European Renaissance1350 - 1600

What was the Renaissance?…a “rebirth in learning and doing”…a “challenge of the status quo”…encouragement within society to

“think outside of the box”…the beginning of the modern era in world history, by recreating the greatness of the

classical civilizations…an incredible time in which thinking leapt beyond the capabilities of civilization

Where did the Renaissance take place at?

… modern-day Italy (Florence, Rome, Venice, Milan and Naples)

... thus spreading throughout all of Europe from Italy to Germany,

France, the Netherlands and, eventually, England.

Who, or what, was effected by the Renaissance?

… “everyone” was in one way or another affected by the renaissance ideas.

… areas that changed, included artistic, literary, religious, scientific, exploratory and commercial endeavors at every level of society.

How and why did the Renaissance happen?

… a strong desire, or thirst, for knowledge that had been forgotten about since classical times.

… out of necessity, as society was too curious about every aspect of life and existence, which led to a “rebirth” in human curiosity.

Areas

of the

Renaissance

Art: life-like realism in society; religious influence; idealism.

Literature: tragedy, comedy, drama; entertainment with messages about society.

Religion: religious controversy that split church into Roman Catholic and Protestant.

Science: seeking the truth about the reality of nature; science vs. religion/superstition.

Exploration: discovery; exploration and conquest; “Glory, God and Gold”.

Commercial: global banking; world markets and economies.

Arts

Humanism: a study of classical Greek and Roman culture

Petrarch: 1st humanist; created libraries and encouraged knowledge

Patron: a supporter of the arts

De Medici: a wealthy Italian family who supported renaissance art

Donatello: life-like statues and sculptures with classical influence

Raphael: combine Christian and classical images; School of Athens

Michelangelo: sculptor and painter; La Pieta, David, Moses and Sistine Chapel

Da Vinci: “true renaissance man”; artist, inventor, designer, painter, scientist…; Mona Lisa, Last Supper

Anguissola: “female” court painter

Brunelleschi: architect and designer; domes

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Durer: copper and woodcut engravings; book illustrations

Van Eyck: realistic paintings of town life

Bruegel: paintings of countryside and village scenes; criticized problems in society

Rubens: combination painter; classical and realistic daily life

Literature

Castiglione: writer; handbook for idealistic court behavior; “well-rounded” person; ideal man and woman

Machiavelli: described ideal governments and leaders; “feared than loved”; The Prince

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Erasmus: church needs to return to simple message of bible; wrote about ending church corruption

More: wrote about an ideal society; “utopia”

Rabelias: editorials about society; Gargantua and Pantagruel

Shakespeare: playwright; plays of virtue and mortality; Hamlet, Macbeth, Romeo/Juliet and Julius Caesar

Cervantes: mocked medieval society and chivalry; Don Quixote

Guttenberg: printing press; allows knowledge and learning to become widespread

Religion

Roman-Catholic: dominant religion of Europe, but seen as flawed by many

Indulgences: selling of pardons for sins by the church; corrupt means of making money; leads to Christian church split

Luther: disliked church corruption and encouraged change; posted 95 theses; founder of Protestant church

Peace of Augsburg: (1555) meeting that allowed religious freedom in Europe; Roman-Catholic and Protestant

Protestant (North)

Vs.

Catholic (South)

Science

Ptolemy: “geocentric”

theory of universe; earth-centered

Copernicus: “heliocentric” theory of universe; sun-centered

Brahe: astronomy

Kepler: orbits of planets

Galileo: 1st telescope; “heliocentric” ideas contradicted church; Inquisition

Scientific Method: logical method to discover ‘truth’ and knowledge

Bacon: science can help humanity conquer nature and end suffering

Decartes: everything must be proven; inquiry; “I think therefore I am”

Newton: greatest scientist; motion and gravity; opened scientific thinking

Boyle: chemistry

Vesalius: anatomy; muscle and tissue

Pare: infections; stitches

Harvey: heart; circulation of the blood

Leeuwenhoek: microscope

Age of Exploration

…Renaissance ideas led to global curiosity and discovery, thus leading to further exploration with the way being paved by the leading nations of Europe…

Portugal

Spain

England

France

Netherlands

Characteristics of exploration…Commercial Revolution (money-lending) encouraged new ideas, methods and voyagesDesire to reach the exotic Far East wealth and luxury goods…by-pass the dangers of the Silk Road“Glory, God and Gold”Collision of cultures…”superior vs. inferior”…cultural destruction

Age of Exploration Explorers -Dias (1487-1488)

Portugal rounded southern tip

of Africa

Columbus (1492)SpainWest Indies/ New World

Da Gama (1497-1498)Portugal 1st to reach India

Vespucci (1497-1502)Spain West Indies, South American coastline, “Americas”

Cabral (1500)Portugal Brazilian coast

Balboa (1513)Spain Pacific Ocean

Magellan (1509-1522)Spain 1st to circumnavigate the globe

De Leon (1513) Spain“Fountain of Youth”

Cortes (1519-1521)Spain Conquered Aztecs

Pizarro (1531) SpainConquered Incas

Coronado (1540-1542)Spain American Southwest

Drake (1577-1580) England1st English explorer to circumnavigate the globe

…to finance all of the above endeavors from arts, literature, religion, science and exploration; the renaissance needed “means” to gain their “ends”. So to fulfill this monetary need, monarchies, patrons and other sources stepped up to support the renaissance spirit. These supporters also included the…

Dutch

&

Jews

…these financial sources lead to the creation of the Commerical Revolution, or modern-day banking…

…all of these incredible events and intriguing people changed the world and laid the foundation for the modern society.

European Renaissance1350 - 1600