Renaissance and Reformation 1350 - 1600

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Renaissance and Reformation1350 - 1600

• Section 1
• The Renaissance

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Background

• Beginning in Italy and spanning two centuries,
  the Renaissance emphasized secularism, awareness
  of ties to the ancient Greek and Roman worlds,
  and the ability of the individual. City states
  became centers of political, economic, and social
  life. Machiavelli influenced political thought,
  and Castiglione defined what made a perfect
  Renaissance noble. The Renaissance affected
  everyone from noble to peasant

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Renaissance Italy, 1500
Three city-states that played crucial roles
Milan, Venice, and Florence
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Italian Renaissance

• Renaissance means rebirth
• Belief in a rebirth of ancient Greece and Roman
  worlds

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Characteristics of Renaissance Italy

• Urban Society powerful city states, centers of
  political, economic, and social life which
  created the emergence of secular or worldly
  viewpoints.
• Age of recovery from plague, political
  instability, and decline of Catholic church.
• Emphasized an individuals ability and a higher
  regard for human worth.
• A universal person would achieve things in many
  areas (i.e. Leonardo da Vinci who was a painter,
  sculpture, architect, inventor, and mathematician.

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Italian States

• Lack of a single strong ruler made it possible
  for a number of city-states in northern and
  southern Italy to remain independent
• Three largest were Milan, Venice, and Florence.
• These three played a critical role in Italian
  politics.

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Milan

• Located in northern Italy
• Ruled by the Visconti family and Sforza dukes
• Based on trade and an efficient tax system

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Venice

• Located in northern Italy
• Ruled by a small group of wealthy
  merchant-aristocrats who ran government for their
  own benefit
• Based on trade

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Florence

• Cultural center
• Ruled by the wealthy Medici family

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Italian Wars

• Growth of monarchies in rest of Europe led to
  trouble for the Italian states.
• Wanted Italy for its rich resources.
• French King Charles VIII led an army of 30,000
  men into Italy in 1494. Occupied the kingdom of
  Naples, to the south. Italy received help from
  Spain who fought with the French for 30 years and
  eventually won creating a dominate force in Italy.

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The Prince

• The Italians of the Renaissance had love of
  political power. Niccolo Machiavelli wrote one
  of the most influential works on political power
  in the Western world, The Prince.
• Book written by Machiavelli on how to acquire and
  keep political power
• Did not believe that the prince (or ruler) should
  rule based on moral principles, but on the
  principle that humans were self-centered and not
  moral. Morality had nothing to do with politics
  and a ruler must let his conscience sleep.

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In the Middle Ages, many writers on political
power had stressed the moral side of a princes
activity how the ruler ought to behave based on
Christian principles. Machiavelli rejected this
popular approach. From Machiavellis point of
view, a princes attitude toward power must be
based on an understanding of human nature, which
he believed was basically self-centered. A
prince acts on behalf of the state not morals.
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Renaissance SocietySocial Classes (Estates)

• Nobility (3 of population)
• Held political jobs, advised the king
• Noble birth, have education, interest in the
  arts, follow conduct rules
• Peasants (90 of population)
• Became free from serfdom
• Townspeople (7 of population)
• Patricians wealthy top level
• Burgher Shopkeepers, artisans, guild masters.
• Workers and unemployed extremely poor, lived
  miserable lives.

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Renaissance Life
Nobility
Peasant
Market
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Family and Marriage

• Family bond was a great source of security
• Marriage arranged to strengthen business or
  family ties
• Father managed all finances, made all decisions,
  absolute rule over children until he died or
  freed them before a judge.
• Mother supervised household only, had no say in
  childrens lives or any decisions

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Summary Questions

• Draw a line underneath your last notes and answer
  the following questions. Review your notes if
  you need help. Be prepared to be called on.
• The Renaissance was a rebirth of what?
• What were the three largest city-states of the
  Renaissance?
• Who was the author of The Prince and what was
  its main theme?
• What were the three social classes or estates?