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Book No. – 48 (History)
Book Name – Western Civilisation: Their History and Their Culture (Edward Mcnall)
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1. THE ITALIAN BACKGROUND
2. THE RENAISSANCE OF THOUGHT AND LITERATURE IN ITALY
3. THE ARTISTIC RENAISSANCE IN ITALY
4. THE WANING OF THE ITALIAN RENAISSANCE
5. THE RENAISSANCE IN THE NORTH
6. RENAISSANCE DEVELOPMENTS IN MUSIC
7. THE SCIENTIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE RENAISSANCE PERIOD
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The Civilisation of the Renaissance (1350-1550)
Chapter – 13
Table of Contents
- The term “Renaissance” was first used by Italian writers between 1350 and 1550 to describe a cultural revival after a thousand years of darkness and barbarism.
- Renaissance thinkers believed that the Muses of art and literature had fled Europe during the “dark ages” but returned in the fourteenth century.
- Historians have since recognized the Renaissance as an intellectual and cultural movement, rather than a complete transformation of politics, economics, and religion.
- The term “Renaissance” is reserved for significant trends in thought, literature, and the arts that emerged in Italyfrom 1350 to 1550 and spread to northern Europe in the early sixteenth century.
- It is incorrect to view the Renaissance as a rebirth from a “death” of classical learning, as classical knowledge never truly disappeared during the High Middle Ages.
- Figures like St. Thomas Aquinas and Dante revered classical works, but none embraced “Renaissance paganism” in opposition to medieval faith.
- Renaissance thinkers rediscovered a greater array of classical texts, especially works by Livy, Tacitus, Lucretius, and the Greek literary heritage, which were largely unknown to medieval scholars.
- Renaissance scholars learned Greek and studied Greek philosophy and literature, which had been largely inaccessible during the Middle Ages.
- Unlike medieval scholars, Renaissance writers used classical texts to question preconceived beliefs, altering modes of expression, and embracing classical models in art and architecture.
- While Renaissance culture was secular compared to medieval culture, it did not become pagan; secular idealspromoted success in the urban political arena and a focus on worldly living.
- The Church remained wealthy and influential but adjusted to the spread of secularity by becoming more secular itself.
- Humanism is a central intellectual ideal of the Renaissance, emphasizing the study of language, literature, history, and ethics.
- In its technical sense, humanism aimed to replace medieval Scholasticism with a focus on the humanities, which sought to make individuals virtuous and prepare them for public service.
- Humanist teachers preferred Latin classics and Greek studies over medieval logic and metaphysics.
- The broader sense of humanism emphasized the “dignity” of man as God’s most excellent creation below the angels, with a belief in the nobility and potential of the human race.
- Renaissance thinkers celebrated man’s ability to gain knowledge of God, master his fate, and live happily in the world.
THE ITALIAN BACKGROUND
- The Renaissance originated in Italy due to its advanced urban society in the later Middle Ages.
- Unlike aristocrats in the north, Italian aristocrats lived in urban centers and were fully involved in public affairs.
- Aristocratic families in Italy often engaged in banking or mercantile enterprises, making them indistinguishable from the upper bourgeoisie.
- The Medici family of Florence rose from physicians to bankers and eventually to aristocracy.
- There was a high demand for education in skills like reading, counting, and public argument.
- Many secular educators in Italy produced political, ethical treatises, and works of literature.
- Italy had the most educated upper-class public in Europe, leading to wealthy patrons of new ideas, art, and literature.
- Italy had a greater connection to the classical past than other European regions.
- The Italian aristocracy sought inspiration from ancient Latin and Greek texts because of their focus on urban politics.
- Roman monuments were omnipresent in Italy, making classical knowledge and literary style more relevant.
- Italians sought to establish an independent cultural identity, reacting against Scholasticism associated with France.
- The Great Schism (1378-1415) and the removal of the papacy to Avignon heightened antagonisms between Italy and France.
- Roman art and architecture were seen as alternatives to French Gothicism.
- The Italian economy was wealthier compared to the rest of Europe in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, supporting a flourishing cultural scene.
- Urban pride and concentration of wealth led to an intensification of investment in culture.
- Public support for culture (from 1250 to 1400/1450) focused on building public monuments and glorifying urban republics with Ciceronian prose.
- In the fifteenth century, most Italian city-states came under the rule of princely families.
- The Medici, Visconti, Sforza, Este, and Gonzaga families, along with the popes, became major patrons of art and culture.
- The popes, particularly Alexander VI, Julius II, and Leo X, made Rome the artistic capital of the Western world.