European History Italian Renaissance (1330-1550) Brief Overview Timeline People Events & Qs
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Brief Overview
The Italian Renaissance followed on the heels of the Middle Ages, and was spawned by the birth of the philosophy of humanism, which emphasized the importance of individual achievement in a wide range of fields. The early humanists, such as writer Francesco Petrarch, studied the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans for inspiration and ideology, mixing the philosophies of Plato and other ancient thinkers with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Under the influence of the humanists, literature and the arts climbed to new levels of importance.
Though it eventually spread through Europe, the Renaissance began in the great city-states of Italy. Italian merchants and political officials supported and commissioned the great artists of the day, thus the products of the Renaissance grew up inside their walls. The most powerful city-states were Florence, The Papal States (centered in Rome), Venice, and Milan. Each of these states grew up with its own distinctive character, very much due to the different forms of government that presided over each. Florence, considered the birthplace of the Renaissance, grew powerful as a wool-trading post, and remained powerful throughout the Renaissance due to the leadership of the Medici family, who maintained the city's financial strength and were intelligent and generous patrons of the arts. The Pope, who had the responsibility of running the Catholic Church as well, ruled Rome. As the power of the northern city-states grew, the Papacy increasingly became the seat of an international politician rather than a spiritual leader, and many pontiffs fell prey to the vices of corruption and nepotism that often accompanied a position of such power. Nevertheless, Rome, the victim of a decline that had destroyed the ancient city during the Middle Ages, flourished once again under papal leadership during the Renaissance. Venice and Milan also grew wealthy and powerful, playing large roles in Italian politics and attracting many artists and writers to their gilded streets. Venice was ruled by oligarchy in the hands of its Great Council of noble families, and Milan by a strong monarchy that produced a line of powerful dukes.
Perhaps the most prominent feature of the Renaissance was the furthering of the arts, and the advancement of new techniques and styles. During the early Renaissance, painters such as Giotto, and sculptors such as Ghiberti experimented with techniques to better portray perspective. Their methods were rapidly perfected and built upon by other artists of the early Renaissance such as Botticelli and Donatello. However, the apex of artistic talent and production came later, during what is known as the High Renaissance, in the form of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, and Michaelangelo, who remain the best known artists of the Renaissance. The Renaissance also saw the invention of printing in Europe and the rise of literature as an important aspect in everyday life. The Italian writers Boccaccio, Pico, and Niccolo Machiavelli were able to distribute their works much more easily and cheaply because of the rise of the printed book.
Alas, the Italian Renaissance could not last forever, and beginning in 1494 with the French invasion of Italian land Italy was plagued by the presence of foreign powers vying for pieces of the Italian peninsula. Finally, in 1527, foreign occupation climaxed with the sack of Rome and the Renaissance collapsed under the domination of the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V. The economic restrictions placed on the Italian states by Charles V, combined with the censorship the Catholic Church undertook in response to the rising Reformation movement ensured that the spirit of the Renaissance was crushed, and Italy ceased to be the cradle of artistic, intellectual, and economic prosperity.
Timeline
April 6, 1341: Francesco Petrarch is Crowned Poet Laureate Many historians cite this date as the beginning of the Renaissance.
1397: Giovanni de Medici Moves to Florence Giovanni de Medici, the papal banker, headquarters his business in Florence and becomes involved in Florentine public life and patronage of the arts, laying the groundwork for the rise of his son Cosimo de Medici to power.
1401: Ghiberti Wins the Right to Sculpt the Northern Doors of The Baptistry Ghiberti is commissioned and takes 28 years to sculpt the bronze doors of the Florentine church. The doors remain one of the most valued treasures of the Renaissance
1420: The Papacy Returns to Rome The Papacy, having been located in Avignon since 1305, returns to Rome, bringing with it the prestige and wealth necessary to rebuild the city.
1423: Francesco Fosari Becomes Doge of Venice Fosari assumes the position of doge and attempts to usurp great political power, to the distaste of the Great Council, Venice's oligarchic ruling body, which asserts its power over the doge and torments him until his resignation.
1429: Cosimo de Medici Takes Over his Father's Business Cosimo de Medici becomes head of the bank after his father dies, using his economic power to consolidate political power. Within five years he runs the city without question.
1447: Pope Nicholas V Ascends to the Throne Pope Nicholas V takes the first steps toward turning Rome into a Renaissance city, undertaking many construction projects and strongly encouraging the arts.
1450: Francesco Sforza Seizes Control of Milan After a short experiment with republican government, Milan returns to monarchy when Francesco Sforza takes control of the city. His most prominent successor is Ludovico Sforza.
