Renaissance - Test Flashcards
Why did the renaissance start in Italy?
Started looking at importance of man; Involvement in world/worldly/involvement in city-state; Wealth became important; There was a secular attitude; Began ettiquette (Aristocratic men)
What is humanism?
Belief that man had value; Interest in greek and roman values and teachings; Interest in the classics; Revolved around the idea that man has a great deal of value
What is Baldassarre Castiglione’s ‘Book of the Courtier’?
Book about man becoming more civilized; expressed the importance of manners and etiquette
What is civic humanism?
Community pride
What were the effects of new learning in the Italian renaissance?
Humanist began to open schools to teach liberal arts; Humanist were now writing about real people and human emotions; Humanists broke free of writing Latin because it is the language of the church
What were the social classes of the Italian renaissance?
- Merchants and bankers; 2. Shopkeepers/Artisans; 3. Migrated people from other countries that supported labor; 4. Peasants
What is urbanization?
rise of cites
What are independent city-states?
Ruled by wealthy families whose fortunes come from commercial trading or banking
What are Signori?
One version of signori is a dictator and another is a popular leader that comes to power through favor
What is the condottieri?
Mercenaries - Paid to fight; Replaced the citizen-soldiers;
Importance of city-state: Milan
Francesco Sforrza - Seized control of Milan; Took control through taxation; Signori
Importance of city-state: Naples
Very poor - poor population (mainly peasants) (mainly farming and rural)
Importance of city-state: Florence
Under the rule of the powerful banking family the Medici’s; The medics push humanism; Cosimo de’Medici - tried to end a peasant rising; Lorenzo “the magnificent” - Continued to act like his grandfather/brings philosophy; Girolamo Savonarola - Wanted to push out the Medici family/imposed strict rules/hung for heresy
Importance of city-state: The Papal States - Rome
Renaissance popes helped rebuild cities; Buildings drew people here - St. Peters Basilica and Vatican Library; Alexander the 6th - apart of the Borsia family, paid cardinals to become the pope; Leo X - owned the country estates; threw away silver silverware and plates after using them
Importance of city-state: Venice
City of trade/commerce; the link between Europe and Asia; Cathedral of St. Marks - Byzantine architecture; The ruling group is the Council of Ten who were wealthy merchants
What is a doge?
ruling duke
What is a palazzo?
Mansion/Palaces
Who was Dante Alighieri?
Transitional thinker; wrote the Divine Company
Who is Giovanni Boccaccio?
Wrote the Decameron
Who is Francisco Petrarch?
“The father of humanism”; First to designed to the middle ages; Brought back interest of Cicero
Who is Leonardo Bruni?
“Father of civic humanism”; Explained that we can work in isolation
Who is Lorenzo Valla?
Criticism of asceticism (def. denies themselves of world pleasures/strict lifestyles)
Who was Marsilio Ficino?
Synthesized platonism (greek influence) and Christianity
Who is Pico della Mirandola?
Stressed on mans potential and free will; On the Dignity of Man
What is the Divine Company about?
Renaissance man questioning; who has authority?
What is the Decameron about?
A 10 year period during the plague; takes a secular view of society
What are hermeticists?
People who wrote on a lot of subjects; lived man was created as a divine being but decided to move to a material world
Who was King Francis?
The king of France; Due to his fascination of he Italian renaissance, he brought Leonardo Da Vinci and other Italian artists and scholars to France
Who were the Northern European Merchants and what did they do?
The northern merchants were people who appreciated wealth, beauty, personal improvement, and many other renaissance values. The began to travel to Italy to study with Italian merchants. They helped emerge this newly educated middle class
Who was Johannes Gutenberg?
A german metalworker; he is credited for founding a new printing press with a moveable type
What was the importance of the printing press?
It allowed books to be published faster and the price of the books went down
What were some characteristics of the French Renaissance?
The french renaissance had a character of its own. The architecture was a blend between gothic and classical.
Who was Pierre Ronsard?
Wrote sonnets that were inspired by Petrarch’s
Who was Michel de Montaigne?
A writer who cultivated the personal essay; He wrote “Of the disadvantages of man” which analyzed the authority of royalty
Who was Francois Rabelais?
The most popular renaissance author; Wrote comic reliefs, satires, and parodies of a broad spectrum of contemporary life
What is a satire?
Poking fun at something for a reason (contains a message)
What are the low countries?
Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg
Who were the Christian Humanists and what was their objectives?
Groups of scholars who believed in the idea that humanist learning and bible study were the best ways to eliminate abuses and restore the simple piety of the early church
Who was Erasmus of Rotterdam?
The most famous humanist; Wrote In praise of Folly (popes are corrupt)
Who was Jan and Hubert Van Eyck?
Brothers; Flemish (Belgium); Painted scenes from the bible that were very realistic and sharp in detail
Who was Peter Brueghel?
Dutch artist who combined Italian technique with the artistic traditions of his homeland
Who was Sir Thomas More?
Wrote a book, Utopia, that criticized the society of his time by comparing it to an ideal society where all citizens are equal
Who is William Shakes spree and Christopher Marlowe?
Best known for drama; drew ideas from mythology, legends, and histories
What is a Sonnet?
A short poem
What is The Prince?
A treatise in which the politics of the Renaissance were analyzed; Written by Niccolo Machiavelli
What is the vernacular?
The common language
Who is Niccolo Machiavelli?
A florentine diplomat; wrote The Prince
Who is Filippo Brunelleschi?
A florentine architect and engineer; his major works included the dome of the cathedral of Santa
Who is Donatello?
Florentine sculptor
Who is Lorenzo Ghiberti?
A florentine artist and sculptor who is well known for the bronze doors of the baptistery of Florence
Who is Giotto?
A Florentine artist who was known as the “father of european painting”
Who is Masaccio?
Florentine artist
Who is Leonardo da Vinci?
Renaissance artist; Well known as the Mona Lisa; “ahead of his time”; Omnitalented
Who is Michelangelo?
Renaissance artist; Sculptor; Painted the ceiling of the sistine chapel and sculpted the David
Who is Benvenuto Cellini?
A Florentine sculptor, gold smith, and writer
Who is Andra del Castagno?
A florentine painter who is well alone for his painting, The Last Supper
What was the uniqueness of the northern renaissance?
Made the ideas taken from the Italian Renaissance and made them its own; Northern humanists enjoyed the classical writing of Greeks and Romans as the Italians; focused on religion; Worked together to tie classical ethics into Christianity (Christian Humanists)
