THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

1. THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE

2. Renaissance: a rebirth or ancient Greek and Roman culture • A new culture emerges in southern Europe, starts in Italy • Italy was largely an urban society with powerful city-states • Intellectuals and artists believed they were part of a new Golden Age • They wanted to separate themselves from “backwardness” of the Middle Ages, or Dark Ages • Economic growth laid the material basis for the Renaissance • The Italian city-states were involved in trade due to their geography and served as the economic center of Europe

3. The Italian City-States • Italy was divided into several large city-states in the north and various kingdoms in the south • Florence • A republic located in northern Italy • Wealthy due to trade, the wool industry, and banking • Became tax collectors for the papacy and gave loans to kings • The powerful and rich de’ Medici family controlled this city-state • Cosimo de’ Medici and his grandson Lorenzo de’ Medici

4. The first artistic and literary beginnings of the Renaissance start here • Comes to an end when a Dominican friar runs the de’ Medici out of town • People soon get tired of the friar’s strict ways and he is executed for heresy • Milan • Located in northern Italy • Grew wealthy due to being the crossroads between main trade routes from Italian coastal cities and the Alpine passes

5. Venice • Located in northern Italy • Link between Asia and western Europe, traders from all overcame there • Was an international power due to its trade empire • Small group of wealthy merchants ran the city to serve their own interests • The Papal States • Controlled by the Pope, and in the pope’s absence, noble families • Rome became the center of the Renaissance after it declined in Florence and it was called the High Renaissance

6. The Three Estates (Social Classes) • Clergy • Nobles • The old landed nobility began to intermarry with the new wealthy merchant families • Peasants and townspeople • Three classes of the towns: • Patricians = wealthy merchants and bankers • Burghers = shopkeepers, artisans, and guild members who provided goods and services for the town • Workers = lives not good, urban poverty begins to increase

7. The upper classes were more affected by the Renaissance than the lower classes and more likely to embrace its ideas • The upper classes had more rights than the urban underclass, or popolo • These popolo were heavily taxed and couldn’t vote or hold public office • Eventually the popolo used armed force and violence to take over the city gov’t • Starts in Florence and spread • The popolo established Republican gov’ts – enduring idea of the Roman Republic • However they were republics in name only • Soon replaced by oligarchies and signori (one-man rulers

8. Politics and War • Maintaining the balance of power • If one city-state seems to get too powerful, the others ally together against the major threat • Try to create an alliance against foreign powers, but the breakdown of the alliance will lead to the domination of Italy by foreign powers • Invasion of Italy by Charles VIII of France • Attracted by the riches of Italy, Charles leads an army of 30,000 men into Italy in 1494 • Charles occupies Naples in the south • Northern Italian states ask Spain for help

9. For the next 30 years, France and Spain make Italy their battle ground • 1527 – thousands of Spanish troops along with mercenaries (hired soldiers) arrive at Rome to protect it • They had not been paid for months and demand money • The leader lets them sack Rome as their payment • Soldiers go crazy in a frenzy of looting and bloodshed • The authorities had to establish control • The sacking of Rome ends the wars and leaves Spain a dominant force in Italy • It will also bring an end to the High Renaissance

10. Characteristics of the Renaissance • Secular society • People were becoming more concerned with the material world, had more of a worldly focus • Still deeply religious, however they concentrated on the here and now, not on life after death • Individualism • People sought to receive personal credit for their achievements • Personal quest for glory – people want money and success

11. This went against the medieval ideal of all glory going to God and contrasted with Church teachings that individuality and achievement were unimportant • The Renaissance Man – a person who could do many things well • The ideal Renaissance man = Leonardo da Vinci • Humanism • “new learning” – interest in and study of the Latin classics to learn what they reveal about human nature • Studied the original manuscripts • Petrarch is considered to be the father of humanism

12. Civic humanists = used their humanist education to serve the city governments • Also revived the Greek language

13. Renaissance Intellectuals • Machiavelli • Wrote The Prince, which is the most widely read and studied Renaissance book • The subject is about how a ruler should gain, maintain, and increase political power • Machiavelli is about by what he sees as the foreign domination of Italy and he feels that one ruler needs to unite Italy • As a humanist, Machiavelli studied human nature • Concludes that humans are “ungrateful, fickle, liars, and deceivers”

14. Decides that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved • Rejects the idea that rulers should be moral and follow Christian principles • separate morals from politics • Rulers must do whatever is necessary to maintain power and protect the state • The end justifies the means • Castiglione • Wrote The Courtier, a book on the expected behaviors and education of nobles • Used as a guide for nobles for the next several centuries

15. Renaissance Art • The Renaissance made its greatest impact in the area of art • New artistic styles: use of oil painting, free-standing sculptures, portraits, nudity, and single-point perspective • Many people sponsored the arts to glorify themselves and their families • Two major periods: • Early Renaissance – takes place in Florence • High Renaissance – takes place in Rome • Four major artists of the Renaissance:

16. Four major artists of the Renaissance: • Michelangelo – painted the Sistene Chapel, sculptural masterpiece = David • Leonardo da Vinci – Mona Lisa and the Last Supper • Raphael – famous for his madonnas (images of Jesus and Mary) • Donatello – sculptor, lived during the Early Renaissance

17. The Northern Renaissance • Late 15th century, the Italian Renaissance begins to affect the rest of Europe • Moves into northern Europe, is more religious • Christian Humanism • People in northern Europe were still seeking ways to deepen their Christian beliefs and questions • Christian humanists believed they could achieve this higher understanding by studying early Christian works along with the Latin classics • Often criticized the Church

18. Erasmus • The best of the northern humanists, was Dutch • Criticized the Church and wanted to reform it, but not leave it • Saw education as the means to reform • Sir Thomas More • Englishman, lawyer, and chancellor to King Henry VIII • Wrote Utopia (“nowhere”) – about an ideal society • Gave his life for his beliefs • Northern Renaissance art • Jan van Eyck – one of the first to use oil paint • Albrecht Durer – famous for his woodcuts and altar panels

19. The Elizabethan Renaissance • The greatest achievement in the arts in northern Europe took place in England • Most of what is referred to as the Elizabethan Renaissance actually occurred during the reign of James I • Geoffrey Chaucer • The Canterbury Tales consists of a collection of stories told by a group of 29 pilgrims journeying to the tomb of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury • William Shakespeare • Wrote many plays that reveal an unsurpassed understanding of the human psyche