Unit 1

• Renaissance Defined:

  • Occurred from 1350-1600 in Western Europe
  • Marked by rapid change in high intellectual culture
  • Artists and writers recovered the learning of ancient Greeks and Romans
  • Rejection of the medieval period (476 CE to 1350 CE)
  • More secular
  • Pushed Europeans toward modernity
• Role of the Crusades in the Rediscovery of Ancient Texts:

  • Crusades were military expeditions during the Middle Ages aimed at conquering Jerusalem by Christians (1095-1272)
  • Led to Western Europe reconnecting with the Byzantine Empire, resulting in the discovery of the Classics preserved by Arab Islamic and Byzantine scholars
• Fall of Constantinople in 1453:

  • Ottoman Conquest of Constantinople cut off Europeans from established trade routes
  • Europeans sought new trade routes, leading to direct contact with Africa, Asia, and the Americas
  • Scholars fleeing Constantinople brought new ideas into Europe, sparking the Renaissance
• Trade and the Rise of the Italian Middle Class:

  • Crusades led to the development of the Italian middle class of merchants
  • Italy served as a commercial bridge between the West and wealthy Asia
  • Development of new skills like bookkeeping and market development
  • Technological advancements in shipbuilding and navigating techniques
• Italian City-States:

  • Rising middle class increased the power and wealth of Italian city-states like Venice, Genoa, Pisa, Milan, and Florence
  • City-states started as republics, ruled by oligarchies
• Florence and the Medici Family:

  • 15th Century Florence was a leading city of Renaissance Italy
  • The Medici, a rich banking family, became dominant in politics and arts
  • Cosimo de Medici "the Elder" and his grandson Lorenzo "The Magnificent" were key figures in Florence
• Petrarch and the Birth of Humanism:

  • Humanism emphasized the study of literature from classical antiquity
  • Francesco Petrarch was an Italian Humanist and Poet who valued antiquity over his own time
• Results of Humanism:

  • Establishment of libraries
  • Search for lost manuscripts in European churches and monasteries
  • Stress on living in the world while not abandoning Christianity
  • Development of the printing press facilitated the spread of ideas
• Birth of the "Renaissance Man":

  • Leonardo da Vinci was a renowned painter and innovator
  • Niccolo Machiavelli was a diplomat, philosopher, and writer known for "The Prince"
• Renaissance Art:

  • Reflected the culture and values of the Renaissance
  • Revived Christian values and classicism in art
  • Patronage by wealthy individuals sponsored artists
  • Significant Renaissance artists include Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, Donato Donatello, Sandro Botticelli, Sofonisba Anguissola
• Conclusion:

  • Italy during the Renaissance saw a rebirth of classical learning
  • The Crusades played a key role in setting the stage for the Renaissance
  • The Renaissance introduced features of Modern Western life and thought like humanism, civic life, middle class, education, and centralization of state power
• Major changes in the world in the past 500 years:

  • Intellectual Revolutions: The Renaissance, The Reformation, The Scientific Revolution, The Enlightenment
  • Political Revolutions: Exploration and Colonization (1500-1700), American Revolution (1775), French Revolution (1789)
  • Material Revolutions: The Industrial Revolution (1750s to early 1800s)
• Beginning of 'Modern' History: 1350 with Europe's Renaissance and Leonardo DaVinci's "Vitruvian Man" in 1490
• European World Dominance as a result of these revolutions
• Intellectual Influence, Material/Technological Impact, and Political Shift as results of these revolutions
• Early Modern Europe period: 1500-1750, end of the Middle Ages before the Industrial Revolution
• Primary Source Analysis Questions:

  • Identify the document type and publication date
  • Describe the content of the document
  • Analyze the perspective of the creator and whose perspectives are included or missing
  • Understand what the document reveals about the past
• Primary Source: Ramon Llull's "Ladder of Ascent and Descent of the Mind," published in 1305
• Primary Source: Illustration of Londoners fleeing the plague in 1625, Miseries and Griefs of War by Jacques Callot in 1633
• Roman Catholic Church in the Middle Ages:

  • Organization common to all people
  • Rituals and calendar ordered daily life
  • By the 11th century, the Roman Catholic Church was in the west of Europe (headed by the Pope), while the Eastern Orthodox Church was in Constantinople (headed by the Patriarch)
• Early Movements for Reform:

  • Franciscan Order in the 13th century promoted a disciplined life of poverty and service
  • John Wycliffe (c.1320-1384) from England created the first English translation of the Bible and challenged the notion that salvation was dependent on the papacy and performance of rituals
  • John Hus (c.1369-1415) from Bohemia led a movement adopting Wycliffe's reforms and supported introducing lay people in the ceremony of communion
  • Both Wycliffe and Hus were condemned by the Catholic Church as heretics, with Hus being burned at the stake
• Early Reform:

  • Humanists like Desiderius Erasmus challenged luxury within the institution of the church
  • Erasmus stressed the inwardness of religious feeling versus external forms of worship such as pilgrimages, fasts, and relics
  • The printing press allowed for the spread of ideas
• Martin Luther and the Beginnings of Protestantism:

  • Martin Luther (1483-1546) from Germany, a Professor in Wittenberg, addressed the question of how an individual might be "saved" (Faith vs. Works controversy)
  • Luther broke with formal Catholic teaching, focusing on reading the Bible and having a personal relationship with God
  • Humans cannot "earn" salvation
• Indulgences:

