Ch. 10 The Renaissance and Discovery
Why did the Renaissance start in Italy?
 Geographic Reasons
 Italy is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, making trade between the Middle
East and Africa easy.
 Italy is located in the middle of Europe, making it easy for ideas to spread from the
rest of Europe to Italy.
 Rome served as a reminder of the classics of ancient Rome, inspiring Renaissance
thought.
 Resources were available in Italy.
Why Italy?
 Social Reasons
 Humanism placed an emphasis on the achievements of the individual.
 Secularism made people appreciate the things in the world more.
 Philosophy and education became widely appreciated.
Why Italy
 Economic Reasons
 The merchant class brought great wealth to Italy through trade.
 The House of Medici helped restore Florence and, eventually, start the
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Renaissance.
A decline in manorialism allowed the average person more opportunity for
advancements in salary.
The wealthy became patrons of the arts.
Other reasons:
The Hundred Years’ War left France and England preoccupied, explaining northern
Europe’s failure to start the Renaissance
What events affected the Renaissance?
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The Crusades (c.1045-1200)–> opened trade routes to the East; increased demands for
luxury items; cities and towns grew from trade
Rise of Italian Merchants (c.1200-1400)–> trade in Mediterranean increased;
merchants became wealthy and patronized the arts; cities and towns grew and thrived
Rise of Secularism–> increased demand for foreign products (ex. silk and spices)
Commercial Revolution (c.1400-1500)–> development of different trade practices like
mercantilism; increased desire for global trade; banking and coinage used
Technological Advancements and Expansion–> increased desire for new trade routes;
better ships and navigational devices developed
Age of Discovery (c.1400-1600)–> New World discovered; decline of Italian trade in the
Mediterranean; end of the Renaissance
Italian City States
 5 Major States
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Dutchy of Milan
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Republic of Venice
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Republic of Florence
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Papal States
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Kingdom of Naples
The Renaissance in Italy 1375-1527
 Treaty of Lodi (1454-1455) was a fragile alliance between city-state of Naples,
Milan, and Florence and their rivals, Venice and the Papal States
 Cosimo de Medici (1389-1464) was a wealthy Florentine who manipulated
elections and influenced the local council, Signoria,
 Lorenzo the Magnificent ruled Florence with a totalitarian regime from 1478-1492
 Later Florentine leader Piero de Medici allied with Naples against Milan in 1494
 He was exiled after handing Pisa and other Florentine possessions over to Charles VIII
of France
The Renaissance in Italy 1375-1527
 The Visconti Family Rule in Milan 1278 and Sforza family took over in 1450
 Both ruled without constitutional restraint or political competition
 A Sforza, Ludovico il More appealed to French in 1494 for aid against the Naples
and its allies,
 An appeal that resulted in France’s acquisition of Florence, Charles VIII
 League of Venice- Ferdinand of Aragon created a counter alliance to protect Venice,
Milan, and Papal states, and Emperor Maximilian I from France
The Renaissance in Italy 1375-1527
 Girolanmo Savonarola (1452-1498) a radical Dominican monk, convinced a mob of
Florentines to exile Piero de Medici
 claimed that France’s victory was divine justice
 Savonarola ruled Florence until his imprisonment and execution in 1498
 Venice- was an exception to the trend of despotic rule. It was ruled by a merchant
oligarchy, a 300 member senate, and Judicial council
Humanism
 Believed in well rounded education expressed in Baldassare Castiglione Book of the
Courtier
 Humanists espouse a program of study that included rhetoric, politics and moral
philosophy, poetry, history, and that embraced classical and biblical sources
 Florentine Platonic Academy arose under the patronage of Cosimo de Medici to
enable humanists to devote their attention to Plato and Neoplatonist
Humanism
 Scholars consider Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) the father of humanism
 Other important works:
 Divine Comedy: Dante Alighieri
 The Decameron by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375)
 The Prince : Machaivelli
 New techniques like chiaroscuro and linear prospective were implemented by
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Raphael
(1483-1520)
The Northern Renaissance
 Supported by Brother of Common Life, a lay religion movement based in the
Netherlands
 Mostly interested in Religious reform
 Convey their ideas as a result of Johann Gutenberg invention of moveable type in
1450
 Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536) most famous northern humanist tried in his
writings to unite the classical ideal of civic virtue with Christian ideals
 His works embraced anticlerical views and satirized religious superstition
 He translated new testament in to Greek, then into Latin
Northern Renaissance
 The English Humanist Thomas More is best known for Utopia
 A critique of society that envisioned an imaginary society based on tolerance and
communal property
 Miguel de Cervantes, a Spaniard, wrote Don Quixote de la Mancha in 1605.
 In it, Cervantes criticizes the outdated practice of chivalry. This novel is considered the
first great European novel.
 William Shakespeare (1564-1616) was one of the greatest playwrights of all time
 Some of his most famous plays include Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet, Romeo and
Juliet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
Hanseatic League (a.k.a. the Hansa)
formed by Northern European cities as a way to compete with Italian trade
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incorporated most of the Baltic and North Sea ports, along with cities
in Scandinavia, Russia, Germany, and other European countries
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land transport increased and ship traffic rivalled that of Italy
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Baltic Sea considered “Scandinavian Mediterranean” because of the large
amount of trade that took place there
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traded cloth, metal, fish, animal skins, furs, tar, timber, and turpentine
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created a monopoly of Northern European trade
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fell apart in the early 1600s
 Some cities where Venetian and Hanseatic trade routes met were Bruges
(Belgium), Marseilles (France), Venice (Italy), and London (England).
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Voyages of Discovery and the New Empire in
the West
 Explorers such as Christopher Columbus, Amerigo Vespucci, Ferdinand Magellan,
and Henry the Navigator sought to conquer unknown worlds and bring riches and
supplies back to Europe
 The effects of discoveries on the culture and history of conquered peoples
frequently involved exploitation and in some cases complete destruction
Da Vinci- Mona Lisa
Da Vinci- Last Supper
Michelango
Michelangelo- David
Raphael- School of Athens
Boticelli
Filipo Brunelleschi