Chapter Ten Review:
The Renaissance in Italy:
 Renaissance: rebirth, meant the end of the Dark Ages and Medieval Europe, was the
transition into modern times
 Characterized by growing national consciousness and political centralization, a capitalist
urban economy, and an increase in secular control of thought and culture
 Started in Italy due to its being a commercial center, the city-states were bankers of much
of Europe
 City-states ruled by oligarchies or despots, not unified
 The Medicis brought stability and order to Florence (Cosimo and Lorenzo the
Magnificent)
 Humanism: dignity of humankind, individualism, learning for its own sake, scholarly
study of Latin and Greek classics and the ancient Church Fathers, hope of rebirth of
ancient norms and values, in search of primary sources and new sources of information
 Prominent humanists: Petrarch (“father of humanism”), Dante, Boccaccio, Valla,
Machiavelli, Bruni
 Platonism appealing due to its flattering view of human nature
 Art: new humanist perspective prominent, concerned with observation of the natural
world and the communication of human emotions, greater rational order (symmetry,
proportionality), new technical skills, more energy and life than Medieval art
 Giotto: father of Renaissance painting
 Da Vinci: exhibited the Renaissance ideal of the universal person
 Other Renaissance artists: Raphael, Michelangelo, Donatello
 Slavery flourished during the Renaissance as much as art and culture, especially after the
Black Death creating a demand for labor
 Mannerism: new form of art after High Renaissance art, more strange and abnormal, gave
freer rein to subjectivity of artist
Italy’s Political Decline: The French Invasions:
 Treaty of Lodi: allied Milan and Naples with Florence against Venice and the Papal
States to create an internal balance of power, ended when Ludovico il Moro of Milan
invited the French to invade Italy
 Invasion by Charles VIII of France
 Ferdinand of Aragon worried for security of own nation, created the League of Venice
which joined Aragon, Venice, the Papal States, and the Holy Roman Empire
 French driven back when Milan joined the League of Venice and the alliance attacked
Charles, sent him into retreat
 Pope Alexander VI, the Borgia pope: corrupt, series of scandalous political moves



Pope Julius II: the “warrior pope,” brought the Renaissance papacy to a peak of military
prowess and diplomatic intrigue, secular papacy commented on by Erasmus in Julius
Excluded from Heaven
France invaded Italy multiple times, wearing them down more each time, led to the
Habsburg-Valois wars between France and Spain, France lost all of them
Cultural peak of Italy was also its political tragedy, convinced Machiavelli that a unified
Italy must occur, wrote The Prince on that and other subjects
Revival of Monarchy in Northern Europe:
 Shift from divided feudal to unified national monarchies as sovereign rulers emerged,
triumph of “one” over “many”
 France:
o King Louis XI created a secure and efficient government, led to a debilitating
foreign policy under later monarchs
o Cornerstones of French nation building: Collapse of English Empire in France
after the Hundred Years’ War, defeat of Charles the Bold of Burgundy
 Spain:
o Union of Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon brought two kingdoms
together, strengthened Spain
o Subdued their realms, secured their borders, ventured abroad militarily, and
Christianized the whole of Spain, overseas exploration and the establishment of
the Spanish Empire in Mexico and Peru
 England:
o Internal warfare between the House of York and the House of Lancaster
o War of the Roses
o Henry Tudor became Henry VII, subdued the nobility using the Court of Star
Chamber
o Began to shape a monarchy that would develop into one of Europe’s most
exemplary governments under Elizabeth I
 Holy Roman Empire:
o Exception to steady development of centralized lands
o Territorial rulers and cities dominated, 300 autonomous political entities
o Golden Bull unified them in the machinery of law and order, however, and later
the Reichstag did the same thing
The Northern Renaissance:
 More diverse social backgrounds, more devoted to religious reforms
 More willing to write for lay audiences
 Helped by the invention of the printing press, spread humanist ideas
 Erasmus: most famous northern humanist, educational and religious reformer, aspired to
unite the classical ideals of humanity and civic virtue with the Christian ideals of love
and piety, believed in the power of primary sources above all others
 Humanism influenced reform of Germany, England, France, and Spain
Voyages of Discovery and the New Empire in the West:
 Beginning of western Europe’s global expansion and the transference of commercial
supremacy from the Mediterranean and the Baltic to the Atlantic coast of Europe
 Henry the Navigator: Portuguese prince who sponsored the exploration of the African
coast, main motivation was the gold trade
 Rush for spice markets of India
 Spanish Empire in the New World: conquest, exploitation, and administration of vast
American empire
 Influx of precious metals led to inflation in Europe
 Spanish conquered the Aztecs and the Incas, caused the end of their civilizations/empires
 Created an “economy of exploitation,” wholly extractive economy exemplified by silver
mining and forced labor
 Peninsulares vs. Creoles
 New wealth in Europe enabled governments and private entrepreneurs to sponsor basic
research and expansion in the printing, shipping, mining, textile, and weapons industries
 New wealth and industrial expansion led to aggravated social divisions, indirectly
prepared the way for the Reformation