Renaissance (French: “be born again”)

•Some historians believe Renaissance is from 1300s-1500s (14th-16th century)

•Some believe Renaissance began when Middle Ages end (1450)•Some believe Renaissance marked the beginning of the Modern Age

Beginnings:Why did it start where it did?

• Began in the Italian city-state of Florence (Cradle of Renaissance)

• Florence was the home of the Medici family (Italian bankers) who became patrons of many Renaissance artists (Medicis later move to Rome)

• Florence was known for its goldsmiths (reason for rise of world renowned artists) & silks

• Greek scholars, like Demetrius Chalcondyles (1424-1511), flood into Florence & other Italian city states to escape from Ottoman Turks following Crusades & fall of Byzantine Empire

What sparked the Renaissance?

• Crusades and opening of new trade routes in Africa & Asia led many to come into contact with new civilizations

• Increased trade, silver mining, & luxuries brought back from Crusades caused middle class to grow & accumulate vast sums of money, leading to competition over status & power

• Per person wealth was very high despite population decline & economic dislocation (even modest families could afford smaller religious paintings, storage chests, & decorated art); Market for art & # of shops, studios increased

• Competition between wealthy people over who was most educated or who had most sponsored artists led to developments in education & art; Symbols & images communicated social, political, & spiritual values; Art also purchased as penance for sins

• Scandals of Catholic Church led to a loss of papal power, causing people to doubt Church’s authority

Trading Leads to Intellectual Diffusion

• Rise of the Italian city-states happens as a result of signori (despots) or oligarchies (rule of merchant aristocrats) beginning to control much of Italy & increased number of commenda (Contracts between merchant and “merchant-adventurer” who agreed to take goods to distant locations and return with the proceeds for 1/3 of profits)

• Following the Middle Ages, Italian cities were large enough in population (urban), wealthy enough and had sufficient political and geographical independence to recover quickly from disasters

• Italy’s economy was based on wealthy merchants & commerce; due to creation of Hansiatic League (economic alliance of trading cities & their guilds that established & maintained trade monopoly along coast of Northern Europe), Italy became a crossroads of trade, leading to academic & artistic advancement across the Levant ("Mediterranean lands east of Venice” or “Land of the rising sun”)

• After beginning in Central Italy’s Florence (wool textiles), the Renaissance then spread throughout Italy and then into the rest of Europe

• Kingdom of Genoa in North (maritime), Milan in West (wool & fabric textiles), Venice in East (glass, ship-building), Naples in South (agricultural)

Origins of Humanism

• Power of Church became increasingly limited; as a result, people’s creativity and speculations were freed from control of totalitarian Church (also led to Church having less power within Government)

• People were finally allowed to have “independence of mind” and did not have to depend on outside authority for formation of knowledge, tastes, and beliefs, creating “l’uomo universale” (the complete man) or polymaths, Renaissance Men (one who mastered all branches of art & thought)

• Experts at good speaking & writing (rhetoricians) turn to Latin classics as model

Humanism*move from theocratic view of Middle Ages to human view of Renaissance

• Belief that life was important & should be enjoyed instead of waiting for afterlife• Admiration of Classic Greeks & Romans• Glorification of humans & their ability to master the world in which they lived (through God-given ingenuity, as opposed to Medieval

philosophy of being helpless pawns of Providence)• Humans deserve to be center of attention• Search for realism & human emotion in art

Civic Humanism*Participation in human affairs essential for human development

• Coluccio Salutati led efforts to collect ancient manuscripts & form libraries to make classical texts more accessible, • Stressed active life (vita activa) & argued for republican life• Believed that educated citizens should use their wisdom for benefit of all because can’t only rely on moral understanding• Individuals shouldn’t cut themselves off from society• Should make changes by becoming part of government• Rulers should exhibit classical & Christian virtues, be loved & obeyed• Government & laws should be unchanging & static, change comes through chance or fortune

Neo-Platonists*Study grand ideas in work of Plato & other philosophers because they showed the dignity & morality of the human soul

• Universe is arranged in a hierarchy of excellence with God at top, everyone seeks perfection & hopes to achieve beauty, humans are link between spiritual world & material world, we all have free will to go towards spiritual or material

• Marsilio Ficini (1433-1499) translates Plato’s work into Latin & reinterpret Plato into Christianity• Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (163-1494) “900 Theses” & “Oration on the Dignity of Men” about importance of human quest for

knowledge; 1st Humanist to learn Hebrew & argues that divine wisdom can be found in Jewish mystical literature (studies Jewish Cabbala-collection of mystical & occult writings from time of Moses-Johannes Reuchlin “Letters of Illustrious Men” attacked by Dominicans), popularized Corpus Hermeticum (all magical texts) leading to investigations of astrology & alchemy (Direct, reciprocal relationship between cosmos & natural world, Everything made of primary material could be changed from one substance into another, hoping to make impure pure)

