Worl History Essay

LECTURE 4

THE TRANSITION: FROM MEDIEVAL TO MODERN EUROPE (THE RENAISSANCE), 14th-17thCenturies

I. The Renaissance: A Rebirth of Learning (1300-1650)

A. The word “renaissance” means “rebirth” or “revival”

B. In history, this word refers to a 300-year period in

Europe that in Western Europe marked the revival of art,

literature and learning

1. It is significant that this revival served as a bridge, or

transition, between medieval and modern Western

Europe

2. We find a greater level of achievement and

European self-consciousness

C. Some historians have argued that this period represented a

sharp break with the past, while others have noted that the

change was more evolutionary or an outgrowth of the

Later Middle Ages

1. It is true that the Reinassance had roots in many

aspects of the medieval heritage, especially the

church-run universities of learning, the forms and

subject matter of literature, and the rudiments of

science

2. Of course, the emphasis of intellectual trends began

to change more noticeably after the 14th century

II. Distinctive Features of the Renaissance

A. It began with:

1. The rediscovery of the Greco-Roman civilization,

which had been generally neglected during the

Middle Ages

2. Emphasized reason, a questioning attitude,

experimentation, and free inquiry—in contrast with

the medieval concern with religious faith, authority,

and tradition

3. The Renaissance glorified the individual and

approved of worldly pleasures, viewing life as

worthwhile for its own sake, not chiefly as

preparation for the hereafter

4. Focused attention upon worldly matters arising out

of a secular society (secularization), rather than the

medieval preoccupation with the Roman Catholic

Church and religious affairs

5. Finally, the Renaissance featured great achievements

in literature, art, and science

III. The Renaissance Started in Italy

A. Arose first in Italian cities because:

1. As the center of Greco-Roman culture, Italy

contained sculptures, buildings, roads, and

manuscripts that excited curiosity about

classical (ancient) civilization

2. Located on the Mediterranean Sea, Italy had

absorbed stimulating new ideas from the Byzantine

and Muslim worlds

3. Benefiting from the revival of trade that resulted

from the Crusades in the Middle Ages, Italy had

wealthy, influential people who became patrons

(supporters) of literature, art, and science (much

later in history, it was the state and its governmental

structures that did the same thing)

a. Some examples of leading Renaissance patrons

included: certain Popes in Rome (Bishop of

Rome), wealthy merchants in Venice, and the

Sforza family in Milan, and Medici family in

Florence

b. Some scholars have maintained that

historically speaking, Italy is the idea of

“Europe”—at the crossroads between the

Middle East, Africa and the rest of Europe,

invaded a settled by many peoples since

ancient times—Etruscans, Phoenicians,

Greeks, Romans, Muslisms, and Germanic

tribes, and the seat of the Roman Catholic

Church in Rome, etc.

1) Culturally and ethnically, a composite of

European history, past and present

IV. FLORENCE: The preeminent Italian Renaissance City

A. Florence is considered usually as the outstanding

city of the Renaissance

B. In the 1400s, it came under the rule of Medici

family, originally a merchant family who amassed a

fortune in the wool trade, and expanded into banking

1. They soon became the outstanding patrons of

Renaissance art

C. Florence had many residents who achieved fame as

Renaissance painters, sculptors, architects, and

writers

1. By virtue of its achievements and talent and

leadership in the arts, the city attracted talented

people from all parts of Italy, thus aquiring

many priceless works of art

D. Today, Florence continues to attract tourists eager

to view its churches, palaces, and libraries with their

Renaissance treasures

V. The Renaissance Spread

A. In the 15th century, Renaissance ideas began to spread

from Italy to France, the German states, Holland, and

England

1. This cultural diffusion resulted from religious,

military, and commercial contacts

B. Also, many northern scholars traveled to Italy to absorb

Italian art and learning

VI. Humanism Illustrated the Renaissance Spirit

A. Definition of Humanism: a literary movement that began

in 14th-century Italy and typified the Renaissance spirit

B. Humanists were concerned with 3 issues in particular:

1. Everyday human problems, and not as much with

religious matters

2. Drew inspiration from classical (ancient)

civilization, eagerly seeking, studying, and

publicizing ancient Greek and Roman manuscripts

a. Many ancient classical texts, ironically, were

preserved for centuries by Muslim scholars in

the Middle East and in the Byzantine Empire)

