HIS-501

Unit II
Renaissance

It is difficult to trace precisely the transaction of medieval work to modern period. But it is certain that
three great moments in Europe namely; the Renaissance, the geographical discoveries and the
reformation are responsible for this massive transformation. The renaissance period symbolise the
growing spirit of enquiry which permitted the European world at the close of the middle age.

Meaning

The French word “Renaissance” means rebirth. The movement denotes the rebirth of learning and art
as well as the revival of the study of old classics and civilization of Greece and Rome. The
renaissance marked the beginning of an era when the thinking attitudes and outlook of the people
underwent a drastic change. It ushered in a period of all round awakening and broadened the horizons
of knowledge. This awakening aroused the spirit of curiosity and enquiry in the people. In short, the
renaissance opened an age of intellectual, social, geographical, commercial and artistic expansion.

Origin

The renaissance movement originated and flourished in Italy. It was in Italy that great pioneers and
patrons of the renaissance lived. They preached on the revival of the study of the ancient Greek and
Latin works and imitation of the classical style. It was in Italy where most of the scholars of
Constantinople settled and fostered the classical revival. It was in Italy that many of the great works
of art, architecture and literature were produced. From Italy it spread to the other countries in Europe.
Italy was like a school of Europe in the 16th century.

Causes of the Renaissance

1. Role of original thinkers: - Original and bold thinkers like Peter Abeler and Rojer Baker
prepared the ground for the renaissance movement. The Roman Catholic Church punished
the thinkers who went against the teachings of the church. However, the bold thinkers openly
expressed their new ideas. They advocated the spirit of enquiry and criticisms. Soon after the
spirit of enquiry, secular outlook and individualism began to spread.
2. The Crusades: - The crusades were responsible for introducing oriental ideas in Europe.
Christians who went to the East to take part in the crusades were impressed by the superior
civilization of the Eastern countries. This changes the outlook of the Christians who desire to
re-orient their life.
3. Fall of Constantinople: - In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople. The Turks
were fanatics and intolerant. Hence many Greek and Latin scholars of Constantinople escape
to Italy and other European countries with their books and manuscripts. They spread their
liberal outlook and most of the scholars settled permanently in Italy. Thus, the fall of
Constantinople proved to be a blessing in disguise for the Europeans. They said, Greece has
not fallen but migrated to Italy.
4. Printing press: - The invention of printing press helped the renaissance movement. Printing
of books helped spread knowledge far and wide. Gutten Burg set up his first printing press in
1455 at Mainz in Germany. William Caxton established the first printing press in England in
1477. The invention of printing press resulted in the wonderful extension of new beginning.
5. Patronage of kings, popes and nobles: - Enlightened popes and kings patronised the
renaissance. Pope Nicholas V was a great classical scholar. He patronised the new learning

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 and maintain a library containing a large number of classical works. Nobles and rich
merchants took deep interest in classical literature. The brilliant Medici family of Florence
rendered memorable service to renaissance movement in Italy.
6. Geographical discoveries: - Geographical discoveries also made their contribution in
changing the attitude and outlook of the Europeans. Besides bringing into Europe the much
needed spices and oriental commodities and the profits of trade, they created the spirit of
adventure and broadened the mental horizon.
7. Reformation:- The protestant reformation which had its roots in the middle ages also
contributed to the Renaissance but it would be better to say that it served both as the cause
and the effect of the renaissance. It weakened the blind faith of the people in the church and
encouraged them to think independently.

