Renaissance: Origins, Spread, and Achievements

Renaissance

• Renaissance means rebirth or revival
• It represents a 300-year transition from the medieval to the modern period in Western Europe

Origins and Spread

• The Renaissance began with the rediscovery of Greco-Roman civilization
• The period emphasized reason, questioning, and free inquiry, contrasting with the medieval focus on faith
• It fostered advancements in literature, art, and science
• Italy was the birthplace of the Renaissance due to its status as the center of Greco-Roman culture
• Italy had sculpture, buildings, roads, and manuscripts, which stimulated interest in classical civilization
• Italy's Mediterranean location allowed it to incorporate ideas from Byzantine and Muslim cultures
• In the 15th century, Renaissance ideas spread from Italy to France, the German states, Holland, and England through religious, military, and commercial interactions
• Scholars traveled to Italy to study Italian art and learning

Renaissance Achievements

• Johannes Gutenberg, a German, invented printing with movable type around 1450
• Printing presses emerged across Europe, leading to mass production of books

Literature

• Nicola Machiavelli (1469-1527), an Italian, wrote "The Prince" about ethics and government
• William Shakespeare (1564-1616), an Englishman, is known for his plays

Arts

• Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was a painter, sculptor, architect, musician, engineer, and scientist
• Leonardo da Vinci is considered the ideal Renaissance man
• Michelangelo (1475-1564) was a painter, sculptor, poet, and architect

Science

• Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543), concluded that the sun is the center of the solar system
• Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), an Italian astronomer and physicist, improved the telescope
• He confirmed the Copernican theory

The Reformation

• The Reformation was a religious revolt against the Roman Catholic Church, starting in 1517
• It led to the establishment of Protestant sects
• The Reformation shattered Catholic religious unity in Western Europe

Causes of the Reformation

• The medieval Church had become weakened by worldliness, nepotism, simony, and sale of indulgences
• Martin Luther initiated the Reformation in 1517

Luther's Actions

• Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a German who became a professor of Christian theology at the University of Wittenberg
• Luther condemned the sale of indulgences
• In 1517, he posted his Ninety-Five Theses on the church door at Wittenberg
• Luther was excommunicated by the Pope
• Northern German rulers protected Luther and accepted his ideas, leading to Lutheranism

Counter-Reformation

• The Catholic Church initiated the Counter-Reformation to defend itself against the Protestant movement

Council of Trent (1545-1563)

• Reaffirmed Catholic doctrines such as Papal supremacy
• It addressed Church abuses like nepotism and the sale of indulgences
• It required the clergy to renounce worldly pleasures

The Society of Jesus

• Founded in 1534 by Ignatius Loyola
• Its members, known as Jesuits, worked to preserve Catholicism and win new converts

Results of the Reformation

• Religious unity in Western Europe was destroyed
• Europe became divided along religious lines
• Catholic regions included Italy, Spain, France, Belgium, Ireland, Southern Germany, Austria, Poland, and Hungary
• Protestant regions included England, Scotland, Holland, Northern Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden
• Initial Protestant denominations were Lutheran, Calvinist, and Anglican
• Methodists, Baptists, and other Protestant sects emerged later
• Europe endured religious wars in the 16th and 17th centuries, including civil wars in Germany and France, the Dutch war against Spain, and the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)