Renaissance
economy
place
society
people
ideas
background
initially caused by the prosperity of northern Italy.
In the fourteenth and the first half of the fifteenth centuries, most of the independent cities were swallowed up by the stronger cities
the rise of French monarchy
Ottoman Turks sprung up
the Peace of Lodi——the most powerful cities signed a treaty：in 1454 which committed each city to the defense of the existing political order
This period coincided with the peak of the Renaissance.
Venice
"Political Setting"
Ruled by a council of merchants headed by elected officials, the Doge
by 1200, most Italian cities were politically independent of lords and was in the hands of the popoli gross
honor was the most important thing to the social elite
Had a lot of wealth
The main reason for Venice's prosperity was its control of the spice trade
"The culture of the popoli grossi depended on personal connections"
Because the cost of transporting spices is high, so the price is high
Around 1300, 40 percent of ships unloaded spices in Venice, and by 1500, that figure had risen to 60 percent.
pepper, cloves, and cinnamo
“Spices were, in so many words, worth far more than their weight in gold. ”
Venice was the first place to create a real bank
the first place which invented the letters of credit between branches.
popoli grossi believed that they need a peaceful political setting on a large scale for their commercial interests to prosper
A letter of credit may be issued for a specified amount from a bank branch
It can only be redeemed by the account owner
could go to any city where there is a branch of the Bank of Venice, redeem the letter of credit, and then use it to trade goods.
rely heavily on formal diplomacy
"Any perceived insult had to be met with retaliation, meaning there was a great deal of bloodshed between powerful families"
Example: Shakespeare's famous play Romeo and Juliet
led the whole Europe: The political power of businessmen, advanced banking and business practices, and a sophisticated network of international diplomacy.
" the focus on education and culture that translated directly into the creation of Renaissance art and scholarship"
Florence
And it was a republic with a long tradition of civic governance.
Citizens voted on laws and held public office on fixed terms, and powerful families control the system.
Cosimo de Medici
holding a book and wearing a sword: symbols for learning and authority.
the Medici family
controlled the city government (the Signoria)
patronized the arts
"In northern Italy, the vast majority of the population benefited only indirectly or not at all "
non-noble background
the official bankers to the papacy
Roma
education
the Peace of Lodi
French and Ottoman Turks signed a treaty
Italy's premier city in terms of art and education
Foreign invasion undermines independence
sign in 1454
No war for 40 years and the pick of the Renaissance
in pope's control
The popes regained control of the papal states in central Italy
Milan
popes
Julius II
Alexander VI
archetypal despot-controlled city-state
not wealthy
after the end of the Great Western Schism
popes focus on art instead of authority ✏
under the Visconti family from 1277 – 1447.
Italy lay at the center of the lucrative trade between Europe and the Middle East, and that was really important for transporting goods and people during the crusading perio
trade in Italy was the key mercantile practices emerged for the first time in Europe
Italian merchants learned about and ultimately adopted a number of commercial practices and techniques from Arab world 🔥
adopted double-entry bookkeeping
invented the commenda
"Italian banks had agents all over Europe and provided reliable credit and bills of exchange"
Italians was the use of Arabic numerals
"Italian merchants, borrowing from their Arab and Turkic trading partners, pioneered efforts to rationalize and systematize business itself" 🔥
Italian bankers began to charge interest on loans, and became the first Christians to go against the church’s ban on “usury”
northern Italy was based on the trade ties maintained with the Middle East
Italians bought precious cargo like spices, silks, porcelain, and coffee, from the Turks, trade with European woolens, crafts, and bullion
Italy was the European last station of the Silk Road
The Italian city-states were sites of manufacturing
Italian luxury goods were great than the produced in the rest of Europe, soon the Italian weapons were better-made
the prosperous farm produced a significant and ongoing surplus
the prosperity generated by Italian mercantile cause the rise of a culture of conspicuous consumption
thinkers and artists were supported by the rich, artists and scholars were able to concentrate on their work.
