Renaissance

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During the 14th century, an artistic and cultural movement called the Renaissance (REN-uh-sonce) began in Europe. The map below shows where the Renaissance began.

What was the Renaissance?

The Renaissance was an artistic and cultural movement in Europe. During the Renaissance, people started thinking about humans and the world in new ways. This change affected learning, art, literature, and science. Even though the Renaissance started in Italy, its ideas eventually spread throughout Europe!

How do historians track the spread of ideas?

Historians can track how ideas spread by studying art. For example, one new Renaissance idea was that individual people were important. So, portraits, or paintings of one person, became a popular art form. As this idea spread, different places in Europe developed their own versions of portraits.

The following passage describes how previous time periods influenced the Renaissance. Read the passage.

The Renaissance is known as a time of new ideas in art and learning. However, many of the movement's practices and beliefs came from the ancient past. That is why the word "Renaissance" means "rebirth."

Renaissance thinkers were familiar with the ideas of the Middle Ages, a period of time that began after the fall of the Roman Empire. During the Middle Ages, artists and writers in Europe usually focused on religious subjects, such as God and heaven.

But Renaissance thinkers wanted to study ideas from ancient Greece and Rome. Greek and Roman artists and writers usually focused on nonreligious subjects, such as people and nature. They used reason and scientific thinking in their work.

Renaissance artists and scholars combined themes from both periods to create new ideas and artwork.

Connection to the past

Ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and the Middle Ages all helped to shape the Renaissance, especially in Italy. Many achievements from these time periods are still remembered today!

Ancient Greece was a group of coastal and island cities to the east of Italy. During its golden age, ancient Greek culture spread to many areas around the Mediterranean Sea. Ancient Greek ideas about government, art, and learning influenced future civilizations such as ancient Rome.

Ancient Rome is one of the most famous civilizations from Italy's past. At its height, the Roman Empire spread throughout Europe and into North Africa and the Middle East. Ancient Rome is remembered for many achievements in art, architecture, learning, and engineering.

The Middle Ages lasted for hundreds of years! It is sometimes nicknamed the "Age of Faith" because its culture focused on religious subjects. Some of the most impressive churches in Italy were created during this time!

The Renaissance led to changes in many areas, including the way people learned about the world and the way they created art.

Historians have studied the Renaissance for centuries. Most historians agree that the Renaissance was a time of new art and learning. But they haven't always agreed on the importance of the Middle Ages or how the Middle Ages impacted the Renaissance.

Read the following summaries of two historians' views on the relationship between the Renaissance and the Middle Ages.

Historian from the 1800s

During the Middle Ages, it was like people were half-awake or dreaming underneath a veil. This veil was made of childish beliefs and misunderstandings that kept them from seeing the world clearly. But in Italy during the Renaissance, this veil began to disappear. People were able to learn about many subjects and create beautiful new art.

Present-day historian

In the past, some historians saw the Middle Ages as a dark, gloomy time. But today, historians recognize the achievements of the Middle Ages. Artists, scholars, and inventors during the Middle Ages created works that helped to shape the Renaissance. Their ideas continue to influence our thinking, art, and culture today.

Why is it called the Middle Ages?

Present-day historians believe the term "Middle Ages" comes from writers during the Renaissance! Renaissance writers saw their movement as new and exciting. They also respected ancient civilizations such as Greece and Rome. But they didn't value the time period in between those civilizations and their own time. So, they began using negative phrases like "age of shadows" and "awful middle time" to describe it.

What did the Middle Ages ever do for us?

For hundreds of years, this negative view of the Middle Ages was commonly accepted. But present-day historians called Medievalists have shown that this view is incomplete. Their work shows that the Middle Ages was an important, exciting time. After all, many improvements in science, engineering, and technology took place during the Middle Ages!

Inventions such as a new plow and horseshoes improved farming.

A better understanding of the sea led to tidal mills, using tides to grind wheat into grain.

Masons used improved technology to build huge stone churches with stained glass windows.

Leading up to the Renaissance, European society was mostly organized by the manor system. Under this system, people lived and worked in small, farm-based communities called manors. Read the passage about manors in the Middle Ages. Manors were self-sufficient, or able to produce everything people on the manor needed. To be self-sufficient, everyone who lived on the manor played a different role:

- - Manor lords ruled the manor and provided protection from outside invaders.
  - Some peasants farmed the land surrounding the manor in exchange for housing and protection.
  - Other peasants worked in manor villages as blacksmiths and millers, making goods and supplies for the manor.
  - Priests led religious services for all people who lived on the manor.

