Chapter 12 of History, Class 9 PDF

## The Renaissance - **Consequences of Geographical Explorations:** Scientific inventions enabled people to explore new routes and distant lands. These geographical discoveries led to the establishment of trade between Europe and the East. These commercial relations brought prosperity to Europe. Th...

## The Renaissance - **Consequences of Geographical Explorations:** Scientific inventions enabled people to explore new routes and distant lands. These geographical discoveries led to the establishment of trade between Europe and the East. These commercial relations brought prosperity to Europe. They also paved the way for the process of colonization of Asia and Africa. Europeans countries began to export the resources of their colonies in America, Asia and Africa to increase their power. - **Rise and Growth of Nation States:** Renaissance led to the feelings of nationality and the progress of national literature. This in turn led to the rise and growth of nation states. ### Development of Scientific Outlook - The Renaissance contributed to the development of the scientific attitude and encouraged the people to accept the things only if they appealed to reason. This scientific outlook gave a setback to blind faith and encouraged new discoveries and inventions, which greatly contributed to the progress of human civilization. ### Rise of Monarchical Form of Government - Renaissance provided great impetus to the evolution of a strong monarchical system of government in Europe. The decline of the authority of the Church and the feudal system strengthened the desire of the people to have peace, security and political stability. Thus, they readily provided support to the kings and enhanced the powers of monarchs. ### Development of Arts - Renaissance led to new forms of paintings, sculpture, architecture, music, etc. This, thus, rendered valuable service to the growth of fine arts. ### Rise of the Middle Class - In the Middle Ages, feudal lords controlled everything. Arabs gave Algebra and numerals to the West. Modern Geometry was made systematic by Desargues. Stevin advocated the decimal system of coins, weights and measures. ## Consequences of The Renaissance - **Led to the Reformation Movement in Europe:** Renaissance paved the way for Reformation in England and in Europe. People started viewing everything by questioning, observation and experimentation. They became critical of the rituals practised by the Church and insisted on the reform of the Church. This led to the division of the Church into two sects – Catholics and the Protestants. - **Development of Humanism:** In the Middle Ages, the only study undertaken was that of spirituality and theology. They were more interested in the future life. Renaissance widened the outlook of people and created an interest in man, his interests, his nature and his life in this world. It developed humanism and encouraged the study of humanities. ### Science - The Renaissance marked the beginning of modern science. Earlier it was held that all views, even on science, were to be supported by the authority of the scriptures. However, the scientists of this period believed that all views on science should be based on observation and experimentation. The method of enquiry, questioning, observation and experimentation are used even today in scientific investigations. ### Literature - **In Italy:** Machiavelli was a great political writer of Italy. He expressed his political ideas in his work "The Prince." Dante's "Divine Comedy" is an epic poem on the state of the soul. It reveals the religious and social life of the day. Petrarch, a great scholar and writer, has been called the father of humanism. His sonnets and lyrics were popular throughout Europe. - Other Italian writers were Aristo, Tasso, and Boccaccio. Boccaccio wrote in prose. His work *Decameron* is a collection of 100 famous short stories. - **In England:** England produced a number of writers, poets and dramatists of repute. Geoffrey Chaucer heralded the Renaissance literature in England. He is regarded as the "Father of English Poetry." "The Canterbury Tales" is his outstanding work. Thomas More wrote *Utopia,* describing an imaginary island in America where the rich did not exploit the poor. There, the society had no blind faith, and it did not believe in useless wars. ### Sculpture - The revival of the study of antiquity left a great impact in the field of sculpture. Some of the Renaissance artists copied the great masterpieces of the Greeks and Romans, while the others produced outstanding pieces that could rival the Greek creations. - Some of the outstanding sculptors of the Renaissance period were: - The first great sculptor of the Renaissance was Donatello, who made the bronze statue of David triumphant over the body of the slain Goliath. - Lorenzo Ghiberti worked for 20 years to make two pairs of bronze doors for the Baptistery at Florence. - Michelangelo made a statue in Rome called "Pieta," showing Mother Mary in a seated posture carrying the body of Jesus across her chest. The huge statues of David in Florence and the statue of Moses were also made by Michelangelo. - In Italy, many sculptors worked for the Popes or for rich merchants, to decorate churches or palaces with their sculptures. Later on, the sculptures were invited to England, France, or Spain, and they spread Renaissance art to the rest of Western Europe. - The famous artist, Michelangelo, lived several years in Rome in the service of the Pope, decorating the Vatican and designing St. Peter's Church. He also painted the "Sistine Madonna." - Michelangelo was a painter, sculptor, architect, and poet. He concentrated on painting the human figure. He is famous for his paintings in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. They depict incidents and people aged from the Old Testament. His *Last Judgement* and *The Fall of Man* are among the most famous works of art in the world. - Raphael was a great artist of the Florentine school, and his most celebrated painting was the Raphael's School of Athens. ### Glorification of Human Form - The Renaissance scholars and artists glorified the human body. Their works were permeated with the faith that a man with an active mind and body was capable of knowing and controlling the world, performing miracles and fashioning his own happiness. This spirit of humanism found expression in the new art and literature. The Renaissance artists took their subjects from the Bible, but portrayed the human form in all its earthly beauty and vigour. ## The Spirit of Enquiry - In the Medieval Age, all human activities, both mental and physical, were controlled and guided by the authority of the Pope and the Church. The human mind was virtually not allowed to develop independent thinking. But a number of scholars discarded the ideas of the medieval period and developed a spirit of enquiry and a sense of curiosity among the people. They taught human beings to know the *why* and *how* of things. They did not regard anything as correct merely because the theologies of the Church had regarded it as correct. They questioned the authority of the Church. They wanted a transition from faith to reason, observation, and experimentation. The following were the factors which were responsible for the development of the spirit of enquiry: - The enormous wealth, which Italy had accumulated as a result of trade with the East, also contributed to the rise of Renaissance. The wealthy merchants of Italy patronized the artists and literary figures and used their wealth for the revival of classical culture and literature. - As a result of the crusades and geographical explorations, the Italians came into contact with the East. This greatly broadened their vision and provided an impetus to the Renaissance - The Renaissance humanists believed in the limitless potential of man, but they also did not forget the past. The spirit of enquiry extended from scientific enquiry into nature, explorations and expeditions, to probe into every realm of knowledge. It proved to be the principle cause of the Renaissance.