Chapter 12
Renaissance and
Reformation
1350 A.D. – 1600 A.D.
Key Events
• Between 1350 and 1550, Italian intellectuals
began to reexamine the culture of the Greeks
and Romans. Historians later referred to this
period in European history as the Renaissance.
• Martin Luther’s break with the Catholic
Church led to the emergence of the
Protestant Reformation.
• During the period known as the Catholic
Reformation, the Catholic Church enacted a
series of reforms that were successful in
strengthening the Church.
The Impact Today
• Western art is founded on classical
styles developed by the Greeks and
Romans.
• Machiavelli’s views on politics had a
profound influence on later political
leaders in the western world and are
studied in universities today.
• The Jesuits have founded many Catholic
colleges and universities in the United
States.
Chapter Preview
“Painting the
Sistine Chapel”
Section 1
The
Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance
• The Renaissance – A period of European
history that began in Italy and spread
to the rest of Europe.
• The wealthy more actively embraced
the new ideas and activities.
• Indirectly ordinary people were also
impacted:
– Intellectual and artistic achievements were
highly visible.
– Churches, wealthy homes, and public
buildings were decorated with art.
Italian Renaissance
3 Major Characteristics
1) An Urban Society
– A Secular (Worldly) viewpoint emerged as
increasing wealth created new possibilities
for the enjoyment of material things.
2) Age of Recovery from the disasters of
the 14th Century (Plague, political
instability, and decline of church
power)
– Also a rebirth in interest in ancient culture
3) Emphasis on individual ability of human
beings
The Italian States
• Milan, Venice, and Florence played
crucial roles in Italian politics.
– They had remained independent citystates.
– All 3 were located in Northern Italy
– All 3 prospered financially during the 15th
century mainly due to a flourishing trade
that had expanded in the middle ages
• Mercenaries were used for protection.
The Italian Wars
• From 1494 to 1527 France and Spain
fought throughout Italy
• The terrible sack of Rome in 1527 by
Spanish armies ended the Italian wars
and left the Spanish a dominant force in
Italy.
• When the French and Spanish return to
their countries after the war, the ideas
of the Italian Renaissance begin to
spread throughout Western Europe.
Machiavelli and the New Statecraft
• Niccolo Machiavelli believed that
politics should not be influenced by
morality and religion.
• This is an early form of separation
of church and state.
• Machiavelli believed that it was the
state that mattered above all else
Renaissance Society
• Nobles – By 1500 nobles, old and new,
again dominated society
– The nobles held important political posts
and served as advisors to the king
•
Peasants – By 1500 more and more
peasants became legally free
– Peasants made up 85 to 90 percent of the
total European population
Renaissance Society (Continued)
• Townspeople (Urban Society) –
– Patricians – wealth from trade, industry,
and banking enabled them to dominate their
communities economically, socially, and
politically.
– Burghers – Shopkeepers, artisans, guild
masters and guild members who provided
the goods and services for their fellow
townspeople
– Workers and Unemployed – workers earned
extremely low wages (Both groups lived
very poor lives)
Family and Marriage
• Family bond was a source of great security
• Parents carefully arranged marriages, often
to strengthen business or family ties (dowry
was paid)
• The father-husband was the center of the
Italian family
• The mothers chief role was to supervise the
household
• Children did not become adults until the
father formally freed them before a judge
Section 2
The
Intellectual
and Artistic
Renaissance
Italian Renaissance Humanism
• Humanism – An intellectual
movement of the Renaissance based
on the study of the humanities,
which included, grammar , rhetoric,
poetry, moral philosophy, and
history.
• The father of the Italian
Renaissance humanism (Petrarch),
did the most to foster humanism in
the 14th century.
Vernacular Literature
• Classical Latin had widespread use,
however some writers wrote in the
vernacular
Examples (Page 383)
• Italian – Dante’s Divine Comedy
• English – Chaucer’s The Canterbury
Tales
• French – Christine de Pizan’s The
Book of the City of Ladies
Education in the Renaissance
• At the core of humanist schools
were the liberal studies (today
called liberal arts)
• The purpose was to produce
individuals who follow a path of
virtue and wisdom
• Only a few females attended
humanist schools. Taught religion
and morals.
Artistic Italian Renaissance (Painting)
• Renaissance artists sought to
imitate nature in their works
• The first masterpieces of early
Renaissance were the fresco
paintings in Florence (painted by
Masaccio) – Created the illusion of 3
dimensions (a new realistic style of
painting)
Sculpture and Architecture
• By the end of the 15th century,
Italian painters, sculptors, and
architects had created a new
artistic world.
• Donatello spent time in Rome copying
the statues of the Greeks and
Romans
• Many artists had mastered the new
techniques for realistically
portraying the world around them.
