Renaissance
The Renaissance's intellectual basis was its version of
As a cultural movement, the Renaissance encompassed innovative flowering of Latin and vernacular literatures, beginning with the 14th-century resurgence of learning based on classical sources, which contemporaries credited to Petrarch; the development of linear perspective and other techniques of rendering a more natural reality in painting; and gradual but widespread educational reform. In politics, the Renaissance contributed to the development of the customs and conventions of diplomacy, and in science to an increased reliance on observation and inductive reasoning. Although the Renaissance saw revolutions in many intellectual and social scientific pursuits, as well as the introduction of modern banking and the field of accounting,[4] it is perhaps best known for its artistic developments and the contributions of such polymaths as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, who inspired the term "Renaissance man".[5][6]
Period
The Renaissance period started during the
In addition to the standard periodization, proponents of a "long Renaissance" may put its beginning in the 14th century and its end in the 17th century.[c]
The traditional view focuses more on the Renaissance's early modern aspects and argues that it was a break from the past, but many historians today focus more on its medieval aspects and argue that it was an extension of the Middle Ages.[10][11] The beginnings of the period—the early Renaissance of the 15th century and the Italian Proto-Renaissance from around 1250 or 1300—overlap considerably with the Late Middle Ages, conventionally dated to c. 1350–1500, and the Middle Ages themselves were a long period filled with gradual changes, like the modern age; as a transitional period between both, the Renaissance has close similarities to both, especially the late and early sub-periods of either.
Renaissance |
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Aspects |
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History and study |
The Renaissance began in Florence, one of the many states of Italy.[12] Various theories have been proposed to account for its origins and characteristics, focusing on a variety of factors, including Florence's social and civic peculiarities at the time: its political structure, the patronage of its dominant family, the Medici,[13] and the migration of Greek scholars and their texts to Italy following the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks.[14][15][16] Other major centers were Venice, Genoa, Milan, Rome during the Renaissance Papacy, and Naples. From Italy, the Renaissance spread throughout Europe and also to American, African and Asian territories ruled by the European colonial powers of the time or where Christian missionaries were active.
The Renaissance has a long and complex historiography, and in line with general skepticism of discrete periodizations, there has been much debate among historians reacting to the 19th-century glorification of the "Renaissance" and individual cultural heroes as "Renaissance men", questioning the usefulness of Renaissance as a term and as a historical delineation.[17]
Some observers have questioned whether the Renaissance was a cultural "advance" from the Middle Ages, instead seeing it as a period of pessimism and
The word has also been extended to other historical and cultural movements, such as the Carolingian Renaissance (8th and 9th centuries), Ottonian Renaissance (10th and 11th century), and the Renaissance of the 12th century.[22]
Overview
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that profoundly affected European intellectual life in the
Renaissance humanists such as Poggio Bracciolini sought out in Europe's monastic libraries the Latin literary, historical, and oratorical texts of antiquity, while the fall of Constantinople (1453) generated a wave of émigré Greek scholars bringing precious manuscripts in ancient Greek, many of which had fallen into obscurity in the West. It was in their new focus on literary and historical texts that Renaissance scholars differed so markedly from the medieval scholars of the Renaissance of the 12th century, who had focused on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural sciences, philosophy, and mathematics, rather than on such cultural texts.[citation needed]
In the revival of
Well after the first artistic return to classicism had been exemplified in the sculpture of Nicola Pisano, Florentine painters led by Masaccio strove to portray the human form realistically, developing techniques to render perspective and light more naturally. Political philosophers, most famously Niccolò Machiavelli, sought to describe political life as it really was, that is to understand it rationally. A critical contribution to Italian Renaissance humanism, Giovanni Pico della Mirandola wrote De hominis dignitate (Oration on the Dignity of Man, 1486), a series of theses on philosophy, natural thought, faith, and magic defended against any opponent on the grounds of reason. In addition to studying classical Latin and Greek, Renaissance authors also began increasingly to use vernacular languages; combined with the introduction of the printing press, this allowed many more people access to books, especially the Bible.[25]
In all, the Renaissance can be viewed as an attempt by intellectuals to study and improve the secular and worldly, both through the revival of ideas from antiquity and through novel approaches to thought. Political philosopher
Sociologist
Historian
Origins
Many argue that the ideas characterizing the Renaissance had their origin in
Yet it remains much debated why the Renaissance began in Italy, and why it began when it did. Accordingly, several theories have been put forward to explain its origins. Peter Rietbergen posits that various influential Proto-Renaissance movements started from roughly 1300 onwards across many regions of Europe.[31]
Latin and Greek phases of Renaissance humanism
In stark contrast to the High Middle Ages, when Latin scholars focused almost entirely on studying Greek and Arabic works of natural science, philosophy and mathematics,[e] Renaissance scholars were most interested in recovering and studying Latin and Greek literary, historical, and oratorical texts. Broadly speaking, this began in the 14th century with a Latin phase, when Renaissance scholars such as Petrarch, Coluccio Salutati (1331–1406), Niccolò de' Niccoli (1364–1437), and Poggio Bracciolini (1380–1459) scoured the libraries of Europe in search of works by such Latin authors as Cicero, Lucretius, Livy, and Seneca.[32] By the early 15th century, the bulk of the surviving such Latin literature had been recovered; the Greek phase of Renaissance humanism was under way, as Western European scholars turned to recovering ancient Greek literary, historical, oratorical and theological texts.[33]
Unlike with Latin texts, which had been preserved and studied in Western Europe since late antiquity, the study of ancient Greek texts was very limited in medieval Western Europe. Ancient Greek works on science, mathematics, and philosophy had been studied since the
The movement to reintegrate the regular study of Greek literary, historical, oratorical, and theological texts back into the Western European curriculum is usually dated to the 1396 invitation from Coluccio Salutati to the Byzantine diplomat and scholar
Social and political structures in Italy
The unique political structures of Italy during the Late Middle Ages have led some to theorize that its unusual social climate allowed the emergence of a rare cultural efflorescence. Italy did not exist as a political entity in the early modern period. Instead, it was divided into smaller city-states and territories: the Neapolitans controlled the south, the Florentines and the Romans at the center, the Milanese and the Genoese to the north and west respectively, and the Venetians to the east. 15th-century Italy was one of the most urbanized areas in Europe.[41] Many of its cities stood among the ruins of ancient Roman buildings; it seems likely that the classical nature of the Renaissance was linked to its origin in the Roman Empire's heartland.[42]
