AP European History: The Italian Renaissance

The Italian Renaissance

• 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

• 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 Northern Renaissance

• 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.

New Monarchies

• 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.