AP Euro
LMHS
2008-09
Montaigne
Outlines for “A History of the Modern World” 9th Edition
Palmer, Colton, and Kramer
2.6: The Renaissance
Introduction
a. Renaissance – “rebirth”
i. Connection to the classical age of Greece and Rome
1. saw Middle Ages as time of darkness
ii. they invented the concept of Ancient and Modern
iii. a new era in thought and feeling
iv. New topics of study – “humanities”
v. Quattrocento (Italians call the 15th Century)
vi. Rennaissance was High culture
1. Only affected limited number
vii. Renaissance Italy is where almost purely secular attitude 1st appears
b. The Italian Cities and the New Conception of Life
viii. Primary focus of Renaissance was on moral and civic issues of what
ideal humans should do/be like
ix. Proximity helps Italy prosper with trade
1. Centrally located between East and West
2. Gained foothold on trade during Crusades with Arabs
x. Merchants control of trade routes generated wealth
1. Wealth built financial institutions
2. Banks – Sforza, Fugger, Medici
c. Italian City – States
xi. Independent, intrigue
1. Popes were in Avignon or embroiled in Great Schism
2. Florence, Venice, Genoa governed as republics
xii. Florence
1. talented citizens
a. population of 60, 000
b. grown wealthy in late MA from woolen production
c. produced Dante, Petrarch, Boccacio, Machiavelli,
Leonardo
d. like Athens it lost its republican liberty and creativity
2. Medici Family – Giovanni, Cosimo, Catherine
a. Giovanni (1360-1429) was merchant and banker
b. Lorenzo the Magnificent (1449-1492) known as poet,
patron of arts
c. Two Medici women became queens of France
d. Secular conception of life
xiii. Italians doubted that a quiet, contemplative life was greater than an
active, involved, wild life
xiv. They were captivated with the expression of the vast human powers
xv. Less attention to the sacred messages of Christianity and its leaders
1. hermitage, poverty, contemplation are rejected
2. action, wealth, activity are embraced
3. Individualism
a. virtu – vigor -
b. Leonardo Bruni wrote in 1433 “The whole glory of man
lies in activity.”
e. Individualism
xvi.
xvii.
xviii.
xix.
f.
A new civic consciousness or sense of public duty was expressed
Writings of Cicero were valid
Emphasized the outstanding attainments of extraordinary men
A great man shaped his own destiny
1. had virtu (possessed by most aggressive males)
2. excelled in all that he did
a. Benvenuto Cellini
xx. Secular art
1. realism, space and time
2. Architecture reflected neo-classical design
a. Brunelleschi’s Duomo of Florence
3. Free standing sculpture – portraiture
a. Medieval sculptor was confined to the niches of
cathedrals
b. Renaissance artists
i. Humans were primary subject
ii. Free standing so that entire figure could be
admired
iii. Extensive use of the nude (paragon of animals)
4. Painting with perspective, boundaries
a. Brunelleschi invented linear perspective
b. Da Vinci perfected chiascurro, invented sfumato
c. Idea was to tell a story and allow the viewer to enter into
the wold of the painting
d. Importance of portraying the individual human
i. Bellini’s condottiere viewers see a strong, real,
and vivid personality
1. individualism wasn’t important in the
medieval art
e. Early art
f. Later art
g. Reactionary Movement
i. Led by Savonarola (a priest)
ii. Started the Bonfire of the Vanities
Humanism: The Birth of Literature
xxi. Literary connection with the classical authors
1. medievals had studied and written
a. hymns, Song of Roland, legends of King Arthur written
2. Renaissance writers saw it as their life’s work
a. Wrote to resolve questions, amuse themselves (secular
reasons)
3. studied Latin and Greek
a. liked the Latin of Cicero instead of the Scholastic of
medieval
4. recaptured the texts of the past
a. discovered a new rage of interests, politics, civic
questions without religious overtones
5. use of the vernacular
a. most wrote in Latin and Italian (Florence) too
b. language of Dante’s Divine Comedy
c. vernacular=common spoken language
6. Petrarch first modern man of letters
a. Florentine exile, son of merchant, traveler of France and
Italy, trained in law, clergy
7.
8.
9.
10.
b. Loved Cicero, Augusine
c. Wrote about life, beauty, what a good life should be
(SECULAR)
Boccaccio
a. Decameron (in Italian)
b. Designed to entertain and teacher human character
Coluccio Salutati – history serves the state
a. Was chancellor of France in 1375
b. Florence threatened by Milan (Visconti Family)
c. Wrote to inspire civic consciousness by glorifying
Florentine liberty
d. Bruni (his successor) wrote history of Florence in
narrative form
i. History can be useful to heighten sentiment and
collective consciousness (not quite nationalism
yet)
Christine de Pisan
a. Helped spread humanist themes in France in early 1400s
b. Showed woman could be intellectuals
Lorenzo Valla
a. Developed a critical method of evaluating the written
word
b. Donation of Constantine
i. He prove that this was a fraud by showing that
phrases and language use were not used at that
time
c. Pico della Mirandola
i. Claimed that he could summarize all human
knowledge in 900 theses by using Chaldaic,
Arabic, Hebrew, Grecian, Egyptian, Latin
sources
1. looking for truth in other places besides
the Bible
g. Schooling, Manners, and Family Life
xxii. Secondary education developed
1. idea of putting different age groups, levels into separate classes,
own teacher, promotion
2. curriculum
a. learned Latin, Greek
i. in order to read ancient manuscripts
b. Rhetoric to heighten communication skills
c. Purpose of education was to develop personality and
character (virtu)
