Causes for the Renaissance

Capture of Constantinople
o Constantinople was capital of Roman Empire and Centre for Greek and Roman
cultures.
o Fell into the hands of Turks in 1453.
o Many Greek and Roman scholars fled to Rome and other parts of Europe
o They spread their ideas wherever they went and revived the interest of people in
Greek Philosophy
o This paved way for the Renaissance.
Decline of Feudalism
o Feudalism society was organized on the basis of land tenure
o All the people were bound together by obligation and defense.
o The King gave estates to his lords (Dukes and Earls) and in return, the lords owed
allegiance to the king.
o The lords distributed a part of their land amongst the lesser lords (Barons). The
Barons provided the lords with military service.
o Lords gave the land for cultivation to the peasants.
o Society had graded organization. There was hardly any chance for social mobility
and progress.
o Decline of Feudalism in the 13th and 14th centuries provided impetus to free
thinking.
o The peace and freedom paved way for the growth of new learning.
o Led to new developments in art, literature, philosophy and science which paved
way for the growth of Renaissance.
New Trade Routes
o Prince Henry Navigator of Portugal, discovered a sea route to Africa
o Bartholomew Diaz reached the Cape of Good Hope, southernmost point of
Africa.
o Vasco da Gama sailed as far as India 1498
o Ferdinand Magellan made a voyage around the world and encountered a vast
ocean which he named Pacific Ocean.
o Contact between east and west developed.
o Fusion of ideas.
o New trade routes created a spirit of adventure and broadened the mental
horizon.
Spirit of Enquiry
o In the Medieval Age all the actions were controlled by the Pope and Church.
o The human mind was not allowed to develop independent thinking.
o A number of Scholars discarded these ideas and developed a spirit of enquiry and
sense of curiosity amongst the people.
o They taught humans the How and Why of things and questioned the authorities
of the church.
o They wanted a transition from faith to reason, observation and experimentation
Role of Original Thinkers
o During the Medieval Age, the Church discouraged original thinking
and called upon scholars to put faith in the Church dogmas.
o However original thinkers could not be suppressed and certain
thinkers like Roger Bacon, Abelard, and Thomas Aquinas
revolutionized the thought process.
Crusades
o Crusades were the religious wars fought with the goal of restoring
the churchs access to Jerusalem.
o This brought the people of Europe into direct contact with the
people of Asia.
o This widened their outlook, destroyed dogmatic attitude and people
began to rely on reason.
Development of Science

Invention of
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o
o

o In the age of faith, there was little scope for development. Certain
scholars showed scientific attitude and this brought many inventions
and discoveries.
o Roger Bacon Horseless carriages, flying machines
o Copernicus the earth moves around the sun
o Galileo telescope
o These inventions broadened the mental outlook of people and put
an end to old beliefs and traditions.
printing press
Invented by Gutenberg Germany 1456
Caxton England 1476
Made it possible to print a large number of books.
Bible and many classical books printed and made available all over Europe.
Spread knowledge far and wide
Easier to read printed books.
In the Middle Ages, books were few and beyond the reach of Ordinary people.
Enabled to multiply books and put them within the reach of people.
Influenced peoples attitude to life and brought about a new awakening in
Europe.

Principle Of Renaissance
The Renaissance was not a sudden development. It was based on certain beliefs of what is right or
wrong. It had certain features which touched different aspects of life and affected all people in the
society.
Humanism
o Most remarkable phenomenon of Renaissance.
o Derived from Latin words Studia Humanitatis meaning Studies of mankind
o It meant a shift from divine matters to the concern for humans.
o Extolled man and stressed his essential dignity.
o Opposed religious asceticism
o Defended mans right to pleasure and satisfaction of earthly desires and requirements.
o Humanists looked deep into ancient classics for ideas on humanism like those of Plato,
Aristotle and Cicero.
Glorification of Human Right
o The Renaissance scholars and artistes glorified human rights.
o Renaissance artists took their subjects from the Bible but portrayed the human form in
all its earthly beauty and vigour.
o Renaissance scholars and artists filled their works with the faith that a man is capable
of knowing and controlling the world, performing miracles and fashioning his own
happiness.
Spirit of Enquiry
o The Renaissance humanists believed in limitless potentialities of man but also did not
forget their past.
o The spirit of enquiry extended from scientific enquiry to nature, explorations and every
sphere of knowledge.
o It was the principle cause for Renaissance.
Causes for the rise of Renaissance in Italy
Italy was the seat of Roman empire and a no. of relics and historical remains were found which
attracted scholars and artists.
The Greek scholars which fled to Italy along with their manuscripts and art treasures after the
fall of Constantinople instilled a spirit of enquiry and encouraged the Italian artists to produce
masterpieces of art and literature.
The wealthy merchants of Italy patronized art, classical culture and literature. The enormous
wealth which Italy had accumulated as a result of trade with the west contributed to the rise
of Renaissance.