Rebirth of the Classics• After fall of Byzantine Empire, sought out Latin & Greek texts from

Byzantium’s monasteries• Rejected medieval scholasticism (strengthen faith by rationalizing &

accepting facts)• Began to translate and read classic texts (ad fontes-go back to the

original sources) • Found new ways of examining ancient world through archaeology,

numismatics (coins), epigraphy (inscriptions on buildings & statues); Found that the study of history meant looking to past for evidence of God’s providence

• Attempts to study & improve secular & worldly by reviving classical ideas & finding new approaches to thought, Investigation of other ancient texts, including Hebrew

• Began to study Latin texts by Cicero, Livy, & Seneca and Greek texts on science, math, philosophy by Homer, Demosthenes, & Thucydides

• Invite Byzantine scholars like Manuel Chyrsoloras (1355-1415) into Florence to teach Greek

Pioneering new thoughts: Who was the first?

• Literary historians cite Petrarch (1304-1374) as 1st humanist who felt that only true examples of morality & propriety came from Ancients; Lawyer & cleric who enjoyed writing letters, poetry, & papers addressed to famous Greeks and Romans; felt that humanist education helps to lead a wise, pious, & happy life; emulates Virgil by writing epic poetry; wrote “My Secret” as dialogue with St. Augustine about his struggle to achieve peace despite temptation; Found morality model in ancients & believed that one should be cut off from evils of society (viva contemplativa)

• Literary historians ALSO cite Dante Aligheri (1265-1321) (“Father of Italian Language”) “Divine Comedy”

• Art historians cite religious chapel & fresco work of Giotto di Bondone (“Father of the Renaissance” 1267-1337) & Masaccio’s move away from Medieval Gothic artwork for more realistic 3-dimensional religious chapel & panel work (1401-28)

• Architecture historians cite the competition of rivals Lorenzo Ghiberti (1378-1455) & Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446) for a contract to build doors for Florence Cathedral (Ghiberti wins due to his architectural stories of New Testament for North doors & Old Testament for East doors) (Brunelleschi lost but built Florence’s 1st hospital based on hemispheres & cubes, resembling Greek stoa or Roman basilica)

• Political historians cite Niccolo Machiavelli who explains mechanics of politics as power for sake of having power

Humanist Government Ideals: Revive classical thinkers & apply to government

• Early Renaissance trend in Italian city states was to uphold ideal of liberty (republicanism), Later Renaissance moves toward despotism

• Explains move from community of Christendom to idea of the sovereign state & beginnings of modern nationality

• Niccolo Machiaveli “The Prince” (1469-1527) encouraged Italians & their rulers to be more united & keep out foreigners, describing how to maintain political control, hoped that Cesar Borgia (son of Pope Alexander VI) or Medicis would unite Italy (also wrote “The Art of War”), people pay too little attention to history’s lessons & should consider people’s true motivations, challenges notion that people choose virtue over vice (Christianity) & people are more likely to respond to fear, people rather than rhetoric makes good government, good governing requires different skills at different times (Warning to not simplify too much)

• Sir Thomas More “Utopia”(1478-1535) contrasted a perfect society with the contentious problems of European nation-states, thus explaining the conflicts that exist between humanist idealism & political realities; about ideal island society questioning moral value of public service & describing a place with not private property, strict equality of possessions, harmony, tolerance, & little to no violence

• Matteo Palmieri (1406-1475) “On Civic Life” about the qualities of an ideal citizen, need for a good education, and how to take an active part in politics

• Virtu (virtue) meant martial spirit of a population or leader, but also encompasses a broader collection of traits necessary for maintenance of the state and "the achievement of great things"

• Raison dEtat (reason of the state) meant a country’s goals and ambitions whether economic, military, or cultural

Switch from Church-controlled State

to Government-controlled State

• Jacob Burckhardt (1860) argued that Renaissance Italians were 1st to recognize the State as a moral structure, free from restraints of Church & philosophical traditions; State’s success or failure depends on personal qualities of creative brilliance (romantic individualism & nationalism)

• Boards became dominated by guild layman (most powerful political party was “Guelf”) were building & administering great Italian churches; Cathedrals built to revive cities in name of saints as community projects to revive civic pride

