Unit 1 Notes Packet: Renaissance

Question 1

What is the Renaissance?

Answer 1

A period of cultural and artistic flourishing that occurred roughly between 1350 to 1550. A period of recovery and rebirth from the disastrous late Middle Ages. Began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe. Renewal of Greco-Roman culture. Development of humanistic and individualistic ideals inspired by Greek and Roman philosophy and art

Question 2

What caused the Renaissance?

Answer 2

Italy’s prosperity allowed wealthy elites to fund artist and scholars to study old Greek and Roman texts. This prosperity was the result of geography and social structure (less feudalism)

Question 3

How did Italy’s easy access to trade routes help with their access of knowledge?

Answer 3

Italy’s central location made it easy to access trade routes that connected Europe and the Middle East, allowing it to grow prosperous through trade. Italy was able to meet increased demand for luxury goods from the Middle East, as well as demand for goods produced by Italian industries

Question 4

How did geography benefit the Italian city-states?

Answer 4

Easy access to the Middle East not only helped make it wealthy, but also helped facilitate the “rediscovery” of ancient Greek and Roman texts

Question 5

What were the main social classes during the Renaissance?

Answer 5

The Church, the Nobility–as described by Baldassare Castiglione, they were brave, charming and educated–, and peasants/townspeople. Slavery persisted but declines by the 1400s

Question 6

Roles and “Rules” of Marriage

Answer 6

Arranged to strengthen business or family ties, dowry paid by wife’s family to husband’s, father was the head of the family, wife managed the household, husbands tended to be older than wives, okay for husbands to have affairs but not wives

Question 7

What were two negative aspects of the Renaissance?

Answer 7

Migration to cities contributed to overcrowding, poor sanitation and unrest; prices for agricultural products rose faster than wages, reducing the standard of living for some

Question 8

What are the five major states during the Renaissance?

Answer 8

The duchy of Milan, the republic of Venice, Florence (normally a republic, but dominated by the Medici family), the Papal States, and the kingdom of Naples

Question 9

How did the balance of power apply to the five major states?

Answer 9

Peace of Lodi 1454 creates alliance system and stable balance of power. Milan, Florence, Naples vs. Venice, Papal States. Creates modern diplomacy with ambassadors and diplomats maintain balance of power but at end of 1400s balance of power breaks down

Question 10

What did Machiavelli argue in The Prince?

Answer 10

It explains how rulers should get and maintain power and should make decisions based on practicality, not morals. They should do whatever they need to do to maintain power, and should not base decisions based on moral, just and godly traits

Question 11

What was humanism, and what did it emphasize?

Answer 11

Humanism was the intellectual movement based on the study of Greece and Roman texts. Emphasized the importance of the sudia humanitas (philosophy, literature, history). Emphasized secularism and individualism, meaning people are important and can study and understand the world

Question 12

Describe the difference between 14th and 15th century humanism

Answer 12

14th: Petrarch (1304-1374) was an important humanist, characterized the Middle Ages as a period of ignorance and emphasize solitary ancient Latin works
15: Emergence of civic humanism in Florence- scholars should use their knowledge to make society and government better. Growing interest in Greek civilization

Question 13

What did the Medici family commission?

Answer 13

Medici family commissions new translations of Plato from Marsilio Ficino that leads to emergence of Neoplatonism: synthesis of Christianity and Platonic philosophy. They also commission translation of Corpus Hermitcum, leading to the emergence of Renaissance Hermeticism: esoteric philosophy that emphasized divinity of all things

Question 14

What was the belief behind education during the Renaissance? Why was history more prevalent?

Answer 14

Belief that education could produce well-rounded, thoughtful citizens, history was more prevalent because it de-emphasized the role of God and miracles in human affairs, used critical thinking and document analysis, and Francesco Guicciardini: History of Italy and History of Florence

Question 15

Who commissioned art in the 1400s? 1500s? (Renaissance)

Answer 15

1400s: wealthy families like the Medicis (artists like Giotto, Gotticelli, Brunelleschi) this is called patronage
1500s: Pope Alexander VI was a major commissioner of art, period known as the “high Renaissance” (artists like da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael)

Question 16

What are two new techniques of art during the Renaissance?

Answer 16

Chiaroscuro: use of dark and light colors to create the illusion of depth
Sfumato: a technique of blurring and softening sharp outlines

Question 17

What was the influence of Greek and Romans on Renaissance art?

Answer 17

Humanism, use of classical techniques and forms, emphasis on symmetry and balance, classical subjects (Greek mythology), sculpture imitated Greco-Roman sculpture, architecture used classical forms (domes, columns, etc.)

Question 18

What techniques of art during the Renaissance were inspired by Greek and Romans?

Answer 18

Realism, perspective, geometric arrangement of figures, emphasis on the individual, artists as personalities/celebrities

Question 19

How did the Renaissance spread to Northern Europe?

Answer 19

Trade and contact with Italy; French invasion of Italy in the 1490s; printing press helps new ideas spread; students from northern Europe study at Italian universities; decline of feudalism

Question 20

How did sociopolitical context differ from Italy?

Answer 20

Italy: decentralized system of rule, powerful merchant families fund artists scholars
Northern Europe: centralized system of rule, powerful monarchs play a bigger role in funding artists and scholars
The 1400s and 1500s witnessed the rise of stronger, more centralized monarchies, especially in France, England and Spain

Question 21

What was France like in the Northern Renaissance?

Answer 21

Charles VII expands the power of the king by levying the taille, a tax that allows him to raise money without asking the nobility. Louis XI expands France’s territory through conquest

Question 22

What was England like in the Northern Renaissance?

Answer 22

After a civil war between two powerful houses (the War of the Roses), Henry VII establishes a new Tudor dynasty and stabilizes the country by limiting the power of the nobility (no more private armies). Henry VII focuses on trade and diplomacy, not war

Question 23

What was Spain like in the Northern Renaissance?

Answer 23

King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella unify the Spanish states, centralize government, establish a strong military, wildly persecute Jews and Muslims

Question 24

How did the Holy Roman Empire use/acquire power in the Northern Renaissance?

Answer 24

They extended power through marriages. Maximilian I gets territory in France, and the Netherlands through marriage in late 1400s. Charles V ends up in charge of both Spanish and Austrian branches of Hapsburg family and controls VERY LARGE chunk of territory - gains even more territory in Southern Italy after he sacks Rome in 1527