Document Analysis: The Renaissance
Historical Context
During the late Middle Ages, Europe suffered from both war and plague. Those who survived wanted to celebrate life
and the human spirit. They began to question institutions of the Middle Ages, which had been unable to prevent war or
to relieve suffering brought by the plague. Some people question the Church, which taught Christians to endure
suffering while they awaited their rewards in heaven. In northern Italy, writers and artists began to express this new
spirit and to experiment with different styles. These men and women would greatly change how Europeans saw
themselves and their world.
Task: Read each of the following documents and take notes on how each one relates to the following question: How
the ideas expressed in the documents represent the ideals of the age of the Renaissance and Renaissance Humanism
and how these ideas were a change of how Europeans saw themselves and their world
Document One: Baldassare Castiglione The Courtier (Primary Source)
Let the men we are seeking be very bold stern and always among the first, where the enemy are to be seen; and in every
other place, gentle, modest, reserved, above all things avoiding ostentation (showiness) and that impudent (bold) selfpraise by which men ever excite hatred and disgust in all who hear them… I would have him more than passably
accomplished in letters, at least in those studies that are called the humanities, and conversant not only with the Latin
language but for Greek, for the sake of the many different things that have been admirable written therein. Let him be
well versed in the poets, and not less in the orators and historians, and also proficient in writing, prose and verse.
Document Two: Christine de Pizan, The Book of the City of Ladies, 1405 (Primary Source)
I am amazed by the opinion of some men who claim that they do not want their daughters, wives, or kinswomen to be
educated because of their morals would be ruined as a result…Here you can clearly see that not all opinion of men are
based on reason and that these men are wrong.
Document Three: Excerpt from William Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2, 1603 (Primary Source)
What piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and
admirable; in action how like an angel, in apprehension how like a god, the beauty of the world, the paragon of animals.
Document Four: Jacob Burchardt The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, 1878 (Secondary Source)
In the Middle Ages both sides of human consciousness lay dreaming or half awake beneath a common veil. The veil was
woven of faith, illusion, and childish prepossession…Man was conscious of himself only as a member of a race , people,
party, family or corporation-only through some general category. In Italy this veil first melted into air…man became a
spiritual individual, and recognized himself as such. In the same way the Greek had once distinguished himself from the
barbarians… When this impulse to the highest individual development was combined with a powerful and varied
nature…Than arose the “all sided man”…in Italy at the time of the Renaissance we find artists who in every branch
created new and perfect works, and who also made the greatest impression as men.
Document Five: Petrarch Epistolae metricae 1360’s
Living, I despise what melancholy fate has brought us wretches in these evil years. Long before my birth time smiled and
may again, for once there was, and yet will be, more joyful days. "But in this middle age time's dregs sweep around us,
and we beneath a heavy burden of vice. Genius, virtue, glory now have gone, leaving chance and sloth to rule. Shameful
vision this! We must awake or die!"
Document Six: A.J. Froude, Erasmus, Life and Letters 1894(Secondary Source) Erasmus was a Renaissance Humanists
The world is waking out of a long deep sleep. The old ignorance is still defended. Time was when learning was only
found in religious orders. The religious order nowadays care only for money and sensuality while learning has passed to
secular prices and peers and courtiers. Shame on all of us! The tables of priest and divines run with wine and echo with
drunken noise and jest, while in prices’ halls in heard only the grave and modest conversation on points of morals or
knowledge…
Document Seven: Michelangelo’s David 1401-1405
Document Eight: Ballini, Portrait of a Young Man, late
15c (LEFT); Raphael, Portrait of a Young Man With An
Apple, 1503-1504 (RIGHT).
Document Nine: Source: Self Portrait of a Universal Man, Alberti
"His genius was so versatile that you might almost judge all the fine arts to be his... He played ball, hurled the javelin,
ran, leaped, wrestled, and above all delighted in the steep ascent of mountains... He learned music without teachers and
his compositions were approved by learned musicians... When he had begun to mature in years, neglecting everything
else, he devoted himself entirely to the study of letters, and spent some years of labor on canon and civil law... At the
age of twenty-four he turned to physics and the mathematical arts... Thus showing by example that men can do
anything with themselves if they will..."
Document 10 Source: Celestial Models of heliocentric theory, Nicholas Copernicus (1514)
Document Activities
HIPPO Document Analysis: Select TWO of the above documents and answer the following questions. (Your answers do
not need to be in complete sentences)
Document # ______________
How do the ideas expressed in the documents represent the ideals of the age of the Renaissance and Renaissance
Humanism?
H - Historical Context: Who is the author of this document? When was this document written? What were the
circumstances of this time and place? How might this document compare or contrast to earlier eras (i.e. the Middle
Ages)?
I - Intended Audience: Who did the author had in mind when he/she created the document?
P - Purpose: Why was this document created? What type of document is it?
P - Point of View: From what angle is the author considering things? What does the document show is about the
opinion and feelings of the author or other individuals of the time
O - Outside Information: Explain to the Reader one piece of outside information that is NOT contained in the document
(but is connected to the document) and why it is important to that time period.
Document # ______________
H - Historical Context: Who is the author of this document? When was this document written? What were the
circumstances of this time and place? How might this document compare or contrast to earlier eras?
I - Intended Audience: Who did the author had in mind when he/she created the document?
P - Purpose: Why was this document created? What type of document is it?
P - Point of View: From what angle is the author considering things? What does the document show is about the
opinion and feelings of the author or other individuals of the time
O - Outside Information: Explain to the Reader one piece of outside information that is NOT contained in the document
(but is connected to the document) and why it is important to that time period.
Summative Question: Using the information gained from the homework reading and your understanding of these
documents, be prepared to discuss the following question in class.
How and in what ways were the ideals of Renaissance Humanism a representation of the “Re-birth” of Europe?