Jordan Nguyen

Period 1
Chapter 12 Outline
Recovery and Rebirth: The Age of the Renaissance

I. Meaning and Characteristics of the Renaissance

• The word Renaissance comes from “rebirth”
• Jacob Burckhardt was the creator of the modern concept of the
Renaissance in his book Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
A. Urban Society
• Italy in the mid-fourteenth centuries was mostly independent cities
that became centers of Italian economical, political, and social life.
B. Age of Recovery
• Renaissance a recovery in Italy and Europe from the Black Death,
political disorder, and economic recession.
C. Rebirth of Classical Culture
• Rebirth of classic antiquity such as Greco-Roman culture, which
lead to new viewings on human beings.
D. Recovery of the Individual
• Human beings were perceived as having potential to achieve in
many areas of life.
II. Making of Renaissance Society
• During the Reniassance the economy recovered from the Black
Plague
A. Economic Recovery
1. Hanseatic League
• The league of North German coastal towns who controlled
European trade in timber, fish, grain, metals, honey, and wines.
2. Wool and Silk
• The woolen and silk industry began to recover in the fifteenth
century at the same time Italian cities expanded the luxury
industry.
3. Banking
• The city of Florence was the main banking city due to the Medici
family.
• The Medici were the main bankers until their property was
confiscated in 1494 by the French due to bad leadership.
B. Social Changes
• The Renaissance had 3 social estates from the Middle Ages: The
Clergy, the Nobility, and the Peasants and inhabitants of towns.
1. Domination of the Nobility
• Although only 2-3% of the population, nobles were dominant
because they served as military leaders, advised the king, and took
up education in order to take part in the government.
2. Courtly Society in Castiglione’s Courtier
 • Had 3 attributes to being a perfect courtier: should practice in
military, should have a good education and a liking for arts, and
should show off their achievements modestly.
• Goal was for the nobles to serve their prince effectively and
honestly.
3. Peasants and Townspeople
• The third estate making up 85-90% of the population.
• Decline of serfdom, lords freeing the peasants and accepted their
rent; more effective for the lords.
• The top of this society was the wealthy patriarchs. Below them
were those who provided goods and services for the community,
such as shop keepers.
4. Slavery
• Slavery grew after the Black Death due to shortage of work.
• Slaves were mostly skilled workers, making handcrafts or working
at home, in Italian cities.
• The Italian market obtained most of their slaves from the eastern
Mediterranean and the Black Sea.
• 1414-1423 10,000 slaves were sold, most of which were young
girls.
• Slavery declined by the end of the 15th century.
5. Families
• Families were maintained through careful attention of marriages.
• Arranged marriages were made in order to strengthen family ties.
• Dowry could either move you up or down on the social ladder for
the woman’s family.
• Most marriages lacked emotional attachment, leading to sexual
license for the male.
• Families had many children to ensure at least one male heir.
III. Italian States in the Renaissance
• The five major states were Milan, Venice, Florence, Naples, and
the Papal states.
A. Major States: Milan, Venice, Florence, Naples, and the Papal States
• Milan lead by Sforza, a leading condottieri, who created a
successful tax system that generated large revenue for the
government.
• The republic of Venice’s commercial empire brought large profit
to the state. End of 14th century embarked to expand their land to
protect their food supply and trade routes.
• Florence was controlled by Cosimo de’ Medici who gave the
appearance of the government being republican. Florence was a
cultural center due to careful courting of political allies.
• Papal States in central Italy were controlled under the popes. The
Great Schism allowed individual cities to become independent of
papal authority.
 • The kingdom of Naples was ruled by the Aragonese who fought
for the land against the French. The state was mostly poverty-
stricken nobles, and had little cultural Renaissance glories.
B. Examples of Federigo da Montefeltro and Isabella d’Este
• Federigo ruled Urbino and received a classical education.
Although he training in fighting, he was known for being a reliable
and honest leader, leading Urbino to be a well-known cultural and
intellectual center.
• Isabella d’Este was a famous female ruler. She was known for her
wisdom and the creation of one of the finest libraries in Italy.
C. Birth of Modern Diplomacy
• Today’s diplomatic system was a product of the Renaissance.
