The Renaissance Flashcards
(43 cards)
What does the term Renaissance mean?
- longing for the Classical world of Ancient Greece and Rome, with a particular emphasis on reviving languages and intellectual traditions of these civilizations
- literary translates to rinascita or “rebirth”
When did the Renaissance take place?
-14th to 16th century
What is the first piece of literature published on the Renaissance and what does it say?
- Jacob Burckhardt’s The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (German, 1860)
- Argues the Renaissance started in Italy because of the political fragmentation within the region at the time and its tendency towards Republicanism
When is the Renaissance said to have taken place in Italy and England?
- Italy ‘quattrocentro’ 1400’s (15th century) but maybe earlier
- England: late 15th/early 16th century -possibly even 17th century
What does the term ‘High Renaissance’ mean?
- short period of the most exceptional art in the Italian states
- 1490-1530
Who is seen as being the founding father of the European Renaissance?
Petrarch (1304-1374)
What ancient work did Petrarch recite and how did he influence the Renaissance?
- collected manuscripts especially from the Ancient Roman philosopher Cicero
- called the middle ages the ‘Dark Ages’- he was ushering in a new age of light
Why was Florence one of the centres of the European Renaissance?
- open political/social structure (Republicanism) which encouraged the patronage of artists and writers
- by 1400s it was experiencing high levels of wealth that accommodated luxury (strong capital for banking)
- no university (allowed a new way of thinking
What were the typical features of most Renaissance pieces of art?
- focus on the human over the divine
- attention to humanism/nature
- scientific/mathematical
- spatial depth
- dramatic scenes
- portraying a classical myth
- expression of weight/force
- pure colours
- imitation of nature
What are the typical features of most Renaissance architecture?
- rounded arches
- columns
- domes
- elaborate classical busts and features
- proportion is key, height of columns same to width of columns
How did music change during the Renaissance?
- music could be printed and shared
- sacred and secular
- development of polyphony (chords/ intervals/ harmonies)
- new instruments made e.g. viols(later become the violin)
What does Jack Goody argue in his book ‘Renaissances-The One or the Many?’
- there were multiple Renaissances not just one single one
- China and Islam had their own renaissances
- many different cultures have at some point looked back and built on ideas from the past
What was the Northern Renaissance and why is it controversial?
- Renaissance which took place in Burgundy and Flanders after ideas had spread from Florence
- scholars have argued whether or not they were influenced by Florence or developed on their own (idea of multiple Renaissances)
What do people who challenge Burckhardts view that the Renaissance started in Italy say?
- lots of material used during the Renaissance originates from the east
- Byzantium scholars had been working on the texts used in the Renaissance for centuries previous
- the ancient texts scholars were using were translation from arabic as arabic scholars had translated ancient texts centuries before
What is the definition of humanism?
a concern with the legacy of antiquity, so the recovery and study of Greek and Roman texts, as well as the values which they contain
What does the historian Hans Baron argue?
During the Renaissance there was a specific type of humanism called civic humanism
What is civic humanism?
-variant of Republicanism, that stresses active citizenship, and the preparation of active citizenship through a humanist education
What was scholasticism?
the system of theology and philosophy taught in medieval European universities, based on Aristotelian logic and the writings of the early Christian Fathers and emphasizing tradition and dogma
What did humanist scholars say was wrong with scholasticism?
- inaccessibility of scholarly texts
- full of jargon
What are the similarities between humanism and scholasticism?
- both based curriculum on the several liberal arts
- ‘trivium’: logic, grammar and rhetoric
- ‘quadrivium’: music, arithmetic, geometry and astronomy
What are the differences between humanists and scholastics?
- scholastics place more emphasise on logic whereas humanists place emphasis on rhetoric
- humanists believe its their duty to do whats best for the common good whereas scholastics prefer to contemplate their work and knowledge and not put it to use
Who was Erasmus?
- star of the northern Renaissance
- Dutch humanist and scholar
What does Erasmus argue in Education for a Christian Prince?
-in countries that are no republics and have monarchies, in order for humanists to achieve active citizenship then its their duty to offer the prince teachings and advice which will benefit the common good
Who was Thomas More?
-friend of Erasmus and fellow humanist
