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Rainer – APEH 2016-17

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AP EUROPEAN HISTORY

The Renaissance

P O L I T I C A L

New Monarchies & Italian City-States Post the Hundred Years’ War and the Black Death, some regions were organized into national monarchies where leaders imposed their will – forming modern nation-states like in France, England and Spain. Italy, however, was made up of a collection of city-states including the most significant ones ruled by powerful families. Medieval Kings

Most income from own estates and money from vassals

Went to war with vassals who owed military service in exchange for land

Relied on nobles for advice and counsel

War, taxed peasants, administered and enforced laws – all things done by sovereign states

Shared power with the Church and were subordinate to the Pope

New Monarchs

Kept feudal income while taxing towns, merchants, and peasants

Professional armies paid from royal treasury but costly

Centralized administrative bureaucracy – educated and loyal middle-class officials

Had new relationship with the Catholic Church

How/why did medieval kings transform to new monarchs?

Growing towns formed alliances with kings

Kings would hire loyal merchants and townspeople for bureaucratic jobs – taking away power of aristocracy – weakening further the feudal system

Clergy and nobility in decline thanks to 100 Years’ War and Great Schism

Innovation in military weapons increased power of the rulers – gun-powdered cannonballs could breach stone castle walls – muzzle-loaded firearms could fire volleys

Growth of towns meant more prosperous middle class that wanted peace and order (i.e. strong central leadership)

Centralized administration gave them more control over commerce and trade

THE NEW MONARCHS FRANCE

Consolidated monarchy thanks to its victory over England in the Hundred Years’ War and collapse of Burgundy

Charles VII

Successfully ended the Hundred Years’ War and got England out of France

Enacted tax on land (taille) and the gobelle (salt), which would strengthen the royal treasury for 300 years

Permanent royal army (he employed 60 castle sieges in a year) Louis XI (r 1461-1483)

Enlarged the army

Promoted new industries like silk-weaving


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Francis I (r 1515—1547)

First to be called “Your Majesty”

Concordat of Bologna (1516) – authorized the king to nominate high church officials – gave them administrative control over the Church

P O L I T I C A L

ENGLAND

Political upheaval from the War of the Roses civil war from 1450-1485 – Richard III was defeated by Henry Tudor, aka Henry VII – he consolidated the power of the English monarchy Henry VII (r 1455-1509)

Created the Star Chamber – court to try nobles – secretive, no jury, no witnesses, no appeals

Used Justices of the Peace to extend his authority in countryside

Expanded merchant marine and wool industry Henry VIII (r 1509-1547)

Declared king head of Church of England – cutting ties with the Catholic Church

Dissolved monasteries – too their land and their wealth SPAIN

In the Middle Ages, Castile and Aragon were the strongest kingdoms

Isabelle of Castille and Ferdinand of Aragon married to create a powerful monarchy

Monarchy embodied state power: secured borders, went to the New World, took control of the Catholic Church in Spain

Allowed Castile and Aragon to keep their own administrative institutions like courts

But had a royal council of wealthy bureaucrats, NOT aristocrats

Kept a professional army – by 1500s was the strongest in Europe

Conquered Granada from Muslims (Reconquista) and declared Spain a Christian state

Isabelle and Ferdinand and the Church

Gave themselves the right to appoint church officials

Started the Spanish Inquisition in 1478 – expelled Jews and Muslims and verts who were thought to be genuine

Brought in a uniformity of religious beliefs

1492 – edict expelling all Jews from Spain and in 1502, ordered all Muslims convert or leave

“one king, one law, one faith” NO CENTRALIZATION = HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE

The center of the HRE = modern Germany

1200s it was a collection of individual principalities, city-states, ecclesiastical states, all under “control” of an elected Holy Roman Emperor

Only 7 elector states could choose the emperor, though

Hapsburg family ruled from 1452+ and always dealt with internal conflicts plus threats from Turks and the French in the Italian states


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THE ITALIAN CITY STATES

P O L I T I C A L

&

E C O N O M I C

Italy was a collection of city-states (smaller ones plus 5 dominant ones) ruled by powerful families.

5 dominant city-states

Florence

Papal States

Naples

Milan

Venice

City states were technically republics but were dominated by oligarchies (in part because of no hereditary kings)

Rich merchants and aristocrats often intermarried to increase their wealth and power

These wealthy families dominated the political, economic and artistic life in Italy

Commoners were excluded from voting and citizenship

City-states had lots of conflicts that prevented unity but Naples, Milan, and Florence signed the Treaty of Lodi (1454) to agree to peace.