1453: Constantinople Falls The center of the Byzantine Empire, Constantinople falls to the Ottoman Turks, provoking an exodus of Greek people and works of art and literature into the Italian city-states.
1454: Johann Gutenberg Prints the Gutenberg Bible Gutenberg is credited with the invention of the printing press in Europe, and ushers in the age of printed books, making literature more accessible to all Europeans.
1464: Lorenzo de Medici Ascends to Power in Florence After Cosimo's death in 1464, his son Piero rules until his death in 1469, when power falls into the hands of Lorenzo, who rules until 1491, raising Florence to its greatest heights of the Renaissance.
1471: Sixtus IV Becomes Pope Sixtus IV becomes pope, undertaking many successful projects in Rome, but disgracing the Church through his corruption and practice of nepotism.
1486: Pico Publishes His Collection of 900 Treatises Pico's philosophy often conflicts with that of the Catholic Church and he is declared a heretic. He is saved from demise by the intervention of Lorenzo de Medici.
1492: Rodrigo Borgia becomes Pope Alexander VI Alexander VI is widely known as a corrupt and manipulative pope, scheming for his family's benefit. Many claim that the Papacy reaches its greatest moral decline of the Renaissance during his pontificate.
1494: The Medici are Ousted from Florence by Girolamo Savonarola Savonarola, preaching a return to simple faith, leads a popular uprising against the Medici, who are forced to flee. Savonarola's rule is short-lived, and he is burned as a heretic in 1495.
1494: Ludovico Sforza Permits the French Invasion of Italy In an attempt to weaken his enemy, the King of Naples, Ludovico invites the French to invade Italy, granting them free passage through Milan. Though this invasion fails, the French return in 1499, turning on Ludovico and taking Milan, and opening an era of foreign competition for Italian land.
1503: Pope Julius II Assumes the Papal Throne The ascension of Pope Julius II begins the Roman Golden Age, during which the city and Papacy both prosper. Julius II reverses the trend of moral degradation in the Papacy and takes great steps in the rebuilding of Rome.
1513: Pope Leo X Succeeds Julius II Pope Leo X, the son of Lorenzo de Medici, continues the trend of the Golden Age, proving himself a gifted administrator and intelligent patron of the arts. Rome prospers.
1513: Niccolo Machiavelli Publishes The Prince Often considered the most influential political book of all time, The Prince outlines the argument that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved.
1517: The Reformation Movement Begins Martin Luther posts his 95 Theses on the door of a church in Wittenburg, Germany, igniting a movement which provokes an enormous split in the Roman Catholic Church.
1519: Leonardo da Vinci Dies Leonardo, perhaps the most remarkable individual of the Renaissance, dies in France, having established himself as a painter, sculptor, engineer, and scientist.
1523: Pope Clement VII Ascends to the Throne Pope Clement VII comes to power in difficult times, following Pope Leo X. He soon proves himself an incompetent politician, and his poor decisions lead to the sack of Rome.
May 6, 1527: The Sack of Rome After Pope Clement VII refuses to grant the imperial army a ransom, it attacks the city of Rome, taking the city in just over twelve hours. The sack of Rome symbolizes the downfall of Renaissance Italy, much of which is subjugated to Imperial-Spanish rule by the settlement of Bologna in 1530.
Key People
Boccaccio
One of the first writers of the early Renaissance, Giovanni Boccaccio, a Florentine, is most noted for writing the Decameron, a series of 100 stories set in Florence during the Black Death that struck the city in 1348. Boccaccio explores, in these stories, the traditions and viewpoints of various social classes, greatly based on actual observation and study.
Lucrezia Borgia
One of the Few notable women of the Renaissance, Lucrezia Borgia was the daughter of Pope Alexander VI, who used her as a pawn in his attempts to gain political power. He married her first to the duke of Milan, then to the illegitimate son of the King of Naples, and finally to the duke of Ferarra, where she became an influential member of the court.
Botticelli
A well-known painter of the Renaissance, Botticelli was one of a circle of artists and scholars sponsored by the Medici in Florence. He was fascinated by Neoplatonism, and many of his works are seen as great examples of applied Neoplatonism.
Brunelleschi
Brunelleschi was one of the great sculptors and architects of the early Renaissance. His most famous contribution was the design of the dome of the cathedral of Florence, which still dominates the Florentine skyline today.
Charles V
Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor during the early sixteenth century, was, by genetic good fortune, heir to Spain, Burgundy, the Netherlands, Austria, and Naples, as well as being claimant to Milan by imperial right. His forces harassed the Italian city-states for years, finally gaining dominance over much of Italy in the settlement of Bologna, in 1530.