3. Finally, humanists were concerned with reviving

interest, above all among educated people, in

literature and writing

4. Examples of early humanist writers:

a. Petrarch (1304-1374): Italian; studied the

classics and wrote in both Italian and Latin; in

his poetry he expressed romantic love and an

appreciation of nature

b. Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494): Italian,

who lived for a time in Florence, and was a

scholar of law, philosophy, Greek, Latin,

Hebrew, and Arabic; his writings expressed

Unorthodox religious ideas—resulting in his

being censured (silenced) by the Catholic

Church—and he wrote of the dignity of human

beings

c. Erasmus (1466-1536): Dutch, a brilliant

classical scholar; in his book, Praise of Folly,

he ridiculed superstition, prejudice, upper class

privileges, and Church abuses; by satirizing

social evils, Erasmus encouraged people to

think about reforms in society

d. Sir Thomas More (1478-1535): English, wrote

Utopia (means literally “Nowhere,” and today

refers to an ideal state), a book that portrayed an ideal country, free from war, injustice,

poverty, and ignorance

VII. The Vernacular Replaced Latin in Literature

A. During the Middle Ages in western Europe, Latin was the

language of literature, of the Roman Catholic Church,

and of the few educated people

1. Over the centuries, however, other languages

evolved through everyday usage, including some of the descendants of the Roman (Latin) tongue, the so-

called Romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian)

2. Other languages like English and German evolved

2. Toward the end of the Middle Ages, writers began to

use their own native national languages (or the

vernacular) in addition to Latin = later writers

discarded Latin altogether

3. Some early Renaissance writers who used the

vernacular:

a. Dante (1265-1321): Italian born in Florence;

served in different city government positions in

Florence until exiled by hostile political

Opponents

1) Known as the “father of modern Italian”

and was the first to write an important

book in his own national language called

the Divine Comedy, a long poem which

ranks among the greatest literary

masterpieces; this poem tells of Dante’s

make-believe journey through hell,

purgatory (for suffering souls), and

heaven, during which one of his travel

guides in the Roman poet Vergil

b. Chaucer (1340-1400): English, and became

familiar with Dante’s works while traveling to

Italy; he used English in his collection of

stories in verse, the Canterbury Tales =

supposedly, these stories were told by religious

pilgrims journeying to the religious shrine

at Canterbury

VIII. The Invention of Printing Encouraged Literature

A. In 1453, printing with movable type was invented by a

German named Johann Gutenberg (famous Gutenberg

Bible)

1. It was a tremendous event, as it made printing books

faster and cheaper, more so than the old medieval method of hand copying books

B. The greater availability of books promoted learning and

iteracy (ability to read) among the population, especially the

urban middle and merchant classes

C. Also, the availability of printing encouraged talented

people to write

IX. Renaissance Literary Achievements (Examples):

A. Machiavelli (1469-1527): Italian, born in Florence,

served in the Florentine Republic as a secretary and

diplomat, gaining first-hand political experience; later he

was dismissed from office and permitted to retire at his

country home where he devoted himself to writing

1. His most famous work is The Prince: his major work

on political ethics and government, describing

realistically how rulers hold onto power by methods

that ignore right and wrong and accept the

philosophy that “the end justifies the means”

a. He did not necessarily endorse this kind of

politics, but he was probably trying to be

realistically descriptive of what in fact takes

places

b. Our word “Machiavellian” has come to mean

“cunning and unscrupulous” (with no moral

qualms or hesitation)

B. Cervantes (1547-1616): Spanish; he ridiculed feudal

society, especially knighthood and chivalry, when relating the adventures of the mad-knight of La Mancha,

Don Quixote

C. Shakespeare (1564-1616): English, is often considered

the greatest poet and playwright of all time; an excellent

writer, with powerful lines and striking images

1. In his plays, he used superb dramatic technique to

probe historical events and human character; some of

his best known plays include the histories Henry IV

and Henry V; the comedies Twelfth Night and A

Midsummer Night’s Dream; and the tragedies Romeo

and Juliet, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, and Macbeth

D. Milton (1608-1672): English, retold the Biblical story of

the Creation and the Garden of Eden in his epic poem,

Paradise Lost = he also strongly promoted the freedom of

the press in one of his political essays

X. Characteristics of Renaissance Art:

A. Influence of classical Greece and Rome, especially in

sculpture and architecture

B. Renaissance paiting emphasized realism, attention to

detail, and a desire for perfection (especially of the human

form)

C. Early Renaissance painters treated religious themes with a

lifelike approach = later, they used a realistic style and

continued to recreate biblical events; they also depicted

worldly subjects, such as landscapes, portraits, and scenes

of everyday life

D. People today continue to admire Renaissance art,

attracting tourists to Western Europe, art museums, and

collectors to art auction sales = in 1967, a da Vinci

painting was bought by the Washington, DC, National

Gallery of Art for a record price of supposedly $5-6

million

XI. Renaissance Artistic Achievements (Just a Few Examples)

A. Italian

1. Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519): he is associated

with Florence, Milan, and Rome, the IDEAL

RENAISSANCE MAN, AHEAD OF HIS TIME IN

HIS SCOPE OF CREATIVITY IN MANY

ENDEAVORS AND VISION OF HUMAN

POSSIBILITIES IN THE FUTURE

a. He was a versatile genius, eager to experiment = a skilled painter, sculptor, architect,

musician, engineer, and scientist

b. In military engineering, for instance, he

improved the method of loading cannon and

devising ways to scale fortified walls

c. He had a keen eye for detail, he studied human

anatomy, and from his observations of birds, sketched a parachute and a flying machine or

contraption like a helicoptor

d. Some of his famous paintings include the Last

Supper and the Mona Lisa and his Self-Portrait

2. Michelangelo (1475-1564): spent his life in

Florence and Rome, and a multi-talented

Renaissance genius = a painter, sculptor, poet and

architect

a. Perhaps best remembered for his paintings of

biblical scenes on the ceiling of the Sistine

Chapel in the Vatican, as well as his sculpture

of the Pieta, showing the Virgin Mary grieving

over the dead Jesus

b. He also carved the famous massive statues of Moses and David, and designed the dome of St.

