Chapter 12

Renaissance and Reformation

1350 A.D. – 1600 A.D.

Key Events• Between 1350 and 1550, Italian

intellectuals began to reexamine the culture of the Greeks and Romans. Historians later referred to this period in European history as the Renaissance.

• Martin Luther’s break with the Catholic Church led to the emergence of the Protestant Reformation.

• During the period known as the Catholic Reformation, the Catholic Church enacted a series of reforms that were successful in strengthening the Church.

The Impact Today• Western art is founded on classical

styles developed by the Greeks and Romans.

• Machiavelli’s views on politics had a profound influence on later political leaders in the western world and are studied in universities today.

• The Jesuits have founded many Catholic colleges and universities in the United States.

Chapter Preview

“Painting the Sistine Chapel”

Section 1

The Renaissanc

e

The Italian Renaissance• The Renaissance – A period of

European history that began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe.

• The wealthy more actively embraced the new ideas and activities.

• Indirectly ordinary people were also impacted:– Intellectual and artistic achievements

were highly visible.– Churches, wealthy homes, and public

buildings were decorated with art.

Italian Renaissance3 Major Characteristics

1) An Urban Society– A Secular (Worldly) viewpoint emerged

as increasing wealth created new possibilities for the enjoyment of material things.

2) Age of Recovery from the disasters of the 14th Century (Plague, political instability, and decline of church power)– Also a rebirth in interest in ancient

culture

3) Emphasis on individual ability of human beings

The Italian States• Milan, Venice, and Florence played

crucial roles in Italian politics. – They had remained independent city-

states.– All 3 were located in Northern Italy– All 3 prospered financially during the

15th century mainly due to a flourishing trade that had expanded in the middle ages

• Mercenaries were used for protection.

The Italian Wars• From 1494 to 1527 France and Spain

fought throughout Italy• The terrible sack of Rome in 1527 by

Spanish armies ended the Italian wars and left the Spanish a dominant force in Italy.

• When the French and Spanish return to their countries after the war, the ideas of the Italian Renaissance begin to spread throughout Western Europe.

Machiavelli and the New Statecraft

• Niccolo Machiavelli believed that politics should not be influenced by morality and religion.

• This is an early form of separation of church and state.

• Machiavelli believed that it was the state that mattered above all else

Renaissance Society

• Nobles – By 1500 nobles, old and new, again dominated society– The nobles held important political posts

and served as advisors to the king

• Peasants – By 1500 more and more peasants became legally free– Peasants made up 85 to 90 percent of

the total European population

Renaissance Society (Continued)• Townspeople (Urban Society) –– Patricians – wealth from trade, industry,

and banking enabled them to dominate their communities economically, socially, and politically.

– Burghers – Shopkeepers, artisans, guild masters and guild members who provided the goods and services for their fellow townspeople

–Workers and Unemployed – workers earned extremely low wages (Both groups lived very poor lives)

Family and Marriage• Family bond was a source of great security• Parents carefully arranged marriages,

often to strengthen business or family ties (dowry was paid)

• The father-husband was the center of the Italian family

• The mothers chief role was to supervise the household

• Children did not become adults until the father formally freed them before a judge

Section 2

The Intellectual and Artistic Renaissance

Italian Renaissance Humanism

• Humanism – An intellectual movement of the Renaissance based on the study of the humanities, which included, grammar , rhetoric, poetry, moral philosophy, and history.

• The father of the Italian Renaissance humanism (Petrarch), did the most to foster humanism in the 14th century.

Vernacular Literature• Classical Latin had widespread

use, however some writers wrote in the vernacular

Examples (Page 383)• Italian – Dante’s Divine Comedy• English – Chaucer’s The

Canterbury Tales• French – Christine de Pizan’s The

Book of the City of Ladies

Education in the Renaissance

• At the core of humanist schools were the liberal studies (today called liberal arts)

• The purpose was to produce individuals who follow a path of virtue and wisdom

• Only a few females attended humanist schools. Taught religion and morals.

Artistic Italian Renaissance (Painting)

• Renaissance artists sought to imitate nature in their works

• The first masterpieces of early Renaissance were the fresco paintings in Florence (painted by Masaccio) – Created the illusion of 3 dimensions (a new realistic style of painting)

Sculpture and Architecture

• By the end of the 15th century, Italian painters, sculptors, and architects had created a new artistic world.

• Donatello spent time in Rome copying the statues of the Greeks and Romans

• Many artists had mastered the new techniques for realistically portraying the world around them.