" mercantile and banking riches translated into social and political status through art, architecture, and scholarship"
Humanism
"Reborn of the culture and ideas of classical Europe, namely ancient Greece and Rome" ❤
triggered the proliferation of movable type presses
From the “scribal” tradition to the mass production system
reviving classic arts and thought from the old world
some thinkers began to create new path based on the classic :
principle
"emphasized both the beauty and the centrality of humankind in the universe" 🔥
they believe people born with pure, beauty and noble
the optimistic attitude to artistic and intellectual, to proof humankind was the crowning achievement of God’s creation
Johannes Gutenberg
idea（In the late 1440s）:Individual letters are carved into small, removable blocks of wood (or cast in metal) that can be rearranged as needed to create text
the education should arrive at a well-rounded individual of a person
advantage
" championed the idea of civic humanism: one’s moral and ethical standing was tied to devotion to one’s city. "
an entire book could be printed with clear, readable letters
cost decreased
the first true printed book reached the market with a mass marketing share
a copy of the Latin Vulgate (the official version of the Bible used by the Church)
Example: the Medici of Florence put lots of effort in building city with the form of building projects and art
Fast production speed
Fewer errors
in 1461, Invented typographic illustrations, using blocks of engravings to match the size of movable type
people who cannot read
have ability to read illustrated pamphlets and posters
business and politics education become important
Religious texts were first printed, followed by literary works and political commentary.
led to the spread and increase in the number of books
"humanistic education" spread from Italy
“Renaissance man” : "understanding, benevolence, compassion, fortitude, judgment, eloquence, and honor " ✏
Language and grammar tend to be standardized
"the idea of a virtuous life that was not the same thing as a specifically Christian virtuous life"
during the Renaissance, major figures were Christians
male humanists supported education for girls, but the education girls have will be different from boys 🔥
not success in the education of been compliant
Quereles des femmes
education was really important to woman, and they should have spiritual and moral nature like men have
most people believed a woman like a man, and woman was in a low level , they should just play the role they used to play in the past
Art style
Gothic
overwhelming , but not exquisite
“two-dimensional” style
Petrarch
made the definition of Renaissance
Filippo Brunelleschi
started the renaissance art by imitating the classic world ❤
undertook the construction of the dome of the cathedral of Florence(finished in 1413)
a remarkable client of the Medici
invented "linear perspective", being inspired by Book of Optics written by Ibn al-Haytham
Sandro Botticelli (1445 - 1510)
focused on
"the importance of patronage" 🔥
"the celebration of classical figures and ideas" 🔥
"the beauty of the human body" ⭐ 🔥
"Christian piety" 🔥
appreciated by
Florentine popolo grossi
Medici
popes
two famous works
Botticelli’s patrons(painted himself in the painting) ⭐
related to the birth of Christ
The Birth of Venus (1485)
to celebrate the birth of the goddess of love, sexuality, and beauty ⭐
replaced asceticism with sensuality ⭐
impacted by Girolamo Savonarola, in 1490
rejected “vanities”
Leonardo da Vinci (1452 - 1519)
engineering contribution
naval defenses of Venice
swamp drainage projects in Rome
being skillful at autopsies
drew a lot of specific diagrams for speculative design of machines
flying machine
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475 - 1564)
famous works
the statue of the David
the paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
sponsored by the city council of Florence (governed by the Medici) and the Pope
A printing press works by applying ink to three-dimensional images or words and then pressing this ink onto paper.
Patronage
artistic
display in the public in Italy
the Council of Florence in 1439.
The establish of the “final” version of the Christian Bible
paid by Cosimo
“king in all but name.”
Important thinkers
Durante degli Alighieri (1469 – 1527)
Dante
"The Divine Comedy"
Believed in humanism
using Italian
Tuscan became the basis of the language of “Italian”
Francesco Petrarch (1304 – 1374)
"the founding
father of the Renaissance"
rediscovered long-lost works by Cicero
"emulate Cicero's rhetorical style"
encourage emulate the classics in writing
Brings up the idea of "Dark Ages"
classic might reborn in the north of Italy ❤
Christine de Pizan (1364 - 1430)
famous woman thinker and writer
"The Book of the City of Ladies"
"the first truly feminist work in European history"
Desiderius Erasmus (1466 - 1536)
the traditional
scholastic education and the new humanistic style that emerged from the Renaissance
Best at Thee history of language
re-translate the New Testament
'In Praise of Folly", " Handbook of the Christian Soldier"
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 – 1527) ✏
a professional politician
"exiled by the Medici"
"The Prince" 🔥
"a practical guide to holding power"
Baldassarre Castiglione (1478 - 1529) ✏
"The Courtier" 🔥
For the one who served "princes" as courtiers
Some bad tastes of nobility have been changed
the courtiers must have a good taste and been well educated
"The great city-states of this period were Milan, Venice, and Florence"
1）How did the revival of classical texts contributed to the development of the Renaissance in Italy? ❤
2) How did the visual arts incorporate the new ideas of the Renaissance and where? ⭐
3) What were changing values and ideas of the Renaissance? 🔥
4) what were the goals and motives of authority figures(religious, political, and secular) how were their goals manifested through their actions? ✏