Chapter 10: Renaissance and Discovery

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Chapter 10 Renaissance and Discovery

• Sec.1.1 The Renaissance in Italy

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Introduction

• Late 15th century, Europe recovering form three
  crises
• 1. demographic
• 2. political
• Great loss in population
• Rulers imposing new political order
• Patrons of government and education formed
• Trading of ideas

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The Renaissance in Italy (1375-1527)

• Prototype of the modern world (Burckhardt)
• Adopted a rational approach to reality
• Transition from medieval to modern Europe
• Characterized by growing national centralization
• Organized commerce

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Causes

• Economics was primary cause
• Northern Italy wealthy from the silk trade
• New banking system
• Money to support artists
• Struggles between papacy
• Governments became stronger
• Italian cities built on ancient Roman ruins

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Renaissance

• More secular
• City-life dominated
• Classical past- Greece and Roman in years between
  500 and 476bc
• Humanist- study of writings and ideals of the
  classical past (200bc)
• Individualism behavior that emphasizes each
  person as contrasted with community

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Cont.

• Virtu essence of being a man by the display of
  courage in speech, art, politics, etc
• Platonic Academy Medici (leading Florentine
  family scholars who initially studied the works
  of Plato in Greek leading members were Marsilio
  Ficino and Pico della Mirandola
• Platonic concepts perfection of the circle

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Cont.

• Two events that coincide with the Renaissance
  death of Petrarch (father of humanism) and
  Giovanni Boccaccio
• Decameron (Boccaccio) in 1375
• Humanist culture spread
• Creative expansion stopped when Spain looted Rome
  in 1527

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Petrarch
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Petrarch

• created the model for modern Italian
• Petrarch is credited for perfecting the sonnet,
  making it one of the most popular art forms to
  date
• Petrarch was born in Arezzo the son of a
  merchant, and spent his early childhood in the
  village of Incisa, near Florence. His father, Ser
  Petracco, had been exiled from Florence in 1302
  by the Black Guelphs
• father two children by a woman or women unknown
  to posterity. A son, Giovanni who died of the
  plague

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Italian City-State

• Merchant cities of late medieval times
• Always had a cultural advantage over rest of
  Europe because it was located alone trade routes
• Venice, Genoa, Pisa
• Became powerful city-states

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Growth of City-States

• Remained free from kings to expand
• Assimilating nobility into new and old rich
• Five major sates formed Milan, Florence, Venice,
  Papal, and Naples States
• Competition for political power

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Social Class and Conflict

• Old vs. new rich for political power
• Great peasant revolts 1/3 of populations had no
  wealth
• Social anarchy from the Black Death

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Despotism

• Cosimo de Medici wealthy Florentine
• Controlled the city from behind the scenes
• Council elected from powerful guilds governed
  the city
• Cosimo was able to keep councilors loyal to him
• Lorenzo (Granson of Cosimo) ruled Florence from
  1478-1492)
• Brother was assassinated in 1478 by a rival
  family (Pazzi) plotted with the pope
• Lorenzo was cautious

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Cont.

• Despotism hired strongmen to prevent social
  conflict
• Hazardous job
• Most city-states est. resident embassies (1400s)
  
• Became watchful eyes and ears

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Humanism

• Long debated some say birth of modern times,
  others philosophy stressed the dignity of human
  kind, others thought it was an educational
  program built on ancient rhetoric and scholarly
  works
• First humanists were poets
• Studied classic theologians of Greece and Latin
• Period between classical civilization and a dark
  middle age