RENAISSANCE
RENAISSANCE - MEANS “REBIRTH”, OF LEARNING,
ART, AND CULTURE.
RENAISSANCE DEVELOPMENT CHART
TRADE (WITH ASIA)-----> DEVELOPMENT OF CITIES -----> COMPETITION AND FURTHER GROWTH OF CITIES----->WEALTHY UPPER CLASS ----->FREE TIME
AND EXCESS MONEY----->DEVELOPMENT AND REDEVELOPMENT OF ARTS AND LEARNING-----> RENAISSANCE
THE RENAISSANCE BEGAN IN ITALY IN THE MID-1300'S. THE POLITICS OF ITALY AT THIS TIME CONTROLLED BY TWO FACTIONS;
1.) THE CITY-STATES RULED BY WEALTHY PATRONS.
2.) THE CATHOLIC CHURCH IN ROME.
THESE PATRONS COMPETED IN COLLECTING ART, LITERATURE, HOMES, ETC. THEIR WEALTH ACCUMULATED THROUGH TRADE AND BANKING LET THEM DO THIS. MOST FAMOUS OF THESE PATRON FAMILIES WAS THE MEDICI, OF WHICH “LORENZO THE MAGNIFICENT” WAS BEST KNOWN.
PATRONS COLLECTED WORKS OF SCIENCE AND HUMANITIES, STUDIES OF HUMANS AND CULTURE.
PETRARCH (1304-1374) ONE OF FIRST ITALIAN HUMANISTS, WROTE FAMOUS SONNETS TO HIS LOVE.
HUMANISM DEVELOPS AS A CONCERN WITH LIFE ON THIS EARTH; NOT THE AFTERLIFE AS HAD BEEN THE CASE BEFORE.
THE POLITICAL “LIVE NOW” ATTITUDE WAS BEST EXPRESSED BY NICCOLO MACHIEVELLI IN HIS BOOK “THE PRINCE”. THIS WORK PROMOTED THE IDEA THAT “THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS”.
JOHANN GUTENBERG (1400-1464) PRINTED FIRST BOOK WITH MOVABLE TYPE AROUND 1438. THIS BIBLE AND OTHER BOOKS SOON FOLLOWING FANNED THE FIRES OF LEARNING.
MOVABLE TYPE WAS VERY IMPORTANT FOR THE FOLLOWING
REASONS:
1.) CHEAPER, MORE PEOPLE COULD BUY BOOKS.
2.) FASTER, MORE BOOKS COULD BE PRINTED.
3.) SCHOLARS HAD MORE ACCESS TO EACH OTHERS WORKS, LEARNING SPREAD FASTER.
THE THREE GREAT ARTISTS OF THE RENAISSANCE WERE:
1. LEONARO DA VINCI - MONA LISA, LAST SUPPER
2. MICHAELANGELO - PIETA, DAVID, SISTINE CHAPEL
3. RAPHAEL - ST. PETERS, MADONNAS
THE RENAISSANCE DEVELOPED FROM THE SOUTH (ITALY) TO THE NORTH (ENGLAND).
ERASMUS AND THOMAS SPEARHEADED THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE MORE.
DESIDERIUS ERASMUS (1466-1536) WAS A DUTCH HUMANIST WHO WROTE THE PRAISE OF FOLLY (1509).
THIS WORK CRITICIZED SCIENTISTS, SCHOLARS, AND CLERGY FOR BEING NARROW MINDED.
SIR THOMAS MORE (1478-1535) WAS AN ENGLISH HUMANIST THAT WROTE UTOPIA (1516), ABOUT AN IDEAL SOCIETY, PLAYING ON WHAT ENGLAND COULD HAVE BEEN.
JAN VAN EYCK - WAS DUTCH PAINTER WHO DEVELOPED OIL PAINTS
OTHER WRITERS IN THE NORTH INCLUDED:
1. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE - ENGLISHMAN KNOWN FOR PLAYS AND SONNETS.
2. MIGUEL CERVANTES - SPAINARD KNOWN FOR DON QUIXOTE