Renaissance
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Intellectual and Artistic Creativity
Northern Renaissance
Reformation: Martin Luther
Greek Works Make a Comeback
Literature
Humanism- focused on human potential and achievements.
Did not try to agree with Christian teaching, but looked to understand ancient Greek values.
You could enjoy life without offending God.
Popes would look to beautify Rome by being patrons of the arts, and supporting artists financially.
William Shakespeare- wrote in England and would become the world's most famous playwright of all time.
Macbeth, King Lear, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. All examine human flaws.
"What a piece of work is a man, how noble in reason, how infinite in faculties, in form and moving, how express and admirable in action, how like an angle in apprehension, how like a god! beauty of the world; the paragon of animals."
William Shakespeare, Hamlet
Church officials first think of Luther as a rebellious monk who needs to be punished. Pope Leo X would threaten Luther with excommunication.
Students at Wittenberg would join Luther around a fire and throw the Pope's decree into the fire. Leo would excommunicate Luther.
The Holy Roman emperor, Charles V would make Luther an outlaw and heretic with the Edict of Worms.
His reforms would be put into practice, forming a separate Christian group known as the Lutherans.
Popes and bishops had become more concerned with worldly affairs and neglected their spiritual duties.
Martin Luther was a monk that taught at the University of Wittenberg in the German state of Saxony. He decided to take a public stand against the Church's practice of raising money though the selling of indulgences (pardon).
Luther would write and post his 95 Theses, or formal statements, on the door of the castle church in Wittenberg. Someone would copy his words down and quickly print many copies and spread them all over Germany. Among these statements against the Catholic Church was his belief that only the sacraments of communion and baptism are required, priests remaining celibate was unnecessary, and that people were saved through faith alone, not good works.
This led to the Reformation, or movement for religious reform.
Thomas More wrote about society's flaws in his book Utopia.
Utopia means "no place" in Greek, but we know Utopia as a perfect place due to More's book, where greed, corruption, war and crime had been weeded out as Utopians weren't greedy and had no use for money.
"Gold and silver, of which money is made, are so treated... that no one values them more highly than their true nature deserves. Who does not see that they are far inferior to iron in usefulness since without iron mortals cannot live any more than without fire and water?"
Thomas More, Utopia.
Writers began to write in the vernacular, or their native language, and for self-expression or to portray the individuality of their subjects.
Niccolo Machiavelli- author of "The Prince." Within this work, he examines how a ruler can gain power and keep it in spite of his enemies. To succeed in such a wicked world, a prince must be strong as a lion and shrewd as a fox, might have to trick his enemies and even his own people for the good of the state.
Examine- Tupac and Machiavelli
Renaissance Man
Renaissance Woman
- Should know the classics
- Be charming
- Inspire art but do not create it
- Studied art
- Strove to master almost every area of study
A young man should be charming, witty, and well educated in the classics. He should dance, sing, play music, and write poetry. Be a skilled rider, wrestler, and swordsman, but above all, should have self-control.
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ART
Michelangelo- sculptor and painter that glorified the human body.
Donatello- made sculpture more realistic by carving natural postures and expressions that reveal personality.
Peasants would become radical with Luther's teachings and rebel against the German princes, demanding an end to serfdom.
Luther would be horrified by this and push for the princes to show no mercy, crushing the peasant armies.
This would lead to many peasants rejecting his religious leadership, but Luther and his writings would still remain influential until the end of his life.
In 1529, the German princes would rebel against Charles V, looking to use Luther's teachings to seize Church property and gain independence.
These princes would become known as Protestants, a term that now applies to all Christians who do not belong to the Catholic Church.
The princes would be defeated but were not forced back into the Catholic Church, and Charles V would form the religious settlement known as the Peace of Augsburg, allowing each ruler to determine the religion of their state.
Leonardo Di Vinci- painter, sculptor, inventor and scientist.
Raphael- painter who portrayed expressions as gentle and calm.
Johann Gutenberg invented the printing press to make the printing of books much quicker to meet the demand for knowledge and books.
Using this invention, Gutenberg printed a complete Bible, the Gutenberg Bible, in about 1455.
By 1500, more than 10 million books had been printing, leading to a spread in literacy and ideas very quickly.
Many of the first books that were created were the Bible in the vernacular, allowing more people to read the Bible and interpret it for themselves, becoming more critical of their priests.
Meanwhile in England...
King Henry VIII
Reformation 2: Calvin
John Calvin published "Institutes of the Christian Religion" in 1521. This work expressed ideas about God, salvation, and human nature, leading to a new system of Protestant theology.
Predestination- doctrine that states that God has known since the beginning of time who will be saved and that only a few select people will be.
This teaching leads to Calvinism.
Theocracy- government controlled by a religious leader.
John Knox would visit Geneva, Switzerland and see Calvin's practice put to work. He would return to Scotland and put this practice to work. His follows would become known as Presbyterians.
Other reforms happened within Christianity, such as the Anabaptist. They believed that only adults could decide to be baptized, religion should be separate from government and refused to fight in wars.
Catholic Reformation
Review
Renaissance unofficially in the 1300s and is in full swing by the papal election of 1492.
Rodrigo Borgia is elected by the College of Cardinals and becomes Pope Alexander VI.
Pope Alexander VI's problems- corrupt, wants to be involved in political affairs of Europe, and want his sons carry on the Borgia legacy (specifically Cesare Borgia).
Although the Renaissance was a revival of intellectual and artistic creativity, the corruptness of European politics was still very common.
Setting the Scene
- How did intellectual and artistic creativity flourish during the Renaissance in Italy? Use specific examples such as artists and authors.
- Define and review the effects of the Renaissance.
- Describe 3 problems Martin Luther had with the Catholic Church. What was the result of his actions? Include the reasons for reform, Johannes Gutenberg, and the significance of the printing press.
- Describe the Reformation and its effects on the world. Be sure to include current day examples and the Catholic response.