Fierce competition and inability to cooperate left Italians vulnerable to invasions. French and Spanish rivalries spilled into Italy and led Rome to being sacked in 1527 and the Spanish getting power in the region.

Italy will not be unified until 1870!

Renaissance Italy started the resident ambassador system – developed a protocol on treatment of ambassadors and how to do diplomatic business

What was the Renaissance?

Started around 1350 and spread to most of southern and northern Europe.

Was a recovery (or “rebirth”) from the crises of the Middle Ages

Renewed interest in classical civilizations

New appreciation for the individual

New artistic styles Florence – the Renaissance City Why did the Renaissance start in Florence?

Seed was the revival of trade in 22th century – Italian cities developed into vibrant urban communities – merchants were experts at bookkeeping and creating commodities monopolies

In 1300s hurt by competition from the Hanseatic League, commercial and military alliance of 100+ northern German cities and guilds who controlled Baltic trade

Also hurt by the plague

Rebounded in 15th century and its trade fueled the Renaissance

Wool, silks, glassware and mining

But the big thing was BANKING. Economic growth needed commercial support so it became very lucrative

Medici – largest bank in Europe fueled the rise of Florence and the Roman Catholic Church and synonymous with Renaissance Florence – paid for libraries, churches, commissioned artwork, Florentine Neoplatonic Academy


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I N T E L L E C T U A L

Intellectual Shifts The Renaissance was ushered in by a profound shift of political and intellectual thought. Medieval = spiritual values and salvation Humanism - the defining intellectual movement

Celebrates secularism and individualism

Humanists = writers and teachers

Liberal arts

Classical works

Encouraged skepticism of traditional authorities like the Catholic Church

Why did individualism find a home in Italy? No inherited social rank so success was of their own skill, artists wanted recognition, portraiture, Oration on the Dignity of Man

Most writers wrote in the vernacular (language of the ordinary people in a region) Petrarch – the “Father of Humanism”

Promoted the study of classical Greece and Rome

Scorned medieval art and literature – came up with the “Dark Ages” for the Middle Ages

Civic virtue

Study of classical scholars – Pico della Mirandola formed humanist societies like the Florentine Platonic Academy, supported by the Medicis

Lots of humanist schools and tutors followed

Education for elite – humanities like grammar, poetry, rhetoric, history, ethics

Started to free education from the Catholic Church

Printing press led to rapid growth of lay education

Demand for books was huge

Educated population questioned the status quo

Also allowed for huge increase in religious materials – Bibles, prayer books Baldassarre Castiglione - The Courtier (medieval = study God, Renaissance – classics to understand human nature)

“universal man” excelled in many fields

Ideal courtier = polite, charming, dancer, poet, singer, musician, strong, grateful

Court lady = well-educated and charming but not to seek fame – she is expected to inspire art but not create it

Niccolo Machiavelli – The Prince (1513)

Lorenzo the Magnificent (a Medici) dies in 1492 and leaves Italy without a strong leader

France tries to take Naples but Spain contests its claim

Starts a conflict known as the Habsburgs-Valois Wars – involved all the major Italian city-states

Machiavelli was appalled by the devastation

“the whole land of Italy is without a head, without order, beaten, spoiled, torn in pieces, overrun and abandoned to destruction in every shape”

He wrote The Prince to advise Italian rulers on how they should be ruthless to unite Italy

Pessimistic view of people (selfish, untrustworthy, corrupt) had Machiavelli believe a prince had to be strong like a lion and shrewd like a fox

The ends justify the means – expediency more important than moral conscience


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S O C I A L

Social Structure during Renaissance 3 Estates

1. Clergy – only subject to laws of church and most paid no taxes 2. nobility – owned most land in Europe, held important political and military positions, during

Renaissance expected to get a classical education (see The Courtier) 3. everyone else – continued to diversity but peasants were still 90% of Europe ; merchants and

artisans gained some wealth and influence

Bottom: Slaves –

slave markets had exited for couple of hundred years with Muslim slaves sold to Spanish families

After the plague, the market expended because of a labor shortage and so they were imported from Africa, the Balkans, Constantinople – most from Eastern Mediterranean and Black Sea areas

Owners had total control but they w ere expensive so they usually treated them decently

Family/Gender in the Renaissance Marriages were often arranged for business – women were typically 16-18 years and men 30-40s

Men were the decision-makers and women ran larges estates while husbands were away, so did the poor

Aristocrats used wet nurses so she could have a lot of children so working class had fewer kids.

