Welcome to the Renaissance!
Cultural
revival (change) in
Europe (begins in Italy) 1300s –
1500s
French for “Rebirth”
Focus on learning education,
history, literature and art
General Overview : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mgSPiAiBjU
(2 ½ minutes)
United Streaming: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiTyTx13Clo
(14 minutes)
Let’s look at where it started:
1. Physical Environment: Italy
Peninsula
with three major
rivers
Mountains & mild climate
Ports allowed the spread of
people, goods, ideas
Major trade route with the
Middle East & China
Money Matters!
2. Economics of the Renaissance:
A switch from an agricultural
system to a urban mercantile
system.
Related to commerce or trade
Countries attempted to control
as many different raw materials
(resources) as possible
Export raw materials & Import
finished goods
Goods: Wool, Shipbuilding, Silk
Manufacturing, and Livestock
Services: Banking and Trade
Powerful Guilds (an organized
group of people who have
joined together because they
share the same job or interest)
3.Government during the Renaissance:
Wealthy
merchants formed
oligarchies (a small group of
people having control of a
country, organization, or
institution) that governed
each city-state
Competition fueled the birth
of the artistic development.
Medici Family:
Rulers
and bank lenders in
Florence
Were successful because they
never gave money to royalty –led
to the birth of capitalism
Devoted Christians and believed
money lending was a mortal sin.
Needed a way to save
themselves from spending eternity
“downstairs.” The Medici Family: Makers of Modern Art
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fwhXKvI
dhWI
THERE IS A WAY OUT!
 Money
lenders could find redemption
(the action of saving or being saved
from sin, error, or evil) by becoming
patrons (paying customers) who
sponsored/funded (gave money) to
many artist and architects.
 HOWEVER….must be the art or
construction of churches or any aspect
showing supporting for religion.
 Would have themselves occasionally
added into paintings for added
“insurance.”
4. Social Classes:
1. The Nobles:
owned much of the land, and lived
on large estates outside the city walls.
2. The Merchants:
“The New Rich,” married into noble
families.
Built enormous gilded mansions in the
city, villas in the country, and
contributed to the construction of
grand cathedrals.
Social Classes (cont.)
3. Middle Class:
shopkeepers and
lived in the cities
4. The Peasants:
farmers and lived
in rural areas
(the majority)
5. Religions & Values:
Monotheism
(one God)
Roman Catholic Church
People were encouraged to
learn Latin and know the
“word” of God.
Theology: The study of religion
and faith
6. Science and Technology:
New view points and ideas were
part of:
Secularism
Humanism
Individualism
6. Science and Technology:
Secularism:
Topics or ideas not related to religion
Law, Medicine, Philosophy,
Engineering, and Science
Decisions not always based on the
Church or the Bible
Writings were meant to
inform/entertain vs. spirituality
Wrote in Vernacular- everyday
language
Example of Secularism Writing:
The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli.
Political
writing aimed to
manipulated others
Negative view of human
nature: ungrateful and selfish
Leaders should be:
Strong as a lion, smart like a
fox
Should remember ‘the end
justifies the means.’
Scientific Discovery of Our Universe
Copernicus:
correctly placed the sun at the
center of the solar system
Galileo:
 physicist, mathematician,
astronomer, philosopher
Improvements to the telescope,
astronomical observations
Refer to Questioning of Galileo Worksheet for additional information
Galileo (continued):
Roman
Inquisition believed the Sun
and planets revolved around the Earth.
Galileo believed in the idea of
heliocentrism (planets evolved around
a stationary sun)
Put on trial for heresy (belief opinion
that does not agree with the official
belief or opinion of a particular religion)
Book was banned and spent the rest of
his life under house arrest.
Humanism:
Cultural
change based
on “Classical” works
Borrowed Greek and
Roman ideas
Attempt to live a good
life on Earth
Self-worth vs. spirituality
Individualism:
The
belief that the
individual is more
important than the
larger community
“Man is the
measure of all
things”- Protagoras
The Printing Press
Invented
by Johannes
Gutenberg, Germany1450
Could print copies of
books quickly
By 1500, twenty million books
produced
Increased literacy, spread ideas
Literacy: The ability to read and
write printed/written words
Literacy and Censorship
Publishers
printed medical
manuals, travel accounts,
and broadsheets.
People published criticisms
of the Catholic Church.
The Church began to
censor what people could
read. It published a list of
prohibited books.
Censor
To
remove
material from
published
works or to
prevent its
publication
7.Cultural Developments:
Art
& Architecture:
Classic ideas with realism
Literature: William
Shakespeare wrote about
human weaknesses
Books written in
Vernacular
Cultural Developments (continued):
Painting and Sculptors:
Leonardo da Vinci painted the
Mona Lisa and the Last Supper
Michelangelo sculpted the Statue
of David and painted the Sistine
Chapel
Architecture:
Filippo Brunelleschi created the
Dome
Basic Artist Styles
Balance
Harmony
Perspective
Proportion
Symmetry