• An ambassador in the Renaissance was to be an agent for the
territorial state that sent him. Did anything that was beneficial to
his state.
D. Machiavelli’s Prince
• The Prince reflected Machiavelli’s ideas on how a ruler should act.
• He believed rulers should not go by morals and should instead do
what is best for the state and let his conscience sleep.
IV. Intellectual Renaissance in Italy
• Renaissance humanism was one of the most important intellectual
movements.
A. Humanism
• Humanism is the study of the classical literary arts of Greece and
Rome.
• The humanities were grammar, rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy,
and history.
• Most humanists were regular people rather than part of the clergy.
1. Petrarch
• Titled the Father of Renaissance Humanism
• First person to characterize the Middle Ages as the Dark Ages
• He ransacked libraries to find ancient Latin classics.
2. Leonardo Bruni
• Florentine patriot who wrote a biography of the Roman Cicero
titled New Cicero.
• He believed humanities should be learned in order to participate in
the state.
3. Lorenzo Valla
• Wrote The Elegances of the Latin Language, in which he
attempted to restore the use of classic Latin over the vernacular.
4. Ficino and the Platonic Academy
• Ficino translated Plato for a living and the Platonic philosophy
known as Neoplatonism.
• Ficino combined Christianity and Platonism into one idea.
 • Hermeticism gave a new view on human kind. Humans had been
created as divine, but willingly chose to enter the real world.
5. Pico della Mirandola
• Pico wrote the Oration of the Dignity of Man, talking about how
man have unlimited potential, and that Hermetic philosophy is the
”science of the Divine”.
B. Education
• Humanists believed education could have a big impact on lives.
1. Vittorino da Feltre and “the Liberal Studies”
• Vittorino created one of the most famous schools in Mantua.
• The school offered the “Liberal Studies” which helped individuals
to reach their full potential.
• The school created complete citizens who could participate in the
community.
2. Pietro Paolo Vergerio’s Concerning Character
• This book shows liberal arts are important because they are the key
to true freedom, enabling individuals to reach their full potential.
C. Humanism and History
• History divided into 3 parts; Ancient times, Dark Ages, Present
day Renaissance.
1. Secularization of History
• Historians reduced God’s miracles in history, and instead searched
for a logical answer as to why things happened.
2. Francesco Guicciardini
• Wrote History of Italy and History of Florence.
• The purpose of history was to teach lessons by emphasizing
political and military history.
D. Impact of Printing
• The printing machine with movable type greatly increased the rate
in which books were made.
1. Johannes Gutenberg’s Bible
• Gutenberg helped to finish the printing machine. His bible was the
first Western book to be finished using it.
2. Scholarly Research and Lay Readership
• With more texts available, more people wanted to read and gain
knowledge.
V. Artistic Renaissance
• The primary goal of artists was to imitate nature.
A. Early Renaissance
• Human beings were the center of attention in art.
1. Masaccio
• Started the realistic style of painting through his use of
monumental figures and demonstration of more realistic
relationships between figures.
2. Uccello
 • Used figures in his art as stage props to show his mastery of
perspective.
3. Botticelli
• Use of well defined figures, but was not as realistic as the other
works of art that characterized early Renaissance.
4. Donatello
• Architect who studied ancient Roman statues, and made the first
lifesize bronze statue since antiquity.
5. Brunelleschi
• Designed the San Lorenzo church with his inspiration of Roman
antiquity architectural monuments
6. Piero della Francesca
• Used facial features in portraits to give an accurate feel on the
person’s character traits.
B. High Renaissance
• The more beautiful the body, the more god-like the art is.
1. Leonardo da Vinci
• The transitional shift to High Renaissance.
• Artist who wanted to go deeper than realism, and looked into
nature and painting characters to show their inner personality.
2. Raphael
• Attempted to achieve beauty in his art far beyond the human
standards.
3. Michelangelo
• Created muscular sculptures which show the ideal body for
humans with perfect proportions.
4. Bramante
• Recaptured the architecture of ancient Rome using columns
surrounded by a sanctuary, enclosed by a dome.
C. Artist and Social Status: Artist as Hero
• Artists went to being viewed as regular people to geniuses due to
their work. Praised for creativity and hard work.
