The+Renaissance+and+the+Inquisition

Renaissance = re-birth of classical culture

• the birth of a NEW spirit of self awareness • sense of relief after a disastrous 14th century • sense of self assertion & celebration of the human spirit / potential • artistic achievement

Middle Ages: AD 500 – AD 1500 Timeline

Renaissance can be dated as 1350-1550, and broken down into three distinct phases: Phase 1: 1350-1400: declining population, rediscovery of classical knowledge Phase 2: 1400-1500: artistic/literary achievements, population +, govt. stabilized Phase 3: 1500-1550: Fr. / Sp. Invasions spread the Renaissance to all of Europe

Environment

Italian cities never totally disappeared as they had in the rest of Europe • Late Middle Ages Italian cities represented 25% of the population • By 1500 7/10 of the largest cities were Italian • Developed into City-States, cities function as centers of political and religious power

Economics

Changes during the Early Renaissance

• Black Death • Overproduction while demand declined, prices declined, labor supply declined, wages increased • Standard of living increased somewhat for the poor • Wealthy consumption pattern became increasingly conspicuous (lack of motivation for investment, heightened sense of mortality) • Consumption of luxuries placed a higher value on skilled craftsmen (creativity)

Renaissance Art

Art represented a combination of individual talent and predominate social ideals

• Technical innovations - perspective & three dimensionality • Driven by societal demands • Civic architecture - govt. • Portrait painting - reflected the importance of individuals (prestige) • Elite patronized the arts (investment & prestige) and the skill craftsmen (practical) who produced it • Renaissance Art can be broken down into three mediums: architecture, sculpture and painting • Most artists worked in all three mediums

Architecture

• Designed and built by Renaissance Artists (great buildings increased one's fame and prestige) • Middle Ages: Gothic Architecture, pointed arches, vaulted ceilings, slender spires, large windows, flying buttresses. Goal was to overwhelm the viewer with the power and might of god. • Renaissance = reincorporation of classical features

Brunelleschi - combined gothic and classical architecture (Florence Cathedral)

Sculpture

Donatello: created a flowing sense of reality, especially in the robes and clothes of his subjects • Judith Slaying Holofernes (1455), demonstrated perspective and is free standing

Painting

Massaccio: used light and shading to create perspective, increased the display of human emotion (the human experience became the subject of the painting) • The Expulsion of Adam and Eve (1425) • The Holy Trinity (1425)

Piero Della Francesca • The Resurrection (1463) - displayed technical innovations

Botticelli: famous for classical themes and bright colors • The Birth of Venus (1478) • Spring (1478)

Leonardo da Vinci: Great master famous for observation of detail and use of perspective • The Last Supper (1495-98) • La Giocada (Mona Lisa)

Michelangelo • Pieta: sculpture of Madonna, new representation • David: union of classical sculpture and Renaissance style • Sistine Chapel: portrays a narrative of the Christian creation myth • St. Peter's Basilica: Begun by Bramante, finished by Michelangelo

Renaissance Ideals

Humanism: reaction to an intellectual world that was centered on the church doctrine

• Secular outlook, NOT NECESSARILY anti-religious • Emphasis on human achievement • Studied and taught “humanities–liberal arts • Liberal Arts: rhetoric, grammar, moral philosophy, philology and history • intent: boost the abilities of the individual to reason and think • Philology: study of words, their origins and correct usage provided the first challenge of humanist thought to the Church intellectual tradition

Civic Humanism

Nicolo Machiavelli: The Prince (1513), discussion of amorality in civic leadership and Discourses on Livy (1519) Impact: 1. Intertwining of Classical and Renaissance worlds 2. Explained how and why Princes gained and maintained power 3. Represents the first purely secular understanding of govt. = removed divine authority 4. First attempt to explain the actions of govt. using a scientific methodology

The Politics of the Italian City-States • The collapse of the Holy Roman Empire and the Great Schism left no unifying force in Italy

• Guilds and powerful families took over regional governments: 1. Mediterranean trade enriched guild members and merchant families 2. HRE provided a vast market for manufactured goods of the Italian guilds 3. City-states had enough agriculture to sustain their populations

Five Powers of Italy: • Papal States: Rome. Politics dominated by the Pope and a collection of powerful families. • Florence: Republic on paper, but came under the control of the Medici faction. • Milan: Located just south of the Alps, Milan provided manufactured goods to the French and HRE • Naples: Hereditary monarchy. Eventually taken over by Spanish • Venice: Key to their success was their role in Mediterranean trade. • Impact: Italy exported manufactured goods, capital resources and cultural innovations.

Decline of Italian City-States:

• Established the Peace of Lodi: Major powers would not fight one another • Instead they gobbled up the rest of Italy • Massive mistrust developed • Rise of the Ottoman Turks o Mehmed II Conquered Constantinople in 1453 and threatened Eastern Europe o Cut off much of the profitable trade that the Italian City-States relied on • Wars of Italy (1494-1529) • Naples, Florence & Rome v. Milan + France (secret alliance) • Venetians allied with Spain / HRE • Result: Almost everyone in Europe is fighting in Italy, but the Italians • Germans Sack Rome in 1527, significance is that it ends the Renaissance in Italy

The Renaissance Spreads

• Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press in Germany in the 1450s • Soon presses were set up throughout northern Europe • The Bible and works from the Italian Renaissance Humanists spread to northern Europe • A Humanist tradition began to take root there in a different direction

Northern Renaissance

• Christian Humanism: emphasis on early church writings for answers to improve society

• Desiderius Erasmus (Erasmus of Rotterdam) (1466-1536) – In Praise of Folly most famous intellectual of his times criticized the church: “Erasmus lay the egg that Luther hatched”

• Thomas More (1478-1536) – Utopia – creates ideal society on an island; but to achieve harmony and order people have to sacrifice individual rights

• Myscticism: belief in personal relationship with God

The Inquisition (Inquiro = “to inquire into”) • Spanned both the Middle Ages and the Renaissance in different regions • Purpose was to maintain orthodoxy or original faith in Catholic Church • In Middle Ages, its main purpose was to fight heresy. • In the Renaissance, its main purpose was to fight Protestantism.