The Renaissance
The Renaissance
A cultural re-awakening in Europe after the devastation
of the 14th Century (1300s). Begins modern history.
 New push for individualism
 Time of great artistic and cultural achievements,
though these don’t apply to the masses
The Beginning of the Renaissance
The Renaissance begins in northern Italy (technically,
still part of the HRE but functioned as a
conglomeration of city-states)
 Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice, Genoa
Unique factors of northern Italy
 Wealthy through trade and commerce, not
agriculture
 Nobility had to share power
 Centers of education and free thought
Phases of the Renaissance
There is no single date which begins the Renaissance
1350-1400
 General decline of European society, until a rediscovery of
ancient Greek and Roman literature (thanks, Crusades)
 Lots of social experimentation (feudalism? towns?)
 To a certain extent, the Plague provided a clean slate
1400-1500
 Renaissance thrives in Italy, new thoughts glorified
 Italy becomes more stable/peaceful
 Values become uniform
1500-1550
 Italy invaded by Spain and France—Renaissance ideas spread
Humanism
A new outlook on life inspired by the newly discovered
works of ancient Greece and Rome
 Previously, medieval scholars tried to fit everything into
a Christian mold—everything we do and know should
be based on God’s work and salvation
 Humanism ignored religion and focused on the here
and now
Humanism
Humanism—a Renaissance philosophy that urges
followers to focus on human, rather than religious,
matters. Inspired by ancient Greek and Roman beliefs.
 We should focus our energies on this world
 It is important to live well and do one’s civic duty
 It is our duty to learn about the world around us and
discover how it works
 Didn’t attack the Church, but sought to incorporate
other ideas
Humanism
Petrarch and Boccaccio considered the fathers of Humanism
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Humanism featured two concepts:
Secularism—a focus on realities of the world, ignoring
religious preachings
Individualism—people should explore their own interests
Humanist Giovanna Pico made two arguments in his classic
text, Oration and Dignity of Man:
 Man has the ability and freedom to shape his own life
 Man has the ability to understand and control nature
An “Urban” Renaissance
To a large extent, Renaissance ideas thrived mainly in
urban areas
 Many city-dwellers felt free to enjoy themselves
already
 Wealthy nobles patronized the arts, Medici family
 Women in Renaissance environments enjoyed more
freedom than those living ‘medievally’
Renaissance Politics
Renaissance thinkers came to see government as a
secular (non-religious) institution
 People have a civic duty to obey their govt
 Leaders have a responsibility to govern in the best
interest of their citizens
European leaders not in Renaissance areas—monarchs
and nobles—touted their roles as deities: divine right to
rule
Machiavelli
Machiavelli (1469-1527)
was a humanist, historian,
and philosopher from
Florence
Machiavelli’s arguments in
The Prince:
 Good leaders know that
the means, even if
immoral, justify the end
 Religion can be used as a
tool to manipulate
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Renaissance Economics
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Trade flourished in the northern Italian city-states
Influenced by humanism, people began to pursue
wealth and material happiness
Explosion in the value of artwork, especially among
nobles
City-dwellers now have money to spend too (rise of
the middle class, guilds, etc.)
Renaissance Art
Renaissance art reflected individualism, secular achievement, and
worldly values
 Three main areas: painting, sculpture, architecture
Painters experienced with perspective: shading and proportion
 Giotto: pre-Renaissance, painted frescoes, three dimensional
figures, illusion of movement
 Brunelleschi: used perspective mathematically, architect
 Van Eyck: northern Europe, secular paintings
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Botticelli:
Some Renaissance artists excelled in more than one
domain, and are better known today:
Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael
Giovanni Danato’s Crucifixion
• 1495 fresco
• Held in the Church
and Covenant of
Santa Maria delle
Grazzi in Milan facing
da Vinci’s Last Supper
Brunelleschi’s Dome,
Florence
• 1436 Florence, Italy
• Bascilica of St. Mary of the
Flower
Jan Van Eyck’s
Arnolfini Marriage
• 1453, oil on oak
• Wedding of Italian merchant
Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini
and his wife
• Considered one of the more
complex paintings in Western
art because of the
iconography and the use of
the mirror to reflect space
Botticelli’s Birth of Venus
• Commissioned for the Medici family in 1486
• Neoplatonic interpretation, the idea of divine love in the
form of a nude Venus
Raphael’s
St. Catherine of
Alexandria
• The breaking wheel, or
Catherine wheel, was a
medieval torture device
• Catherine of
Alexandria was
sentenced to death by
the wheel after refusing
to denounce her
Christian faith. It is said
that the wheel broke as
soon as she touched it.
Consequently, she was
beheaded.