Features of Renaissance

1. Humanism:- A systematic and devoted study of men is called humanism. The renaissance
scholars began to take deep interest in the study of men and his achievements. The
renaissance promoted rational and humanistic approach.
2. New approach: - Renaissance put an end to the age of faith and ushered in the age of reason.
The modern age came to be characterised by rationalism and humanism. The critical and
scientific approach began to dominate human life. The new approach encouraged the
Europeans to question all things including the authority.
3. Growth of vernaculars: - The Latin language of ancient Rome continued to enjoy a position
of pride and importance until the end of middle age. It was an international language in
Europe. It was the language of the church, of the state and of the learned men all over Europe.
In the later period many local dialects developed into vernaculars. 16th and 17th centuries
witnessed tremendous growth of vernaculars.
4. Printing press: - The revival of learning was enormously helped by the invention of the
printing press. The idea of printing press seems to have been copied from China where it was
in use from the very early times. It has been asserted that the first European to have the
Printing press was Lauren Coster. By 1455 John Guddenburg had started a printing press in
Germany.
5. The renaissance in art: - In the middle age, art controlled and regulated by the church was
undoubtly human and delicate. Christ was shown as a good shepherd carrying a lamb on his
shoulders. The church dictated that art should be a symbol of moral virtues and mysteries of
Christianity. A piece of art whether it was a painting or a carving had to look sacred. The
purpose of a piece of art was to teach religion. Art was not for art’s sake or for the sake of
natural beauty but for the promotion of religion.
6. Architecture: - The renaissance architecture was much influenced by the classical style. The
Gothic which was Christian in origin was discarded and the ancient Greek orders were re-
employed. St. Peter’s church in Rome, St. Paul’s church in London and St. Mark’s church in
Venice may be cited as the most familiar example of the renaissance architecture. Churches
were erected under the direction of Michael Angelo and Raphael. Kings of France, Francis I
and Philip II of Spain gave encouragement to classical architecture.
7. Sculpture: - The renaissance sculpture could rely more on classical traditions then the
renaissance painters. The revival of sculpture took place when some of the sculptural
masterpiece of ancient Greece and Rome were unearthed in different parts of Italy. Lorenzo
Ghiberti was one of the master sculptors.

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 8. Painting: - Before 16th century most of the paintings was made directly on the plaster wall.
But since the 16th century due to renaissance, painting on wood or any other material were
made. The technique of using oil was mastered. Four great painters were produced in Italy
who was greatly genius.
a. Leonardo Da Vinci – He was the master painter and architect, a sculptor, an engineer, a
scientist and a philosopher. He was born and train in Florence. He carefully studied
human body and master the values of life, shape and colour. He was patronised by the
famous Medici family of Florence. “Monalisa” and “The Last Supper” in Milan deserved
a special mention. Monalisa with great dignity and charm wears a unique smile which is
life like and is a world famous portrait.
b. Michael Angelo – He was also a native of Florence, an architect, an engineer, a poet and
a student of anatomy and psychology. The fresco of the “Last Judgement” in the Sistine
chapel at Rome is the most famous painting of Michael Angelo.
c. Raphael – He was a renaissance painter. He lived at Rome and was an architect of St.
Peter’s church at Rome. His famous painting the “Madonna” is note worthy. Though he
died at the age of 37 he produced a number of paintings.
d. Titan – He was the chief representatives of the Venetian school of painting. His pictures
were characterised by bright colour. He enjoyed the patronage of Emperor Charles V and
Philip II of Spain and was an official painter for the city of Venice. In oil painting Titan
would hardly be suppressed by any artists.
9. Music: - It was free from classical influence. Music began its golden age in the 16 th century.
Musical instruments were improved and sweeter tones were introduced. The symbol rebeck
was changed into a violin. Martin Luther encouraged people to take part in congregational
singing in his church. Palestinna is rightly regarded as the father of modern music. He was a
master composer. He greatly influenced the musical world.
10. Progress in science
a. Copernicus – He was a great scientist of Poland. He proved that the earth is one of the
many planets rendering round the sun, and day and night are caused by its rotation on its
axis and not by the revolving of the sun.
b. John Kepler – The German scientists supported the theory of Copernicus but he made it
clear that the planet revolve round the sun, not in circular but in elliptical orbits.
c. Gallileo - An Italian scientist observed the sun and planets through the telescope. He
invented the thermometer and discovered the laws of pendulum. He showed that the
speed of a falling body depends upon the distant it falls through.
d. Sir Issac Newton – He discovered the laws of gravitation governing the motions of the
planets round the sun, and of the moon round the earth.
e. Gregorian calendar – It is noteworthy that the increasing astronomical knowledge of the
16th century made it possible for pope Gregory XIII to reform the so called Julian
calendar which was used by the Christians since Ancient Roman times.

Development in Literature

Renaissance period ushered a new era in literature. Scholastic education of the middle ages which
emphasized the grammar on one hand and professionalism in law, medicine and theology on the other
began to decline rapidly with the revival of ancient classics. Emphasis was placed on the study of
humanities and the scholars of the Renaissance period called themselves “humanists”. The humanists
began an intellectual movement which had two objectives, namely, the revival of the study of ancient
classics, many of which had been lost; and on the basis of their knowledge tried to build a bright

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future. They wished to accomplish this through a searching enquiry of all the values that classical
civilization stood for. Their fresh look at the classical past promoted the secular spirit.