Historian and political philosopher Quentin Skinner points out that Otto of Freising (c. 1114–1158), a German bishop visiting north Italy during the 12th century, noticed a widespread new form of political and social organization, observing that Italy appeared to have exited from feudalism so that its society was based on merchants and commerce. Linked to this was anti-monarchical thinking, represented in the famous early Renaissance fresco cycle The Allegory of Good and Bad Government by Ambrogio Lorenzetti (painted 1338–1340), whose strong message is about the virtues of fairness, justice, republicanism and good administration. Holding both Church and Empire at bay, these city republics were devoted to notions of liberty. Skinner reports that there were many defences of liberty such as the Matteo Palmieri (1406–1475) celebration of Florentine genius not only in art, sculpture and architecture, but "the remarkable efflorescence of moral, social and political philosophy that occurred in Florence at the same time".[43]
Even cities and states beyond central Italy, such as the Republic of Florence at this time, were also notable for their merchant republics, especially the Republic of Venice. Although in practice these were oligarchical, and bore little resemblance to a modern democracy, they did have democratic features and were responsive states, with forms of participation in governance and belief in liberty.[43][44][45] The relative political freedom they afforded was conducive to academic and artistic advancement.[46] Likewise, the position of Italian cities such as Venice as great trading centres made them intellectual crossroads. Merchants brought with them ideas from far corners of the globe, particularly the Levant. Venice was Europe's gateway to trade with the East, and a producer of fine glass, while Florence was a capital of textiles. The wealth such business brought to Italy meant large public and private artistic projects could be commissioned and individuals had more leisure time for study.[46]
Black Death
One theory that has been advanced is that the devastation in
The plague was carried by fleas on sailing vessels returning from the ports of Asia, spreading quickly due to lack of proper sanitation: the population of England, then about 4.2 million, lost 1.4 million people to the bubonic plague. Florence's population was nearly halved in the year 1347. As a result of the decimation in the populace the value of the working class increased, and commoners came to enjoy more freedom. To answer the increased need for labor, workers traveled in search of the most favorable position economically.[49]
The demographic decline due to the plague had economic consequences: the prices of food dropped and land values declined by 30–40% in most parts of Europe between 1350 and 1400.[50] Landholders faced a great loss, but for ordinary men and women it was a windfall. The survivors of the plague found not only that the prices of food were cheaper but also that lands were more abundant, and many of them inherited property from their dead relatives.
The spread of disease was significantly more rampant in areas of poverty. Epidemics ravaged cities, particularly children. Plagues were easily spread by lice, unsanitary drinking water, armies, or by poor sanitation. Children were hit the hardest because many diseases, such as typhus and congenital syphilis, target the immune system, leaving young children without a fighting chance. Children in city dwellings were more affected by the spread of disease than the children of the wealthy.[51]
The Black Death caused greater upheaval to Florence's social and political structure than later epidemics. Despite a significant number of deaths among members of the ruling classes, the government of Florence continued to function during this period. Formal meetings of elected representatives were suspended during the height of the epidemic due to the chaotic conditions in the city, but a small group of officials was appointed to conduct the affairs of the city, which ensured continuity of government.[52]
Cultural conditions in Florence
It has long been a matter of debate why the Renaissance began in
The Renaissance was certainly underway before Lorenzo de' Medici came to power – indeed, before the Medici family itself achieved hegemony in Florentine society. Some historians have postulated that Florence was the birthplace of the Renaissance as a result of luck, i.e., because "Great Men" were born there by chance:[54] Leonardo, Botticelli and Michelangelo were all born in Tuscany. Arguing that such chance seems improbable, other historians have contended that these "Great Men" were only able to rise to prominence because of the prevailing cultural conditions at the time.[55]
Characteristics
Humanism
In some ways,
Humanist scholars shaped the intellectual landscape throughout the early modern period. Political philosophers such as Niccolò Machiavelli and
The humanists believed that it is important to transcend to the afterlife with a perfect mind and body, which could be attained with education. The purpose of humanism was to create a universal man whose person combined intellectual and physical excellence and who was capable of functioning honorably in virtually any situation.[61] This ideology was referred to as the uomo universale, an ancient Greco-Roman ideal. Education during the Renaissance was mainly composed of ancient literature and history as it was thought that the classics provided moral instruction and an intensive understanding of human behavior.
Humanism and libraries
A unique characteristic of some Renaissance libraries is that they were open to the public. These libraries were places where ideas were exchanged and where scholarship and reading were considered both pleasurable and beneficial to the mind and soul. As freethinking was a hallmark of the age, many libraries contained a wide range of writers. Classical texts could be found alongside humanist writings. These informal associations of intellectuals profoundly influenced Renaissance culture. Some of the richest "bibliophiles" built libraries as temples to books and knowledge. A number of libraries appeared as manifestations of immense wealth joined with a love of books. In some cases, cultivated library builders were also committed to offering others the opportunity to use their collections. Prominent aristocrats and princes of the Church created great libraries for the use of their courts, called "court libraries", and were housed in lavishly designed monumental buildings decorated with ornate woodwork, and the walls adorned with frescoes (Murray, Stuart A.P.).
Art
Renaissance art marks a cultural rebirth at the close of the Middle Ages and rise of the Modern world. One of the distinguishing features of Renaissance art was its development of highly realistic linear perspective. Giotto di Bondone (1267–1337) is credited with first treating a painting as a window into space, but it was not until the demonstrations of architect Filippo Brunelleschi (1377–1446) and the subsequent writings of Leon Battista Alberti (1404–1472) that perspective was formalized as an artistic technique.[62]
The development of
In the
In architecture, Filippo Brunelleschi was foremost in studying the remains of ancient classical buildings. With rediscovered knowledge from the 1st-century writer
.During the Renaissance, architects aimed to use columns,
Renaissance artists were not pagans, although they admired antiquity and kept some ideas and symbols of the medieval past.