During the Middle Ages in Europe, it was uncommon for peasants to leave the manors they lived on.

The life of a Middle Ages serf

Many people who lived on manors were serfs. Serfs were people who had to stay on the manor and work for the lord. Serfs had very few freedoms. They could not do the following things without the lord's permission:

leave the manor
hunt in the lord's forests
change jobs or move cottages
get married

However, there were positive aspects to being a serf. Each serf had land to farm and a small cottage to live in. Serfs also received protection from outside invaders. Certain skilled serfs, such as blacksmiths, beekeepers, beer and wine makers, and midwives, were highly valued.

Much of the learning and art during the Middle Ages in Europe centered around God and other Christian figures. As a result, religious communities called monasteries became places for learning. There, men called scribes copied texts by hand to preserve old, fragile books and scrolls. Scribes in the Middle Ages had many opportunities, but their lives could often be difficult.

The complaints of a scribe

Copying texts all day was tough work. Scribes spent most of their days hunched over books, trying to read small handwriting.

Sometimes, scribes wrote complaints on the edges of pages they were copying. They wrote about being uncomfortable and having to work with bad supplies and poor translations. One scribe from the 10th century wrote:

Only try to do it yourself and you will learn how [difficult] is the writer's task. It dims your eyes, makes your back ache, and knits your chest and belly together. It is a terrible [experience] for the whole body.

The following map shows where goods were produced and traded along the Silk Road network in Asia.

Was the Silk Road one long road?

No! It was a series of trade routes that connected the Mediterranean Sea to Japan. Most traders never traveled the entire route. Instead, they traveled back and forth along small sections of the routes, selling goods at trading posts and merchant cities. Silk Road traders had to travel through dry deserts, steep mountains, and fertile valleys.

Around 1100 CE, a series of wars known as the Crusades began. In the Crusades, European Christians tried to gain control of new territory held by Muslims in the Middle East. Read the passage about Europe during the Crusades.

At the start of the Crusades, many Europeans left their manors to go fight in the Middle East. But getting there took a long time, since there were few good roads connecting Europe to the Middle East. Many soldiers ran out of supplies and had to steal local food and goods.

Over time, roads and sea routes improved, so soldiers and supplies could travel more quickly. Merchants also used these routes to trade goods. As trade grew, coastal towns turned into thriving merchant cities.

Many Europeans, including peasants, died fighting in the Crusades. The surviving Europeans who returned to Europe discovered that many manors were failing and even abandoned. So, they journeyed to fast-growing cities to find new jobs.

How did the Crusades affect merchant cities?

Many merchant cities did not want to be involved in the fighting at first because it would make it harder for them to trade. But over time, many cities were pressured into fighting by European leaders.

Coastal cities such as Venice agreed to help transport troops with their trading ships. But they also planned to use the war as a way to gain control of more seaports for trade! On their way to fight in the Crusades, Venice used their trading ships to attack and capture other merchant cities in Europe.

By the end of the Crusades, Europe's economy was shifting from small communities that relied on farming to large cities focused on trade. People living in cities were exposed to new jobs, goods, and ideas.

City life could be deadly!

Although there were many benefits to living in a city, it could also be dangerous. Many cities became crowded, making it easy for deadly diseases to spread.

In the mid-1300s, a disease called the Bubonic plague swept through Asia and Europe. This disease eventually gained the nickname "the Black Death." Some estimates say that one out of three people in Europe died from the Black Death!

Many historians believe that Italy's geographic features helped the area become wealthier and more important, eventually leading to the Renaissance. Italy is a peninsula, or a landform with water on three sides. So, Italy has a long coastline, with room for many coastal trade ports to develop. Also, Italy is located in the center of the Mediterranean Sea. This location allowed Italian traders to quickly sail between Asia, Africa, and other parts of Europe. These features helped Italian cities to become wealthy and provided a place for new learning and art to flourish.

What makes Italy so special?

Italy is unique, or one of a kind! Its geography is unlike that of any other country in Europe.

The Italian Peninsula sticks out into the Mediterranean Sea. So, there was a lot of coastline where merchant cities could develop. Today, many of those cities still have major ports, and they are popular tourist destinations.

