Renaissance and Reformation Flashcards
Renaissance
French for “rebirth”; a rebirth in the interest of what humans did and are doing
Three reasons for the Renaissance being in Italy
- Thriving city-states; everyone wanted to go there, and brought their cultures and ideas with them
- Wealthy merchants; bought artwork and architecture and literature (things that humans did). People became artists and architects and writers
- Greek and Roman culture (Rome’s in Italy)
Humanism
What humans accomplished and did (a very important value that came out of the Renaissance)
Francesco Petrarch
The father of humanism
Collected old Greek and Roman texts (as many as possible)
Started the collection trend
Education changed to include
History and English (the humanities)
Secularism
Worldly-based, not spiritually-based
Patron of the arts
Someone who supports the arts (getting portraits painted, buildings built)
Renaissance Man
From the Book of the Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione
The characters had certain traits; they were good artists, sculptors, scientists, and inventors (jack of all trades, but master of none)
Renaissance Woman
Expected to have knowledge of the books and science and art, but not meant to produce them
Main artists of the Renaissance - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, Raphael
Michelangelo Buonarroti
Painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling and altarpiece (a lot of people did the walls)
Mainly a sculptor; considered sculpting the hardest form of art (created a statue of David out of a block of marble)
Donatello
Created a bronze David
Leonardo da Vinci
The Renaissance Man
A painter, sculptor, scientist, inventor, everything
He never tried to do medical treatments, even though he had permission to cut open bodies. The drawings were for the doctors, not for him
Obsessed with flight
Invented tanks, helicopters, siege defenses, water-lifting devices
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio)
Did a lot of painting of the Madonna (Mary) and Child (Jesus)
Painted The School of Athens, a fictional gathering of some of the most important people in history
Art techniques
Vanishing point makes it look and feel three-dimensional
Perspective is what shows you a three-dimensional picture on a two-dimensional surface
Vernacular
Your native language
Niccolo Machiavelli
Wrote The Prince, a guidebook on how to be an effective ruler
Is it better for a leader to be feared or loved? Machiavelli said feared, to hold onto your power. Being loved will open you up to being betrayed.
“Strong as a lion, shrewd as a fox.”
“The end justifies the means.”
100% secular and humanistic
Ideas spread north, but they
Had no Greek or Roman influence
Were ruled by monarchs
Were unwilling to give up religion
Albrecht Dürer
Engraver (woodcutter) first, painter second
Created woodcuts and engravings
Really liked when religion and myths came together (Book of Revelations/end of the world)
Spread Renaissance ideas; he could make multiple copies of his woodcuts (they’re like stamps)
Christian humanism
Studying what humans are doing, seen through the lens of Christian morals (values/life lessons)
The Church failed to teach these life lessons adequately.
Desiderius Erasmus (from Holland)
Wrote The Praise of Folly. A satire, pointing out the flaws and shortcomings of the Catholic Church.
People should exhibit Christianity of the Heart; morals should be things that you hold onto it, act on, own.
To figure out the morals, you should read the Bible yourself, instead of relying on the Church.
Thomas More (from England)
Good friends with Erasmus; trying to achieve the same goal.
Wrote Utopia. About a hypothetical world where all negative things disappear; somewhere everyone wants to live. You know what a utopia is. A perfect society with nothing bad in it.
“What can I do to make this world better?” More hoped that people would adopt morals in an effort to create a utopia.
William Shakespeare
Very good at understanding human beings (flaws, shortcomings, what made them tick)
Very good at describing these human beings and writing what he wanted to say.
Johann Gutenberg
Revolutionized the printing press (movable type)
Printed the Gutenberg Bible
Books become much cheaper; more people could access them and it was much easier to spread knowledge.
More people started to learn to read.
Legacy of the Renaissance
Realistic and lifelike Secular as well as religious Focus on the individual Greek and Roman cultures Writing in vernacular
Reformation
Reforming the Catholic Church
The Church was becoming more secular.
Erasmus personified the Church in The Praise of Folly, pointing out flaws and shortcomings.
Calls for reform
Martin Luther
Extremely bothered by indulgence-selling (get-out-of-purgatory free cards)
Before going to heaven, Catholics believed you had to first go through purgatory for an indeterminate amount of time. People thought that indulgences would help them get out of purgatory faster.
The fact that the Church was making money from indulgences bothered Luther more than the actual indulgences.
95 Theses
He wanted his Theses to have publicity, so nailed them to the Wittenberg Church’s door.
Two people saw it and ripped it down, then printed copies.
Nailing the Theses to the door was the starting point of the Reformation, unlike the Renaissance, whose beginnings are a little fuzzy.
Luther’s teachings
Three Solas
Sola Scriptura - Only Scripture; only what is in the Bible, not the interpretations of the Church.
Sola Fide - Only Faith; you can get into heaven only through faith. Good deeds are nice but unnecessary, unlike what the Church says.
Sola Gratia - Only Grace; the only thing you need to do to receive forgiveness is ask.
All people who have faith are equal in the eyes of God
Response to Luther
The Church summoned him
Told to cease-and-desist, or else be excommunicated
If you’re excommunicated you can’t get to heaven
Luther believed the Church had no power to do this, so ignored the cease-and-desist (burned the excommunication letter)
Edict of Worms declared him a heretic/enemy of the church in an effort to stop him
German peasant revolt
Fought in the name of Luther to be allowed to practice Lutheranism
When they started getting violent, Luther washed his hands of them
The German princes got together to write a letter of protest to the Church, saying that they were going to practice Lutheranism in direct protest to the Church
They came to be called Protestants
Peace of Augsburg
An agreement between the German princes
Said that whomever is in charge of a certain area is in charge of picking a religion (Catholic or Protestant) for their people
Henry VIII
A Roman Catholic who protected the Church, earning himself the title “Defender of the Faith”
Henry created Anglicanism because?
The Pope denied his request for annulment (see notes please)