Science
Applied innovation extended to commerce. At the end of the 15th century, Luca Pacioli published the first work on bookkeeping, making him the founder of accounting.[4]
The rediscovery of ancient texts and the invention of the printing press in about 1440 democratized learning and allowed a faster propagation of more widely distributed ideas. In the first period of the Italian Renaissance, humanists favored the study of humanities over natural philosophy or applied mathematics, and their reverence for classical sources further enshrined the Aristotelian and Ptolemaic views of the universe. Writing around 1450, Nicholas Cusanus anticipated the heliocentric worldview of Copernicus, but in a philosophical fashion.
Science and art were intermingled in the early Renaissance, with polymath artists such as Leonardo da Vinci making observational drawings of anatomy and nature. Leonardo set up controlled experiments in water flow, medical dissection, and systematic study of movement and aerodynamics, and he devised principles of research method that led Fritjof Capra to classify him as the "father of modern science".[g] Other examples of Da Vinci's contribution during this period include machines designed to saw marbles and lift monoliths, and new discoveries in acoustics, botany, geology, anatomy, and mechanics.[71]
A suitable environment had developed to question classical scientific doctrine. The discovery in 1492 of the New World by Christopher Columbus challenged the classical worldview. The works of Ptolemy (in geography) and Galen (in medicine) were found to not always match everyday observations. As the Reformation and Counter-Reformation clashed, the Northern Renaissance showed a decisive shift in focus from Aristotelean natural philosophy to chemistry and the biological sciences (botany, anatomy, and medicine).[72] The willingness to question previously held truths and search for new answers resulted in a period of major scientific advancements.
Some view this as a "
Another important development was in the process for discovery, the scientific method,[76] focusing on empirical evidence and the importance of mathematics, while discarding much of Aristotelian science. Early and influential proponents of these ideas included Copernicus, Galileo, and Francis Bacon.[77][78] The new scientific method led to great contributions in the fields of astronomy, physics, biology, and anatomy.[h][79]
During the Renaissance, extending from 1450 to 1650,[80] every continent was visited and mostly mapped by Europeans, except the south polar continent now known as Antarctica. This development is depicted in the large world map Nova Totius Terrarum Orbis Tabula made by the Dutch cartographer Joan Blaeu in 1648 to commemorate the Peace of Westphalia.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain seeking a direct route to India of the Delhi Sultanate. He accidentally stumbled upon the Americas, but believed he had reached the East Indies.
In 1606, the Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon sailed from the East Indies in the VOC ship Duyfken and landed in Australia. He charted about 300 km of the west coast of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland. More than thirty Dutch expeditions followed, mapping sections of the north, west, and south coasts. In 1642–1643, Abel Tasman circumnavigated the continent, proving that it was not joined to the imagined south polar continent.
By 1650, Dutch cartographers had mapped most of the coastline of the continent, which they named New Holland, except the east coast which was charted in 1770 by James Cook.
The long-imagined south polar continent was eventually sighted in 1820. Throughout the Renaissance it had been known as Terra Australis, or 'Australia' for short. However, after that name was transferred to New Holland in the nineteenth century, the new name of 'Antarctica' was bestowed on the south polar continent.[81]
Music
From this changing society emerged a common, unifying musical language, in particular the
Religion
The new ideals of humanism, although more secular in some aspects, developed against a Christian backdrop, especially in the
The Renaissance began in times of religious turmoil. The Late Middle Ages was a period of political intrigue surrounding the
Churchmen such as Erasmus and Luther proposed reform to the Church, often based on humanist textual criticism of the New Testament.[24] In October 1517, Luther published the Ninety-five Theses, challenging papal authority and criticizing its perceived corruption, particularly with regard to instances of sold indulgences.[i] The 95 Theses led to the Reformation, a break with the Roman Catholic Church that previously claimed hegemony in Western Europe. Humanism and the Renaissance therefore played a direct role in sparking the Reformation, as well as in many other contemporaneous religious debates and conflicts.
Pope Paul III came to the papal throne (1534–1549) after the sack of Rome in 1527, with uncertainties prevalent in the Catholic Church following the Reformation. Nicolaus Copernicus dedicated De revolutionibus orbium coelestium (On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres) to Paul III, who became the grandfather of Alessandro Farnese, who had paintings by Titian, Michelangelo, and Raphael, as well as an important collection of drawings, and who commissioned the masterpiece of Giulio Clovio, arguably the last major illuminated manuscript, the Farnese Hours.
Self-awareness
By the 15th century, writers, artists, and architects in Italy were well aware of the transformations that were taking place and were using phrases such as modi antichi (in the antique manner) or alle romana et alla antica (in the manner of the Romans and the ancients) to describe their work. In the 1330s Petrarch referred to pre-Christian times as antiqua (ancient) and to the Christian period as nova (new).[84] From Petrarch's Italian perspective, this new period (which included his own time) was an age of national eclipse.[84] Leonardo Bruni was the first to use tripartite periodization in his History of the Florentine People (1442).[85] Bruni's first two periods were based on those of Petrarch, but he added a third period because he believed that Italy was no longer in a state of decline. Flavio Biondo used a similar framework in Decades of History from the Deterioration of the Roman Empire (1439–1453).
Humanist historians argued that contemporary scholarship restored direct links to the classical period, thus bypassing the Medieval period, which they then named for the first time the "Middle Ages". The term first appears in Latin in 1469 as media tempestas (middle times).
Spread
In the 15th century, the Renaissance spread rapidly from its birthplace in Florence to the rest of Italy and soon to the rest of Europe. The invention of the printing press by German printer Johannes Gutenberg allowed the rapid transmission of these new ideas. As it spread, its ideas diversified and changed, being adapted to local culture. In the 20th century, scholars began to break the Renaissance into regional and national movements.