• Religious hospitals & charities were under government control• Communities built city halls to house government functions with emphasis on beauty of work; City officials consult

with artists & architects about width of streets, height limits, styles of buildings• Ambrogio Lorenzetti’s “Good Government of Sienna” representations of wisdom & cardinal virtues with street

scenes in one wall & opposite representations of murder, rape, & injustice to tell what is & isn’t acceptable• Education was supervised by town governments to provide training in skills needed by guilds: accounting, math,

composition (broad based & practical)• Logic & scholastic philosophy dominated university education in North• Literature emphasized culture of towns & moralists emphasized the “common good”• Their desire to follow Ancients led them to imitate actions, values, culture, and later on, the government of the

ancient Romans led them to institute a republican State, rather than falling under control of a lord, even though humanism attracted oligarchy

• Niccolo Niccoli paid to find lost manuscripts (much of his collection became Vatican Library); Found “On the Donation of Constantine” that told about a gift by the Emperor Constantine of the jurisdiction over Rome (legal theorists attacked validity, saying that no emperor had a right to make that declaration, Lorenzo Valla proved its illegitimacy (Valla also rewrote annotated New Testament)

Characteristics of Renaissance Art

• Linear perspective (creating illusion of space & distance on flat surface; representation of 3 dimensions on 2 dimensional flat plane; parallel lines go off into distance but seem to converge; geometric relationships regulate size of objects at various distances from viewer-up close, looks big; farther away, looks smaller) (Massachio’s “Trinity”-flat surface that seems to be 3 panels) (In Venice, used linear perspective & added subtle oil coloring)

• Study of light, shadow, and human anatomy

• Beauty of nature & aesthetics (as opposed to Medieval fear of death, destruction, sadness, & horror)

Renaissance Art Early Renaissance Artists imitate natureArtists part of guildHad to pass apprenticeship & follow strict rules that controlled trade

Mid RenaissanceRediscovered proportion

Later Renaissance (as result of humanism) 1. Recognized that vivid & convincing recreations of achievements of ancients were being produced 2. Showed a new interest in personal fame 3. Believed that a truly moral person had to combine a contemplative life with an active life 4. Needed vigorous leadership led to patronage of arts5. Artists became highly prized at court & within Church as patrons of papacy after Medicis set the example

(reason for Michelangelo being able to paint Sistine Chapel in Vatican6. Many began to consider Renaissance artists equal or superior to Ancients so should

be recognized and rewarded for his unique artistic technique (maneria), leading to Mannerism

*Mannerism-Each work of art done in the artist’s characteristic “touch” or recognizable “manner.”A. Replace Harmony With Dissonance & DiscourseB. Replace Reason with EmotionC. Replace Reality with ImaginationD. Create Instability instead of EquilibriumE. Bodies are DistortedF. Colors are LuridG. Picture is CrowdedH. Void in Center of PictureI. Hanging Figures

*Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) wanted to understand why artists were being showered with praise after he was awarded a knighthood for his artistic services & began to write world’s 1st art history, posed theory that certain artists were filled with spirit (called “genius”) that seperated them from rest of humans

Renowned Artists

• Giotto (1267-1337) was painter famous for solid bodies, expression of human emotion, & suggestion of landscapes; painted churches & chapels (Arena Chapel), breaking with stiff, symbolic style & making lifelike portraits of living & dramatic situations (episodes in life of Christ, from birth to crucifixion, like Kiss of Judas)

• Donatello [(1386-1466) was sculptor known for bas relief (shallow relief sculptures) focused on beauty of human body, 1st nude sculptor since Ancients, Bronze nude statue of David (after infamous battle with Goliath that symbolized youth, vigor, weak defeating strong), idealized representations], Masaccio [1401-1428) was painter who used inspiration of ancients to put new emphasis on nature, on 3-dimensional human bodies, & on perspective, 1st to paint nudes since Ancients, expert at perspective], & Brunellesci [(architect, proposed largest dome in Europe since Pantheon, built dome in rings without scaffolding-Florence Cathedral] travel to Rome to break with Medieval styles & imitate, bring back glory of past; Many follow their lead & began to change subject matter to portraits & depictions of mythological stories

• Sandro Boticelli (1445-1510) was Neo-Platonist painter of landscapes & human forms: “Birth of Venus,” “Primavera,” (symbolism of truth, beauty, virtues of humanity) & “Venus and Mars”

• Leonardo Da Vinci (1452-1519) was raised outside & below humanist social class & wanted to prove that learning was not a social skill so based his learning on careful observation of nature & scientific analysis; experimental painter, scientist, writer, & inventor; wanted to seek new ways of doing things, observed anatomy, designing defense forts, bridges, airships, submarines, solving practical problems focused on technical perfection of paintings in use of angles, perspectives, & detailed backgrounds; “Mona Lisa” & “Last Supper” show his new methods of painting (reason why his paintings are falling apart); Developed chiaroscuro (use of light & dark, aerial perspective-paint horizon as muted, shaded zones)

