Connecting Hemispheres: 1450-1750

1. The Renaissance Connecting Hemispheres: 1450-1750 Students will explain the political, intellectual, artistic, economic, and religious impact of the Renaissance c. Jarrett, Zimmer, Killoran

2. What was the Renaissance? Renaissance Latin for “Rebirth” - Began in 1300’s Rebirth of what? = Revival of art and thought The Renaissance was a time after the middle ages of creativity and change in many areas (political, intellectual, artistic, economical). Perhaps most important, however, were the changes that took place in the way people viewed themselves and their world The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Example of Renaissance art Wait! Watch this:

3. Renaissance Begins • Begins in Italy Around 1300’s • Due to location on Mediterranean • Due to wealth from trade and Rome (Pope) • Independent Wealthy City States: Milan, Florence, Siena • Wealthy and powerful merchant class acted as patronssupporting artists, writers, & scholars • Patron: Financial Supporter • Heart of the Italian Renaissance • Medici Family: financial backers who paid for everything, controlled all of Florence, patrons of Michelangelo & Da Vinci

4. ITALIAN CITY-STATESDURING THE RENAISSANCE

5. The Renaissance Begins • Secularism(non-religious) : Increases as people began to show greater interest in this world than in the life hereafter. • People used observations & experience to explain the world, instead of the words of the Church • Renaissance thinkers believed in the power of HUMAN REASON to explain the world • Humanists: Place great emphasis on the dignity, worth, & uniqueness of each person – WORLDLY SUBJECTS • Renaissance Emphasized: • artistic expression • the study of Greek and Roman cultures

6. THE ARTISTIC IMPACT of the Renaissance • Perspective • Using guidelines to calculate how things recede in the distance until they reach a vanishing point • Realistic Art • Use shading to show 3-D on a 2 dimensional surface. • Shift from art being flat and unlife-like • Went away from the Gothic style back to Greek & Roman Architecture • More about art tomorrow in class…

7. THE INTELLECTUAL IMPACT: Scholarship • Renaissance humanists studied classical Roman and Greek literature, poetry, and philosophy. • The Italian scholar Petrarch, the “Father of Humanism,” collected and studied ancient texts. • New methods of criticizing texts led some, like Erasmus, to question the Church. • Other Renaissance authors wrote on secular subjects. Puh-leez Stylin’ c. Jarrett, Zimmer, Killoran

8. THE INTELLECTUAL IMPACT: Literature • Renaissance writers focused on: • Describing the dignity of man • Celebrating the pleasures of the senses • Instructing nobles in how to behave at a prince’s court • Many wrote in the vernacular, or local language instead of Latin, including in: • France: Rabelais • England: Shakespeare • Spain: Cervantes Click here to watch this. Bonus: What famous event is this clip about? c. Jarrett, Zimmer, Killoran

9. THE POLITICAL IMPACT • The wealth of the Italian city-states, the weakening of the Church, and the reasoning of writers like Machiavelli contributed to the Renaissance concept of “reason of state” and strengthened nations • Renaissance rulers: • Justified whatever means necessary to strengthen their state • Collected taxes and raised armies • Exchanged ambassadors, creating modern diplomacy • Rulers in larger states followed c. Jarrett, Zimmer, Killoran

10. THE ECONOMIC IMPACT • Renaissance ideas and products quickly spread all over Europe, encouraging: • An increase in trade • An increased demand for luxury goods • Greater variety of products: • Clothes, foods, & furnishings • Growth of cities c. Jarrett, Zimmer, Killoran