AP European History: The Italian Renaissance

Study Notes

The Renaissance was inspired by a revival of interest in classical texts from ancient Greece and Rome and a shift towards a more secular and individualistic way of thinking.
Humanism emphasized the study of classical history and literature as the foundation for education.
Civic humanism prepared young people for careers in public service.
Increased trade and advancements in banking and bookkeeping created wealth, and new commercial elites became patrons of the great Renaissance artists.
Francesco Petrarca, known as Petrarch, was a fourteenth-century Italian poet who developed an interest in classical texts and recovered many of the writings of the ancient Roman philosopher Cicero.
Petrarch is known as the “Father of Humanism” for his role in reviving scholarly interest in classical studies.

Renaissance art focused on naturalistic portrayals of human subjects in imitation of the classical art of ancient Greece and Rome.
Renaissance paintings emphasized balance, linear perspective, and bright colors.
Scenes from classical literature were favorite subjects of Renaissance artists, showing the influence of humanistic studies.
Raphael’s famous painting, The School of Athens, features the famous Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle, in the center of a congregation of philosophers from classical antiquity.

The invention of the printing press spread interest in humanistic studies to Northern Europe.
Northern Renaissance writers, such as Erasmus and Thomas More, produced printed works inspired by classical authors.
Northern Renaissance writers were influenced by Christian humanism, producing works focused on Christian principles and social reform.
Erasmus of Rotterdam, a Dutch humanist scholar, used the Gospels to criticize Catholic Church practices in his book, The Praise of Folly.
Erasmus advocated for social reform by using classical texts to argue for the poverty of bishops.

During the Middle Ages, monarchs were not very powerful and often had to defer to the power of the Church and nobility.
In the 15th century, monarchs in England, France, and Spain began to centralize power by collecting taxes directly and increasing control over the religious lives of their subjects.
The new monarchs set the stage for absolute monarchies that ruled much of Europe two centuries later.
The marriage of Ferdinand and Isabella united the Christian kingdoms of Aragon and Castile in Spain.
They styled themselves as the “Catholic monarchs” and completed the Spanish Reconquista when they conquered Granada in 1492.
The Catholic monarchs financed their campaigns through a “crusade tax,” which brought more money into the royal treasury.