• Michelangelo (1475-1564) shares Petrarch’s concern for social reform& Italian social renewal, religious intellectual transformation; was committed republican but worked on papal commissions; painter focused on individuals that conveyed strength & ambition that experimented in poetry, architecture & sculpture, Wanted to seek new effects with sense of latent strength: “The Creation of Man” shows Adam before receiving life but still feel his masculine strength in Sistine Chapel; Marble “David” symbolizes young Florence republic maintaining its freedom; for Pope Clement VII “The Last Judgement” makes his own self portrait as St. Bartholemew with hanging skin; was Platonist who believed that form & beauty were buried w/in artwork & artist had to peel away excess to reveal beauty for rest of world to see

• Rafael Santi (1483-1520) was painter focused on mastery of perspective & ancient styles to produce works of harmony & beauty that conveyed sense of peace “Madonna,” wanted to convey impressions of sheer relaxation in paintings: “School of Athens” showed great Ancient philosophers painted with faces of his contemporary peers

• Titian (1479-1576) was painter focused on scenes of luxury in vivid, immediate ways that make paintings seem real; his Venetian background shows a more sensuous & rich side to life & made viewer feel like part of scene

Northern Renaissance Artvs.

Early Italian Renaissance Art

• Northern Europeans did not completely follow Early Italian Renaissance tendency to break away from Medieval Gothic styles, not as dramatic of a transformation

• Not as many large cities or large populations (not like in Italy, where language & monuments were reminders of classical age)

• Had a court-dominated culture, especially the House of Burgundy (wealthiest & most powerful in North) • Tension & frequent violence were marked by deep emotional instability; Military & knights less important than foot

soldiers (but nobles still hung onto chivalry)• Knights of Garter in England & Burgundian Knights of Golden Fleece waged dazzling wars with displays of glitter,

silks, tapestries• Special orders of knights to defend women & took oaths to honor women (like keeping one eye closed for week);

Dreamed of possibilities of love & war• Cult of Sublime/Cult of Decay; obsession with impossibly beautiful but fascination with death (following Black

Death); dance of death (danse macabre-dancing with skeleton) was popular motif among rich & poor; images of Virgin weeping over dead son; Glamorized fleetingingness of beaty & life (attachment to material world & dissatisfaction with religion because they provided no consolation when in crisis)

• Fascination with Occult-curious about witchcraft, relationship to devil; in the Witch Trials of Arras (1460) many were accused of participating in witches sabbath, paying homage to devil, & having intercourse with devil; in 1486, two inquisitors permitted by Pope to prosecute witches published “Malleus Maleficarum (Hammer of Witches)” defining witchcraft & heresy and became standard handbook for prosecution; Fear of devil became fear of women due to changes in status, subordination, started learning to read, vulnerability

• Fascination with Relics-Need to have contact with objects of religious devotion & made frequent pilgramages due to desire for accumulation of objects related to saints (usually fake)

• Older population looking for ways to find solutions to unsettling tensions; William Langland’s “Vision of Piers Plowman” describes serious view of evils of English life using symbolic language (allegory): 11 visions with various classes of society & 7 deadly sins that threaten society, impact of plague & war on society & failings of church; Chaucer’s “Canterbury Tales” about 30 pilgrams on way to tomb of St. Thomas Beckett to describe variety of moral & social types to illustrate good & evil of English life

Characteristics of Renaissance Literature

*Rise of vernacular language (written in native language used in everyday speech by common people)

*Standardization of spelling & grammar

Characteristics of Northern Renaissance Art (Late Gothic)

*French King Francis I invites Italian artists to his court to build Fontainebleu, marking beginning of Renaissance in North

1. Highly Realistic - There is almost no abstraction or distortion of either human forms or objects in Northern Renaissance art; Wanted to paint & sculpt in ways that represent reality

2. Extremely Detailed - Every detail, no matter how small, is painstakingly painted; More complex & emotional than Medieval Gothic style

3. Symbolism - Objects are often used as symbols that carry hidden meanings.4. Unidealized Figures - Human figures are totally unidealized. They often look thin and pale. There is almost no

Classical influence here at all.5. Printmaking - The use of woodcut becomes a common way to produce images.6. Oil Paintings - On wood or canvas; Netherland’s Flemish School (Flanders) known for use of oil paints instead of

tempera; Move from ornate, vivid colors to experimentation with depth in painting

