· Italian Renaissance
o Renaissance=rebirth
o Art, architecture, & thinking reflect Greeks & Romans
§ Art is religious & focused on human form
· Christ depicted as human
§ Literature becomes artistic
· Write in vernacular
§ Western manners & deportment established
o Increasingly secular ideas & society
· Medici family
o rich merchant family of Florence that controlled city affairs for several generations
o Patrons of the arts
o Politicians
· Machiavelli
o wrote The Prince, a novel on politics and how rulers actually ruled
§ basis of modern political theory
· Renaissance Social Structure
o Marriage & Family
§ 14th century clocks-cities need to measure time for commerce
§ Nuclear families-poor cannot support extended families
§ No divorce
§ Most marriages arranged for economic reasons, but some are romantic
§ Stay to work on family lands in hopes of an inheritance or dowry later
§ More prostitution
§ Average age of marriage is mid-20’s for men, under 20 for women
§ Increased infanticide and abandonment, especially among poor and especially of baby girls
§ Population grows dramatically until 1650, then slows until 1750
§ Low rate of illegitimate births
§ Large number of births, but high mortality rate
§ Education is mostly for the upper classes
§ Life outlook
· Religion still forceful, but is not as important as the power of man on the world
· Humans have a special power
o Status of Women
§ Most women’s status not impacted by Renaissance-upper class status begins to drop
§ Educated women have some Renaissance status but are subservient to men
· Not included in the general improvement of educational opportunities
· Expected to use education solely to run a household
§ Women should make themselves pleasing to men (Castiglione)
· Identified women with marriage & the domestic virtues
§ Rape not considered a serious crime
§ Catholic orders for women grow
§ Wealthy women usually excluded from the public arena, instead expected to manage house
§ More “bodily” & thus more likely to be tempted by devil
o Nutrition & Health
§ High food price=low food consumption until 1650
§ 50% of babies do not live until the age of 1
§ Upper classes eat mostly meat
§ Poor eat lots of bread
§ Local famines common because governments are unsure how to deal with them
§ Smallpox & famine common
o Social Structure
§ Protestant work ethic leads to capitalism, but also leads to the development of a distain for the poor
§ Cities grow faster than rural areas
§ Countryside
· Landlords
· Peasants
· Landless workers
§ Cities
· Merchants
· Artisans
· Laborers
§ Move up class ladder through education
§ Putting out system
§ Eastern Europe-feudal serfdom
§ Tough to move between social classes
§ France has largest population in Europe at time
§ Price revolution (inflation) begins around 1500
· Caused by population growth & flow of bullion from new World
o Slavery
§ African slavery introduced
§ Rapid increase in New World slave trade
· Humanism
o Renaissance movement in Italy
o Focus on writings of humans
§ Greek & Roman works thrust back into public consciousness
o Reflected focus on human power during Renaissance
o Emphasized virtue
o Humanists embraced classical Latin & Greek and its forms over the Latin that was used during their day
· Leonardo da Vinci
o Painter & inventor
o Painted Last Supper
o Would be considered Enlightened if he had made his works available; however, he did not publish and thus his work was not the basis of further inquiry
· Northern Renaissance
o More spiritual than Italian renaissance
o Less of a break with medieval mindset than in Italy
o Questioned how to be good humans
o Christian Humanism
§ Focus on human qualities
§ Still connected to spiritual realm
o Scientific achievements
· Erasmus of Rotterdam
o Embodiment of Christian humanism
o Didn’t question church as an institution
o Believed people devoted to faith should be knowledgeable & educated/sophisticated
o Acquiring knowledge was moral
o Faith should lead you to education & moral improvement
o The Handbook of the Christian Knight-how to be a good Christina in a world of sin
o The Praise of Folly
§ Satire-Said clergy were buffoons
§ Supposed to expose the corrupt & ambitious clergy
o Wanted church to reform itself
o Hated Protestant Reformation
