Humanism and the Renaissance

1 Economic transformations

2 Social transformations

3 Political transformations

4 Cultural transformations

5 The Italian Renaissance

6 The European Renaissance

 1. Economic transformations
During the 15th century, Europe began to recover from the crisis of the 14th century.

• Agricultural production increased as the

population grew. Farmers maintained the three-
field system. When there were bad harvests,
there were subsistence crisis.
• In the cities, artisans’ guilds controlled prices and
production. To overcome this monopoly,
merchants created the domestic system.
• There was surplus production, which increased
trade. Traders sold products in city markets and
merchants established new trade routes.

Emperor Charles V in the Fugger family house, by Wilhelm Koller

From the Late Middle Ages, the economic importance of cities grew with the introduction of money.
Capitalism emerged resulting in new financial institutions and instruments:

• Banks gave loans to merchants and monarchs. The banks could then make money because the individual who
took out the loan had to pay interest.
• Banks and merchants used bills of exchange because travelling with money wasn’t safe.
• Limited companies allowed people to invest in businesses with limited risks.
• Insurance companies also allowed merchants to minimise their risks.
2. Social transformations
During the 16th century, the European population grew due to fewer wars and epidemics, increased agricultural
production and economic prosperity. Society consisted of the same social groups, called estates, as in the Middle
Ages.
Privileged estates
• Nobility and clergy: they were a minority but owned most of the land.
They had access to high political positions, didn’t pay taxes and had
special law courts.

Unprivileged estates
• The majority of the population: they had fewer rights and paid taxes.
The majority were farmers. However, some of these farmers were
landowners, while others were serfs or labourers.

Urban population
• The upper bourgeoisie were important merchants, bankers and
officials. The petite bourgeoisie were small-scale merchants and
artisans. There were also labourers, servants and beggars.

Women continued to have a lower social status than men and were dependent on their husbands and
fathers. Their main roles were having children and doing household tasks.
From the end of the Late Middle Ages, figures such as Christine de Pisan began to question women’s roles.
This initiated a debate which continued for centuries.
These cities maintained the irregular plan characteristic of Medieval cities. They didn’t have running water or
sewerage systems. As a result, hygiene was poor and diseases spread easily. This explains the high urban death
rate.

An urban society
developed. The
upper bourgeoisie Town hall
Cathedral
and the
landowning noble
lived in richly
decorated urban
palaces. The petite Palace
bourgeoisie lived
in modest houses
with various
storeys. The rest of
the population
lived in small
houses where
conditions were
poor.
Market
3. Political transformations
Due to increasing wealth, monarchs had more resources and became more powerful. They implemented reforms,
limiting the power of the nobility. At the end of the 15th century, a new political model emerged.

Authoritarian monarchies The modern state

These monarchs centralised power The Spanish, Portuguese, French, English and Russian monarchies were
by creating a royal bureaucracy. the most powerful. They fought for control of the smaller Italian and
This allowed the monarch to control German states.
the kingdom and collect taxes more The Holy Roman Empire consisted of many kingdoms and independent
efficiently. The centre of royal states in Central Europe. Italy remained divided into small principalities
government was the court in the and republics. These included Venice, Florence and the Papal States.
capital.
Monarchs established permanent
armies of mercenaries, which they
used to subdue the nobles when
they rebelled against the crown.
Monarchs also prohibited the
nobles from forming armies. They
also formed diplomatic corps to
establish alliances with other
countries.
4. Cultural transformations
There were great developments in thinking and science during this period.