*Claus Sluter-sculptor

*Jan Van Eyck less interested in realization & more fascinated with details of physical world “Portrait of Arnolfinis,” religious symbolism with sense of humor

*Albrecht Durer blends N & S styles, refused invitation from Italy to stay in Nuremburg, Germany to sketch landscapes & portraits, experimenting with charcoal, watercolors, & paint; creating copper engravings for rich and cheaper woodcuts for poor, Book of illustrations about Apocalypse, “Whore of Babylon” “Portrait of Black Man”

Literature • Boccaccio (1313-1375) was famous writer of short stories “The Dacameron” intended for

entertainment, frank treatment of relationships & creation of ordinary, realistic characters; 1 st prose masterpiece of Italy about young Florentines going to secluded villa to escape plague & begin story-telling to pass time

• Baldassare Castiglione (1478-1529) “The Book of the Courtier” was a fictional conversation between sophisticated men & women of a court in Urbino, became manual for proper behavior, tried to describe perfect gentlemen with a debate on the nature of nobility, humor, women, & love; Interested in joining humanistic ideas & traditional chivalric values

• Francois Rebelais (1494-1553) writer of fantasy, satire, the grotesque, and bawdy jokes and songs; most well known story was about a giant known as “Gargantua” sings the praises of the wines from his hometown of Chinon through vivid descriptions of his eat, drink and be merry lifestyle

• Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) focused on skepticism by examining mysticism (Father of Modern Skepticism), believing that anti-naturalistic doctrines stem from our desire to imagine that it is possible to know the unknowable; “Essays” was an attempt to examine the world through his own judgment through frank descriptions of his fellow Man

• Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536) “In Praise of Folly” (“Prince of the Humanists”) a satire in which the personification of Folly praises the foolish activities of the day, including superstitious religious practices, vanity of Church leaders, and sale of Indulgences by Church (Christians had to be “fools” for Christ); wanted to promote a return to basic Christian values (Christian Humanism); also wrote “Adages” as collection of Greek & Roman proverbs, “Colloquies” as collection of popular stories to teach moral lessons

Invention of movable type printing by German Johann Gutenberg

• Many desire to own & read complete texts of classical works but # copies were limited because time spent hand copying, also frequently inaccurate or illegible

• Printing led to creation of standard law, theology, philosophy, science texts (scholars could analyze same text as their peers, compare thoughts), could produce accurate medical, herbal diagrams, maps, & reproductions of art & architecture

• Humanist printers Aldus Manutius & Johannes Froben invited other humanists to edit & proofread texts before printing; Print shops became gathering place for religious & non-religious becoming a source of ideas: Rise of print shop as center of culture & communication

Achievements in Architecture• Filippo Brunelleschi studies remains of classical buildings, focus on

simplicity, symmetry, balance, & harmony; studies texts by Roman engineer Vitruvius to learn new mathematical knowledge, emulates & improves classical forms to create Dome of Florence Cathedral & St. Peter’s Basilica

• Use of columns, pilasters, entablatures, arches in Mannerist style

• Mannerism in Architecture 1. Stylishness in design could be applied to a building as well as to a painting 2. Showed extensive knowledge of Roman architectural style 3. Complex, out of step style (taking “liberties” with classical architecture) 4. Architecture, sculpture, and walled gardens were seen as a complex, but not necessary unified whole

Achievements in Science :Focus on empirical evidence, importance of math, use of

scientific theory

• Leonardo daVinci considered to be the Father of Modern Science; known for drawings of anatomy & nature, use of scientific theory, experiments in water flow, medical dissection, study of movement & aerodynamics, notebooks contain designs for helicopter, submarine, machine guns, etc.

• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) was astronomer & 1st to disprove that Earth was NOT center of universe, creating heliocentric model with Sun at the center of our universe

• Galileo Galilei (Father of Modern Observational Astronomy & Father of Modern Physics 1564-1642) studied uniformly accelerating objects with mathematical theory (kinematics), 1st observations of phases of Venus, moons of Jupiter, & sunspots, created standards of length & time for use in scientific experimentation, created Galilean telescope

• Rene Descartes (Father of Modern Philosophy & Father of Analytical Geometry 1596-1650) rejects the analysis of corporeal substance into matter and form, rejects any appeal to ends—divine or natural—in explaining natural phenomena, & insists on the absolute freedom of God’s act of creation; discovered law of reflection, rule of signs in polynomials (+ -)

Religion

• Rise of Christianity meant literal destruction of classical statues & paintings, Many humanists felt they had to rediscover what was lost if they were to recover from “BARBARISM” of past

