Renaissance Vocab Flashcards
Accordance
agreement
Stagnation
sluggish, inactive, not progressing
Renaissance
rebirth
topography
surface feature of a region
hinterland
areas surrounding a city
mercenary soldiers
soldiers for hire
oligarchy
government by a few powerful people
florin, ducat
gold coins weighing about 3.5 grams
pile
heavy beam driven upright into the earth to support a structure
republic
a state in which the citizens elect representatives to form a government
to patronize
to support
assassin
a murder of a politically important person
to send into exile
to banish
reason
the ability to think and to draw conclusions
Old Town
a term used to describe the original city center of a European city
Renaissance man
a term traditionally used to describe a person skilled in many areas
Dominican
a Catholic religious order
vanity
a worthless pleasure
proportion
a correct relation among parts
perspective
giving the appearance of distance on a flat surface
blasphemous
showing contempt for sacred things
human anatomy
the science of the structure of the human body
eccentric
odd, peculiar person
fresco
painted with water colour on fresh wet plaster
etcher
an artist who engraves a picture onto a metal plate, and uses this plate as a stamp
wood cutter
an artist who carves a picture onto a wood block and uses this block as a stamp
empirical reasoning
drawing conclusions from physical evidence
ether
an extremely pure, refined substance once through to occupy the upper regions of space
congress
collection
Inquisition
a Church court that tried heretics, people who disagreed with Church teachings.
dowry
money paid to the family of a groom by the bride’s family
hypothesis
a proposed explanation
theory
an explanation supported by the observation of evidence
Who was the most famous Medici?
Lorenzo Medici was the most famous Medici
Why was Lorenzo so famous?
An assassin killed his brother and injured him, so the people of Florence attacked the assassins.
What did Lorenzo become?
Lorenzo became the absolute ruler of Florence from 1469-1492
What were Lorenzo’s achievements?
He sponsored many great artists and thinkers (Leonardo, Michelangelo, Mirandola) founded a university in Pisa, and an academy in Florence. He could talk about any subject as an equal to a scholar not just a rich man. He wrote excellent music an poetry.
How did Lorenzo stay popular?
He spent his money making Florence beautiful and running the city well, bad guys were sent to exile.
What happened to Lorenzo’s son?
Lorenzo’s son, Giovanni, was made a cardinal at 14 yrs old, and later became Pope Leo X
What are sumptuary laws?
Sumptuary laws are laws governing how much food courses you serve depending on the social status of your guest. These law governed consumption, or how you spend your money. By 1460 the government banned banquets and certain foods like partridge, pheasant and peacock. These laws most often affected the growing middle class.
What is the importance of family in Renaissance Italy?
large families, died young, share house with extended family, kids learned parents trade and worked in family business, poor/middle class could choose who to marry, but wealthy arranged marriage for better social status. Weddings were flashy events, men married women much younger, and were given large dowries from the wife’s family.