 Because of the crusades and geographical explorations, the Italians came into contact with
the east which broadened their vision and provided impetus to Renaissance.
Impact of Renaissance
ART
During the medieval times art served as a tool for propagating religion and the colours were
strictly regulated.
However, Renaissance artists adopted new methods like Frescoes, oil colours and woodcuts.
Studied optics and geometry to develop perspective in paintings.
Studied human anatomy to find the mechanism of underlying gestures and expressions.
Painting
Renaissance artists produced some of the very greatest paintings of their time.
They showed their talent without being restricted by the church and had a humanistic
approach because of which they could produce highly artistic and lifelike paintings.
Leonardo Da Vinci
Great sculptor, painter musician and scientist.
Virgin of the Rocks, The Last Supper, and Mona Lisa are masterpieces.
New techniques were adopted to give fine felling of reality.
Michelangelo
Sculptor, painter, architect and poet.
Concentrated on painting human figure.
Paintings in Sistine Chapel, Last Judgement and The Fall of Man are masterpieces.
Raphael
Great artist of Florentine school.
Sistine Madonna is masterpiece.
He lived several years in Rome in the service of the Pope decorating the Vatican and
designing St. Peters Church.

Sculpture

Some Renaissance artists copied Greek and Roman masterpieces while others produced
pieces which could rival those.
Donatello was first great sculptor of Renaissance who made bronze statue of David triumphant
over Goliath.
Lorenzo Ghiberti was famous in Italy who made 2 pairs bronze doors for the Florence
Baptistery
Michelangelo pieta showing Mother Mary carrying Jesus, statue of David and Moses.
In Italy, many sculptors worked for rich merchants and the Popes. Later, they were invited to
England, France, or Spain to spread the Renaissance art there.

LITERATURE

The most significant impact of the Renaissance was the use of local languages instead of
Latin.
There was a change of themes from spiritual themes like heaven to man and his problems.
This gave birth to a new movement called humanism.

Literature in Italy
Machiavelli
Dante

The Prince
Divine Comedy

Petrarch

Sonnets and lyrics

Great political writer

Epic poem which reveals the religious and
social life of the day.
Was father of humanism. Great scholar
and writer.

Boccaccio

Decameron

Wrote in prose. It is a collection of 100

famous short stories.

Other famous writers include Aristo and Tasso.

Literature in England

Geoffrey Chaucer is regarded as Father of English Poetry. Canterbury Tales is outstanding

work.
Thomas More wrote Utopia describing an imaginary island in America where the rich did not
exploit the poor. There the society had no blind faith and did not believe in useless wars.
Francis Bacon was a famous essay writer.
Shakespeare, Ben Johnson and Marlowe were famous playwrights.
Paradise Lost is an immortal work by Milton
Edmund Spencer wrote Faerie Queene.

Literature in other European Countries

Martin Luther made a significant contribution to German literature. Translated English Bible
into German.
Cervantes was Spanish. Wrote Don Quixote.
Michael De Montaigne through essays and Francis Rabelais through poems brought about new
age in France.

Science
Astronomy
Copernicus proved that the earth revolved around the sun and was round.
Kepler proved that all planets revolved around the sun in elliptical orbits.
Galileo invented the telescope.
Newton discovered the law of gravitation.
Medical Science

Vesalius wrote a treatise on medical sciences.

Harvey discovered the circulation of blood to and from the heart.
Paracelsus proved a close connection between medicine and chemistry.
Cordus prepared ether from alcohol and sulfuric acid.

Mathematics

Arabs gave algebra and numerals to the west.

Desargues made modern geometry systematic.
Stevin advocated decimal system of coins, weights and measures.

Consequences of the Renaissance.

Led to reformation in Europe division of church

Development of Humanism widened mans outlook and encouraged study of humanities
Development of Scientific outlook new inventions and discoveries, reason, setback to blind
faith
Development of arts new forms of painting, literature, etc.
Rise of monarchial form of government.
Rise of middle class middle class began to progress
Rise and growth of nation states progress of national literature
Consequences of geographical exploration prosperity of Europe and colonization.