Donatello (Saint George)

Masters of the High Renaissance

• The final stage of Italian Renaissance painting is called the High Renaissance

• Three artistic giants:

–Leonardo da Vinci–Raphael–Michelangelo

Leonardo da Vinci (“The Last Supper”)

Raphael (“The School of Athens”)

Michelangelo (Ceiling of Sistine Chapel)

The Northern Artistic Renaissance

• Important art school founded in Flanders

• The Flemish painter Jan van Eyck was among the first to use oil paint, which enabled the artist to use a wide variety of colors and create fine details

Jan van Eyck (Giovanni Arnolfini and his bride)

Section 3

The Protestant

Reformation

Erasmus and Christian Humanism

• Protestant Reformation – Religious reform movement that divided the western Church into Catholic and Protestant groups

• Martin Luther began the Reformation in the early 16th century

• Christian humanism (under Desiderius Erasmus) began in the 2nd half of the 15th century

Religion on the Eve of the Reformation

• Why Reformation?–Corruption in the Catholic Church–Renaissance Popes failed to meet the

church’s spiritual needs–Church officials concerned with

money and used their church offices to advance their careers and their wealth–Ordinary parish priests seemed

ignorant of their spiritual duties

Indulgences

• One of the biggest issues dividing the church were indulgences

• The Church sold indulgences in the form of certificates

• According to church practice, through veneration of a relic, a person could gain an indulgence.

• Reduced the “soul’s” time in purgatory after they died and before entering heaven.

Martin Luther

• A German monk and professor who challenged the Catholic Church

• Catholic teachings had stressed that both faith and good works were needed to gain personal salvation.

• The idea of justification by faith alone, became the chief teaching of the Protestant Reformation.

The Ninety-five Theses

• Luther did not see himself as a rebel, but he was greatly upset by the wide spread selling of indulgences

• On October 31, 1517 Luther sent a list of Ninety-five Theses to his church superiors

• Thousands of copies were printed and spread to all of Germany

Martin Luther (Ninety-five Theses)

A Break With the Church

• Martin Luther kept only 2 Sacraments – Baptism and Communion.

• Also allowed clergy to marry (went against the long-standing Catholic requirement that the clergy remain celibate (unmarried).

• Luther continued to emphasize his new doctrine of salvation.

A Break With the Church (Continued)

• Martin Luther was excommunicated by the Church in January 1521.

• The Edict of Worms condemned Martin Luther as an outlaw, banned his works, and oppressed those who agreed with him.

The Rise of Lutheranism

• During the next few years, Luther’s religious movement became a revolution.

• As part of the development, state dominated churches came about and new religious services replaced the Catholic mass.

• Lutheranism becomes the first protestant faith.

Politics in the German Reformation

• The Peace of Augsburg ended the religious warfare in Germany in 1555.

• The German states were now free to choose between Catholicism and Lutheranism.

• The right of each German ruler to determine the religion of his subjects was accepted, but not the right of the subjects to choose their own religion.

Section 4

The Spread of Protestantism

and the Catholic

Response

The Zwinglian Reformation

• Ulrich Zwingli began to introduce religious reforms in Switzerland.

• Zwingli tried to form an alliance with Martin Luther, but they were unable to agree on the meaning of Communion.

• In October 1531 war broke out between Protestant and Catholic states in Switzerland.

Calvin and Calvinism• After converting to Protestant he left

France for the safety of Switzerland.• Came up with the idea of

predestination• Calvinist’s believed they were doing

“God’s work”.• By the mid 16th century, Calvinism

had replaced Lutheranism as the most important and dynamic form of Protestantism.

Anabaptists• Many people strongly disliked giving

church powers to the state. These people were radicals known as Anabaptists.

• Anabaptists believed:– Church was a voluntary community of

adult believers (baptism can occur any time)

– Considered all believers equal (even priests)

– In the complete separation of church and state

The Catholic Reformation• Pope Paul III appointed a reform

commission in 1537.• The Council of Trent was formed and

reaffirmed:– Both faith and good works were

necessary for salvation– Belief in purgatory and in the use of

indulgences was strengthened, although the selling of indulgences was forbidden

• Catholics were now unified under the supreme leadership of the pope.

Chapter 12

Renaissance and

Reformation

Wrap Up and Review

Key Events (Re-visited)• Between 1350 and 1550, Italian

intellectuals began to reexamine the culture of the Greeks and Romans. Historians later referred to this period in European history as the Renaissance.

• Martin Luther’s break with the Catholic Church led to the emergence of the Protestant Reformation.

• During the period known as the Catholic Reformation, the Catholic Church enacted a series of reforms that were successful in strengthening the Church.

The Impact Today (Re-visited)

• Western art is founded on classical styles developed by the Greeks and Romans.

• Machiavelli’s views on politics had a profound influence on later political leaders in the western world and are studied in universities today.

• The Jesuits have founded many Catholic colleges and universities in the United States.