England
The Elizabethan era in the second half of the 16th century is usually regarded as the height of the English Renaissance. Many scholars see its beginnings in the early 16th century during the reign of Henry VIII.[90]
The English Renaissance is different from the Italian Renaissance in several ways. The dominant art forms of the English Renaissance were literature and music, which had a rich flowering.[91] Visual arts in the English Renaissance were much less significant than in the Italian Renaissance. The English Renaissance period in art began far later than the Italian, which had moved into Mannerism by the 1530s.[92]
In literature the later part of the 16th century saw the flowering of
Elsewhere, Sir Francis Bacon (1561–1626) was the pioneer of modern scientific thought, and is commonly regarded as one of the founders of the Scientific Revolution.[94][95]
France
The word "Renaissance" is borrowed from the French language, where it means "re-birth". It was first used in the eighteenth century and was later popularized by French historian Jules Michelet (1798–1874) in his 1855 work, Histoire de France (History of France).[96][97]
In 1495 the Italian Renaissance arrived in France, imported by King Charles VIII after his invasion of Italy. A factor that promoted the spread of secularism was the inability of the Church to offer assistance against the Black Death. Francis I imported Italian art and artists, including Leonardo da Vinci, and built ornate palaces at great expense. Writers such as François Rabelais, Pierre de Ronsard, Joachim du Bellay, and Michel de Montaigne, painters such as Jean Clouet, and musicians such as Jean Mouton also borrowed from the spirit of the Renaissance.
In 1533, a fourteen-year-old Caterina de' Medici (1519–1589), born in Florence to Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Urbino and Madeleine de la Tour d'Auvergne, married Henry II of France, second son of King Francis I and Queen Claude. Though she became famous and infamous for her role in France's religious wars, she made a direct contribution in bringing arts, sciences, and music (including the origins of ballet) to the French court from her native Florence.
Germany
In the second half of the 15th century, the Renaissance spirit spread to
Hungarian trecento and quattrocento
After Italy, Hungary was the first European country where the Renaissance appeared.[99] The Renaissance style came directly from Italy during the Quattrocento (1400s) to Hungary first in the Central European region, thanks to the development of early Hungarian-Italian relationships — not only in dynastic connections, but also in cultural, humanistic and commercial relations – growing in strength from the 14th century. The relationship between Hungarian and Italian Gothic styles was a second reason – exaggerated breakthrough of walls is avoided, preferring clean and light structures. Large-scale building schemes provided ample and long term work for the artists, for example, the building of the Friss (New) Castle in Buda, the castles of Visegrád, Tata, and Várpalota. In Sigismund's court there were patrons such as Pipo Spano, a descendant of the Scolari family of Florence, who invited Manetto Ammanatini and Masolino da Pannicale to Hungary.[100]
The new Italian trend combined with existing national traditions to create a particular local Renaissance art. Acceptance of Renaissance art was furthered by the continuous arrival of humanist thought in the country. Many young Hungarians studying at Italian universities came closer to the
After the marriage in 1476 of King Matthias to Beatrice of Naples, Buda became one of the most important artistic centers of the Renaissance north of the Alps.[104] The most important humanists living in Matthias' court were Antonio Bonfini and the famous Hungarian poet Janus Pannonius.[104] András Hess set up a printing press in Buda in 1472. Matthias Corvinus's library, the Bibliotheca Corviniana, was Europe's greatest collections of secular books: historical chronicles, philosophic and scientific works in the 15th century. His library was second only in size to the Vatican Library. (However, the Vatican Library mainly contained Bibles and religious materials.)[105] In 1489, Bartolomeo della Fonte of Florence wrote that Lorenzo de' Medici founded his own Greek-Latin library encouraged by the example of the Hungarian king. Corvinus's library is part of UNESCO World Heritage.[106]
Matthias started at least two major building projects.
Matthias enjoyed the company of Humanists and had lively discussions on various topics with them.
Other important figures of Hungarian Renaissance include Bálint Balassi (poet), Sebestyén Tinódi Lantos (poet), Bálint Bakfark (composer and lutenist), and Master MS (fresco painter).
Renaissance in the Low Countries
Culture in the Netherlands at the end of the 15th century was influenced by the Italian Renaissance through trade via
Erasmus was arguably the Netherlands' best known humanist and Catholic intellectual during the Renaissance.[31]
Northern Europe
The Renaissance in Northern Europe has been termed the "Northern Renaissance". While Renaissance ideas were moving north from Italy, there was a simultaneous southward spread of some areas of innovation, particularly in
The paintings of the Italian Renaissance differed from those of the Northern Renaissance. Italian Renaissance artists were among the first to paint secular scenes, breaking away from the purely religious art of medieval painters. Northern Renaissance artists initially remained focused on religious subjects, such as the contemporary religious upheaval portrayed by
Poland
An early Italian humanist who came to
The greatest monument of this style in the territory of the former Duchy of Pomerania is the Ducal Castle in Szczecin.
Portugal
Although Italian Renaissance had a modest impact in Portuguese arts, Portugal was influential in broadening the European worldview,
In architecture, the huge profits of the
The intense international exchange produced several cosmopolitan humanist scholars, including
Spain
The Renaissance arrived in the Iberian peninsula through the Mediterranean possessions of the
Later Spanish Renaissance tended toward religious themes and mysticism, with poets such as Luis de León, Teresa of Ávila, and John of the Cross, and treated issues related to the exploration of the New World, with chroniclers and writers such as Inca Garcilaso de la Vega and Bartolomé de las Casas, giving rise to a body of work, now known as Spanish Renaissance literature. The late Renaissance in Spain produced artists such as El Greco and composers such as Tomás Luis de Victoria and Antonio de Cabezón.