Italy produced many great humanist scholars. Among them the most prominent ones are Petrarch who
promoted the cause of Latin and Greek study. Dante Alighieri was a triumvirates of Italy’s early
literary Renaissance. His outstanding work was the Divine Comedy (Divina Commedia). Wars, feuds,
factional politics and immorality which disturbed the stability of many Italian states attracted the
attention of people like Niccolo Machiavelli, who travelled widely and used his knowledge and
experience by writing a wonderful book named The Prince (II Principe). This book contained
guidelines for ambitious rulers who wanted to succeed always. Another person named Cosimo de
Medici who became the leader of Florence, maintained Europe’s first public library which included
books in Greek. He was the one to encourage the study of Greek philosophy by appointing a young
Florentine named Marsilio Ficino who knew Greek and asked him to translate the Greek works of
Plato into Latin. Ficino introduced his philosophy to his followers which synthesised Platonism and
Christianity and called it “Platonic love”. Thus, Renaissance ushered in new dawn in the field of
literature by introducing the people with a new thoughts and ideas.

Development in Art:
The geniuses of the age of Renaissance in Europe were Michelangelo (1475-1564), Raphael
(1483-1520), and Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). Both Michelangelo and Leonardo belonged to
Florence and Raphael spent most of his life in Rome. The first two not only excelled in painting, but
also in other pursuits of art.
Leonardo da Vinci: Leonardo was an artist with scientific temper. His great paintings reflect
not only his exceptional mastery over light, shade and colour but a careful study of human anatomy
and problems of perspective. His painting The Last Supper, a fresco, and Mona Lisa (also known as
La Gioconda) are everlasting masterpieces. He spent the last years of his life in France where he was
patronised by King Francis I. The Last Supper depicts Jesus Christ announcing at his last supper
meeting that one of them was going to betray him. Mona Lisa is the painting of a merchant’s wife,
Madonua Elisabetta with a most enigmatic smile which has kept all the art-lovers wondering for
centuries. Leonardo’s other two paintings which evoke great admirations are The Virgin of the Rocks
and The Virgin and Child with Saint Anne.
Michelangelo: Michelangelo was a contemporary of Leonardo and Raphael. Like Leonardo
he was a Florentine and a versatile genius. Pope Julius II preferred this great artist to Raphael to paint
the curved ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the papal palace at the Vatican. Michelangelo desired to
turn down this papal request for he was no good painter, but then the Pope forced him to accept the
offer. The fresco on the ceiling, when completed after four years of extremely hard work unfolded the
biblical drama of the story of God, creation of man, the great prophets and the flood. Michelangelo
executed another fresco, the Last Judgement which may be considered another immortal work.
Raphael Sanzio: Raphael belonged to the Florentine school of painting. He was an architect
too. He was employed in the service of Pope Julius II and Leo X. Raphael had become famous for his
paintings of madonnas. His most celebrated painting was Sistine Madonna. He was employed as an
architect at the time of the construction of St. Peter’s basilica.
Architecture and sculpture:
Although Italian states quarrelled among themselves and fell prey to foreign conquerors,
nevertheless, they remained invincible in art and architecture. Western Europeans were eager to
follow the trend set by Italian states. The Gothic architecture was discarded and it was replaced by the
Renaissance architecture that is the revival of ancient Greek and Roman types. The St. Peter’s Church
at Rome offers a typical Renaissance style. Brunelleschi (1377-1466) evinced keen interest in the
early Roman architecture. He designed the Pitti palace and the dome of the Cathedral at Florence.
Renaissance architecture found expression in some of the palaces built in Italy such as the Farnese in