• Artists were welcomed into the high end of the social ladder and
were able to profit as they got more respect.
D. Northern Artistic Renaissance
• Italy and the north had different approaches on art.
• In Italy the human form was the center of attention, and there were
a lot of fresco paintings.
1. Jan Van Eyck
• A northern painter who paid great attention to detail, but lacked in
his views of perspective.
2. Albrecht Durer
• Wrote the Adoration of the Magi, trying to integrate the north and
Italian art into one.
E. Music in the Renaissance
 1. Dufay
• An important composer and the first to use secular tunes as the
melody used in Mass.
2. Madrigal
• Used text-painting, music was used to portray the literal meaning
of the word.
VI. European State in the Renaissance
A. New Monarchies
• In the second half of the 15th century, the European states were
able to reestablish their monarchies.
B. Growth of the French Monarchy
• Suffering from the Hundred Years’ War.
• Needed to get rid of war, excuse for king to gain more authority.
1. Charles VII and the Taille
• Established a royal army of archers and calvary.
• Taille is an annual direct tax on land in order to secure a solid
annual income.
2. Louis XI and Commerce
• Killed Charles the Bold of Burgundy and got his land,
strengthening the French monarchy.
C. England: Civil War and New Monarchy
1. War of the Roses
• The Hundred Years’ war left England in shortage of manpower
and in a bad economy.
• Battle of Lancaster and York, drew many aristocrats into the battle.
2. Henry VII and the Tudors
• Ended the private wars of the nobility; “livery and maintenance”
• Controlled unruly nobles through the Court of the Star Chamber.
• Henry avoided war and calling Parliament to save money.
D. Unification of Spain
1. Ferdinand and Isabella
• United Castile and Aragon from the marriage.
• Realized controlling the Catholic Church meant vast power and
wealth.
• Gave pope the right to select the most important officials in Spain.
2. Expulsion of Muslims and Jews
• Expelled 150,000 out of 200,000 Jews and some Muslims from
Spain in order to have a unified religion.
3. Inquisition
• Worked the guarantee the orthodoxy of Christian converts.
E. Holy Roman Empire: Success of the Habsburgs
• The Habsburgs were successful through carefully planned
marriages.
• By marrying rulers from other areas, the Habsburgs became very
powerful because of so much land.
 F. Struggle for Strong Monarchy in Eastern Europe
• Eastern Europe was controlled by the aristocrats.
• They controlled sejm, the national diet.
• Reduced peasantry to serfdom, and established the right to elect
their kings.
• This made the nobles the main power in Eastern Europe.
G. Ottoman Turks and the End of Byzantium
• The Ottoman Turks spread rapidly through the land, eventually
conquering Constantinople, and threatened to conquer the west
such as Hungary, Austria, Bohemia, and Poland.
VII. Church in the Renaissance
A. Heresy and Reform
1. John Wyclif’s Lollards
• Lollards attacked papal authority and medieval Christian beliefs
and practices.
• Demanded for Bibles to be written in vernacular.
• Rejected all practices not in the Scriptures such as pilgrimages and
veneration of saints.
2. John Hus
• Created Hussitism, which was the elimination of the worldliness
and corruption of clergy.
• Was burned on the stake as a heretic by the Council of Constance.
3. The Doctrine of Sacrosancta
• Reform decree by Church granting the general council of the
church power from God.
• Everyone is subject to authority.
4. Pius II and Execrabilis
• Pope issued papal bull in which it condemns appeals to the council
over the head of a pope as heretical.
B. Renaissance Papacy
• The line of popes from the end of the Great Schism to the
Reformation in the early seventeenth century.
1. Sixtus IV and Alexander VI
• Pope Sixtus IV made 5 of his nephews cardinals and gave them
church offices in order to make his family more powerful.
• Alexander VI is known for his debauchery and sensuality in that he
encouraged his son to carve a state for himself in central Italy out
of the territories of the Papal States.
2. Julius II and the New Saint Peter’s
• Julius II was a warrior-pope who wanted to add art to the church.
• Tore down the Basilica of Saint Peter, and rebuilt a new, greater
Saint Peter’s Basilica.
3. Leo X and Raphael
• Leo X was deeply involved in Renaissance art and commissioned
Raphael to do paintings for him.