The Renaissance in Italy 1300 1500 What Was

The Renaissance in Italy 1300 -1500

What Was the Renaissance? • French for "rebirth" • The intellectual and economic changes that occurred in Europe from the fourteenth through the sixteenth centuries. • An age in which artistic, social, scientific, cultural and political thought turned in new directions. • Concerned with civic and moral questions, not science or theology. • Emphasis on individualism / individual achievement

Italian Renaissance and Christianity • Renaissance – a cultural reaction to Christian teachings that dominated Europe during the Dark Ages. • Renaissance thinkers tried to reconcile the pagan philosophy of the Greco-Roman world with Christian beliefs: (Erasmus, Petrarch) • Temporal world emphasized over the afterlife. • Questioned the sanctity of the Church and clergy. • Faith in human power over God’s grace and salvation. • Wealth celebrated. Early Christians idealized poverty.

Why Italy? 1. Italian intellectuals became aware of their own historical past. Interest in the Greco-Roman achievements came alive. 2. Roman Catholic Church – important patron of the arts / Rome was an inspiration for the religious themes used by artists and writers. 3. Economic – Most European trade passed through Mediterranean Sea. Italian merchants made a fortune from growing trade of the high Middle Ages. * Florence became the most important center of the Italian Renaissance. The Medici family became the most important patrons of Florentine art. Sponsored: - Brunelleschi, Donatello, Botticelli

Sandro Botticelli (1445 -1510) “The Adoration of the Magi “(1470 -75)

Florence(Firenze), Italy

Florence

Florence

Italian Humanism • Term used to describe Renaissance-era writers who rejected parts of the immediate past (Dark Ages) in favor of the culture of ancient Rome. • Fond of Latin style of writing. • Humanism was a concern for a civilized past. The lessons learned from this past would lead to a more secular world. • Humans were at the center of creativity and intellect. • Reason and human will can be used to improve worldly conditions. This leads to increased Utopian visions of perfection on earth.

Utopian Works of the Renaissance • Utopian – ideal society. The emphasis on individual achievement and improvement of the human condition gave rise to three important utopian works: 1. Thomas More (1478 -1535) – “Utopia” (1515) 2. Tomasso Campanella (1568 -1639) – “The City of the Sun” (1623) 3. Francis Bacon (1561 -1626) – “The New Atlantis” (1624)

Famous Humanists – Francesco Petrarch (1304 -1374) • Born in village outside of Florence. • Formal education in law and religion / real interest was in writing & Latin Literature. • He is famous for his sonnets to “Laura”, a woman he never met. • He collected manuscripts on his travels and was a prime mover in the recovery of knowledge from writers of Rome and Greece. • He worked as an ambassador but loved literary work much more.

Francesco Petrarch • "Each famous author of antiquity whom I recover places a new offence and another cause of dishonor to the charge of earlier generations, who, not satisfied with their own disgraceful barrenness, permitted the fruit of other minds, and the writings that their ancestors had produced by toil and application, to perish through insufferable neglect. Although they had nothing of their own to hand down to those who were to come after, they robbed posterity of its ancestral heritage. "

Famous Humanists: Giovanni Boccaccio (1313 -1375) • Born in Paris / father from Florence • Was sent to Naples to study law but preferred literature. • Personal friend of Petrarch from 1350 until his death. • Boccaccio shares with Petrarch the honor of being the earliest humanist. In their time there were not a dozen men in Italy who could read the works of the Greek authors in the original. • Most famous work: The Decameron (1358)

Dante Aligheri (1265 -1321) • Born in Florence - composed poetry influenced by classical and Christian tradition. • Greatest work was the epic poem The Divine Comedy, 1321): • It includes three sections: the Inferno (Hell), in which the great classical poet Virgil leads Dante on a trip through hell; the Purgatorio (Purgatory), in which Virgil leads Dante up the mountain of purification; and the Paradiso (Paradise), in which Dante travels through heaven.

Famous Humanists: Baldassare Castiglione (1478 -1529) • Born near Mantua, Italy. • Italian diplomat and writer. • Most famous work: The Courtier (1528): • Written in the form of a philosophical dialogue, it describes the conduct of the perfect courtier, the qualities of a noble lady, and the ideal relationships between the courtier and his prince. Immediately successful in Italy and beyond, it became a manual for those aspiring to aristocratic manners during the Renaissance.

Famous Humanists: Niccolo Machiavelli (1469 -1527) • Born in Florence. • From 1498 -1513 worked for Florentian Republican Gov. as a diplomat. • His political experience led him to write “The Prince. ” • Machiavelli wrote about what makes a leader successful and called for Italian unification.

Machiavelli: Famous Quotes • A prince never lacks legitimate reasons to break his promise. • He who wishes to be obeyed must know how to command. It is better to be feared than loved, if you cannot be both. • Politics have no relation to morals.

Opposition to the Italian Renaissance: Girolamo Savonarola (1452 -1498) • Most Italians WERE NOT immediately affected by the Renaissance. • Those who opposed the Renaissance opposed it on religious and moral grounds. They were led by SAVONAROLA.

Girolamo Savonarola (1452 -1498)

End of the Renaissance in Italy • Italy remained politically divided: 1. Rivalry between Italian city-states 2. Italian Wars (1494 -1527) between Spain & France kept Italy divided between major powers. • 1527 – Rome was sacked by Spanish troops. Spain briefly controlled Italy.

Savonarola: Views • He railed at the people, exhorting them to return to the ways of the Church. • He painted horrific pictures of Hell and damnation which easily rivaled those poor souls who gnashed their teeth, pulled their hair and defiled their bodies in Dante's Inferno.