Renaissance Society
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
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 recovered, govt. stabilized
- Phase 3: 1500-1550: Fr. / Sp. Invasions spread the Renaissance to all of Europe
Environment:
- Italian cities never totally disappeared as the 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 ecclesiastical power
- Countryside developed around the city
- Rural Society: Landownership / sharecropping distinguished the social structure (80% subsistence farmers)
- Urban Society: divided by occupation
- Monopolies were standard (guilds)
- Economic change in the early Renaissance
- Black Death
- Over production, aggregate demand declined, prices declined, labor supply declined, wages increased
- standard of living increased 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)
Family Unit:
- Primary economic unit, as well as a grouping of relatives
- Marriage was a political / economic transaction
- Patronage, dowry and status were primary considerations
- Men married in their thirties (social dysfunction), women in late teens
- Married women lived in a constant state of pregnancy (family interests)
- Wealthy hired help, poor experienced high mortality rates
- Life for the poor improved (but was still fairly terrible)
- Health increased - due to increased grain supply relative to population and new foods
- Starvation remained rare - died from disease before you could starve
Renaissance Art
- Art represented a combination of individual talent and predominate social ideals
- Leading edge of society
- 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) whob 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: overwhelming accomplishment, portrays a narative of the Christian creation myth
- Saint 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
- Applied their ideas to spiritual / secular world
- Petarch: “father of Humanism” – Cicero
- Bruni: Greek scholar who advanced Platonic ideals
- Alberti
- Valla: Philology
Humanists and classical studies
- Byzantine scholars (fleeing Muslim expansion) were influential
- Developed new standards for studying classical texts and new educational standards
- 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
- Valla disproved the Donation of Constantine (tax exemption of the church)
Civic Humanism
- Leon Battista Alberti: On the Family (1443), looked at newly emerging civic virtues
- Baldesar Castiglione: The Courtier (1528), etiquette book for the elite seeking power and influence, advocated the moralistic and traditional exercise of power
- Nicolo Machiavelli: The Prince (1513), discussion of amorality in civic leadership and Discourses on Livy (1519)
- Impact:
- Intertwining of Classical and Renaissance worlds
- Explained how and why Princes gained and maintained power
- Represents the first purely secular understanding of govt.
- removed divine authority
4. First attempt to explain the actions of govt. using a scientific methodology
- Key axiom was Machiavelli’s association of the Prince and peoples interest as the same
- Thus virtuous Prince was defined as a one who gained and maintained power
- Any action that increased a Prince’s virtue was good, thus power became an end that justified any means
The Politics of the Italian City-States
Background:
- The collapse of the HRE and the Great Schism left no unifying force in Italy
- Guilds and powerful families took over regional governments:
- Mediterranean trade enriched guild members and merchant families
- HRE provided a vast market for manufactured goods of the Italian guilds
- 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.
- Major industries were textiles (wool, cotton and silk) and finance
- Established bank branches throughout Europe
- External conflicts led to a financial crisis
- Cosimo de Medici financed govt. and took control
- Lorenzo the Magnificent: assassination attempt, glorification of Florence
- Girolamo Savonarola (1452-1498) – theocracy in Florence 1494-98; (predicted French invasion due to paganism and moral decay of Italian city-states); burned at the stake
- Milan: Located just south of the Alps, Milan provided manufactured goods to the French and HRE
- Dominated for much of their history by the Visconti despotism and fear of Germanic invasion
- Sforza took over during da Vinci’s stay in Milan
- Naples: Hereditary monarchy. Eventually taken over by Spanish
Venice: Key to their success was their role in Mediterranean trade.
- Maritime power
- Oligarchy of wealthy merchant / guilds people (hereditary elite)
- Special treaty with the Byzantine Empire that allowed them exclusive trade rights
- Government controlled trade, ensured profitability
- 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
- Mehmed II Conquered Constantinople in 1453 and threatened Eastern Europe
- 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 he Italians (like WWII)
Germans Sack Rome in 1527, significance is that it ends the Renaissance in Italy
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
Northern Renaissance Art
- Low Countries produced especially important artists
- Jan Van Eyck – Flemish painter, detailed realistic works
- Albrecht Durer (1471-1528) German – foremost northern Renaissance artist.
- Myscticism: belief in personal relationship with God
Contrasting the Renaissance and Later Middle Ages (from on-line source)
Renaissance |
Later Middle Ages |
Philosophy: Humanism – Emphasis on secular concerns due to rediscovery and study of ancient Greco-Roman culture. |
Religion dominates Medieval thought. Scholasticism: Thomas Aquinas – reconciles Christianity with Aristotelian science. |
Ideal: · Virtù – Renaissance Man should be well-rounded (Castiglione) |
Ideal: · Man is well-versed in one subject. |
Literature: · Humanism; secularism · Northern Renaissance focuses also on writings of early church fathers · Vernacular (e.g. Petrarch, Boccacio) · Covered wider variety of subjects (politics, art, short stories) · Focused on the individual · Increased use of printing press; propaganda |
Literature: · Based almost solely on religion. · Written in Latin · Church was greatest patron of arts and literature. · Little political criticism. · Hand-written |
Religion: · The state is supreme to the church. · “New Monarchs” assert power over national churches. · Rise of skepticism · Renaissance popes worldly and corrupt |
Religion: · Dominated politics; sought unified Christian Europe. · Church is supreme to the state. · Inquisition started in 1223; dissenters dealt with harshly |
Sculpture: · Greek and Roman classical influences. · Free-standing (e.g. Michelangelo’s David) · Use of bronze (e.g. Donatello’s David) |
Sculpture: · More gothic; extremely detailed. · Relief |
Art: · Increased emphasis on secular themes. · Classic Greek and Roman ideals. · Use of perspective. · Increased use of oil paints. · Brighter colors · More emotion · Real people and settings depicted. · Patronized largely by merchant princes · Renaissance popes patronized renaissance art |
Art: · Gothic style · Byzantine style dominates; nearly totally religious. · Stiff, 1-dimentional figures. · Less emotion · Stylized faces (faces look generic) · Use of gold to illuminate figures. · Lack of perspective. · Patronized mostly by the church
|
Architecture: · Rounded arches, clear lines; Greco-Roman columns · Domes (e.g. Il Duomo by Brunelleschi) · Less detailed · Focus on balance and form |
Architecture: · Gothic style · Pointed arches; barrel vaults, spires · Flying buttresses · Elaborate detail |
Technology: · Use of printing press · New inventions for exploration |
Technology: · Depended on scribes
|
Marriage and Family: · Divorce available in certain cases · More prostitution · Marriages based more on romance. · Woman was to make herself pleasing to the man (Castiglione) · Sexual double standard · Increased infanticide |
Marriage and Family: · Divorce nonexistent · Marriages arranged for economic reasons. · Prostitution in urban areas · Ave. age for men: mid-late twenties · Avg. age for women: less than 20 years old. · Church encouraged cult of paternal care. · Many couples did not observe church regulations on marriage. · Manners shaped men to please women. · Relative sexual equality |
Status of Women: · Legal status of women declined. · Most women not affected by Renaissance · Educated women allowed involvement but subservient to men. · Rape not considered serious crime.
|
Status of Women: · Legal status better than in Renaissance |
Politics: · State is supreme over the church. · New Monarchs assert control over national churches. · Machiavelli |
Politics: · Church is supreme over the state. |
African slavery introduced. |
Few blacks lived in Europe. |
Exploration and expansion. |
Crusades |