Wives would help husbands in business (merchants, farming)

Some prostitution

Most women had no political rights – lower in states and lost memberships in guilds The Outliers: querelle des femmes– the debate about women – What is their role in society and their character, nature?

Christine de Pizan (1364-1430) – known as the “First Feminist”

First female writer to earn a living that way

Wrote about women to refute “masculine myths” Isabella d’Este (1475-1539) – First Lady of the Renaissance

Most famous Renaissance woman

Aristocrat and art patron of many of the greatest artists

Only elite women experienced changes due to Humanism

Most lives did not change – they still could not be in guilds or have civil rights

Childbearing and raising restricted their freedoms

A R T

Renaissance Art

Same as medieval – religion themes, especially in northern Europe

Different than medieval: secular and classical themes – thanks to humanism

Portraiture popular due to individualism

Advances in math and science changed art – colors more realistic, more realistic portrayal of anatomy, perspective

First nudes since classical times

Realistic portrayals was the primary goal of artists


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Status of artists increased – regarded as geniuses, not just craftsmen Characteristics of Italian Renaissance art

Perspective – illusion of depth and was foundation of European painting for 500 years

Chiaroscuro – blending of light and shade – creates illusion of volume

Pyramid configuration – Byzantine and medieval art had subjects in line, Renaissance art has them in a pyramid configuration

Classical forms and subjects – they did NOT abandon religion but would combine the classical and religious

A R T

Byzantine – no perspective, Jesus looks

like miniature man

Perspective and realism - Jesus looks like a child plus also pyramid configuration

Chiascurro Birth of Venus – classical figures


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FAMOUS RENAISSANCE ART Michelangelo’s David

reminiscent of Greece and Rome

Defiantly faces Goliath – metaphor for Florence victory over Milan

Raphael – The School of Athens Plato & Aristotle dominate; includes portraits of his contemporaries (Raphael on far right) – order, unity, symmetry

Piero della Francesca - Battista Sforza e Federico da Montefeltro

State portraits of a duke and his wife

Celebrates the power of aristocratic elites


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Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel

Combines the classical and the religious

Shows the power of the Renaissance papacy

Creation of Adam – Adam is built like a Greek god


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I N T E L L E C T U A L,

E C O N O M I C

A N D

R E L I G I O U S

The Northern Renaissance How did the Renaissance ideals and art spread to northern Europe?

Late 1400s, northern European students studied art in Italy

Merchants from Low Countries, Germany, France, England also traveled to Italy Christian Humanism

Northern humanism often called Christian humanism because specifically wanted Christian content

Classical values of calmness with Christian virtues of piety, humility, love

Wanted moral and institution reform Erasmus (1466-1536) – Dutch - “Prince of the Humanists”

Sometimes called the “greatest scholar of his age”

The Praise of Folly – satire that made fun of greedy merchants, pompous priests, bickering scholars – especially took on church leaders for immorality, hypocrisy

Was devout Catholic who wanted to reform the Church

Also wrote “Education of a Christian Prince” saying prince had moral obligations to his subjects Thomas More (1478-1535) – Utopia

Leading humanist scholar in England

Utopia – imaginary place off Americas that featured religious toleration, humanist education for men and women, and communal ownership of property

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)

French – started essays as literature genre

Printing Press

Gutenberg – first one in 1455

By 1500, presses in 200 cities and 8-20 million books

HUGE IMPACT – REVOLUTIONARY

HUMANIST WORKS SPREAD ACROSS Europe

Authorities couldn’t suppress dissenting opinions

Also let monarchs quickly spread royal decrees


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Northern Renaissance Art

A R T

Characteristics:

Oil painting – first to use it and allowed artists to paint really very precisely – meticulously detailed (van Eyck painting has reflection in mirror)

Everyday objects often disguised symbolism

Different from Italian in that those artists often had large cathedral walls to do frescos, northern churches were more gothic so they often painted on a smaller scale on wood panels

Jan van Eyck – Flemish Pioneer in oil painting

Albrect Durer Fully absorbed innovation of Italian Renaissance Known for woodcuts and self-portraits


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A R T

Durer woodcuts

Hans Holbien the Younger

Blended Northern Renaissance realism with Italian balance, proportion and perspective

Portraits of Erasmus, Thomas More and Henry VIII

Painting of Henry VIII visually expressed the rising power of the monarchs

Erasmus

Sir Thomas More Henry VIII

the renaissance - deer park high school · florence – the renaissance city ... involved all the...

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