City-States Politicians Artists (Sculptors, Painters, Musicians)

 Cultural and political changes of the Renaissance  Religious changes of the Reformation  European voyages of exploration

 In Italy, in the mid-15th century, especially in Florence, we begin to see a new attitude to the world.  It is from that attitude we first find the coining of a new term, “Renaissance,” which in the French literally means “Rebirth.”  First received this name from those who thought the Middle Ages as a dark time from which the human spirit had to be awakened.  The Civilization of the Renaissance In Italy ( 1860) by Jakob Burckhardt

 Burckhardt describes a civilization collapsing in the 5 th century, around AD 476, when Rome fell, with a thousand years of darkness and barbarism that followed.  The dominant forces of the Middle Ages were the Catholic Church and the aristocracy in each country or region, according to Burckhardt.  The Church preserved some of ancient civilization, but suppressed any intellectual or religious movements that might weaken the Church’s or aristocracy’s hold over the minds of the ordinary people.  Burckhardt wrote that a revival of commerce and urban life laid the foundations for a rediscovery of ancient literature, and simultaneously for a secular, even anti-religious set of values.  For him, these values were totally incompatible with Christian belief.  These values were a part of philosophy that came to be called Humanism.

 In the Renaissance itself, Humanism was never defined as a philosophical movement, or taught as an academic subject.  There is no identifiable set of philosophical doctrines that all humanists held and that could possibly be used to define them as a distinct philosophical school.  So, why is Humanism considered so important? And, it is.  Humanists are given credit with rediscovering ancient lost Greek and Roman manuscripts, but is this true?  The truth is that these ancient MSS were not lost in the Medieval era. They were known; they were just not studied.

 What the humanists did more than those before them was to demand that the original documents be studied, not the copies of the originals.  Also, they felt it was important to know the historical setting and times of the MSS to truly understand them.  It was Petrarch, who is called the “Father of Humanism,” who invented this new way of viewing history, that is called “historical discontinuity.”  As he looked at his troubled times he concluded that the modern age was worthless.  Petrarch called the times since the fall of Rome a “Dark Age,” an age of barbarism, ignorance, and culture.  But, Petrarch believed that he and the scholars of his age were bringing that darkness to an end, that the rich Greco-Roman civilization was being reborn during their lifetime.

 Petrarch’s, and later Burckhardt’s, great mistakes were in believing that the Middle Ages was all darkness, with no learning, no education, and for also missing the spiritual influences of the Renaissance period, mistakes that only recently are being acknowledged by scholars.  The term, “Renaissance” was 1 st used to refer to the great artists of the period:  Michelangelo  Leonardo da Vinci  Raphael  Donatello  Brunelleschi  Sculpture, painting, architecture  Started in Italy, and then the rest of Europe  Happened at different times in different parts of Europe

 Travel to and from the Holy Land went through Italy for most of the Crusades.  Italian city-states provided much of the transportation as well as a thriving trade.  Ideas travel with trade goods.

 The towns of Italy were the largest and most active of all the towns that arose in Europe in the Middle Ages.  It is in these cities that we see the birth of the Renaissance.  There were a number of reasons why this was so.  First, feudalism was largely absent on the peninsula.  Second, the dogmatism and regulations of the Church that ruled the rest of Europe were largely absent from the Italian peninsula (IRONY: Rome and the Church)

SS o, the Renaissance began in the Italian peninsula; specifically, Florence and the other four city-states. TT hose city-states were: Florence, Venice, Milan, the Papal States, and the kingdom of Naples. EE conomic growth laid the foundation for the Italian Renaissance, and ambitious merchants gained political power to match their economic power. TT hey used their money and their power to buy luxuries and hire artistic talent.  T he center of the Renaissance was Florence, a most improbable city, since it was an inland city without any easy access to sea transportation. BB ut, at the end of the 13 th century the Florentine merchants and bankers, especially the Medici family, became bankers of the Papacy. AA nd, with the other four city-states, Florence would dominate the politics of the peninsula.