The Protestant Reformation
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The Church underwent a number of changes in the
Middle Ages
From time to time, critics appeared but were always
silenced by the Church
Generally speaking, the average European peasant had
very limited knowledge of Christianity despite being
devoutly religious
 Christianity was a mix of a lot of local beliefs
 Service was in Latin, an extinct language (for speaking)
 No access to the Bible—couldn’t read anyway
Important early reformers: Wycliffe, Hus, Luther
John Wycliffe (1320 – 1384)
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Schoolteacher in Oxford, England who argued:
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Lots of support from the English nobility who resented
the Church’s power
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the Church did not control individuals’ fates
Sacraments not necessary to be saved
Attacked the Church’s wealth
His reform attempts failed, but his supporters (called
Lollards) continued to promote his ideas after his death
Jan Hus (1369 – 1415)
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Bohemian native, part of the Holy Roman Empire
Attacked the Church’s power and called for
independence
Caught and burned at the stake
His followers revolted and broke with the Church
Church Problems
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During the Avignon Papacy period (1309-1377) several of
the Papal States gained their independence
When the papacy returned to Rome, Popes were elected
based on their leadership skills, not their spirituality
Financial issues meant the Church turned into a moneymaking enterprise
 Tithe—10% of pay given to the Church (not new, just
enforced more)
 Indulgences—selling forgiveness, passages to Heaven
 Concept of purgatory developed—the “in between”
zone souls rest in awaiting Judgment Day
Martin Luther (1483-1546)
Priest and Professor of Theology at the University of
Whittenburg who argued that faith is all that’s needed for
salvation
 In 1517 Luther challenged priest Johann Tetzel on selling
indulgences to build St. Peter’s Bascilica
 95 Theses Luther nailed his criticisms to Tetzel’s church’s
door causing a huge stir in the HRE
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When the Church formally excommunicated him, Luther publicly
burned the memo
The HR Emperor summoned Luther for a formal apology, but he
refused to recant
Formed the Lutheran Church
The Lutheran Church
Characteristics of the Lutheran Church
 Stressed an individual relationship with God
 Service in the language of the congregation
 Statues and all iconography removed
 Only two sacraments: baptism and communion
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Lutheran communion is symbolic (consubstantiation)
Catholic communion is literal (transubstantiation: Mark
14:22-24, Jesus says “This is my body… This is my blood…”)
Not much change made in the service, Lutheran Mass still
very similar to Catholic Mass. Begins the Reformation.
The Protestant Reformation (1517-1648)
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The Protestant Reformation is the schism within
Western Christianity (not to be confused with the schism
between the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox
church!) which began by Martin Luther.
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Luther’s break with the Roman Catholic church led to the
creation of new Protestant (non-Catholic) churches across
northern Europe
Ulrich Zwingli (1484 – 1531)
Swiss priest who studied humanism and the works of
Erasmus, brought the Reformation to Switzerland
 Argued that whatever tradition was not written in
Scripture should not be practiced
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Attacked the custom of fasting during Lent
Promoted clerical marriage
Attacked iconography
Introduced a new communion liturgy to replace the Mass
Led an attack on the the traditional Catholic cantons in
Switzerland and died in battle at age 47
John Calvin 1509 - 1564
French theologian and reformer who emphasized strict
obedience and extreme morality
 Introduced the concept of predestination—God has
already predetermined who is saved
 Developed the Christian theology of Calvinism (In the US,
this is the Presbyterian Church)
 1555 Charles V’s Peace of Augsburg “cuius regio, eius
religio:” the ruler of the land determines the religion of
the land
The Protestant Reformation in England
The Reformation in England was political rather than
religious
 When the Pope refused to grant Henry VIII a divorce
from his Hapsburg wife, the king created his own church
and appointed himself the head of it—the Anglican
Church (In the US, this is the Episcopal church)
 Henry’s oldest daughter Mary I tried to restore
Catholicism in England through terror
 Elizabeth I secured the Anglican Church’s permanency
Reformation Problems
In France, very brutal fighting between Catholics and
Protestants began in the 1560s
 1589 Edict of Nantes protected Protestants, though the
king and country remained wholly Catholic
Throughout Europe, radical Protestant groups emerged
 Anabaptists practiced adult baptism, lived in communes,
practiced polygamy
The Counter-Reformation
In response to all of the breaking-away by Protestant
groups, the Catholic church decided to clean its act up
 Counter-Reformation led by Jesuits (Society of Jesus), a
new order of Catholic reformers founded by Ignatius
Loyola who emphasized the reform of corrupt practices
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“Ad majorem Dei gloriam” for the greater glory of God
1545-1563 Council of Trent lays out a series of reforms
for the Catholic church, begins the CounterReformation
Christian Europe and the Wars of Religion
As a result of the Protestant Reformation and the CounterReformation
 Northern Europe (except Catholic Ireland) remained
largely Protestant
 Southern Europe remained largely Catholic
 Central Europe was a site of fierce conflict that escalated
to full-scale war
Mass Media and the Exchange of
Information and Ideas
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Johannes Gutenburg’s printing press in 1439 played a
huge role in the Reformation and the Renaissance
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and the Age of Enlightenment and the Scientific Revolution, but
that’s for World Civ II ;)
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THE END!!!