Peter’s Cathedral in Rome

C. Spanish

1. El Greco (1547-1614): a native of Greece (“the Greek”) who settled in Spain, he painted religious

scenes, portraits of religious/church officials, and the

famous landscape, View of Toledo

D. Dutch

1. Rembrandt (1606-1669): considered the greatest painter of northern Europe, an expert at using

contrasts of light and shadow in portraying everyday

life and common people

E. Flemish (Belgian)

1. Rubens (1577-1640): noted for brilliant colors,

composed landscapes and portraits = also depicted

action in religious and historical paintings

F. German

1. Albrecht Duerer (1471-1528): a painter and a metal and wood engraver; also a realistic sketch artist

2. Hans Holbein (1497-1543): late in life he was the

official painter at the court of England’s King Henry

VIII = he produced life-like portraits of famous

personalities, such as Henry VIII, Erasmus, and Sir

Thomas More

a. Speaking of Henry VIII, as a young man

(before he became king after taking over when

his older brother Arthur died), he also was an

example of aristocracy cultivated in the arts

(he wrote music, for example)

XII. Characteristics of Renaissance Science

A. Built upon the extensive scientific writings of the Greeks

and Romans, much of which was preserved during the

Middle Ages by the Muslims during their own cultural

peak in the early Middle Ages

B. Developed the scientific method of observation and

experimentation

C. Challenged medieval superstition and the general

acceptance of ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle’s

theories

D. Uncovered much knowledge about the physical world

E. Reduced the importance or significance of humanity in

the universal scheme of things by determing that the earth

was NOT at the center of the cosmos, but rather was one

of several planets revolving about its sun in a minor

planetary system

F. Renaissance science at first encountered great opposition

because its findings were thought to conflict with

medieval religious and popular beliefs

G. Increased the ability of people to improve their health and

control their environment

H. Finally, it set up a firm foundation for modern scientific

progress = sometimes Renaissance science is considered

to be the foundation of an on-going process even today

called the Scientific Revolution

XIII. Renaissance Scientific Achievements (A few examples from

across Europe in many related fields)

A. Copernicus (1473-1543) = a Polish astronomer who had

studied in Italy; he concluded that the sun is the center of

our solar system and that earth is merely one of several

planets revolving around the sun = these findings,

published after his death, opposed the older Ptolemaic

theory, which claimed since ancient times that the earth is

the center of the universe

B. Vesalius (1514-1564): A Flemish physician, carried out

careful dissections of the human body and founded the

science of anatomy

C. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) = an English philosopher,

who popularized the new scientific method of observation

and experimentation

D. Galileo (1564-1642), who was born in Pisa, Italy, and for

many years lived in Florence = an Italian astronomer and

physicist who demonstrated the law of falling bodies and

greatly improved the telescope

1. He was also the first to discover moons around

Jupiter

2. He turned blind in his later years because he looked

directly into the sun with his telescope

3. He also helped confirm Copernicus’ theory of the

heavens (heliocentric view = sun-centered)

4. Though a devout Catholic, he got into some trouble

with the Catholic Church for his views and was put

under house arrest

E. Kepler (1571-1630) = a German astronomer and

mathematician = determined that the planets follow an

elliptical, not a circular, path in revolving around the sun,

which helps explain the paths followed by our satellites

around the earth today

F. William Harvey (1578-1657) = an English physician

demonstrated that blood circulates through the body,

furthering the study of medicine

G. Leeuwenhoek (1632-1723) = Dutch naturalist, perfected

the microscope (Dutch were very good with glass making

and the making of lenses) = now people could see the

microscopic world of bacteria, protozoa, and animal and

plant cells

H. Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1727) = English mathematician,

astronomer, and physicist; invented a method of

mathematical analysis called calculus, discovered the

laws of light and color (breaking white light into its

component parts with a refracted glass)

1. He also formulated the laws of motion, and

calculated the law of gravitation; his scientific ideas

were set forth in his famous book (Mathematical

Principles of Natural Philosophy or Principa

Mathematica)

2. Not until Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity in the

early 20th century were some of Newton’s principles

on the nature of gravity subject to revision =

Newton’s observations still hold true for the solar

system, but on the galactic or intergalactic scale,

Einstein’s appears to be more accurate regarding the

nature of space and time and the influence of gravity

on them

3. Interestingly, Newton to his dying day was

fascinated by the Bible, seeking to determine if there

was a code in the bible to understand the nature of reality and predict the end of the world