MMW 13 Chapter Notes - Chapter Reading: Louis Xii Of France, Michelangelo, Pope Sixtus Iv
6 May 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
Renaissance Culture
Wealth and Power in the Renaissance
● Wealthy Italian merchants established a system of patronage, whereby they or the state
or town would commission and fund artists, architects, and musicians to create works for
them
○ This led to a flowering of culture and art
○ This system was spread throughout Europe
● The Renaissance started in Florence, where wealthy bankers had enough money to
start the patronage system
○ People started viewing life on Earth as an opportunity for enjoyment
○ The de Medici family ran Florence, even though it was technically a republic
● The five major power on the Italian peninsula
○ Florence
○ Milan
○ Venice
○ The Papal States
○ The Kingdom of Naples
● The major powers of the peninsula were constantly in conflict, trying to gain advantage
over the others
○ Whenever one state gained too much power, the others would form an alliance to
keep the balance, a strategy that would be used throughout Europe in
subsequent centuries
○ This conflict led to the establishment of resident ambassadors to try and keep
relations smooth
● Since the Italian city states did not achieve centralization at the same rate as the rest of
Europe, they tended to be overrun later on
The Rise of Humanism
● Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374)
○ Father of humanism
○ The first person to encourage the study of Roman classics and open schools
dedicated to their study
■ Similar to the Chinese schools on Chinese classics
○ Called the period after the fall of Rome up to his times “the Dark Ages”
● Humanism
○ What we would call liberal arts today
○ Took an interest in people who rose above their background at birth to achieve
great things (called virtu)
○ Their schools were the basis of secondary and higher education for rich boys and
men
○ There were no schools for women, though some tutors were not opposed to
teaching girls
■ Some women studied on their own and became fluent enough in Latin
and Greek to teach themselves
● Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527)
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
○ Worked as an official in Florence for the Medicis before being ousted
○ Wrote The Prince (1513)
■ A political treatise
■ Argues that the job of a good ruler is to ensure stability and security for
his people and it is his job to do this by any means necessary
■ He got a lot of backlash for it and became pretty infamous
Christian Humanism
● Later in the 15th century, people from all over the NW parts of Europe went to Italy to
learn about humanism
○ These people sought to combine humanism with Christian ideals, making it
Christian humanism
● Thomas More (1478-1535)
○ A lawyer educated in the classics
○ From England
○ Utopia (1516)
■ A book about a society where everyone is educated and spends their
time between learning and working
■ There is no suffering, poverty, hunger, or inequality because the
government is beneficent and all profits are held in common
■ People don’t know what caused him to write it and if he was serious or
not
● Desiderius Erasmus (1466?-1536)
○ Highly educated Dutchman who wrote many books
○ The Education of a Christian Prince (1504)
■ How a ruler should act in a moral way
○ In Praise of Folly (1509)
■ Basically him roasting everyone, including the Pope
○ Published the New Testament in Greek (1516)
Printing and Its Social Impact
● Moveable type was originally invented in China, but metal moveable type was invented
in Korea and tightly regulated by the monarchy
● Moveable type printing developed separately in Germany in the mid 15th century
○ Johannes Gutenberg (ca. 1400-1468) created the printing press in 1440 and
published the first printed book in Europe with it in 1456, it was the Bible
● Millions of books were printed in the first 50 years after the press was invented
○ More than had ever been in circulation before
● Governments and churches liked printing because it allowed them to spread their
messages, but they disliked it because they didn’t want people printing things against
them
○ They tried to censor things, it didn’t really work
● Printing houses would print whatever sold, and books with images sold
○ Equal amounts of religious stuff and porn and everything in between
● People who could read would read to the illiterate, and there were posters put up about
big events that kept people in the know
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
Wealthy italian merchants established a system of patronage, whereby they or the state or town would commission and fund artists, architects, and musicians to create works for them. This led to a flowering of culture and art. The renaissance started in florence, where wealthy bankers had enough money to start the patronage system. People started viewing life on earth as an opportunity for enjoyment. The de medici family ran florence, even though it was technically a republic. The five major power on the italian peninsula. The major powers of the peninsula were constantly in conflict, trying to gain advantage over the others. Whenever one state gained too much power, the others would form an alliance to keep the balance, a strategy that would be used throughout europe in subsequent centuries. This conflict led to the establishment of resident ambassadors to try and keep relations smooth.