Donatello (Saint George)
Masters of the High Renaissance
• The final stage of Italian
Renaissance painting is called the
High Renaissance
• Three artistic giants:
–Leonardo da Vinci
–Raphael
–Michelangelo
Leonardo da Vinci (“The Last Supper”)
Raphael (“The School of Athens”)
Michelangelo (Ceiling of Sistine Chapel)
The Northern Artistic Renaissance
• Important art school founded in
Flanders
• The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck
was among the first to use oil paint,
which enabled the artist to use a
wide variety of colors and create
fine details
Jan van Eyck (Giovanni Arnolfini and his bride)
Section 3
The Protestant
Reformation
Erasmus and Christian Humanism
• Protestant Reformation – Religious
reform movement that divided the
western Church into Catholic and
Protestant groups
• Martin Luther began the Reformation
in the early 16th century
• Christian humanism (under Desiderius
Erasmus) began in the 2nd half of the
15th century
Religion on the Eve of the Reformation
• Why Reformation?
– Corruption in the Catholic Church
– Renaissance Popes failed to meet the
church’s spiritual needs
– Church officials concerned with money
and used their church offices to
advance their careers and their wealth
– Ordinary parish priests seemed ignorant
of their spiritual duties
Indulgences
• One of the biggest issues dividing the
church were indulgences
• The Church sold indulgences in the
form of certificates
• According to church practice, through
veneration of a relic, a person could
gain an indulgence.
• Reduced the “soul’s” time in purgatory
after they died and before entering
heaven.
Martin Luther
• A German monk and professor who
challenged the Catholic Church
• Catholic teachings had stressed that
both faith and good works were
needed to gain personal salvation.
• The idea of justification by faith
alone, became the chief teaching of
the Protestant Reformation.
The Ninety-five Theses
• Luther did not see himself as a rebel,
but he was greatly upset by the wide
spread selling of indulgences
• On October 31, 1517 Luther sent a
list of Ninety-five Theses to his
church superiors
• Thousands of copies were printed and
spread to all of Germany
Martin Luther (Ninety-five Theses)
A Break With the Church
• Martin Luther kept only 2 Sacraments
– Baptism and Communion.
• Also allowed clergy to marry (went
against the long-standing Catholic
requirement that the clergy remain
celibate (unmarried).
• Luther continued to emphasize his
new doctrine of salvation.
A Break With the Church (Continued)
• Martin Luther was excommunicated
by the Church in January 1521.
• The Edict of Worms condemned
Martin Luther as an outlaw, banned
his works, and oppressed those who
agreed with him.
The Rise of Lutheranism
• During the next few years, Luther’s
religious movement became a
revolution.
• As part of the development, state
dominated churches came about and
new religious services replaced the
Catholic mass.
• Lutheranism becomes the first
protestant faith.
Politics in the German Reformation
• The Peace of Augsburg ended the
religious warfare in Germany in 1555.
• The German states were now free to
choose between Catholicism and
Lutheranism.
• The right of each German ruler to
determine the religion of his subjects
was accepted, but not the right of
the subjects to choose their own
religion.
Section 4
The Spread of
Protestantism and
the Catholic
Response
The Zwinglian Reformation
• Ulrich Zwingli began to introduce
religious reforms in Switzerland.
• Zwingli tried to form an alliance
with Martin Luther, but they were
unable to agree on the meaning of
Communion.
• In October 1531 war broke out
between Protestant and Catholic
states in Switzerland.
Calvin and Calvinism
• After converting to Protestant he left
France for the safety of Switzerland.
• Came up with the idea of predestination
• Calvinist’s believed they were doing
“God’s work”.
• By the mid 16th century, Calvinism had
replaced Lutheranism as the most
important and dynamic form of
Protestantism.
Anabaptists
• Many people strongly disliked giving
church powers to the state. These
people were radicals known as
Anabaptists.
• Anabaptists believed:
– Church was a voluntary community of adult
believers (baptism can occur any time)
– Considered all believers equal (even priests)
– In the complete separation of church and
state
The Catholic Reformation
• Pope Paul III appointed a reform
commission in 1537.
• The Council of Trent was formed and
reaffirmed:
– Both faith and good works were necessary
for salvation
– Belief in purgatory and in the use of
indulgences was strengthened, although the
selling of indulgences was forbidden
• Catholics were now unified under the
supreme leadership of the pope.
Chapter 12
Renaissance and
Reformation
Wrap Up and Review
Key Events (Re-visited)
• Between 1350 and 1550, Italian intellectuals
began to reexamine the culture of the Greeks
and Romans. Historians later referred to this
period in European history as the Renaissance.
• Martin Luther’s break with the Catholic
Church led to the emergence of the
Protestant Reformation.
• During the period known as the Catholic
Reformation, the Catholic Church enacted a
series of reforms that were successful in
strengthening the Church.
The Impact Today (Re-visited)
• Western art is founded on classical
styles developed by the Greeks and
Romans.
• Machiavelli’s views on politics had a
profound influence on later political
leaders in the western world and are
studied in universities today.
• The Jesuits have founded many Catholic
colleges and universities in the United
States.