xxiii. Etiquette
1. Medievals acted like big children (belched, spat, sulked, etc.)
2. Baldissere Castiglione
a. wrote The Courtier
i. how to be a gentleman, or lady
ii. clothes should be neat, movements graceful,
poised, affable, athletic, dance, appreciate
music, be familiar with literature (but not a
nerd), have effortless superiority in all
iii. women should be polite, pleasing to men
3. Marriage
a. Arranged in order to enrich family
b. Usually 18 for women, 30 for established man
c. Strong gender divisions
xxiv. Politics
1. no centralizing force in Italy
2. condottieri-private armed bands did fighting for city states b/c
citizens would not
3. “Italian Cunning” was byword
a. To survive deep intrigue was practiced
4. Niccolo Machiavelli – The Prince (1513)
a. Dreamed that citizens of all Italy would be like the
Romans (virile, citizen soldiers, patriotic, dignified)
b. Had to look to France (Loius XI), Spain (Ferdinand),
England (Henry VII), to find heroes
c. Prince is a “how to rule for dummies” handbook
d. promoted strong centralized state
e. separated politics from theology and moral philosophy
i. described what effective rulers actually did, not
what they ought to do
ii. anticipates scientific objectivity
iii. they keep or break promises, are or are not
merciful
iv. Rulers must be both the Fox and the Lion
(strong and cunning)
xxv. Italy’s weak position in the face of rising nations left it vulnerable to
attack and unorganized
1. Other countries will vie for control of Italy
2. Italy will lose its privileged economic position
2.7: The Renaissance Outside Italy
1. Introduction
a. Renaissance in northern Europe was less of a break with existing culture
b. Religious element was stronger
c. Development of vernacular was stronger than identification with Latin or Greek
2. Religious Scholarship and Science
a. Study of Greek and Latin was intended to help better understand the Bible
b. Universities, rejected by southern humanists continued to grow in northern
Europe
i. 14 were established in German
c. Germany is major center of commerce
i. Undefined language and cultural region
1. politically not centralized (even with Holy Roman Emperor)
ii. Fugger family helped develop the financial infrastructure
iii. Mining was developed
iv. Johann Muller (Regiomontanus) laid foundations for a mathematical
conception of universe
v. Printing press – Gutenberg – movable type
vi. Flemish school of painting
1. Jan Van Eyck invented oil based paint (linseed oil)
vii. Copernicus – heliocentric universe
viii. Cartography
ix. Dr. Faustus
1. legendary figure who supposedly sold his soul for knowledge
1. in writing of Christopher Marlowe (1593), Goethe and
Oswald Spenger (Decline of the West in 1918
1. Faustian word used to describe inordinate
ambitions of modern man
x. The development of the concept of controlling the natural world was
more northern
xi. The development of the concept of controlling the mind was more
southern
xii. Combining these ideas establishes the modern intellect or Renaissance
spirit
3. Mysticism and Lay Religion
a. Religious interests stay alive in the north
b. In the south religious interests became more a stylized practice of Glorifying God
through works – art
c. German mystics promote personal communion with God
i. Meister Eckhart (d. 1327) and Thomas a Kempis (d. 1471)
1. essence of mysticism is belief that individual soul could (in
solitude) commune with God
1. no need of reason, word, mass, sacraments, priests, or
the Church
1. this attracted Luther
d. Lay persons are staying out of the Church and refusing Holy Orders
e. The lack of new, reform oriented priests hinders the Churches ability to reform
itself within
i. Impatient and headstrong lay leaders, local rulers
f. Gerard Groote
i. 1374 founded the Sisters and the Brother of the Common Life
1. took no vows, free to leave
2. relieved the poor and taught
3. established modern schools
4. Separate grades and classes
5. emphasized Literacy, Character development
1. called Modern Devotion
4. Erasmus of Rotterdam (1466-1536)
a. Most notable figure of the entire humanist movement
b. Promoted reform of the clergy from within
i. Education, enlightened discussion and gradual moral improvement
ii. Against violence
iii. Promoted use of the vernacular to promote Christian ideals
c. In Praise of Folly
i. Satirizes all worldly pretensions and ambitions
ii. Emphasizes mildness, reasonableness, tolerance, restrain, good manners,
scholarly understanding, peace, critical and reforming zeal that worked
to make people think without shouting or ranting
d. Achieved international stature
e. Advised heads of state
f. Guest lectured at universities
g. Challenged the Church to do better in reform efforts
h. Never advocated breaking away from Rome
2.8: The “New Monarchies”
1. Introduction
a. Wars and feudal rebellion weakened much of Europe by the 1400s