Isabella d'Este
Isabella d'Este was perhaps the most powerful and most intelligent woman of the Renaissance. She mastered Greek and Latin and memorized the works of the ancient scholars, all the while excelling in the arts of singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments. As the duchess of Mantua, she exerted a great amount of influence over the politics, social life, and economics of the city, even ruling by herself when her husband had been captured in battle.
Leonardo da Vinci
Perhaps the greatest single figure of the Renaissance, Leonardo excelled in painting, sculpting, engineering, biology, and many other fields. He traveled around Italy, and eventually France as well, making observations on nature and seeking commissions. Many of his contributions were ideas for inventions which were not built until long after his death. His most famous completed work, the Mona Lisa, is the most famous portrait ever painted.
Donatello
The greatest sculptor of the early Renaissance, Donatello was born Donato di Niccolo di Betto Bardi. Donatello studied under both Ghiberti and Brunelleschi, and went on to create several masterpieces for Cosimo de Medici in Florence. His most important work is the David, which depicts the Hebrew king in the classical style of a Greek god. David was the first freestanding nude figure sculpted since the Roman era. Donatello went on to create the first bronze statue of the Renaissance, showing an incredibly realistic soldier on horseback.
Francesco Fosari
In 1423, Francesco Fosari became doge of Venice. He ruled with excessive grandeur and exercised far greater power than had past doges, aggressively pursuing a policy of western expansion. To torment and control the doge, the Venetian Council of Ten falsely accused his son, Jacopo, of treason, and began a long process during which Jacopo was exiled, readmitted, tortured, and exiled again. Finally, when the Council of Ten forced Fosari to resign, affirming its power over the monarch.
Ghiberti
Ghiberti was one of the earliest sculptors of the Renaissance. He developed techniques for showing perspective that greatly influenced his followers throughout the Renaissance. Ghiberti sculpted a pair of bronze doors to a church in Florence which remain one of the greatest-admired treasures of the Renaissance.
Giotto
Giotto was one of the first painters of the Renaissance. He did groundbreaking work in the realm of perspective and realism. Giotto's techniques were instrumental in pursuing the goals of Renaissance art, and they greatly affected the artists who followed.
Johann Gutenberg
Gutenberg is credited with inventing the printing press in Germany in 1454, and printing the first book, the Gutenberg Bible, ushering in the age of the printed book, during which books became cheaper and more accessible to the general population.
Niccolo Machiavelli
Niccolo Machiavelli may be the most famed writer of the Renaissance. His most well known work, The Prince is a political handbook arguing that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved.
Masaccio
Masaccio, a nickname meaning 'Messy Tom', was born Tomasso Guidi. Masaccio is credited with mastering perspective, and was the first Renaissance artist to paint models in the nude, often using light and shadow to define the shape of his models rather than clear lines. Masaccio's best known work is a scene from the Bible called The Tribute Money.
Cosimo de Medici
In 1434, Cosimo de Medici consolidated the power of Florence in his and his family's hands, beginning the reign of the Medici that would last in Florence until the end of the Renaissance. Cosimo built up strong connections throughout Italy and Europe in his capacity as a banker, and applied the wealth of Florence in patronage of artistic and intellectual endeavors.
Lorenzo de Medici
Lorenzo de Medici, known as 'Il Magnifico,' was Cosimo's grandson. Lorenzo lived more elegantly than had Cosimo, and enjoyed the spotlight of power immensely. Under his control, the Florentine economy expanded significantly and the lower class enjoyed a greater level of comfort and protection than it had before. During the period of Lorenzo's rule, from 1469 to 1492, Florence became undeniably the most important city-state in Italy and the most beautiful city in all of Europe.
Michaelangelo
Michaelangelo was one of the greatest artists of the High Renaissance. At a young age his talent was spotted by Lorenzo de Medici and he was brought up in the Medici palace. He went on to create some of the most famous works of the Renaissance, carving the Pieta and painting the walls and ceilings of the Sistine Chapel.
Francesco Petrarch
Francesco Petrarch is often referred to as the founder of humanism. As one of the first humanist writers he explored modern life through the lens of the ancient Romans and Greeks, influencing with his works the later renaissance writers and the spirit of the times.
Pico
Pico was a philosopher and writer of the Renaissance. His most famous work is a collection of 900 philosophical treatises in which he expresses his belief in the free will of man and the ability of individuals to commune with God without the medium of a priest. Pico was declared a heretic, and only saved from demise by the intervention of Lorenzo de Medici.