  • Release from temporal penalty given by priests to individuals who confessed sins
  • Johann Tetzel sold indulgences with the slogan "as soon as the coin in the coffer rings, the soul from purgatory springs"
  • Indulgences were sold to believers to raise funds for rebuilding St. Peter's Basilica in Rome
  • Luther protested the sale of indulgences with his 95 theses
• Luther's suggestions for reforms of the church:

  • Challenged the sacraments and supported marriage for clergy
  • Believed the relationship to God was personal and the institution of the church was not necessary for salvation
  • Luther called for a break with the Roman Catholic Church and the establishment of a German church
• Diet of Worms:

  • Luther was excommunicated in January 1521 as a heretic
  • The Diet of Worms was called to discuss new ideas, where Luther was asked to recant his views
  • Luther was made an outlaw and went into hiding
• The Reformation Spreads:

  • Lutheranism took root in Germany and areas north of Germany
  • Catholicism retained its hold in the south
  • John Calvin (1509-1564) wrote the Institutes of the Christian Religion and his teachings spread to Scotland and the Netherlands
  • In France, followers of Calvin were called Huguenots
  • Anabaptists, who believed in the separation of church and state, were persecuted
• The Reformation in England:

  • Henry VIII transformed the church in England to the "Church of England" with himself as the head
  • Thomas More was beheaded for refusing to acknowledge King Henry VIII as the head of the church
  • People who wanted to purify the English Church of Catholic ways became known as Puritans
• Religious Division in Europe:

  • Map showing the religious divisions in Europe

  
• - The Council of Trent, under Pope Paul III's leadership, met at Trent in the 1540s to discuss a response to the Reformation

  - The Council of Trent met off and on for about 18 years
• Decisions made by the Council of Trent:

  • Affirmed the whole corpus of medieval church law
  • Reasserted the importance of "works" in addition to "faith"
  • Bible in Latin only
  • Maintained old definitions of sacraments
  • Affirmed the belief in Purgatory
  • Upheld the veneration of Saints
  • Defined the priesthood as men with holy power, not just as "ministers"
• Key reforms of the Council of Trent:

  • Bishops were pushed into cities, strengthening their authority
  • Each diocese had to erect a seminary to train priests, which ulted in better schooled, better supervised, and more often celibate clergy
• The Roman Inquisition was revived in 1542 to root out heretics

  • Majority of sentences consisted of penances
  • Unrepentant heretics were handed over to secular courts, often resulting in execution or life imprisonment
  • The Spanish Inquisition focused on converting Jews and Muslims to Christianity
• The Roman Index of Prohibited Books was designed to root out unorthodox beliefs/claims/literature

  • Included review and revision of books prior to publication
  • Censored books following publication that were seen as theologically or morally erroneous
  • Famous books/authors on the list include Machiavelli's "The Prince," Thomas Hobbes, John Locke, and John Calvin
  • Lasted from 1599 to 1966
• Founding of Religious Orders focused on teaching, propaganda, and social services

  • Most famous was the Jesuits, founded in 1534 and chartered in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola
  • Jesuits were known for their schools, which were tuition-free and open to all, including Protestants
  • Spread across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, winning new converts and bringing back Protestants to Catholicism
• The Counter Reformation was quite successful, especially due to the policies of popes in the 16th and 17th centuries

  • Kept Catholics unified while Protestants had splintered into many smaller factions
  • Catholics utilized various art forms like architecture, sculpture, painting, and music, in addition to preaching and pamphlets
  • Developed the Baroque Style with splendid buildings, some Quebec churches were built in this style
• Age of Religious Wars:

  • Period in Europe from Peace of Augsburg in 1555 to Peace of Westphalia in 1648
  • Conflicts between Protestants and Catholics, sometimes between Protestants and Protestants
  • Catholics wanted Europe to be a single religious entity
  • Protestants fought for recognition
• Religious Wars and Civil War in France:

  • Most people in France were Catholic, but much of the nobility, lawyers, doctors, merchants were Protestants (Huguenots)
  • Catholic King Francis I forbade Huguenots to worship freely in 1534
  • Civil war broke out in 1562 between Catholics and Huguenots
  • St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre in Aug. 1572 where thousands of Huguenots were killed in Paris
  • Henry IV converted to Catholicism and ended fighting between Catholics and Protestants in France with the Edict of Nantes, giving Huguenots freedom of worship
• Philip II: Catholic Spain:

  • King Philip II came to power in Spain during its "golden century"
  • Spanish empire holdings included much of the Americas, Milan, Naples, Netherlands, Burgundy, Mediterranean islands
  • Philip II championed the Catholic offensive against Protestantism and saw himself as leader of the Counter-Reformation
  • Spanish Inquisition rooted out heresy
  • Spanish economy depended on silver and gold from the New World, leading to bankruptcy by the end of his reign
• The Revolt of the Low Countries:

  • Low Countries were under Spanish control, divided into Protestants and Catholics
  • Provinces of the North revolted in 1576 against Philip II's harsh rule, leading to the independence of the Netherlands as a Dutch Protestant state
  • Resistance movement led by William of Orange