User:Atcovi/AP European History/Ch 1 - Renaissance and Exploration

Intro
From the 14th-16th century, this period is known as the age of rebirth. The humanists of this era believed that "uncovered talent" was being brought back into the spotlight. This period after the Middle Ages was coined as the "Renaissance" by French historians for the "dead" artwork being brought back to life.

Origins
The Black Death, according to historians, is a major pinpoint of the rise of the Renaissance, as it caused for doubt to be laid on the Catholic Church and decreasing in power. Uprisings were common among Europe as the huge decrease in workers led to demand for higher wages. The Middle Ages was seen as the destruction of creativity (end of Roman Empire - creation of their own civilizations). Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt created the idea of the "Renaissance", where Italy was its "father" ["birthplace of the modern world"], antiquity returns (ancient pasts), individualism and humanism rebirths (secularism and less religiousness). The Renaissance began in Northern Italy because of nationalism (Roman pride), the Crusades and trade returning. Throughout the independent Italian states, scholars reviewed the ancient Latin and Greek manuscripts. They concluded that history was very important to learn to understand how and why our world works. Slavery took a dip due to the Black Death and other economical reasons. It rose back into prominence. Most slaves were female, and rich families usually had 2 or 3 slaves. Slaves were taken from the Mediterranean and Black Sea regions. After the Turks conquered the Byzantine Empire and humanitarian ideologies spread about, slavery declined in Italy.
 * What characteristics distinguish the Renaissance vs. Middle Ages?
 * What major changes took place during the Renaissance?
 * Economically: Originally, by the 1500s, a large number of settlements were dedicate to trading under the ruling of the Hanseatic League. Eventually, the Hanseatic League fell down due to the pressures of competition. An economic depression hampered the Italian progress on wool-making in Florence, but by the 15th century, it picked back up to speed and other industries, such as silk, glassware and hardworked items, began to expand. The mining industry exploded into popularity, edging over other rivalry industries. The Medici Family expanded the cloth production --> commerce, real estate and banking. The Medici was quite powerful for a long time in the 15th century, but the Medici declined randomly due to poor leadership and unpaid loans.
 * Socially: Society was broken up into 3 estates, the First Estate (clergy - upheld religious ruling), Second Estate (nobility - provides success and happiness to the city) and Third Estate (Peasants and Inhabitants).
 * Slavery

Family
consisted of: The family meant a lot to the Romans as it was a source of security and strength. Marriages were used for strengthening business ties and family reputation. What was essential during marriages was the dowry, which was the money presented to the husband by the wife. If the dowry was huge, that showed an elevation in status. If the dowry was small, that showed a devaluation in status. Adulthood only reaches families when the father would go to the judge for approval to adulthood, not when the children turn 18.
 * Parents
 * Children
 * Servants
 * Marriage

In families, it was usually the wife that would take care of the kids [traditional household]. Parts of a wedding where: Due to staggering mortality cases (50% of children are faced with death before age of 20), many Florentine families reproduced at crazy rates to keep their family line alive.
 * Possible presence of a priest
 * Marriage Contract
 * Wedding feast

Italian states in Renaissance
Sforza became the new duke of Venice after taking control of Milan and going back on the Milanese employers he had... him and the Visconti rulers worked hard to decentralize the gov't. Eventually Venice become one of the most powerful nations in Italy, causing fear to be stricken in the hearts of the neighboring Italian regions. The Medici family took Florence over. In the 15th century, Florence was a small oligarchy in the midst of a republican. Cosimo and Lorenzo were successful in dominating the nation during its peak. These states were in central Italy. Schisms allow a share of power between popes, who fought relentlessly to get their power back, and the individual governments of cities like Bologna. Naples consist of mostly southern Italy and Sicily. In the Renaissance, it remained backward with mostly poor peasants at the population. Pretty bland.
 * 1) Milan
 * 2) Venice
 * 3) Florence
 * 4) Papal States
 * 5) Naples
 * Venice
 * Florence
 * Papal States
 * Naples

There were many other independent city-states lie Mantua and Gonzaga vs. the five major states. de Montelfetro ruled Urbino from 1444-1482. He learned humanism, fighting skills, kept promises and was honest. Duke Federigo was a great patron of Renaissance culture.
 * Urbino

Women

 * Sfroza - Woman who was wife of da Montelfeltro, well versed in Greek and Latin. She governed the state in place of da Montelfeltro.
 * Isabella d'Este - Daughter of duke of Ferera. Well educated and full of wisdom. Attracts artists to the Mantuan court, contributed to one of the most beautiful libraries in the world. Effectively ruled Mantua.

Humanism

 * Humanism: "an intellectual movement that advocated the study of history and literature as the chief means of identifying with the glories of the ancient world". Although secularism was rising, nonreligiousness was not an established idea at the time. Humanism made people believe that God has allowed humans to have free will.


 * 1) Francesco Petrarch - "Known as the father of Renaissance Humanism. He lived from 1304-1374 as a cleric and committed his life to humanistic pursuits and careful study of the classics. He resisted writing in the Italian vernacular except for his sonnets, which were composed to his "lady love" who spoke no Latin.": https://quizlet.com/42763536/ap-euro-the-renaissance-flash-cards/
 * 2) Giovanni Boccaccio - Humanistic ideas written in his The Decameron, a story about people's responses to the Black Death instead of focusing on a religious background.
 * 3) Pico della Mirandola - Italian Renaissance humanist who wrote the "Manifesto of the Renaissance": Oration on the Dignity of Man. In this book, Mirandola states that with man's unlimited potential, they must tirelessly shape their own destiny using their free will.

Northern Humanists

 * 1) Sir Thomas Moore - Wrote Utopia. A critical book of European practices, such as capital punishment, that shows a perfect world.
 * 2) Erasmus - Praise of Folly criticizing the Church.

Arts

 * Leonardo da Vinci - The Last Supper, Mona Lisa
 * Michelangelo - David ("return to a humanistic appreciation of physical beauty from the austere medieval conception of emaciated, self-flagellated saint" - WB)
 * Raphael - Painted the "The School Of Athens, The Nymph Galatea, and Portrait of Pope Leo X with two Cardinals."

The Prince
Machiavelli's The Prince [father of political science] set the standard for rulers:


 * 1) Be feared, not loved or hated
 * 2) Power over morals
 * 3) Advisers should be truthful and loyal

Northern

 * 1300-1630
 * Christian humanism, individualism, life on Earth
 * Sciences and technology
 * Religiously diverse + Protestantism
 * More universities
 * Pushed for social reform

Southern

 * 1300-1600
 * Pagan and Greco-Roman ideals
 * Art and culture
 * Roman Catholic