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Rome and Piccolomini in Siena. They represent the secular spirit of Renaissance architecture.
Similarly Andrea Palladio, a great architect of Venice, built elegant villas for rich merchants, after the
models of Ancient Rome.
The age of Renaissance in Italy produced a large number of sculptures. Hundreds of them
were employed by the Popes and wealthy merchants to decorate their gardens, palaces and churches
with sculptures works. Florence became a great centre of the art of sculpture and her example was
followed by others. The famous Medici family pioneered scientific study of sculpture, and the new
sculptors followed “closely the Greek and Roman traditions in form and often in subject as well”. The
first master-sculptor of Renaissance in Italy was Lorenze Ghiberti (1378-1455). He was a Florentine
who worked for twenty years to make two pairs of bronze doors for the Baptistery at Florence.
Donateele (1386-1466) was another Florentine, younger to Ghiberti, who went to Rome to
study the old statues and ruins. On his return to Florence he became the greatest sculptor of early
renaissance period. His best known works are the statues of St. Mark in Venice and St. George in
Florence.
The High Renaissance period witnessed the sculptural works of great men like Michelangelo,
Leonardo and Cellini. Michelangelo was better known was better known for his works of sculpture
than as an artist and architect. Michelangelo became famous as a sculptor when he made a statue in
Rome at the instance of the French Ambassador. It is called the ‘Picta’, and it showed the body of
Christ carried by His mother. It was the finest show-piece evoking deep emotions. Another great
masterpiece by Michelangelo was the colossal “Moses” which was placed in the tomb of his patron,
Pope Julius II. Michelangelo’s statues of ‘David’ and ‘Moses’ show the glorification of the human
body and deep anatomical study.
Renaissance in science:
In the middle Ages, Europe made progress in science due to her contact with the Arabs.
However, pure science could not develop until the advent of the sixteenth century. The first break
through in the knowledge of modern science was made in astronomy. With the discovery of new
continents and sea-routes, it became imperative to make a new thrust in the study of heavenly bodies
and universe of matter. The age of renaissance not only produced great humanist scholars, and artists
but also men of science. Renaissance promoted spirit of enquiry and enabled Europe to take giant
steps towards scientific and technological progress.
Astronomy: For well over thirteen centuries, Europeans never questioned the geocentric
theory of Ptolemy, the Greek scientist of the second century A.D. This was so because his scheme or
theory was in agreement with the “cosmology of the Bible”. Explicitly, the theory explained that the
earth remains stationary and at the centre of the universe, and all heavenly bodies go round once every
twenty-four hours. The Pythagoreans (followers of Greek scientists, Pythagoros) did not agree with
this and advocated heliocentric theory (the sun and not the earth was at the centre of the universe).
But the credit of refuting the theory of Ptolemy went to Copernicus, a Polish priest and
astronomer (1473-1543). For a number of years, Copernicus watched the sky, the stars, the comets,
other celestial bodies and prepared charts and notes. Just before his death, the results of his labour
were published in a book from in Latin called De Revolutionibus Orbium Caelestium (Revolutions of
Celestial Bodies) which rejected Ptolemy theory and proved heliocentric theory to be correct. This
book aroused great curiosity and controversy, for the reason that the earth no longer held a pre-
eminent position in the solar system. The cosmology of Bible was being challenged.
After his death, his theory was put to severe test by scientists like Tycho Brahe, Kepler and
Galileo. Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) of Italy was a great astronomer, mathematician and physicist. He
used a telescope to study the movements of heavenly bodies for the first time and proved beyond
doubt the validity of Copernican theory.
Mathematics: Allied with astronomy was mathematics, a science which registered
considerable progress. A sound knowledge of mathematics proved to be useful either for calendar
reform or to test Copernican theory or for modernised warfare or for that matter for keeping accounts.

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In the sixteenth century, mathematicians made improvements over what they inherited from the
ancient Greeks, Romans and the Aras of the Middle Ages. Many mathematicians of Europe were
finding out symbols for arithmetical and algebraic calculations such as +, x, ÷, -, =, √. The great
genius of the seventeenth century was undoubtedly Sir Isaac Newton.
Physics: Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) contributed much to mathematical physics which
helped the growth of astronomy. His greatest contribution was “the law of gravitation”. Newton is
called “the father of modern physics”.
Progress in Medicine: The “New Learning” revived the study of medicine and anatomy by
Vesalius (1514-64). He condemned the practice of allowing barbers to carry out surgery which was
the practice in those days and urged physicians to take scientific training. He started dissecting the
corpses which shocked and angered the Church. But Emperor Charles V appointed him the court
physician.
Scientific inventions:
One of the most important scientific inventions was the moveable printing press which had
far reaching consequences during the renaissance period. The destructive use of gun powder was
discovered and the European rulers held monopoly in this field. Another invention which helped
astronomers was the telescope (1608). Christian Huygens invented pendulum clock (1656). The
invention of microscope (single lens) by Anton Van Leeuwenhoek with which he discovered
protozoa, helped the growth of the knowledge of medicine and biology. Thermometer was used to
take body’s temperature and it was invented in 1714 by Gabriel Fahrenheit, a German physicist.
Thomas Savery invented the first practical steam engine.