Further countries
Historiography
Conception
The Italian artist and critic Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574) first used the term rinascita in his book The Lives of the Artists (published 1550). In the book Vasari attempted to define what he described as a break with the barbarities of Gothic art: the arts (he held) had fallen into decay with the collapse of the Roman Empire and only the Tuscan artists, beginning with Cimabue (1240–1301) and Giotto (1267–1337) began to reverse this decline in the arts. Vasari saw ancient art as central to the rebirth of Italian art.[139]
However, only in the 19th century did the French word renaissance achieve popularity in describing the self-conscious cultural movement based on revival of Roman models that began in the late 13th century. French
The Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt (1818–1897) in his The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), by contrast, defined the Renaissance as the period between Giotto and Michelangelo in Italy, that is, the 14th to mid-16th centuries. He saw in the Renaissance the emergence of the modern spirit of individuality, which the Middle Ages had stifled.[140] His book was widely read and became influential in the development of the modern interpretation of the Italian Renaissance.[141]
More recently, some historians have been much less keen to define the Renaissance as a historical age, or even as a coherent cultural movement. The historian Randolph Starn, of the
Rather than a period with definitive beginnings and endings and consistent content in between, the Renaissance can be (and occasionally has been) seen as a movement of practices and ideas to which specific groups and identifiable persons variously responded in different times and places. It would be in this sense a network of diverse, sometimes converging, sometimes conflicting cultures, not a single, time-bound culture.[19]
Debates about progress
There is debate about the extent to which the Renaissance improved on the culture of the Middle Ages. Both Michelet and Burckhardt were keen to describe the progress made in the Renaissance toward the
In the Middle Ages both sides of human consciousness – that which was turned within as that which was turned without – lay dreaming or half awake beneath a common veil. The veil was woven of faith, illusion, and childish prepossession, through which the world and history were seen clad in strange hues.[142]
— Jacob Burckhardt, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy
On the other hand, many historians now point out that most of the negative social factors popularly associated with the medieval period – poverty, warfare, religious and political persecution, for example – seem to have worsened in this era, which saw the rise of
Some historians have begun to consider the word Renaissance to be unnecessarily loaded, implying an unambiguously positive rebirth from the supposedly more primitive "
The art historian Erwin Panofsky observed of this resistance to the concept of "Renaissance":
It is perhaps no accident that the factuality of the Italian Renaissance has been most vigorously questioned by those who are not obliged to take a professional interest in the aesthetic aspects of civilization – historians of economic and social developments, political and religious situations, and, most particularly, natural science – but only exceptionally by students of literature and hardly ever by historians of Art.[150]
Other Renaissances
The term Renaissance has also been used to define periods outside of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Other periods of cultural rebirth have also been termed "renaissances", such as the
See also
- Index of Renaissance articles
- Outline of the Renaissance
- List of Renaissance figures
- List of Renaissance structures
- Roman Renaissance
- Venetian Renaissance
References
Explanatory notes
- ^ French: [ʁənɛsɑ̃s] ⓘ, meaning 'rebirth', from renaître 'to be born again'; Italian: Rinascimento [rinaʃʃiˈmento], from rinascere, with the same meanings.[2]
- ^ The Oxford English Dictionary cites W Dyce and C H Wilson's Letter to Lord Meadowbank (1837): "A style possessing many points of rude resemblance with the more elegant and refined character of the art of the renaissance in Italy." And the following year in Civil Engineer & Architect's Journal: "Not that we consider the style of the Renaissance to be either pure or good per se." See Oxford English Dictionary, "Renaissance"
- ^ "Historians of different kinds will often make some choice between a long Renaissance (say, 1300–1600), a short one (1453–1527), or somewhere in between (the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, as is commonly adopted in music histories)."[7] Or between Petrarch and Jonathan Swift, an even longer period.[8] Another source dates it from 1350 to 1620.[9]
- ^ Some scholars have called for an end to the use of the term, which they see as a product of
- Islamic contributions to Medieval Europe.
- ^ It is thought that Leonardo da Vinci may have painted the rhombicuboctahedron.[69]
- ^ Exhaustive 2007 study by Fritjof Capra shows that Leonardo was a much greater scientist than previously thought, and not just an inventor. Leonardo was innovative in science theory and in conducting actual science practice. In Capra's detailed assessment of many surviving manuscripts, Leonardo's science in tune with holistic non-mechanistic and non-reductive approaches to science, which are becoming popular today.[70]
- ^ Joseph Ben-David wrote:
Rapid accumulation of knowledge, which has characterized the development of science since the 17th century, had never occurred before that time. The new kind of scientific activity emerged only in a few countries of Western Europe, and it was restricted to that small area for about two hundred years. (Since the 19th century, scientific knowledge has been assimilated by the rest of the world).
- ^ It is sometimes thought that the Church, as an institution, formally sold indulgences at the time. This, however, was not the practice. Donations were often received, but only mandated by individuals that were condemned.
Citations
- ISBN 978-1405881180.
- ^ "Online Etymology Dictionary: "Renaissance"". Etymonline.com. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ISBN 978-0-19-280163-0.
- ^ a b Diwan, Jaswith. Accounting Concepts & Theories. London: Morre. pp. 1–2. id# 94452.
- ^ BBC Science and Nature, Leonardo da Vinci Retrieved May 12, 2007
- ^ BBC History, Michelangelo Retrieved May 12, 2007
- ^ The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Music: Volume 1, p. 4, 2005, Cambridge University Press, Google Books.
- ISBN 978-0521467773, Google Books.
- ^ "Renaissance Era Dates". encyclopedia.com.
- ISBN 978-1351904391.
- ISBN 978-1861891549.
- ^ Burke, P., The European Renaissance: Centre and Peripheries 1998
- ^ a b Strathern, Paul The Medici: Godfathers of the Renaissance (2003)
- ^ a b Encyclopædia Britannica, "Renaissance", 2008, O.Ed.
- ISBN 0810837242
- ISBN 0679450882
- ^ ISBN 0192801635.
- ^ The Waning of the Middle Ages(1919, trans. 1924)
- ^ JSTOR 2650779.
- ^ Panofsky 1969:6.
- ISSN 0022-5037.
- ^ ISBN 978-0500200087. "...in 1855 we find, for the first time, the word 'Renaissance' used – by the French historian Michelet – as an adjective to describe a whole period of history and not confined to the rebirth of Latin letters or a classically inspired style in the arts."
