The Fourteenth Century: A Time Of Transition

Chapter 11: The Fourteenth Century: A Time Of Transition OUTLINE Calamity, Decay, and Violence The Black Death The Great Schism The Hundred Years' War Literature in Italy, England, and France Petrarch Chaucer Christine de Pisan Art in Italy The Italo-Byzantine Background Giotto's Break with the Past Painting in Siena Art in Northern Europe Late Gothic Architecture Music: Ars Nova Outline Chapter 11

Timeline Chapter 11: The Fourteenth Century: A Time Of Transition c Cimabue, Madonna Enthroned; Crucifix, Arezzo 1296 Florence Cathedral (Duomo) begun 1300 Pope Boniface VIII proclaims first Jubilee Year ("Holy Year") c New naturalism in Italian painting appears with work of Giotto Giotto, Arena Chapel frescoes 1310 G. Pisano completes Pisa Cathedral pulpit Gloucester Cathedral choir ("Perpendicular" style) Hundred Years' War between France and England after 1337 Machaut, Messe de Notre Dame, polyphonic setting -Ordinary of the Mass c Doge's Palace, Venice Boccaccio, Decameron, collection of tales after 1350 Petrarch compiles Canzoniere, collection of poems c Wycliff active in English church reform; translates Bible into English 1378 Great Schism begins c Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales, collection of tales c. after 1389 Christine de Pisan, The City of Women Sluter, Well of Moses Limbourg Brothers, illustrations for Les Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry 1417 Council of Constance ends Great Schism - election of Pope Martin V Timeline Chapter 11

The fourteenth century marks the painful transition from the medieval period to the world of the Renaissance. Its beginning saw the construction of several major buildings in Italy, including Florence's Duomo and Siena's Palazzo Pubblico, seat of city government. Music flourished throughout the century, especially in France, where Machaut was the leading composer of his day. In the years shortly after 1300 the new naturalistic style of Giotto revolutionized the art of painting, while the works of the Pisano family proved equally important for the history of sculpture. Yet the age was fraught with disasters and racked by war: the Hundred Years' War between France and England (1337‚1453) was barely under way when in 1348 Europe was devastated by bubonic plague – the Black Death. Among the works of literature to reflect the effects of the terrible plague is Boccaccio's Decameron. The Transition from Medieval Culture to the Renaissance

As the century began, the church appeared to be at the height of its influence. In 1300 Pope Boniface VIII proclaimed the first holy year, and pilgrims flocked to Rome. Yet within a few years the French had forced the transfer of the papacy to Avignon in southern France. Among those who accompanied the papal court was the poet Petrarch, many of whose sonnets deal with his love for Laura, killed by the Black Death. The "Babylonian Captivity" lasted from 1309 to 1376, and the pope's return to Rome was embittered by the Great Schism, which saw the Western powers locked in a struggle to impose rival claimants. The Papacy in Avignon

One of the artistic consequences of the papal move from Rome was that Italian styles were carried north of the Alps. The resulting blend of Italian and Northern elements is called the International style, which quickly spread throughout Europe; two of its main centers were at Prague and at Dijon. The more cosmopolitan spirit of the age is also illustrated by the career of the greatest English writer of the time, Chaucer, who traveled to Italy and to France and may actually have met Petrarch. International Style in Painting By the end of the 14th century, the fusion of Italian and Northern European art had led to the development of an International Gothic style. For the next quarter of a century, leading artists travelled from Italy to France, and vice versa, and all over Europe. As a consequence, ideas spread and merged, until eventually painters in this International Gothic style could be found in France, Italy, England, Germany, Austria and Bohemia. The International Style

In an age of such ferment the pressure for reform intensified. In England, John Wyclif's charges of church corruption heightened dissatisfaction among the lower classes, leading to peasant riots in Similar popular protests against both the church and the aristocracy occurred in France in 1356, while in 1378 the poor woolen workers of Florence revolted against the city authorities. These manifestations of general discontent brought no immediate radical changes in government, but they prepared the way for the social mobility of the Renaissance. Social Protests

The greatest struggle of the century, the Hundred Years' War, was supposedly fought over the right of succession to the French throne. In fact, its underlying cause was the commercial rivalry between France and England and the attempts of both countries to gain control of the wool-manufacturing region of Flanders. The war's early stages were marked by a series of English victories, culminating in the battle of Poitiers of By 1380 the French had reversed the tide, and the last years of the century saw inconclusive skirmishes, with both sides resigned to a stalemate. Thus, a century in which political, economic, and religious strife and revolutionary artistic developments were accompanied by the disaster of plague produced deep changes in the fabric of European society and made possible the renewal of the Renaissance. The Hundred Years' War