• At beginning of Renaissance, Catholic Church dominated all parts of life with the Pope being the most influential & feared leader of politics

• Demands of society began to shift & society became money based (instead of based on allegiances, such as during Medieval feudalism)

• Church leaders violated the biblical laws they were entrusted to uphold and lived no differently that the secular merchants and political figures: Profound effect on way people perceive the relationship between man & God (Popes had to defend their position within Church because critics said all Christians had to obey commands of local government)

• Merchants resented that they had to pay church taxes to Rome & abusing the funds brought in by the tithes they had to pay

• People were beginning to believe in human dignity and potential, and were forming their own opinions of the church, weakening the church's influence as a result of Humanism, the invention of the Printing Press, the awareness of corruption in the church, and the work of individual Reformers.

• Guelphs and Ghibellines were factions supporting, respectively, the Pope and the Holy Roman Emperor, affecting the internal policies of the Italian city-states

• Despite the questioning of their religious beliefs & criticisms of New Testament, much of Renaissance art was commissioned by or in dedication to the Church

• Since the Pope was based in Rome, he was having difficulty imposing control over all the countries he ruled over & rulers of various European countries were beginning to resent the Pope who was exercising control over their countries

• Papal court was humiliated when French king forced them to Avignon, making them appear to be pawns of France: instead of providing spiritual leadership and direction for the rapidly changing society and class, became preoccupied with its administration staff and processes and with the collection of revenue

• Index Librorum Prohibitorum ("List of Prohibited Books") was a list of publications prohibited by the Catholic Church (1555) aim of the list was to protect the faith and morals of the faithful by preventing the reading of immoral books or works containing theological errors.

• Sect of Savanarola-Dominican priest who took over Florence after Medicis were overthrown; known for overall hostility to Renaissance; Bonfire of the Vanities-went door to door collecting immoral items & burned them in a huge bonfire

Roman Renaissance Popes1. Nicholas V: 1447-1455 began the rebuilding of Rome; wanted to restore Rome & Church to former

glory so began to patronize arts & established papal court, collected Ancient manuscripts, invited artists & architectures including Leon Battista Alberti “On Architecture”

2. Pius II: 1458-1464 Stern and serious pope, did not fit in well w/ Renaissance3. Paul II: 1464-1471 Easy going and threw splendid pageants 4. Sixtus IV: 1471-1484 Redesigned and rebuilt Rome, widened the streets, commissioned Sistine

Chapel as place for Pope to meet with representatives of other states5. Innocent VIII: 1484-1492 Two illegitimate children, he chiefly had to deal with the threat from Naples6. Alexander VI Rodrigo Borgia: 1492-1503 Encouraged leaders of Florence to kill Savonarola, 12 new

cardinals for the brides, Total disregard for any spiritual importance of the papacy, Had at least three illegitimate children with two mistresses , Used the office to make money and help his son Cesar Borgia to gain power and influence , Was very corrupt and pimped out his daughter to spread Papal power, Made Papal System seem very bad, Treaty of Tordesillas, fought the Influence of France in Italy,

7. Julius II: 1503-1510 “The Warrior Pope” 1508:he was able to conclude with French King Louis XII, the emperor Maximillian and Ferdinand of Aragon, the League of CambraI against the Venetian Republic, Started the rebuilding of St. Peter’s Basilica, Patron of Rapheal and Michaelangelo

8. Leo X: 1510-1521 Fought the Turks at Turkey (Ottomans) Increased the sale of indulgences (payment in exchange for forgiveness of sins), Excommunicated Martin Luther, Skilled Diplomat, Administrator, Patron

Education (Revival of Learning)• Humanists knew that if they were going to create a “new man,” they had to start from schoolboys & students

• Discovery of “Institutes of Oratory” manuscript about education for young Romans• Erasmus “Education of a Christian Prince” teachers should be of gentle disposition and have unimpeachable

morals

• Humanist education helped master the classics so they could learn wisdom needed to choose the right way in life & eloquence needed to persuade others to follow the same way

• Begin with basic Christian education and add on mental & physical: taught reading, writing and arithmetic, but also the liberal arts such as literature, philosophy and athletics, practicing the idea of a sound mind & sound body

• Guarino de Verano & Vittorino da Feltre (Vittorino’s Academy, Casa Giocosa) turns humanist education ideals into practical curriculum for boys & girls, rich & poor; organized students' courses into three stages: the elementary level, at which reading and pronunciation were primarily taught, followed by the grammatical level, and finally the highest level, concentrating on rhetoric; one of best examples of the humanistic ideals, showing importance of literary studies together with a harmonious development of body and spirit, excluding basic skills

• John Colet founds St. Paul’s School as thorough program of teaching Latin & Greek to create scholars who could access early Church writings (Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples was humanist editor of Christian texts; true spirit of Christianity is most clear in works of lives of early Church leaders)

University Education• University of Paris & Oxford maintained their educational status but

had to keep up with new religious institutions that were dominated by scholasticism & nationalism, especially in Cracow & Uppsala

• Emperor Charles IV of Luxembourg requested 1st German university (Charles Univ.)