- ^ Perry, M. Humanities in the Western Tradition Archived April 29, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, Ch. 13
- ^ a b c d Open University, Looking at the Renaissance: Religious Context in the Renaissance (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- ^ Open University, Looking at the Renaissance: Urban economy and government (Retrieved May 15, 2007)
- ^ Kohn, Hans (1944). The Idea of Nationalism: A Study in Its Origins and Background. New York: Macmillan.
- ^ Stark, Rodney, The Victory of Reason, Random House, NY: 2005
- ^ Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe (2017). The Medieval Frontiers of Latin Christendom. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis.
- ^ Leon Poliakov, The Aryan Myth: A History of Racist and Nationalist Ideas in Europe, trans. E. Howard (Basic Books, 1974), pp. 21-22, cited in Fernandez-Armesto (2017)
- ^ Walker, Paul Robert, The Feud that sparked the Renaissance: How Brunelleschi and Ghiberti Changed the Art World (New York, Perennial-Harper Collins, 2003)
- ^ OCLC 52849131.
- ^ Reynolds & Wilson 1974, pp. 113–123
- ^ Reynolds & Wilson 1974, pp. 123, 130–137
- ^ Periods of World History: A Latin American Perspective, p. 129[ISBN missing]
- ^ The Empire of the Steppes: A History of Central Asia, p. 465[ISBN missing]
- ^ The Connoisseur, Volume 219, p. 128.
- ^ Europe in the second millennium: a hegemony achieved?, p. 58
- ISBN 0810837242.
- ^ Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society, Marvin Perry, Myrna Chase, Margaret C. Jacob, James R. Jacob, 2008, pp. 261–262.
- ^ Reynolds & Wilson 1974, pp. 119, 131
- ^ Kirshner, Julius, Family and Marriage: A socio-legal perspective, Italy in the Age of the Renaissance: 1300–1550, ed. John M. Najemy (Oxford University Press, 2004) p. 89 (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- ^ Burckhardt, Jacob, The Revival of Antiquity, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy Archived April 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (trans. by S.G.C. Middlemore, 1878)
- ^ a b Skinner, Quentin, The Foundations of Modern Political Thought, vol I: The Renaissance; vol II: The Age of Reformation, Cambridge University Press, p. 69
- ^ Stark, Rodney, The Victory of Reason, New York, Random House, 2005
- ^ Martin, J. and Romano, D., Venice Reconsidered, Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University, 2000
- ^ a b Burckhardt, Jacob, The Republics: Venice and Florence, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy Archived April 7, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, translated by S.G.C. Middlemore, 1878.
- ISBN 0394400267.
- ^ The End of Europe's Middle Ages: The Black Death Archived March 9, 2013, at the Wayback Machine University of Calgary website. (Retrieved April 5, 2007)
- ^ Netzley, Patricia D. Life During the Renaissance. San Diego: Lucent Books, Inc., 1998.
- ^ Hause, S. & Maltby, W. (2001). A History of European Society. Essentials of Western Civilization (Vol. 2, p. 217). Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.
- ^ "Renaissance And Reformation France" Mack P. Holt pp. 30, 39, 69, 166
- ISBN 978-0791443651.
- ^ Guido Carocci, I dintorni di Firenze, Vol. II, Galletti e Cocci, Firenze, 1907, pp. 336–337
- ^ a b Burckhardt, Jacob, The Development of the Individual, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy Archived October 3, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, translated by S.G.C. Middlemore, 1878.
- ^ Stephens, J., Individualism and the cult of creative personality, The Italian Renaissance, New York, 1990 p. 121.
- ^ Burke, P., "The spread of Italian humanism", in The Impact of Humanism on Western Europe, ed. A. Goodman and A. MacKay, London, 1990, p. 2.
- ^ As asserted by Gianozzo Manetti in On the Dignity and Excellence of Man, cited in Clare, J., Italian Renaissance.
- ^ Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486) wsu.edu Archived January 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
- )
- ^ Religion and Political Development Some Comparative Ideas on Ibn Khaldun and Machiavelli by Barbara Freyer Stowasser
- ^ Hause, S. & Maltby, W. (2001). A History of European Society. Essentials of Western Civilization (Vol. 2, pp. 245–246). Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.
- ^ Clare, John D. & Millen, Alan, Italian Renaissance, London, 1994, p. 14.
- ^ Stork, David G. Optics and Realism in Renaissance Art Archived June 14, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- ISBN 0140441646.
- ^ Peter Brueghel Biography, Web Gallery of Art (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- ^ Hooker, Richard, Architecture and Public Space Archived May 22, 2007, at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- ISBN 978-0271010670.
- ^ Hause, S. & Maltby, W. (2001). A History of European Society. Essentials of Western Civilization (Vol. 2, pp. 250–251). Belmont, CA: Thomson Learning, Inc.
- S2CID 195006163.
- ^ Capra, Fritjof, The Science of Leonardo; Inside the Mind of the Great Genius of the Renaissance, New York, Doubleday, 2007.
- Allen Debus, Man and Nature in the Renaissance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1978).
- ^ Butterfield, Herbert, The Origins of Modern Science, 1300–1800, p. viii
- ^ Shapin, Steven. The Scientific Revolution, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996, p. 1.
- ^ "Scientific Revolution" in Encarta. 2007. [1]
- ^ ISBN 0192801635.
- ^
Van Doren, Charles (1991) A History of Knowledge Ballantine, New York, pp. 211–212, ISBN 0345373162
- ISBN 0745624847
- ISBN 978-0765609328.
- ISBN 978-0226907338.
- ISBN 978-0648043966.
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, Western Schism (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- ^ Catholic Encyclopedia, Alexander VI (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- ^ S2CID 161360211.
- ^ Leonardo Bruni, James Hankins, History of the Florentine people, Volume 1, Books 1–4 (2001), p. xvii.
- ISBN 0804728704.
- ^ a b Panofsky, Erwin. Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art, New York: Harper and Row, 1960.
- ^ The Open University Guide to the Renaissance, Defining the Renaissance Archived July 21, 2009, at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- ISBN 0521780691.
