The Italian Renaissance and
Beyond: The Politics of Culture,
1350-1550
The West
CHAPTER 11
The Renaissance Republics:
Florence and Venice
• Dynamic political and social life created an
environment of competition and freedom
• Dominant patriciates competed for public
recognition and fame, through patronage
• Artistic and scholarly creativity fostered by
competition between many patrons
Princes and Courtiers
• Patronage confined to prince and his court
• The ideal prince was a paternal figure: a warrior, a
scholar, a diplomat and a generous patron Frederico II da Montefeltro (1422-1482), Isabella
d’Este (1474-1539)
• Evolution of courtly manners based on the need to
maintain appearance
• The ideal courtier cultivated nonchalant ease Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529)
The Renaissance Papacy
• The Renaissance pope was both priest and
prince
• Need to regain control of the Papal State
• Political and military adventurism Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503), Julius II (r.
1503-1513)
• Transformation of Rome into a cultural
capital - Leo X (r. 1513-1521)
The Contradictions of the
Patriarchal Family
• Renaissance ideal of patriarchy - Leon
Battista Alberti Four Books on the Family
• Family was insecure and survival was often
tenuous
• In reality, families were matriarchal fathers were often absent or remote
• Cultivation of distinct family theme
Petrarch and the Illustrious
Ancients
• Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374)
• Distinguished the human reality of the
ancients from the ideals of their writings
• Distinguished the ancient world as a
historically specific time and place, rather
than as a repository of timeless wisdom
• Philological approach to ancient texts, to
discern particular meanings
The Humanists: The Latin
Point of View
• A literary movement that resurrected the use of
classical Latin
• Employed as teachers, bureaucrats, courtiers and
ambassadors
• Promoted an education that taught critical thinking
• Organized experience by recovering words,
models and categories of classical Latin - the Latin
Point of View
Understanding Nature
• Humanist science looked to ancient texts, rather
than to nature itself, for answers
• In astronomy and anatomy, observation of nature
provided knowledge that surpassed ancient
learning
• Application of mathematics, to art, advanced
knowledge of optics
• Invention of paper and the printing press widened the distribution of new ideas and
discoveries
Sculpture, Architecture and
Painting: Real and Ideal
• Creativity fueled by desire to unite the ideal and
the natural in art
• Use of geometry and natural proportions to create
harmony - linear perspective
• Chiaroscuro (“light and shade”) - imitation of
natural light in painting
• New techniques of oil painting, to create depth
Music of the Emotions
• Musical innovation was slower than artistic
and literary developments
• The Madrigal - musical expression of
shades of meaning and emotion
• Opera - continuous music to accompany a
full drama
• Opera became popular entertainment
Monarchies: The Foundation
of the State System
• Establishment of professional standing armies
• Systematic expansion of taxation
• Elimination or erosion of urban and regional
autonomy
• Constraint
of
aristocratic
and
clerical
independence
• Institution of sophisticated intelligence networks
France
• Guarantee of autonomy to French Church
opened clerical revenues and offices to
monarch’s exploitation
• Consolidation of power over nobility
• Institution of the taille - direct annual tax
• Patronage of Italian art and scholarship
Spain
• Creation of a unified kingdom. through
dynastic marriages
• 1492: Completion of Spanish Reconquest
• Suppression and expulsion of Jewish and
Muslim minorities
• Financing of westward exploration. to
outflank Islamic caliphates and reach Asia
The Holy Roman Empire
• Highly decentralized. with few unifying
institutions
• Creation of a Supreme Court and an
Imperial Council
• Institution of graded income and property
taxes
• Emperor dependant upon cooperation of
German nobility and cities
England
• Civil war between feuding factions of the royal
family, 1455-1485
• Recovery and stability achieved under Tudor
dynasty
• Court of Star Chamber punished unruly nobility
• Confiscation of lands and prohibition of private
armies
Historical and Political
Thought
• Key to understanding lay in the detail of human
events
• Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540)
• Refined understanding of historical causation with
psychological interpretations
• Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527)
• Developed ideas of political necessity and the
obligation to preserve the state above all else
The Politics of Culture
• Attempt to re-fashion society on the model
of ancient cultures
• Development of a critical approach to past
and present
• Transformation of the Western identity,
from one defined by Christianity to one
based upon a common historical experience