Pope Alexander VI
Rodrigo Borgia, who took the name Alexander VI upon rising to the papacy in 1492 and ruled until 1503, was a corrupt pope bent on the advancement of his family through the political ranks of Italy. While pope he turned many away from the church with his actions, and his reign is considered by some to be the darkest era of the Papacy.
Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII (1523-1534) ascended to the papal throne in 1523, following Pope Leo X. He arose during troubled times and proved a moral man but a poor administrator, and his lack of political skill eventually led to the sack of Rome.
Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II (1503-1513) ascended to the papal throne in 1503, and presided over the beginning of Rome's Golden Age. He ended the long string of highly corrupt pontiffs and began the massive project of rebuilding St. Peter's basilica.
Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X (1513-1521) was the son of Lorenzo de Medici. A truly enlightened leader and patron of the arts, he followed the reign of Julius II, ascending to the throne in 1513. Pope Leo X continued the work begun during Julius II's pontificate, rebuilding all of Rome, and most specifically, St. Peter's basilica. His one grave error was to authorize the sale of indulgences to finance this project, an action which prompted the beginning of the Reformation movement.
Pope Nicholas V
Pope Nicholas V (1447-1455) ascended to the Papacy in 1447 and took the first steps necessary in resurrecting Rome. He began the rebuilding of Rome as a Renaissance city, supporting the arts and reviving the city's economy.
Pope Sixtus IV
Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) is known for both the great steps taken under his rule to rebuild Rome and his great corruption. Pope Sixtus IV instituted nepotism as a way of life in Rome, and ran the Papacy as a family operation.
Raphael
Hailed as the greatest painter of the Renaissance, Raphael, born Rafaello Sanzi, worked in Rome under papal commissions from Pope Julius II and Pope Leo X, decorating much of the Vatican. The most widely known of the series of murals and frescoes he painted is the School of Athens, which depicts an imaginary assembly of famous philosophers. He was considered so important by his contemporaries that when he died at the premature age of 37 he was buried in the Pantheon.
Girolamo Savonarola
Savonarola attracted a following starting in 1491, when he began preaching against the worldliness and paganism of the Renaissance. He led the ousting of the Medici from Florence in 1494, and assumed power, drafting a new draconian constitution, and attempting to revive the medieval spirit. He ordered burned many books and paintings he considered immoral. In 1495, Savonarola called for the deposal of Pope Alexander VI, was declared a heretic, and burned at the stake.
Ludovico Sforza
Ludovico Sforza played the part of the archetypical Italian Renaissance prince, surrounding himself with intrigue and corruption. Though Ludovico was not the rightful duke of Milan and was known to use coercion and manipulation to achieve his political goals, for a time the city of Milan flourished in his care. Under Ludovico, known as 'Il Moro," Milan became extraordinarily wealthy and its citizens participated in a splendid and excessive social culture.
Titian
Titian was the most famous Venetian artist of the Renaissance. Born Tiziana Vecellio, in the Italian Alps, he moved to Venice early in life to study. Titian distinguished himself through the use of bright colors and new techniques that gave those colors greater subtlety and depth. Between 1518 and 1532 he served as court painter in Ferrara, Mantua, and Urbino. In 1532, he became the official painter to the Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, in which role he dabbled mainly in portraiture.
Key Terms
Feudalism
A combined economic and social system that defined the Middle Ages. Under feudalism, societal classes were hierarchically divided based on their position in the prevailing agrarian economy. The system produced a large number of scattered, self-sufficient feudal units throughout Europe, made up of a lord and his subservient vassals. These feudal lords constantly battled during the early middle ages, their armies of peasants facing off to win land for their lords.
Humanism
Humanism was the philosophical backbone of the Renaissance, emphasizing the potential for individual achievement and stipulating that humans were rational beings capable of truth and goodness. In keeping with the principles of humanism, Renaissance scholars celebrated the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans for their own sake, rather than for their relevance to Church doctrine.
Neoplatonism
Neoplatonism sought to reconcile humanism with Christianity, to blend the teachings of Plato and other ancient philosophers with the teachings of the Church. Neoplatonism flourished throughout Italy as the primary philosophy by which artists rationalized their more secular works.
Papal Nephew
The term 'nephew' (nipote, in Italian) was applied to the children, which though claimed as those of the pope's siblings, were understood to be the pope's own illegitimate children. The fathering of illegitimate children was common practice throughout the history of the Papacy, but during the Renaissance, especially under corrupt popes such as Pope Sixtus IV, the position of the papal nephew rose to new heights, as nephews were given influential positions and high salaries. This practice of nepotism was one way in which the Church became morally discredited during the Renaissance.