- ^ Foundation, Poetry (16 January 2024). "The English Renaissance". Poetry Foundation. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- ^ Best, Michael. "Art in England: Life and Times - Internet Shakespeare Editions". internetshakespeare.uvic.ca. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "Art in Renaissance England". obo. Retrieved 18 January 2024.
- ^ "A Brief History of Architecture in Britain" (PDF). University of Southampton.
- ^ "The Scientific Revolution". Historic UK. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
- ^ Klein, Jürgen (2012), "Francis Bacon", in Zalta, Edward N. (ed.), The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2016 ed.), Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University, archived from the original on 22 October 2019, retrieved 17 January 2020
- ^ a b Michelet, Jules. History of France, trans. G.H. Smith (New York: D. Appleton, 1847)
- ISBN 978-1446466544.
- JSTOR 560776.
- ISBN 978-0674063464.
- ISBN 9631341291, 9631347273
- ^ "the influences of the florentine renaissance in hungary". Fondazione-delbianco.org. Archived from the original on 21 March 2009. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ History section: Miklós Horler: Budapest műemlékei I, Bp: 1955, pp. 259–307
- ^ Post-war reconstruction: László Gerő: A helyreállított budai vár, Bp, 1980, pp. 11–60.
- ^ a b Czigány, Lóránt, A History of Hungarian Literature, "The Renaissance in Hungary" (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- ^ Marcus Tanner, The Raven King: Matthias Corvinus and the Fate of his Lost Library (New Haven: Yale U.P., 2008)
- ^ Documentary heritage concerning Hungary and recommended for inclusion in the Memory of the World International Register. portal.unesco.org
- ^ E. Kovács 1990, pp. 177, 180–181.
- ^ a b c Engel 2001, p. 319.
- ^ E. Kovács 1990, pp. 180–181.
- ^ Kubinyi 2008, pp. 171–172.
- ^ Kubinyi 2008, p. 172.
- ^ E. Kovács 1990, p. 181.
- ^ Klaniczay 1992, p. 168.
- ^ Kubinyi 2008, p. 183.
- ^ Franz-Joachim Verspohl , Michelangelo Buonarroti und Leonardo Da Vinci: Republikanischer Alltag und Künstlerkonkurrenz in Florenz zwischen 1501 und 1505 (Wallstein Verlag, 2007), p. 151.
- ^ a b Klaniczay 1992, p. 166.
- ^ a b Cartledge 2011, p. 67.
- ^ E. Kovács 1990, p. 185.
- ^ Klaniczay 1992, p. 167.
- ^ Engel 2001, p. 321.
- ^ Hendrix 2013, p. 59.
- ^ Hendrix 2013, pp. 63, 65.
- ^ Tanner 2009, p. 99.
- ^ ISBN 978-9050352222.
- ISBN 978-0810934429.
- ^ JSTOR 738699.
- ^ "Renæssance i Europa og Danmark". Nationalmuseet (in Danish). Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- OCLC 883146361.
- ^ "Tycho Brahe, 1546-1601". danmarkshistorien.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ Painting in Oil in the Low Countries and Its Spread to Southern Europe, Metropolitan Museum of Art website. (Retrieved April 5, 2007)
- ^ Celenza, Christopher (2004), The Lost Italian Renaissance: Humanists, Historians, and Latin's Legacy. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins University Press
- ^ Bona Sforza (1494–1557) Archived May 6, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. poland.gov.pl (Retrieved April 4, 2007)
- ^ For example, the re-establishment of Jagiellonian University in 1364. Waltos, Stanisław (31 October 2002). "The Past and the Present". Uniwersytet Jagielloński. Archived from the original on 20 November 2002.
- ^ a b "Portuguese Overseas Travels and European Readers". Portugal and Renaissance Europe. The John Carter Brown Library Exhibitions, Brown University. Archived from the original on 12 November 2011. Retrieved 19 July 2011.
- ISBN 978-0816054510.
- ISBN 978-0816054510.
- ISBN 978-0802085771.
- ISBN 978-0226467337. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
- ^ "Defining the Renaissance, Open University". Open.ac.uk. Retrieved 31 July 2009.
- ^ Burckhardt, Jacob. The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy Archived September 21, 2008, at the Wayback Machine (trans. S.G.C. Middlemore, London, 1878)
- ^ Gay, Peter, Style in History, New York: Basic Books, 1974.
- ^ Burckhardt, Jacob. "The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy". Archived from the original on October 3, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2008.
- ^ Girolamo Savonarola's popularity is a prime example of the manifestation of such concerns. Other examples include Philip II of Spain's censorship of Florentine paintings, noted by Edward L. Goldberg, "Spanish Values and Tuscan Painting", Renaissance Quarterly (1998) p. 914
- Hull University, Autumn 1997 (Retrieved May 10, 2007)
- JSTOR 2591885.
- JSTOR 2707236.
- ^ Kelly-Gadol, Joan. "Did Women Have a Renaissance?" Becoming Visible: Women in European History. Edited by Renate Bridenthal and Claudia Koonz. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1977.
- ^ Stephen Greenblatt Renaissance Self-Fashioning: From More to Shakespeare, University of Chicago Press, 1980.
- ISBN 978-1933648194. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
- ^ Panofsky, Renaissance and Renascences in Western Art 1969:38; Panofsky's chapter "'Renaissance – self-definition or self-deception?" succinctly introduces the historiographical debate, with copious footnotes to the literature.
- ISBN 0674760751.
- ^ Hubert, Jean, L'Empire carolingien (English: The Carolingian Renaissance, translated by James Emmons, New York: G. Braziller, 1970).
General sources
- Burckhardt, Jacob, The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy (1860), a famous classic; excerpt and text search 2007 edition; also complete text online.
- ISBN 978-1849041126.
- E. Kovács, Péter (1990). Matthias Corvinus (in Hungarian). Officina Nova. ISBN 9637835490.
- Engel, Pál (2001). The Realm of St Stephen: A History of Medieval Hungary, 895–1526. I.B. Tauris Publishers. ISBN 1860640613.
- Hendrix, Scott E. (2013). "Astrological forecasting and the Turkish menace in the Renaissance Balkans" (PDF). Anthropology. 13 (2). Universitatis Miskolciensis: 57–72. ISSN 1452-7243.