The Black Death 1348 – death and devastation of European population from the Black Plaque Boccaccio’s (1313 – 1375) Decameron –Vivid description of the horrors of the Plague –Thorough descriptions of life at the time

The Great Schism Convulsive changes in Christian church during the 14 th century – Great Jubilee year declared by Pope Boniface, Rome 3 years later Boniface abused and imprisoned by Philip the Fair of France – Seat of Papacy is moved to Avignon, France – 1417: Great Schism divides Papal allegiances of population between rival Papacies. Late 14 th century peasant revolts throughout Europe.

The Hundred Years’ War Century of warfare between France and England.

Literature in Italy, England, and France Petrarch – (Father of Humanism) Chaucer – (Father of English Literature) Christine de Pisan - (Italian-born French poetess and philosopher) Petrarch Chaucer Christine de Pisan

Art in Italy Italo-Byzantine Background - Pisano - Cimabue - Duccio - Giotto - Martini - Lorenzetti

Giovanni Pisano Pulpit, 1301, Marble, Sant'Andrea, Pistoia Massacre of the Innocents, detail from pulpit 1301, Marble, Sant'Andrea, Pistoia Last Judgment (detail) 1310 Marble Cathedral, Pisa

Cimabue CIMABUE, Crucifix Tempera on wood, San Domenico, Arezzo CIMABUE Madonna Enthroned with the Child and Two Angels - Tempera on wood, Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna

Duccio DUCCIO di Buoninsegna Agony in the Garden Tempera on wood,, Siena DUCCIO di Buoninsegna Agony in the Garden (details) Tempera on wood, Siena

Giotto GIOTTO di Bondone Ascension of Christ c Fresco Upper Church, San Francesco, Assisi GIOTTO di Bondone Baroncelli Polyptych c Tempera on wood, Baroncelli Chapel, Santa Croce, Florence GIOTTO di Bondone Christ Among the Doctors 1310s Fresco North transept, Lower Church, San Francesco, Assisi GIOTTO di Bondone Baroncelli Polyptych (detail) c. 1334, Tempera on wood Baroncelli Chapel

Simone Martini SIMONE MARTINI Altar of St Louis of Toulouse (detail) c Tempera on wood, 56 x 38 cm Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples Blessed Agostino Novello Altarpiece 1324 Tempera on wood, 198 x 257 cm Pinacoteca Nazionale, Siena

Pietro and Ambrogio Lorenzetti LORENZETTI, Pietro Beata Umilta Transport Bricks to the Monastery c Oil on wood, 45 x 32 cm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence LORENZETTI, Ambrogio Effects of Good Government on the City Life (detail) Fresco Palazzo Pubblico, Siena

Art in Northern Europe UNKNOWN MASTER, Bohemian Virgin Enthroned c Panel, 186 x 95 cm Staatliche Museen, Berlin UNKNOWN MASTER, Bohemian St Bartholomew and St Thomas 1395 Tempera on wood, National Gallery, Prague

Limbourg Brothers LIMBOURG brothers Les très riches heures du Duc de Berry c. 1416, Illumination on vellum Musée Condé, Chantilly

Late Gothic Architecture - Florence Cathedral -Duomo, Milan -Palazzo Publico, Siena -Doge’s Palace, Venice -Gloucester Cathedral

Florence Cathedral Overview of DomeExterior view looking at facade, with a glimpse of dome above

Duomo, Milan Begun 1386 The main entrance portal Pinnacles and flying buttresses

Palazzo Publico, Siena, Italy Piazza Del Campo and Palazzo Pubblico at dusk. Siena, Toscany, Italy Palazzo Pubblico at night.

Doge’s Palace, Venice 1309 to 1424 Photo, exterior overview, showing the palace in context across water, with tower behind Photo, facade bay and details

Gloucester Cathedral

Music – Ars Nova The Ars Nova In France The rapid rise of polyphony in the 12th and 13th centuries depended upon corresponding advances in style and notation. It was an age of rapid invention. But once these innovations had been transformed into usable techniques, composers could concentrate on extracting the full potential of what had been learned. This process of consolidation and refinement was the task of the 14th century. Four major trends can be discerned; first, increasing secularization; second, the growing dominance of polyphony; third, the emergence of national idioms and forms; and fourth, an increasing preoccupation with musical technique.