of popes who ruled Florence from

Question 23

What is monetary apartheid?

Answer 23

Poor people’s currency (silver) cannot be added to make the rich currency of gold florin, no way to improve class condition (rigid system)

Question 24

What was the counter-reformation and its significance?

Answer 24

Church censorship, women return to domestic roles

Question 25

Banking in Italy:

Answer 25

International banking developed, double-entry bookkeeping integral to success

Question 26

What was the significance of the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena?

Answer 26

The nine slices = elected officials Wide architecture, open representation, welcoming

Question 27

Who was Machiavelli and what is he known for?

Answer 27

He wrote Il Principe which outlined how to be a tyrannical ruler and how you can instill fear while maintaining stability

Question 28

Why did Machiavelli write Il Principe?

Answer 28

He dedicated the book to the Medici family

Question 29

What are some key points of Il Principe?

Answer 29

Outlines how a ruler should rule ruthlessly, maintain stability through fear

Question 30

What's the significance of the Birth of Venus by Botticelli?

Answer 30

It appreciates how beautiful art and culture is non-religiously

Question 31

Who is Girolamo Savonarola?

Answer 31

Dominican monk, controlled Florence internally, claimed natural disaster was gods punishment

Question 32

What was the Council of Trent and its significance?

Answer 32

The church's 18 year long meeting on how to solidify the church in response to the reformation and triggered the counter-reformation

Question 33

What was the Sack of Rome and its significance?

Answer 33

Rome was taken by the Holy Roman Emperor's forces, it marked the end of the Renaissance

Question 34

Who applied and codified the laws of perspective?

Answer 34

Masaccio applied, Alberti codified

Question 35

What is mannerism?

Answer 35

Exaggerated renaissance, not quite baroque, dramatic and colorful

Question 36

What is baroque?

Answer 36

Flashy and bling, chiaroscuro, imperfect objects, biblical figures in real world, domes, decorative

Question 37

Who were the two famous baroque architects?

Answer 37

Borromini and Bernini

Question 38

Who is Giordano Bruno?

Answer 38

A monk executed for heresy, statue of him in the campo de Fiori

Question 39

What is iconoclasm?

Answer 39

Returns to the before of not idolizing idols