b. Efforts by rulers to stabilize their territories led to the “New Monarchs”
i. Not really new in style
ii. New in organizing the modern states of Europe
1. Guarantee of law
2. Heredity is the legitimate form of power
3. Appeal to the rising middle class tired of feudal feuds
4. Parliaments are labeled breeders of conflict
5. Kings use taxes to hire private armies
a. Long bow and pike made peasants competitive with
nobility on the field
6. Kings had to break down the mass of feudal common law and
custom
7. Kings adopt Roman law and title majesty and/or sovereign
a. Law maker, enforcer, and judge on behalf of the people
2. The New Monarchy in England, France, and Spain
a. England’s New Monarchy
i. Tudor family comes to power after the War of the Roses
1. Henry VII 1485-1509
2. Law against livery and maintenance are passed against the
weakened barons
a. Prevented great lords from maintaining private armies
and wearing their livery or insignia
3. Star Chamber, Kings private council meets and Parliament is
ignored
a. Met in room decorated with stars
b. Decided property disputes, infraction of public peace
c. Accepted as it kept order, later despised
d. No jury present
b. France’s New Monarchy
i. Louis XI of the Valois family
1. French kings had continued to expand power and influence from
the epicenter of Paris
2. Louis XI expanded the boarders of France
3. Build up a royal army
4. Controlled taxes
5. French monarchy has control over the clergy
a. 1516 Louis XI and Pope Leo X
i. Concordat of Bologna
1. Rescinded the Pragmatic Sanction
1. Pope receives annates ($ from
French ecclesiastics)
2. Louis XI appoints bishops and
abbots
ii. Major reason why France does not turn to
Protestantism
c. Aragon and Castile :Spain’s New Monarchy
i. Aragon and Castile are the main territories of Spain
ii. Ferdinand and Isabella unite Spain through marriage
iii. True unifying force was spirit of duty to Catholicism and crusade against
the Moors
iv. The Inquisition served as a unifying legal presence
v. Church served as common denominator for Spain
1. Religious conformity
2. “Spanishness” was a sense of Catholicity
a. Spanish had been most tolerant of Europeans
b. Jews and Moors are expelled from Spain 1492
i. Jews had been expelled from England 1290
ii. Jews had been expelled from France 1306
1. Expulsions are related to early sense of
nationalism in group out group
vi. Some Jewish and Moorish families place a veneer of Catholicism over
their public lives “Moriscos” (Christians of Moorsih background) and
“Marranos”(Christians of Jewish background)
1. Fear of the “unfaithful” fueled the Inquisition
a. Thousands were tortured
b. Ridged Catholicism and Spanish nationalism fused into
one
vii. Spain becomes the reforming force in the Catholic Church
viii. Spain exports Catholicism to the “New” world
ix. Spain becomes the “defenders of the faith” and a crusade mentality
prevails
3. The Holy Roman Empire and The Hapsburg Supremacy
a. The New Monarchy in the HRE
i. Three Kinds of States
1. Princely states
a. hereditary dynasties – Brandenburg
2. Ecclesiastical (large amount of territory)
a. Abbacies
3. Imperial free cities (about 50)
a. Dominated commerce and finance
ii. Imperial knights (lords of small estates)
1. sworn fealty to the HRE
b. Emperor
i. Elected by Princes
1. Princes were jealous of their local liberties and voted to protect
them
ii. Electors dwindled to seven
1. Count Palatine, Duke of Sazony, Margrave of Bradenburg, King
of Bohemia, archibops of Mainz, Trier, and Cogne
iii. 1452 the Hapsburgs are elected from Austria
1. Nearly uninterrupted reign until 1806
c. The Rise of the Hapsburgs
i. Maximilian I 1493-1519
1. Efforts of HRE to centralize power fail because of strong states
rights
2. Hapsburgs use marriages to grow family influence
ii. Maximilian marries heiress of Burgundy and Netherlands
1. Son of Maximilian I and Mary is Philip
a. Mary is heiress of dukes of Burgundy (Netherlands,
Burgundy)
2. Philip marries Joanna of Spain (heiress to Ferdinand and
Isabella)
a. Son of Philip is Charles I of Spain
b. Charles Inherits Austria, Netherlands, Burgundy, Spain,
New World Holdings
i. Charles is elected HRE (in 1519) over
“Germany” and becomes Charles V
c. Charles brother Ferdinand is elected king of Hungary
and Bohemia
3. Hapsburgs control most of Europe and universal monarch is
feared by other European states
a. balance of power
d. The stage is set for revolution
i. Protestantism is the spark that sets off the wars of religion
ii. decline of the church
iii. lay religious leaders staying out of the church
iv. Rise of centralizing monarchies
v. resistance of feudal elements to centralizing monarch
vi. Popes fear of church councils
vii. Much divided Germany
viii. Turkish threat
ix. zealous actions of Spain
x. Charles V threat of universal monarch