Transcript The Renaissance

The Renaissance
Bell Ringer Activity
• “Imagine you are living in Florence, Italy immediately following
the Black Death. You have survived, but many around you have
not. Describe your environment, how you feel, and what
advantages you have now.
Boccacio’s Decameron
• Book about a small group of young men and women who fled
Florence to stay in a small villa in the countryside to attempt to
wait out the Black Death.
• They share stories of their lives, some funny some terrifying
• Gives us a great idea of the hardships experienced by these
Medieval Europeans.
• The Decameron
Boccacio’s Decameron
• “And times without number it happened, that as two priests,
bearing the cross, were on their way to perform the last office
for some one, three or four biers were brought up by the porters
in rear of them, so that, whereas the priests supposed that they
had but one corpse to bury, they discovered that there were six or
eight, or sometimes more. Nor, for all their number, were their
obsequies honored by either tears or lights or crowds of mourners
rather, it was come to this, that a dead man was then of no more
account than a dead goat would be today.”
Renaissance Beginnings
• What forces drove the new way of thinking in Italy and eventually
all of Europe?
• What impact did the Black Death have in this?
• Why did this new way of thought occur?
Renaissance
1. Increased trade with Asia and other regions
2. Growth of large, wealthy city-states in Italy
3. Renewed interest in classical learning of Greece and Rome
4. Rise of rich and powerful merchants, who became patrons of
the arts
• 5. Increased desire for scientific and technical knowledge
• 6. Desire to beautify cities
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Renaissance
• Following the Black Death in Europe a desire to celebrate life and
the human spirit emerges
• There begins to be questions regarding the old institutions
• Italy is primed for something to happen and change the course of
Western history forever
Italy
• Italy has several advantages to help lead the Renaissance
movement
1. City States (Florence, Naples, Venice)
2. Wealthy Merchant Class (Medici)
3. Return to the Classics (humanism)
Italian City-States
• These city-states grew powerful and wealthy due to:
• Overseas trade
• Europe was mostly rural, Italy mostly urban
• 60% had died from Black Death, survivors could demand higher
wages, inability to expand business leads merchants to the arts
Italian Merchant Class
• These wealthy families developed in each City State
• Medici family of Florence most notable and powerful
• Citizens could be intensely involved politically
• These families didn’t inherit social rank, they achieved through
their own wits.
• Believed power and wealth due to individual achievement not
birth right
Return to the Classics
• Big push from scholars to study Greek and Roman texts
• Wanted to regain knowledge lost during the Dark Ages
• Drew from Roman and Greek ruins to learn about art and
architecture
• Studied all the Latin Manuscripts
• Brought back Greek manuscripts from Constantinople in 1453
• These help create new outlook on life and art celebrating the human body
and spirit. This is called Humanism.
Humanism
• Intellectual movement that focused on human potential and
achievement
• No more trying to make the classics fit Christian teachings
• Try to evaluate the classics to understand ancient values to help
shape modern ideals and morals
• Popularize the study of the humanities (history, literature,
philosophy)
Effects of Humanism
• Movement away from the piety of Middle Ages
• No more plain, rough clothes or bad food
• Now wanted luxuries, good music, fine foods, wine
• Most remain Catholic, however spirit of Age is secular and
concerned with here and now. (why would this be so?)
• This includes Church leaders becoming worldly as they lived in
beautiful mansions, threw lavish parties, and wore expensive
clothes
Effects of Humanism
• The arts become widely supported
• Church leaders, merchants, wealthy families all become patrons
supporting artists financially
• By displaying the works publically, wealthy families could
demonstrate their importance and power to the whole community
The Renaissance Man
• Writers said that all educated people should create art
• That one should strive to master almost every area of study and
be physically adept in riding, hunting, fighting
• Desire to become a “universal man”
• Bladassare Castiglione writes The Courtier in 1528 which teaches
how to be a Renaissance Man
• Should be charming, witty, well educated, dance, sing, play
music, write poetry, skilled rider, wrestler, and swordsman
The Renaissance Woman
• Should know the Classics and be charming
• Inspire arts but rarely create them
• Most had little political influence
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Isabella d’Este
Powerful woman who married the ruler of Mantua
Brought artists to her court and created massive art collection
Was a skilled politician, defending Mantua and negotiated release of her
husband from captors