Intro To Renaisssance

The European Renaissance • How did the civilizations of Asia, Africa, and the Islamic World help spark learning in Europe? • How is the European Renaissance a process of global exchange?

What is the European Renaissance? A cultural movement from the 14th -17th century (1300s-1600s) • The European Renaissance began in Italy and spread north- It means “rebirth” in French • It influenced literature, philosophy, art, politics, science, and religion

Islamic roots to the European Renaissance European Scholars began to study original Roman, Greek and Islamic texts directly • The Muslim World also inherited the heritage of Greece and Rome – they had copied ancient documents and improved on ancient learning

Europe at 1300

Global Exchange • The Italian city states Venice and Genoa were able to tap into the wealth of the Islamic, Indian, and Chinese civilizations through trade

Islamic Achievements • Great centers of learning – Cairo, Cordoba, Baghdad • Advances in: Philosophy, Medicine, Mathematics, Astronomy Cartography, Social sciences, art, music, literature

Influence of the Mongols: How did they unite the Eurasian landmass? What did they bring West from China?

Where did these new ways of thinking come from?

Mongol influence on the Silk Road • From 1204 to 1368, the Mongol Empire united most of the Eurasian land mass-revived silk road trade zone– and brought many Chinese inventions to the Middle East and the Byzantine empire and eventually Europe compass, stirrups, printing press, paper, gunpowder, rudder

The Influence of the Byzantine Empire: • The Byzantine Empire preserved some of the learning of the Greeks and the Romans • Constantinople connected by trade to both the Silk Road and the Mediterranean world

The Influe nce of the By za ntine Empire • By the 1400s, much of the Byzantine Empire had been conquered by the Ottoman Turks. While many Byzantine scholars stayed to work within the Ottoman Empire, some took their scholarship to Europe

What changed in Europe to create conditions for the Renaissance? • The Crusades showed the Europeans how advanced the Muslim World was. This awoke a hunger for new goods and new learning- like medical advances, sugar, textiles, almonds, spices, science etc. • European scholars began to visit Islamic centers of learning and bring back ideas-

Influence in Europe Through these many new sources Europeans discovered that the ancients did not always agree with each other. This also helped Renaissance scholars to debate and questions established ideas.

What changed in Europe to create conditions for Renaissance?

What changed in Europe to create conditions for the Renaissance? •

The Black Death killed 1/3 of the population of Europe

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Some people turned to religion to find answers, but others turned away from the Church

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There was more land and fewer workers in Europe now- people could demand better treatment from landlords-they looked to life on earth for happiness- not just heaven.

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The garments of dead were turned into rag paper- books became cheaper at the same time the printing press (a Chinese, Korean, German invention) evolved

Why did the Renaissance begin in Italy? •

Italian city-states looked to the sea for their economic prosperity. Genoa and Venice controlled the Mediterranean trade routes that connected Europe with the Islamic, Mongol, and Byzantine Empires. • surrounded by the ruins of Rome • ruled by the merchant classthey believed that they earned their social ranks (unlike nobility) so placed high emphasis on individual merit

Why Florence? • Florence was ruled by the Medici family who gave great donations to support the arts

Renaissance Themes • Humanism- looks at human potential and achievements, encourages people to go back to the original sources and interpret them for themselves • Enjoyment of worldly pleasures-without offending God • Patrons of the arts- the Roman Catholic Church and the wealthy • Renaissance men – strive to master almost every area of study (universal man) both academic and artistic (be a dancer, poet, scholar, and a swordsman etc.) • Renaissance women- inspire art but rarely create it, know Classics and be charming but don’t seek fame