Major city centers Venice: Republic ruled by oligarchy, Byzantine origins Milan: Visconti and Sforza families Florence (Tuscany): Republic ruled by the Medici Papal States: Ruled by the Pope Kingdom of Naples: King of Aragon

 It is in these city-states that we see the beginnings of foreign diplomacy.  The city-states established the role of ambassadors, something that had never been done before.  The role of the ambassador was to represent the positions of the rulers of their government to other governments.  To do that properly one needed to live in the territory of the other city-state, so as a result of that, we have the first embassies in Florence, Naples, and the other city-states.  It is from them that the whole art of diplomacy which governs all international relationships now first began.  So, between the city-states would go the diplomat representing the views of his leaders to the leader of the other city-state, and today John Kerry is in South America communicating the thoughts and ideas of President Obama about US/Latin American relations.

 Whenever one city-state appeared to gain a predominant position within the peninsula, the other city-states combined to establish a balance of power against the new threat.  When we think of the political concept of “balance of power” we think of its beginning with Elizabeth the Great of England, but the first use of the concept was among the five city-states of the Italian Peninsula, and the differing alliances that were developed to keep one city-state from becoming too dominant.  In other words, “balance of power” is about a city-state (i.e. nation) making decisions concerning its foreign policy based on the self- interest of the city-state (nation or state).  We see this political development in the city-states especially in the writings of Machiavelli, especially in his little essay, The Prince.  The Prince was actually Machiavelli’s “job application” with the Medicis.  Machiavelli looked at society and did not see honorable actions rewarded in the political realm.

 “A man striving in every way to be good will meet his ruin among the great number who are not good.”  “Here the question arises: whether it is better to be loved than feared or feared than loved. The answer is that it would be desirable to be both but, since that is difficult, it is much safer to be feared than to be loved.”  For Machiavelli what you are is not as important as what you seem to be.  The Prince is the MOST read book on politics in the history of the world, and has NEVER been out of print, and TODAY is almost in every language!  Not only do we see the beginnings of the art of diplomacy between nations in the Italian city-states; we also see the early beginnings of capitalism, specifically merchant capitalism.

 During the Renaissance, trade became extremely important to European traders.  The traders owned their ships and goods, and to finance their trading voyages, needed to line up investors, or finance the voyages, ships, and the buying and selling of goods through banks.  Here we see the beginning of merchant capitalism, and the growth and development of the banking industry.  While all historians accept that the real beginnings and growth of capitalism were in the cities of the Netherlands, and later the Dutch Republic, all acknowledge the first glimmers of capitalism is the late Middle ages and Early Renaissance in the Italian city- states.

The Renaissance In Western and Northern Europe

Italy’s trade carried the new Renaissance ideas to France, England, Spain and the German States from when the Renaissance began in Italy in roughly 1400 A.D until Italy lost its trading dominance in the 1500s.

II n France the Renaissance is most obvious in architecture and some of the paintings. TT he Chateau de Chambord was built during the French Renaissance, using columns, domes and varying shapes that were used in ancient times in Italy.

 The Spanish Renaissance mostly showed up in scholarship and architecture.  The Escorial Palace was built by Philip II in the late 1500s showing the domes and various shapes used in ancient Italian architecture.

 The best evidence of the Renaissance in England are the works of William Shakespeare.  England was also strong in portrait painting and architecture.

 A very different Renaissance from that of the Italian Renaissance  As to its writings and art, a Renaissance that was much more Christian-based.  Northern Renaissance literature, essays, and art always has much more a Christian theme, or at the very least, a much more conservative slant to it.  More about this when we look at the Reformation.  When we refer to a “Northern Renaissance,” we are referring to a renaissance in NW Europe: the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany.

 German painting is combination of Renaissance realism and German religious feeling.  This portrait of the Madonna and Child was painted by Albrecht Durer around 1520 and is a fine example.

The Syndics of the Drapers’ Guild