The Renaissance in Europe:Or

How We Got to Now

The Middle Ages in EuropeThe period of roughly 1000 years

Between the fall of the Roman Empire and its great civilization (based in Italy) around 470 CE…

…and the Renaissance (based in Italy) around 1450 CE

During the Middle Ages, Europe was dominated by the Catholic Church, which was ruled by the Pope, in Rome, Italy.

The Middle Ages is also known as the Medieval Period, or sometimes, The Dark Ages

The Renaissance Starts in Italy for Two Important Reasons

As an independent center of trade, Italy developed a unique political structure, the city state, that empowered and enriched ordinary people (“common man”).

Italy’s Roman history, which was in evidence all over the country, reawakened interest in non-Christian (secular) ideas, called “humanism”

Major Cities in Afroeurasia in 1200 CE

The Medieval Feudal System

• Lords (noble people) own the land , granted to them by a king

• Knights defend the lord’s manor (farm) in return for the lord’s support

• Peasants (“serfs”) work the land for the lords; they belong to the land and to the lord

• Land and power are inherited

• Territory/Farming

The Renaissance City-State (“Republic”)

• Wealthy business men (common people) run the town

• Citizens hire soldiers to defend their city

• People work at a variety of trades, for themselves and others; they are free to come and go

• Power and wealth come from success in trade & business

• Money/Business

Republics (“City States”)

A republic is a state in which power is held by the people of that state, not by a king or emperor.

Italy gave birth to some of the first republics

The Renaissance was born in the republics of Italy

The Medici of Florence, ItalyThe First Renaissance Family

• The House of Medici was an Italian merchant family that got rich through trading wool cloth.

• They established the Medici Bank, the largest bank in Europe during the 15th century (1400s).

• Through their wealth, they gained political power and became the ruling family of Florence, later dominating Rome and then Europe.

Cosimo de Medici1389-1464

Piero de Medici1416-1469

Lorenzo, “Il Magnifico”1449-1492

Medici Family House in Town

Medici Family House in the Country

The Iliad Room in the Country House

Tomb of Lorenzo de Mediciby Michelangelo

The Renaissance Starts in Italy for Two Important Reasons

As an independent center of trade, Italy developed a unique political structure, the republic (city state), that empowered and enriched ordinary people (“common man”).

Italy’s Roman history, which was in evidence all over the country, reawakened interest in non-Christian (secular) ideas, called “humanism”

Roman Forum

Roman Aquaduct

First Emperor of Rome: Augustus

The New Thinking: “Humanism”

• An shift in interest from the divine (God) to the human

PLUS

• The rediscovery of the art, literature, philosophy and science of ancient (pre-Christian) Rome and Greece

Duccio, 1289 Raphael, 1505

Lorenzo de Medici A Medieval Greek Politician, Pericles Knight as Christian

Lorenzo’s Father Augustus Caesar,as a Roman emperor an actual Roman emperor

The “Renaissance Man”

Great wealth and new interest in the pre-Christian the art and science of ancient Greece and Rome…

Led to wealth families supporting learning and the arts, producing geniuses and innovators with many talents… The Renaissance Man

Michelangelo, Painter

Michelangelo, sculptor

Michelangelo, Architect

Michelangelo, Poet

Da Vinci, the Artist

Da Vinci, the Inventor

Da Vinci, Architect

Da Vinci, Scientist

Rise of European Nations

Reaction to the Catholic Church

Scientific Revolution

The Enlightenment