The Prince
Written by Niccolo Machiavelli, The Prince was a guidebook for the ruler Machiavelli hoped would eventually unite Italy to drive out foreign threats. The Prince argues that it is better for a ruler to be feared than loved, and has served as a handbook by European leaders for centuries since its publishing in 1513.
Key Events
Golden Age
The Golden Age refers to the period from 1503, when Pope Julius II ascended to the papal throne, to the sack of Rome in 1527, during which both the Papacy and the city of Rome prospered greatly. Pope Julius II and his successor, Pope Leo X, renewed faith in the morality of the Papacy and oversaw the most successful period of the rebuilding of Rome, during which artists flocked to the city in hope of a papal commission.
Sack of Rome
Because of Pope Clement VII's inept negotiating, the angry imperial army surrounded Rome on May 5, 1527 demanding that the Pope pay a ransom. When he refused, and called the citizens of Rome to arms, the army besieged the city. By one o'clock p.m. on May 6, the mercenary soldiers had taken the city. The sack of Rome led to the subjugation of all of Italy to Imperial-Spanish control, and the end of the Renaissance.
Study Questions
Explain why Florence became the birthplace of the Renaissance, and presided over so many of the period's achievements?
Florence prospered during the Renaissance because of its lines of communication to the world around it. In the late Middle Ages, the city became important as a crossroads for wool traders. Giovanni and Cosimo de Medici used banking to make Florence a crossroads for finance. With these connections established, Florence also became a crossroads for ideas. The city was opened up to the ideals and philosophies of distant lands, and absorbed these into the writing and art produced there, which then flowed freely outward to the rest of Italy and the European continent. The Medici maintained the stability of these connections through financial and political means, and ensured that throughout the Renaissance, Florence was known as a location friendly to and supportive of the arts. The connection the Medici established with the Papacy was particularly beneficial to both Florence and Rome, and the two cities that might have otherwise been rivals developed under the spirit of cooperation during the Renaissance. Rome provided a destination for many Florentine artists and writers, and Florence benefited from the management of the papal purse.
The early Renaissance is often hailed as a period of artistic nuance. However, critics might argue that at least as far as subject matter goes, the Renaissance very much adhered to the religious themes of the Middle Ages. What, then, were other differences from the Middle Ages fostered by the Renaissance?
Despite the similarities to medieval art surrounding subject matter, there can be no doubt that that Renaissance artists broke the static mold of medieval art. First of all, though the themes of the Middle Ages remained fairly constant, the style of the Renaissance was unique in its combination of modern and ancient influences. However, what is most remarkable about the art of the Renaissance is the constant evolution of techniques and materials, each generation of artists building upon the accomplishments of the last. While technique, style, and materials stayed relatively constant throughout much of the Middle Ages, the Renaissance was a period of much more rapid change and development. Giotto was the first Renaissance artist to dabble in the techniques of perspective in search of the realism sought by the artists of the Renaissance. His techniques changed the face of art significantly, but no sooner had they been studied and absorbed by the artistic community than Masaccio and others built upon and improved the techniques. Similarly, Ghiberti and Brunelleschi pushed each other through competition to new artistic heights. Donatello studied under each of the older masters and incorporated the developments they contributed to the art form with his own talents and ideas, producing the most admired works of the era. This rapid evolution and the continuing advance of artistic techniques and talent was one of the primary characteristics of the Renaissance.
How does the story of Lucrezia Borgia illustrate the subjugation of women during the Renaissance, even those who seem ed to exercise some independence and power?
The case of Lucrezia Borgia is interesting in that it seemed to her contemporaries that she was one of the most liberated and empowered women in all of Italy. Certainly, her mobility, from place to place and husband to husband, was more than any Renaissance woman could hope for. The details of her marriages garnered for her the common perception as both a powerful and devious woman. However, upon historical review, it becomes quite clear that Lucrezia was not in control of her life so much as she was a pawn in Alexander VI's master plan for the success and wealth of the Borgia family. It is most likely that she resisted the pattern of marriage and annulment which her father forced upon her during her early life, despite the advantages of mobility and influence it bestowed upon her. In fact, history shows that Lucrezia only truly exercised power after she had entered into a happy marriage with Alfonso d'Este, who allowed her to participate to a great extent in the politics and society of Ferarra. Thus Lucrezia Borgia's life may be looked on as demonstrative of the situation of women in the Renaissance, in that even the illusion of power which surrounded her inhere early years was created by a man, her father, who controlled her life, and the small measure of actual power which she was eventually granted grew out of her traditional position as a devoted wife and mother.
