HST 121 - The Renaissance

I. Definition
    - Rebirth of classical culture in Italy (then other parts of Europe) from c. 1350-1550
II.  Why Italy? Why in the mid-14th century?
        A. Urbanization
        B. Political fragmentation
                - Holy Roman Emperor was weak; very little power in Italy
                - papacy weakened by the Great Schism (1378-1417)
                - MAP (Europe)
        C. Wealth from trade = patronage of the arts
                - MAP (Italian cities)
        D. Black Death
                - leads to spending money on luxury items and patronizing the arts
III. Art and Architecture
    A. Art -- better perspective, more realistic
            - Erasmus by Hans Holbein (1497-1543)
            - Castiglione by Raphael (1483-1520)
            - Primavera by Botticelli (1445-1510)
	- compare to medieval art - Book of the Hunt (unknown painter, 1387-88)
    B. Architecture -- the return of classical columns, rounded arches and domes
            - Church of San Lorenzo (Florence) by Brunelleschi (1377-1446)
IV. The Rise of Humanism
        A. DOC 41: Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man
        B. Humanism: an educational and cultural movement based on the
                study of ancient Greek and Roman literature
        C. differences between Italy and northern Europe
                1. northern Europeans were more interested in theological speculation
                2. Italy was more urban; emphasis on civic life
                3. thus, Italians more interested in the studia humanistica (humanities)
                        - e.g., rhetoric, literature, history
V. Scholarly Humanism
        - Francesco Petrarch (1304-74)
                1. emphasized the learning of classical texts in the original
                        Greek and Latin 
                2. searched for copies of Greek and Roman manuscripts
                        - e.g.,  discovered a collection of Cicero's letters
VI. Civic Humanism
        - example: Niccoló Machiavelli (1469-1527)
                1. Machiavelli looked to the past to see how other rulers had
                        succeeded and failed, and then suggested how the current
                        rulers of Italian city-states could succeed
                2. survival of the state was the most important aspect of 
                        Machiavelli's political theory; this is totally different than
                        the moral and religious concerns of medieval political theory
                3. Machiavelli was the first modern political thinker because he
                        removed political thought from a religious frame of reference
VII. Northern/Christian Humanism
        A. more concerned with theology in northern Europe; thus,
                Humanism becomes a movement for moral and religious reform
        B. Northern humanists set out to discover lost works of the early
                Church fathers
        C. example: Desiderius Erasmus (1466-1536)
                - Painting of Erasmus by Hans Holbein
                1. learned Greek and studied the writings of St. Jerome
                2. published a Greek version of the New Testament
                3. published a Latin edition of the writings of St. Jerome
                4. published numerous "self-help" books
                5. wrote In Praise of Folly (1509)
                        - satirized certain problems with the Catholic Church
VIII. The Introduction of Paper and the Printing Press
        A. paper introduced to Europe from China in the 12th century
                - prior to this, sheets of parchment (treated animal skins) were used
        B. moveable type invented in Europe in the 1440s
                1. traditionally attributed to Johannes Gutenberg
                        (both the Dutch and French also claim it was invented
                                first in their countries)
                2. regardless, it was Gutenberg who popularized it
                3. Printing Press
                4. Gutenberg Bible
IX. Women and Humanism
        A. more women did learn to read and write; but men were still
                suspicious of literate women
        B. no practical use for their learning because they were not usually
                allowed to participate in civic life, especially in government
        C. example: Isotta Nogarola (1418-1466)
                1. tutored by some of the best minds of her time
                2. but she met much resistance when she attempted to continue to
                        write as an adult
                3. she was rejected by her male contemporaries
                4. she then retreated to her mother's home and engaged in a 
                        life of private study
X. Renaissance Court Culture
        A. change in late medieval culture of chivalry brought about by
                Renaissance ideals
        B. new emphasis on the perfection of behavior
        C. extravagant courts popped up all over Europe
        D. to succeed in public life, young elites had to gain the attention and
                favor of the wealthiest and most powerful people in Europe
        E. in order to do this, one had to behave in a certain way
        F. most famous behavior guide book: 
                The Book of the Courtier by Baldassare Castiglione
                - Painting of Castiglione by Raphael
        G. example: The Perfect Gentleman by Giovanni della Casa