1 / 9

The Rebirth of the West

The Rebirth of the West. Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D. GSTR 221-A: Western Traditions II Berea College Spring 2005. Western Europe among the weakest, poorest societies on planet: Economic recession Epidemics Military inferiority Political disunity Religious conflict Technological mediocrity.

jonco
Download Presentation

The Rebirth of the West

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  1. The Rebirth of the West Jeffrey L. Richey, Ph.D. GSTR 221-A: Western Traditions II Berea College Spring 2005

  2. Western Europe among the weakest, poorest societies on planet: Economic recession Epidemics Military inferiority Political disunity Religious conflict Technological mediocrity Major world powers of this era: Mongol Empire, China-Poland Mamluk Empire, Middle East These powers limit Western Europeans’ overland access to Asian and African markets and trade routes THE WEST & THE WORLD, C. 1300-1400

  3. Europe, c. 1300

  4. Africa, Asia, & Europe, c. 1300

  5. PRELUDE TO THE RENAISSANCE • Latin heritage of West well-preserved, but Greek sources mostly lost or available only in Arabic translation • 1400s: population growth, rise of city-states, economic recovery, new exploration, development of metal movable type for printing • By 1500, over one thousand printers in business throughout Europe, with more than ten million copies of books sold • Renaissance = “rebirth” of Greco-Roman traditions among literate urban elites, c. 1350-1550 (especially in Italy)

  6. PETRUS PAULUS VERGERIUS (1370-1444) • Teaches in Italian universities of Florence, Bologna, and Padua • Writes first outline of Renaissance humanist curriculum as memorandum to the son of Padua’s lord, c. 1400 • Builds on medieval trivium (grammar, rhetoric, logic) and quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music, astronomy) • Incorporates newer disciplines of ethics, history, and literature to form “liberal” program of study for elite urban males – a program “worthy of a free man”

  7. GIOVANNI PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA (1463-1494) • Most famous Renaissance philosopher • Studies at Platonic Academy in Florence, Italy, as well as universities of Ferrara, Bologna, Padua, and Paris • Regards all philosophical and religious traditions as containing “nuggets of universal truth” revealed by God • Strongly influenced by Jewish and occult traditions as well as Christianity • His work declared heretical by Pope Innocent VIII in 1486

  8. RENAISSANCE THEMES • Optimism regarding human worth and potential • Revival of classical Greco-Roman values: • Humanism -- Is there anything more wonderful on earth, our marvelous planet, than the miracle of man? (Sophocles) • Naturalism – The chief good is life according to nature. (Zeno of Citium) • Skepticism -- The unexamined life is not worth living. (Socrates) • Ideal: l’uomo universale (“universal man”) = • Maximizes human potential • Models himself on nature • Subjects all to critical inquiry

More Related