- Klaniczay, Tibor (1992). "The age of Matthias Corvinus". In Porter, Roy; Teich, Mikuláš (eds.). The Renaissance in National Context. Cambridge University Press. pp. 164–179. ISBN 0521369703.
- Kubinyi, András (2008). Matthias Rex. Balassi Kiadó. ISBN 978-9635067671.
- Reynolds, L. D.; Wilson, Nigel (1974). Scribes and Scholars: A Guide to the Transmission of Greek and Latin Literature. Oxford: Clarendon Press. OL 26919731M.
- Tanner, Marcus (2009). The Raven King: Matthias Corvinus and the Fate of his Lost Library. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0300158281.
Further reading
- ISBN 0712698841
- Cronin, Vincent (1992), The Renaissance, ISBN 0002154110
- Campbell, Gordon. The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance. (2003). 862 pp. online at OUP
- Davis, Robert C. and Beth Lindsmith. Renaissance People: Lives that Shaped the Modern Age. (2011). ISBN 978-1606060780
- Ergang, Robert (1967), The Renaissance, ISBN 0442023197
- Ferguson, Wallace K. (1962), [Europe in Transition, 1300–1500], ISBN 0049400088
- Fisher, Celia. Flowers of the Renaissance. (2011). ISBN 978-1606060629
- Fletcher, Stella. The Longman Companion to Renaissance Europe, 1390–1530. (2000). 347 pp.
- Grendler, Paul F., ed. The Renaissance: An Encyclopedia for Students. (2003). 970 pp.
- Hale, John. The Civilization of Europe in the Renaissance. (1994). 648 pp.; a magistral survey, heavily illustrated; excerpt and text search
- Hall, Bert S. Weapons and Warfare in Renaissance Europe: Gunpowder, Technology, and Tactics (2001); excerpt and text search
- Hattaway, Michael, ed. A Companion to English Renaissance Literature and Culture. (2000). 747 pp.
- Jensen, De Lamar (1992), Renaissance Europe, ISBN 0395889472
- Johnson, Paul. The Renaissance: A Short History. (2000). 197 pp. excerpt and text search; also online free
- Keene, Bryan C. Gardens of the Renaissance. (2013). ISBN 978-1606061435
- King, Margaret L. Women of the Renaissance (1991) excerpt and text search
- Kristeller, Paul Oskar, and Michael Mooney. Renaissance Thought and its Sources (1979); excerpt and text search
- Nauert, Charles G. Historical Dictionary of the Renaissance. (2004). 541 pp.
- Patrick, James A., ed. Renaissance and Reformation (5 vol 2007), 1584 pages; comprehensive encyclopedia
- Plumb, J.H. The Italian Renaissance (2001); excerpt and text search
- Paoletti, John T. and Gary M. Radke. Art in Renaissance Italy (4th ed. 2011)
- Potter, G.R. ed. The New Cambridge Modern History: Volume 1: The Renaissance, 1493–1520 (1957) online; major essays by multiple scholars. Summarizes the viewpoint of 1950s.
- Robin, Diana; Larsen, Anne R.; and Levin, Carole, eds. Encyclopedia of Women in the Renaissance: Italy, France, and England (2007) 459 pp.
- Rowse, A.L. The Elizabethan Renaissance: The Life of the Society (2000); excerpt and text search
- Ruggiero, Guido. The Renaissance in Italy: A Social and Cultural History of the Rinascimento (Cambridge University Press, 2015). 648 pp. online review
- Rundle, David, ed. The Hutchinson Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. (1999). 434 pp.; numerous brief articles online edition
- Turner, Richard N. Renaissance Florence (2005); excerpt and text search
- Ward, A. The Cambridge Modern History. Vol 1: The Renaissance (1902); older essays by scholars; emphasis on politics
Historiography
- Bouwsma, William J. "The Renaissance and the drama of Western history." American Historical Review (1979): 1–15. in JSTOR
- Caferro, William. Contesting the Renaissance (2010); excerpt and text search
- Ferguson, Wallace K. "The Interpretation of the Renaissance: Suggestions for a Synthesis." Journal of the History of Ideas (1951): 483–495. online in JSTOR
- Ferguson, Wallace K. "Recent trends in the economic historiography of the Renaissance." Studies in the Renaissance (1960): 7–26.
- Ferguson, Wallace Klippert. The Renaissance in historical thought (AMS Press, 1981)
- Grendler, Paul F. "The Future of Sixteenth Century Studies: Renaissance and Reformation Scholarship in the Next Forty Years", Sixteenth Century Journal Spring 2009, Vol. 40 Issue 1, pp. 182+
- Murray, Stuart A.P. The Library: An Illustrated History. American Library Association, Chicago, 2012.
- Ruggiero, Guido, ed. A Companion to the Worlds of the Renaissance. (2002). 561 pp.
- Starn, Randolph. "A Postmodern Renaissance?" Renaissance Quarterly 2007 60(1): 1–24 in Project MUSE
- Summit, Jennifer. "Renaissance Humanism and the Future of the Humanities". Literature Compass (2012) 9#10 pp: 665–678.
- Trivellato, Francesca. "Renaissance Italy and the Muslim Mediterranean in Recent Historical Work", Journal of Modern History (March 2010), 82#1 pp: 127–155.
- Woolfson, Jonathan, ed. Palgrave advances in Renaissance historiography (Palgrave Macmillan, 2005)
Primary sources
- Bartlett, Kenneth, ed. The Civilization of the Italian Renaissance: A Sourcebook (2nd ed., 2011)
- Ross, James Bruce, and Mary M. McLaughlin, eds. The Portable Renaissance Reader (1977); excerpt and text search
External links
- "The Renaissance" episode of In Our Time, a BBC Radio 4 discussion with Francis Ames-Lewis, Peter Burke and Evelyn Welch (June 8, 2000).
- Symonds, John Addington (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 23 (11th ed.). pp. 83–93. .
- Renaissance Philosophy entry in the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy
- Official website of the Society for Renaissance Studies