The Renaissance

I. What was the "Renaissance?"

• A "rebirth" of civilization based on the values of classical Greece and Rome

• Compared to Medieval Man, Renaissance Man put more emphasis on:

humanism - an appreciation form an and the world he inhabits

individualism - an appreciation for the uniqueness and freedom of the individual

rationalism - seeking truth through logic and reason

>> the values above are what it means to be "modern"

Medieval: Knowledge through faith;

vs.

Renaissance: Knowledge through reason, education;

II. The Renaissance began in Florence, Italy. Why?

A. Trade contacts brought

1) new ideas

2) $$$ and a large middle-class (e.g., the Medici Family)

B. Memories of its Roman past

1) Greek and Roman ruins

2) Classical writings preserved in monasteries

C. Republican government allowed free thought and creativity

III. Renaissance Culture

A. Important Works of Literature and Philosophy

note: all write in the language of everyday use called the vernacular

1. The Divine Comedy by Dante is a poetic trilogy about a soul's journey through the afterlife.

>> worst sin and punishment? Treason. Devoured by the heads of Satan in the freezing depths of hell

2. Utopia by St. Thomas More is about a ctitious 'perfect society'

>> how is the title ironic? Utopia means "doesn't exist"

3. The Book of the Courtier by Castiglione gave birth to the idea of the 'Renaissance Man'

‣ Jack of all Trades

4. The Canterbury Tales Chaucer is about a group of Christians making a pilgrimage to Canterbury
Cathedral

5. The Prince by Nicholo Macchivelli:

‣ an in uential work of political philosophy

‣ purpose > to show statesmen how to gain & maintain political power

‣ rejected the medieval view that kings should govern according to Christian ideals. Why?
you'd be a pushover, who people took from

‣ a prince must be willing to "let his conscience sleep" and be devious and ruthless if
necessary

‣ central tenet = "the ends justi es the means"

C. Renaissance Art

Main Characteristics w/Examples

1. Realistic detail

2. Naturalism

3. Linear Perspective > the illusion of depth on a two-dimensional surface using a vanishing point,
horizon line, & disappearing lines

4. Humanism (note: man is proud, con dent, perfectible)

5. Emphasis on Individualism (note: artist's pride and self-con dence)

6. Balanced works through the Geometrical Arrangement of Figures (note: gural pyramids)

7. Light & Shadow/Softening Edges/Chiaroscuro

8. Classicism (an appreciation for all things Greek and Roman)

D. Renaissance Thought and the

Scienti c Revolution

1. De nition = a new understanding of the natural world through a reliance on reason and
experimentation during the 1500s and 1600s

2. Causes

• The discover of ancient scienti c tests in monastic libraries cast doubt on accepted scienti c
theories

• New inventions

◦telescope

◦microscope

◦printing press

• Christianity's teaching that God is rational and the universe is a product of design created a mindset
that nature is knowable (not purely mysterious)

3. First scienti c eld revolutionized = Astronomy.

What is wrong with this picture? Lots.

4. A New Astronomy brought about by

a) Nicholas Copernicus -> sun at the center of the solar system, not earth

b) Johannes Kepler -> planetary orbits are elliptical, not circular

c) Galileo -> other planets made of matter, not orbs of light

>> Why did Galileo get in trouble with the Church? He scandalizes the church through his works

d) Isaac Newton's laws of planetary motion & gravitation explain how planet move without God's
direct involvement

>> Newton's ideas create the in uential view that the universe is like a machine and a new mindset
arises: Man is no longer at the mercy of nature but in control of it

5. Other Important Early Scientists

Francis Bacon -> scienti c method

Andreas Vesalius -> circulatory system

6. E ects of the Scienti c Revolution

• belief in progress rises

• reliance on reason rises

• church in uence falls

D. New Lands were Discovered aka The 'Age of Exploration'

1. De nition = early period of Europe's exploration and colonization of the Americas, coastal Africa,
and islands in Asia

2. New knowledge & technologies made long voyages possible

a) compass

b) astrolabe (used to measure latitude)

c) caravel (advanced sailboat)

d) gunpowder weapons

3. Motives

a) Curiosity

1) legend of King Preston John

2) travels of Marco Polo to China(?)

b) Church's desire to convert natives

c) Individual desire for personal glory

d) Gold and spices

4. The desire of rulers to expand their power by growing their nation's economy through a policy
known as Mercantilism.

a) Main ideas:

◦National power in the new gunpowder age = national wealth

◦National wealth comes from:

‣ acquiring bullion (gold & silver)

‣ achieving a 'favorable balance of the trade' by exporting a greater value of goods than a
country imports

b) The policies a Mercantilist nation would adopt:

◦Tari s on foreign goods

◦Subsidies to domestic industry

◦Gran businesses a monopoly on a good in exchange for a % of the pro ts

◦Acquire colonies to gain direct access to resources and serve as a market for nished goods.

5. The rst Explorers & Voyages were from Portugal

a) Prince Henry the Navigator sponsors the rst voyages in the early 1400s along Africa's coast. Goal:
nd a passage to India

b) Bartholomew Dias — Cape of Good Hope (S. Africa)

c) Vasco da Gama — 1st European to make landfall in India by sea

d) Alfonso d'Albuqurque – wins control of the spice trade from the Arabs

6. After completing the Reconquista, Spain becomes the 2nd nation to support overseas exploration.
Goal: a sea foute to India and China

a) Christopher Columbus — "discovered" the "Americas"

b) Hernan Cortes — conquers the Aztecs in Mexico

c) Francisco Pizarro — conquers the Incas in Peru

>> Spain and Portugal agree to the Treaty of Tordesillas — proposed by the Pope - which creates a line
of demarcation giving Portugal all lands east of the line and Spain all lands west. It is ignored by
Ferdinand Magellan.

7. France sought a 'Northwest Passage' to Asia

a) Samuel de Champlain — founded Quebec & claimed parts of Canada for France

8. England also sough a 'Northwest Passage' to Asia

a) John Cabot — claimed New England for England

9. E ects

a. The "Columbian Exchange"

1) De nition — widespread exchange of plants, diseases, ideas, etc. between the Americas,
Europe, and Africa

2) Examples of things exchanged?

b. Aided by the Triangle Trade (know the three main regions and an example of a trade good from each)

◦Africa provided slaves to America

◦America provided sugar, tobacco, and cotton to Europe

◦Europe provided textiles, rum, and manufactured goods to Africa

c. Millions of natives die to war and disease (esp. smallpox)

d. Economic growth in Western Europe

e. Economic growth in Western Europe

f. Rise of the Transatlantic slave trade:

g. Rise of Western in uence in Africa, Asia, & the Americas