The Renaissance Flashcards
What does “Renaissance” mean and how was it used to describe this period in history?
It’s a French word that means “rebirth”. It was used by Giorgi Vasari, an Italian artist and historian to describe the art of “rare men of genius”
Florence
Major Italian city known for being ruled by rich banking families such as the Medicis. They controlled the politics and culture of Florence. Banking profits contributed to the cities economic vitality.
What is an oligarchy?
A group of people that ruled a city and its surrounding countryside tied together by blood or economic interests.
What were each of the following
Hapsburg-Valois wars.
Sack of Rome in 1527.
1: Invasion of Italy in 1494 by French King Charles VIII, and internal instability of city-states (who felt patriotic about their city, which widened the gap of Italian unification) led to a series of conflicts with France and the HRE.
2: Part Of The Hapsburg-Valois wars. Emperor Charles V took over Rome. The failure of the city states to form a federal system or to establish a foreign policy (failed unification) let To its subjection by foreign invaders.
Francesco Petrarch
Humanist who noticed that Italy was going through a new era.he thought he was living at the start of a new age. He called it the “Dark Ages”. He believed that he was witnessing a new golden age of intellectual achievement.
Humanism
Humanists Studied Latin classics to see what that said about human nature. Humanists emphasized human beings and their capabilities and achievements.
Christian Humanists
Or “Renaissance Humanists” believed that men were made in the image and likeness of God. People like Giovanni Pico Della Mirandola wrote “On the Dignity Of Man” which stressed that man possesses great dignity because he was made as Adam in the image of God before the fall
Individualism
Interest in human achievement led humanists to emphasize the importance of the individual. Individualism stressed personality, uniqueness, genius, and development of ones capabilities and talents.
Leon Batista Alberti
Wrote “On the Family” which stressed that a wife’s role is to maintain orderliness of the household and serve meals, and taking care of the kids. (First traditional view of women) (Outside info)
Castiglione
Wrote “The Courtier” which sought to train, discipline, and fashion the young man into the courtly, ideal gentleman.
Machiavelli
Wrote “The Prince” which is about political power. This talks about how a ruler should gain, maintain, and increase it. He explores the problems with humanity and concludes that humans are selfish and out to advance their own interests. In The Prince, he says that a prince will manipulate his people in a way he deems necessary. He states that a prince should combine the cunning of a fox with the ferocity of a lion. He concludes that it’s best to be both feared and loved, but naturally that’s too difficult, so it’s better to be feared than to be loved.
Thomas More
Lorenzo Valla
Boccaccio
1: Wrote “Utopia” which portrays a perfect socialist idea of uniformity and equality. Generally, a perfect society.
2: most known for his study: “On the False Donation of Constantine” which criticized and weakened papal authority because he found that the Donation Of Constantine was a forgery.
3: wrote “the Decameron” which described ambitious merchants, lecherous friars, and cuckolded husbands which portrays a worldly, sensual society without any “contempt of the world”
Erasmus
Most notable for “In Praise Of Folly” and his translation of the Greek New Testament. Erasmus’s main beliefs were that education is the key to reform, which is the key to moral and intellectual improvement, and that Christianity is the inner attitude of the heart or spirit.
Johan Gutenberg
Developed the printing press in 1450 which by 1500, around 14 million copies of books were printed. It transformed people’s lives because it spread the ideas of Erasmus and More and everybody. It increased the literacy of the poor people as well.
Patronage
Merchants and bankers sponsored works of art. They supported art as a means of glorifying themselves and their families. Vast sums of money were spent on patronage of the arts becoming artistic patrons.