• Hungarian court founded University of Poszony by Johannes Vitez & tried to recruit humanist teachers from Italy

• Gallican style of jurisprudence introduced by Italian trained French lawyers; based on notion that legal ideas change over time so Roman law should be studied as historical system

• Foundation of trilingual colleges (Hebrew, Greek, & Latin), allowing for a better understanding of the truths of Christianity

• Francisco Jiminez de Cisneros founds University of Alcala, began to publish “Polyglot (many tongues) Bible” to help reform Muslims & Jews

Life during the Renaissance

England’s Paston Family & Italy’s Alessandra Macinghi-Strozzi describes day to day life in letters

St. Catherine of Siena & Angela of Foligno wrote letters to offer day to day advice

• Social classes-1. old nobility and the merchant class that had traditionally ruled the cities, 2. emergent capitalist and banker class that identified with the lower classes and wished to become as powerful as the top class, 3. less wealthy merchants and tradespeople and below them, 4. poor and destitute made up one fourth to one third of the urban population, 5. domestic slaves, few in number, representative as an attempt to make slavery an economic (but not yet racial) institution (most were Muslims from Spain, North Africa, Crete, the Balkans, and the Ottoman Empire)

• Marriage-Decrees were issued that only marriages performed with a church official present would be declared valid; main of goal of marriage was to produce children; very rich (nobles and royalty) generally married to better their families social standing & economic status; Everyone else (merchants to peasants) usually married for love, or at least compatibility

• Life expectancy-Most married in their mid twenties since average life expectancy was 40, few people made it to grandparent status

• Fashion-While clothing varied by region, hoods, ruffs, wigs and cosmetics all became popular; short upper garments for men & overall trend towards tight fitting clothing; “luxury legislation” influenced by Church dictated clothing cuts, colors, & materials

• Etiquette-Diners shared communal dishes, digging in with their hands, no serving utensils or silverware; Eastern & Asian spices like pepper, nutmeg, mace, & cinnamon

• Family-women stayed home to care for children & home, men worked out of the house, older children, both boys and girls, often worked alongside their fathers

• Housing-Houses were small, some with no more than two rooms with low ceilings, not unusual for a family of four to share a single bed, Fireplaces used for cooking, causing the tiny house to quickly fill with smoke. In the hot summer months, houses in southern Europe would be unbearably hot, causing women to set up their looms outdoors, and serve family meals outdoors as well

• Possessions-typical family owned two outfits and one pair of shoes per person, some kitchen utensils, bed, a chamber pot, a table and bench, a chest, and a few tools

Life during Renaissance for Women

• Noblewomen’s chief role had been to be idealized objects of chivalrous devotion & had to continue their struggle for education rights

• Isabella d’Este from Court of Mantua (wife of Francesco Gonzaga) gained fame as center of painting, architecture, art, & music; Recruited musicians to court & attracted Claudio Monteverdi to establish genre of opera (painted by daVinci & Titian, showing her importance)

• Later Renaissance allowed noblewomen to be educated, but didn’t allow them to learn rhetoric (didn’t need it because women were weaker-misogyny)

• Isotta Nogarola-considered 1st female humanist in modern times but initially rejected by peers; wrote about whether Adam or Eve committed the greater sin

• Sofonista Anguissola-female prodigy called to Spanish court to paint portraits of King, Queen, & daughter

• Marguerite of Porete’s “Mirror for Simple Souls” contained descriptions of love, from erotic love to God’s love, circulated anonymously

• Margery Kempe left husband & family for various pilgramages around Europe• Christine de Pizan was left widowed & became writer to support family at French court “Book of

the City of the Ladies” to disprove opinion that women are inferior to men & incapable of moral judgments blaming problems on education; Described ideal city of ladies where prudence, reason, & justice would protect women from ignorant males

• Finances, public official appointments, & political decisions made by men of court but court was place where women were expected to be seen & exert influence (wives of princes made court better); Women could organize life at court but still had to show domestic virtues (women can organize debate but only men can discuss & women should interject & joke not dominating conversation)

Life at Court

• Use culture to define celebrate authority of secular & religious, culture represented reputation of leader

