The Renaissance Flashcards
Background
- A period in European history approximately between 1400 and 1600
- It bridged the periods of the Middle Ages and modern history
o Overlaps with the Early Modern, Elizabethan and Restoration periods - Italy – where it began in the 14thcentury
o Countries such as Germany, England and France went through many of the same cultural changes and phenomena - Renaissance as primarily an intellectual and cultural movement rather than a historical period
Inventions: Guttenburg’s Printing Press
§ The demand for perfect reproductions of texts and the renewed focus on studying them helped trigger one of the biggest discoveries in the whole of human history: printing with movable type. For me this is the easiest and single greatest developed of the Renaissance and allowed modern culture to develop
§ Without it there would have been no Renaissance, no Industrial Revolution, no Technological Revolution and no modern, western Democracy
§ Most books were still copied out by hand in what was a painstaking and time-consuming labour.
§ Very few books were made, and those that were produced were extremely valuable objects that belonged either to the church or other powerful institutions.
§ Most people couldn’t read and knowledge was largely limited
§ Gutenberg’s invention of the printing press meant that books could be produced in greater numbers and more quickly and cheaply than ever before. This led to a huge social and cultural revolution
Intellectual Movement
§ Evolution of Renaissance humanism as a method of thinking
§ Renaissance humanism looked to classical Greek and Roman texts to change contemporary thought, allowing for a new mind-set after the Middle Ages.
§ Renaissance readers understood these classical texts as focusing on human decisions, actions and creations, rather than unquestioningly following the rules set forth by the Catholic Church as “God’s plan.”
§ Though many Renaissance humanists remained religious, they believed God gave humans opportunities and it was humanity’s duty to do the best and most moral thing.
§ Renaissance humanism was an “ethical theory and practice that emphasized reason, scientific inquiry and human fulfilment in the natural world,”
Art
§ Renaissance art was heavily influenced by classical art
§ Artists turned to Greek and Roman sculpture, painting and decorative arts for inspiration and also because their techniques meshed with Renaissance humanist philosophy
§ People, even when in religious works, were depicted living life and showing emotion. Perspective and light and shadow techniques improved and paintings looked more three-dimensional and realistic.
§ The Catholic Church commissioned most artwork during the Middle Ages, and while it continued to do so during the Renaissance, wealthy individuals also became important patrons
· The Medici family supported artists such as Michelangelo, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael.
Music
§ As with art, musical innovations in the Renaissance were partly made possible because patronage expanded beyond the Catholic Church.
§ New technologies resulted in the invention of several new instruments, including the harpsichord and violin family.
§ The printing press meant that sheet music could be more widely disseminated.
§ Renaissance music was characterized by its humanist traits.
Literature
§ Renaissance literature, too, was characterized by humanist themes and a return to classical ideals of tragedy and comedy. Shakespeare’s works, especially “Hamlet,” are good examples of this. Themes like human agency, life’s non-religious meanings and the true nature of man are embraced, and Hamlet is an educated Renaissance man.
Society and Economics
§ The most prevalent societal change during the Renaissance was the fall of feudalism (the system of political organization prevailing in Europe from the 9th to about the 15th centuries having as its basis the relation of lord to vassal with all land held in fee and as chief characteristics homage, the service of tenants under arms and in court, wardship, and forfeiture ) and the rise of a capitalist market economy
§ Increased trade and the labour shortage caused by the Black Death gave rise to something of a middle class. Workers could demand wages and good living conditions, and so serfdom ended.
Religion
§ Due to a number of factors the Catholic Church’s influence was waning as the 15th century began
· Black death
· Rise in trade
· Development of the middle class
· Invention of the printing press
· Papacy’s temporary move from Rome
· Classical texts
· Renaissance Humanism
· The elimination of practices such as nepotism and the selling of indulgences
Geography
§ The “discovery” of the new world
Science
§ The renaissance resurrected the Ancient Greek belief that creation was constructed around perfect laws and reasoning
§ There was an escalation in the study of astronomy, anatomy and medicine, geography, alchemy, mathematics and architecture as the ancients studied them.
§ Nicolaus Copernicus. In the 1530s, he published his theory of a heliocentric solar system. This places the sun at the centre of the solar system rather than the Earth. It was a major breakthrough in the history of science, though Copernicus’ book was banned by the Catholic Church.
§ The first indication of a divergence between science and religion
Origin
- “Renaissance” comes from the French word for “rebirth.”
o Interest in and learning about classical antiquity was “reborn” after the Middle Ages,
o Middle Ages – classical philosophy was largely ignored or forgotten, a period of cultural decline
Developments
o Style of art, philosophy, scientific inquiry, astronomy, humanist philosophy, the printing press, vernacular language in writing, painting and sculpture technique, world exploration, (late Renaissance) Shakespeare’s work
Classical texts and knowledge
o They never completely vanished from Europe during the Middle Ages
o Classical Latin texts and Greek science and philosophy began to be revived on a larger scale, and early versions of universities were established.
Crusaders
o While crusading, Europeans encountered advanced Middle Eastern civilizations, which had made strides in many cultural fields.
o Islamic countries kept many classical Greek and Roman texts that had been lost in Europe, and they were reintroduced through returning crusaders.
The fall of the Byzantine and Roman Empires at the hands of the Ottomans
o When the Ottomans sacked Constantinople in 1453, many scholars fled to Europe, bringing classical texts with them
o Conflict in Spain between the Moors and Christians also caused many academics to escape to other areas, particularly the Italian city-states of Florence, Padua and others. This created an atmosphere for a revival in learning