Humanism
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL
Humanism was an intellectual movement that emerged in ADVANCES AND THE SPREAD OF NEW
Italy and spread across Europe. Its main elements were: IDEAS
• the Renaissance. This was a renewed interest in Classical
Greek and Roman culture and philosophy.
• The astronomer Copernicus proposed
• anthropocentrism. Humans became the centre of the heliocentric hypothesis.
philosophical reflection and artistic creation, so thinkers
• The physician Andreas Vesalius’
rejected theocentrism.
anatomical studies increased
• optimism and creativity. Humanists believed in a better knowledge of the human body.
life and their creativity resulted in many inventions.
• Leonardo da Vinci’s inventions made
• a desire for knowledge and critical thinking. Humanists contributions to mechanics, physics
wanted to learn about everything and be ‘Renaissance and aerodynamics.
Man’. They tried to explain natural phenomena through
• The invention of the movable printing
individual reflection: reason; extensive studies: research;
press by Gutenberg in 1440 enabled
and practical demonstrations: experimentation.
the printing of many books.
• the use of vernacular languages. Humanists wrote in
their native languages, facilitating access to knowledge.
5. The Italian Renaissance
Humanism led to the development of Renaissance art. This style Patrons of the arts
was a revival of Classical Greek and Roman culture and originated
There were also important Italian patrons of
in Italy. This occurred for two main reasons:
art, such as the Medici in Florence, the Sforza
• the arrival in Italy of Greek scholars. They fled Constantinople in Milan and Pope Julius II.
after the Ottoman conquest and brought Classical works with
them.
• the abundance of Roman remains on the Italian Peninsula.
The Stages of the Italian Renaissance
The Trecento (14th century) The Quattrocento (15th century)
• Early features of the Renaissance appeared, replacing the Gothic • Florence became the artistic
style. centre. Artists consolidated
their respect for proportion,
symmetry and harmony. They
continued the search for an
ideal beauty and tried to give
depth and volume to the
subject through perspective. David by Donatello
Equestrian portrait of Guidoriccio da Fogliano by Simone Martini

The Cinquecento (16th century) Mannerism

Rome became the artistic centre Around 1530, some
and artists mastered technique, artists began to abandon
form and materials. They gave harmony and proportion.
importance to colour, the detail Their works had curved
of fabrics and objects, and to forms and unnatural
landscapes. postures and colours.
Virgin and child in a landscape by Giorgione The wedding at Cana by Veronese
 5. The Italian Renaissance
Architecture
Renaissance architects achieved harmony through simple decoration, open spaces and proportion. They adopted elements of
Greek and Roman architecture.
They used domes, columns with Classical capitals and entablatures, semi-circular arches and coffered ceilings.

The first Renaissance

Facade covered in dome, by Brunelleschi,
white, green and with scenes of the Last
pink marble Judgement from Dante’s
Divine Comedy inside it

Doors of the
Baptistery of St John,
with The gates of
paradise by Ghiberti Giotto began the separate
five-storey bell tower.
There are niches with
statues of prophets and
oracles by artists such as
Florence Cathedral was begun in 1296 (Gothic style) and completed in 1471.
Donatello.
5. The Italian Renaissance
Painting and sculpture
• Idealism and serenity: artists such as Botticelli aimed to portray an ideal beauty. However, Michelangelo
portrayed intense emotions in his works.
• The human body: artists were interested in anatomy and portrayed nudes.
• Balance and proportion: painters arranged the elements of a scene to guide the observer. They often used
triangular composition and portrayed figures in proportion.
• New techniques and materials: sculptors used expensive materials such as marble. Freestanding sculptures
replaced reliefs. Painters used existing techniques and also adopted the new technique of oil painting.
• New subjects: themes came from Christianity and Classical Greek and Roman culture. Patrons also commissioned
portraits and equestrian portraits became popular. Detailed portrayals of nature, landscapes and buildings
became the main feature.

In the search for a true representation of reality,

painters introduced perspective.

• Linear perspective: arranging the elements on

imaginary lines which meet at a vanishing point
at the back.
• Aerial perspective: painters blurred the
background, so it appeared further away.

Sculptors achieved perspective by creating reliefs of

varying depths.
6. The European Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance spread to other countries, where new elements and styles developed. Flanders,
Germany and France were particularly important.
In Flanders the bourgeoisie commissioned many works of art to decorate their homes. Oil painting allowed
the artist to make corrections and focus on detail. The main themes were religion and portraits containing
landscapes and buildings.
Pieter Bruegel the Elder painted landscapes, Hieronymus Bosch, developed an original style full of
allegories, imaginary worlds and strange beings.
Jan van Eyck produced very realistic portraits. Joachim Patinir specialised in landscapes and Rogier van der
Weyden developed the painting of religious themes.
In Germany, Albrecht Durer was a master of the woodcutting technique.
Architecture was very important in France. They built large castles (chateaux) to use as luxury residences.
Architects decorated them with Renaissance features.

The garden of earthly delights (detail) by Bosch Portrait of Giovanni Arnolfini and his
wife by Jan van Eyck