• Attendance at court was source of revenue & influence, way to control nobility (instituted orders of knights to reward allies & followers)

• Papal court was model for state courts (especially Popes at Avignon)

Court of Mantua• Mantua was farming region along Po River, overthrown by

Bonacolsi family & then overthrown by Gonzaga family • Mantua wasa relatively small city, their right to rule not widely

recognized, had to construct forts & had to gain recognition of right to rule so bought title of duke & maintained diplomatic relations with other European courts

• Established schools (Giocosa) & Lodovico brought Renaissance to Mantua by inviting Pisanello to create Arthurian frescoes for palace

• Summoned Andrea Mantegna (leading Northern Italian painter) to create “Camera degli Sposi” portraits of Gonzagas in imitation of Roman imperial portrait medallions

Achievements in Music• Musicians became as highly prized as artists at court; organized organists, choir singers hired by churches,

trumpeters hired by cities, composers & performers hired by wealthy; Standardized music notations; Music open to women as performers

• Burgundian School favored secular choral music, most prominent forms were the four formes fixes (rondeau, ballade, virelai, and bergerette), rondeau was most popular & played in three voices, and in French with uppermost voice (the "superius") was texted with the other voices most likely played by instruments in only one stanza

• Most composers also wrote religious music in Latin but instrumental dance music flowered and thrived • Flemish composers of the time often based the cantus firmus on a popular melody of the day, composing new

music for the other voices in counterpoint to the tune. The simultaneous interweaving of several melodic lines (usually four: soprano, alto, tenor, bass) in a musical composition is known as polyphony (Four different vocal harmonies playing against one another with no instrumental accompaniment)

• Franco-Flemish composers: Josquin des Pres (1445-1521) & Clement Jannequin (1485-1558)• Guillaume Du Fay (1397–1474) various musical offerings included motets and masses for church and chapel

services, many of whose large musical structures were based on existing Gregorian chant• Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594) Italian composer of motets & masses for church & chapel with

following characteristics: flow of music is dynamic, not rigid or static, melody should contain few leaps between notes & iff a leap occurs, it must be small and immediately countered by stepwise motion in the opposite direction, dissonances are to be confined to passing notes and weak beats & if one falls on a strong beat, it is to be immediately resolved

• Polychoral style of Venetian School involved spatially separate choirs singing in alternation with groups of brass & string instruments

• Instruments: violin, lyre, harpsichord; Creation of oboe, chlavicord, viol

Humanism outside Italy• Princes, courts outside Italy sent messages with art they

commissioned• Dukes construct castles, villas, hunting lodges & adorn with

pictures, scenes to emphasize specific virtues & their right to rule• Palaces, gardens, villas were where most wealthy entertain peers,

do business, debate politics; Artists work for glory of court & create commissioned portraits

• Most interested in moral & religious reform than in politics (renewal of Christian life & reinvigoration of Church) but still concentrated on a renewal based on a deep understanding & imitation of past

• Felt that clergy was too wealthy & ignorant but laymen were uneducated & superstitious so needed educational institutions to unearth & publish Christian texts, record local customs & history

Spread of Renaissance around Europe

***While Renaissance humanism affected a portion of Europe, it DID NOT affect ALL sectors of population but remained immensely significant to European history

• Portugal began to flourish after Italian merchants invest in Indian commerce• Mediterranean possessions of Aragon & Castile (Spain), Miguel Cervante’s “Don

Quixote”• Elizabethan Era in England, Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spencer, Milton• Medici married French King Henry• Development of printing press in Germany in 1456 by Johannes Gutenberg helps

spread knowledge, encourages individual learning, & people begin to question; House of Habsburg (Austria/Prussia) “Doktor Faustus” (1657)

• Italian traders move to Hungary, King of Hungary marries Beatrice of Naples making Buda a Renaissance center in the North

• Russia’s Prince Ivan III invited Renaissance architects, Cathedral of Dormition in Kremlin, Palace of Facets, Cathedral of Archangel, invention of stone tented roof, secular portrait paintings, adoption of printing by Fydorov, spread of woodcuts & lubok printing, cannon casting, development of vodka through distillation

When did it end?

• On May 6, 1527 an army of Spanish Catholics and Lutherans led by Charles III (as directed by Charles V) marched into Rome rebelliously to plunder, loot and pillage for eight days

• Inflicted harsh treatment upon those who were directly associated with the Roman Catholic Church, most notably priests, monks, and nuns

• Marked the end of Rome as the capital of the Renaissance world, challenged the authority of the Roman Catholic Church, marked a considerable advance for Protestantism