Transcript The Renaissance and Exploration - Reeths

The Renaissance and
Exploration
1300 - 1600 C.E.
Take notes in red.
The Renaissance
• Began in Northern Italy around 1300 while England
and France were in the Hundred Years War
• Why Italy?
• Urban region, trading cities such as Genoa, Venice and
Florence
• Lots of powerful merchants who focused on trade – took
pride in their achievements
• Focus was on the individual
• Patrons sponsored art
New Values Shape the Renaissance
• Celebration of the individual – people wanted
recognition and credit for their work, not doing it all for
the glory of God
• Portraits and autobiographies are written
• Love of classical learning
• Looked down on Medieval times as the “Dark Ages”
• Humanists – studied classical texts, history and language arts
– thought all people should study this
The Renaissance Man
• Strove to master almost every art
• The Courtier – told people how to
become worthy of admiration
• Well educated in the classics
• Charming, polite, witty
• Dance, sing, play music and write
poetry
• Physically graceful and strong, skilled
rider, wrestler, and swordsman
The Renaissance Woman
• Upper class women are as well
educated as men
• Charming, know the classics, write
well, make music, paint, and dance
• Women are better educated than in the
Middle Ages, but are actually less
influential in politics, economics and
social affairs
Florence Led the Way
• In the 1400’s the Medici were a wealthy banking and
trading family who dominated politics
• Cosimo de Medici made sure all city counsel members were
loyal to him
• Spent money on beautifying the city with art – created first
free public library, his son and grandson continued this
tradition while maintaining political control of Florence
Michelangelo
• Lived and worked with the Medici
family
• The Sistine Chapel is one of his
most famous works
Leonardo Da Vinci
• Both a scientist and artist
– a genius
• Invented many machines
for many purposes, from
making metal screws to
the idea of making man
fly
• Painted “The Last
Supper” and “The Mona
Lisa”
The end of the Renaissance
• New styles became popular in the 1600’s
• Ideals of Renaissance thought continue to influence
Western ideas today about the importance of the
individual
• Gives rise to more democratic (people ruling) ideas
Age of Exploration
Explorers Discover New Lands
New Spirit of the Renaissance
• How did the new ideas and values of the Renaissance
lead to the Age of Exploration?
• During Leonardo’s time, Portuguese sailors charted
the coast of Africa and discovered new continents.
The Individual
• Explorers wanted to obtain individual glory, they
were curious, ambitious, and confident just like
Renaissance artists.
Factors that encouraged
exploration
• Search for spices and profits
• Crusades led to demand for more goods from Asia
• Italian merchants controlled Eastern Mediterranean, the spice trade made
them money
• Wanted a route free of Turks – religious hostilities were high
More Factors in Exploring
• Wanted to spread Christianity
• New Technology
• Caravel – ship with triangular sails for tacking into the wind,
square ones for running before the wind
• Astrolabe – used stars to decipher where on the earth one
was in relation to the equator
• Compass – indicates your direction
Portuguese exploration
• 1420 – Prince Henry create a school for navigation –
He was a patron of exploration
• First successful expeditions brought gold and slaves
from Africa, later ivory as well
• Gold Coast at Ghana
• This encouraged further exploration – want to reach
the Indies
Explorations around Africa
• Bartholomeu Dias – reached Cape of Good Hope, southern
most tip of Africa
• Vasco da Gama – 1497, he took 4 ships to India, first to round
the Cape of Good Hope
• Led to Portuguese domination of trade on Indian Ocean, gave them a
direct sea route to India, China and Spice Islands
“In 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean
blue.”
• Columbus convinced Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand of
Spain to sponsor his quest across the Atlantic to reach India
• he estimated this would only be 2,000 miles
• Thought the world was round, wanted to reach Japan too
• Nina, Pinta and Sana Maria were names of ships
• Landed in the Bahamas, didn’t find the spices, but found natives and
exotic birds and fruit
So why do we give him
such credit?
• Viking voyages had landed in the Americas first.
• Columbus’s exploration led to lasting and permanent
settlements…
• What else did it lead to?
Ferdinand Magellan
• Portuguese sailor sailed round the world, funded by
Spain with 5 ships and crews
• The trip took 3 years and cost most their lives, not an
easy trip
• Proved the Americas were separate continents.
• Proved the world was much larger than anyone had
thought.