At the northern border of Italy is a mountain range called the Alps. The mountains created a natural barrier between Italy and the rest of Europe, since traveling through the Alps was difficult. Today, this region is known for producing specialty Italian cars that are unlike any other car brands in Europe.

Many Italian cities had physical characteristics that helped encourage the growth of the Renaissance. Florence was one of the most active Renaissance cities. Look at the painting of Florence from the 1400s.

By the late 1200s, many Italian cities were controlled by wealthy merchant families. These families would often compete over who was the most powerful. To honor themselves and their cities, merchants hired artists and architects to create impressive sculptures, paintings, and buildings. This practice was called patronage, and the merchants who supported artists were called patrons. The artists they hired became some of the first great Renaissance artists!

Who were the most famous patrons of the Italian Renaissance?

The Medici (MED-ee-chee) family of Florence! The Medici family became wealthy through trading wool and then used their money to open banks. Other families and cities throughout Italy borrowed money from the Medici banks. This made the Medici family more wealthy and powerful.

Many early Renaissance thinkers were interested in ancient civilizations. Look at the map of some important places in Italy.

These claims are supported by evidence in the map:

- Renaissance thinkers could look at the remains of nearby buildings to learn about Roman architecture. The map shows many ancient Roman ruins in Italy. Ruins are the remaining pieces of old buildings. So, Renaissance thinkers could look at and study the remains of ancient Roman architecture around them.
- Renaissance thinkers lived in the same area where ancient Romans lived. The map shows that ancient Roman ruins were near active Renaissance cities. So, ancient Romans must have lived in the same area long before the Renaissance.

This claim is not supported by evidence in the map:

- Renaissance thinkers studied the achievements of ancient Rome from translated texts copied by scribes. The map shows how close Renaissance cities were to ancient Roman ruins. But it does not show anything about texts copied by scribes. So, the map cannot be used to support the claim that Renaissance thinkers studied ancient Roman texts.

The first female university professor was Italian!

At the University of Bologna in Italy, there is a legend about a woman named Bettisia Gozzadini. Some historians believe that she was the first woman to ever teach at a university! Many records about her life have been lost, and some remaining records disagree. But most historians agree these details about her life are true:

She attended the University of Bologna in northern Italy.
She earned a degree in law with the highest possible grades.
She taught at the university for several years after graduating.

However, many legends grew about her life. One legend says that she wore men's clothes as a disguise so she could attend the university. Because she was a wonderful speaker, another legend says she lectured in public squares so more people could hear her speak.

As European universities grew, more and more students began to study Christian texts to become religious leaders or scholars. But some students also wanted to learn about different ways to think about and study the world. One of the first Christian scholars to argue that people could study both Christian faith and scientific reasoning was an Italian man named Thomas Aquinas.

The statements below summarize how learning in Italy during the Middle Ages led to the Renaissance.

The following passage describes a popular way of thinking that developed during the Renaissance. Read the passage. Then answer the question below.

During the Italian Renaissance, a new philosophy called humanism became popular. Humanists were scholars who wanted to study and celebrate humankind. While earlier scholars focused on God and religious beliefs, humanists began to focus more on humans and the world around them. Here are some characteristics of humanists:

- - They learned about languages, grammar, speech, and writing.
  - They studied Greek and Roman ideas and style to create their own art and writing.
  - They tried to study and create art and writing about the world in a realistic way.
  - They wrote about human topics like society, government, and history.

What did early humanists write about?

Dante Alighieri (DON-tay ahl-ee-GAIR-ee) wrote a long poem about a journey through a Christian version of hell and heaven. In his poem, Dante included many figures from ancient Greece and Rome. Some of the ancient figures he mentioned were heroes, writers, and kings.

Francesco Petrarca, called Petrarch, wrote many poems about the beauty of humans and nature. Some of his poems were written about a woman named Laura that he loved. His poems highlighted positive qualities of people and society.

Giovanni Boccaccio wrote a story about a group of young people in Florence who left the city to escape the plague. Boccaccio wrote about his characters' emotions, characteristics, and relationships to show how everyday people lived.

The following ideas come from texts written by early Renaissance humanists.

How did early humanists share their ideas?

One of the most common ways for humanists to share ideas was by writing poetry. Poems helped humanists express their beliefs about human goodness. Today, poetry is still a popular way to express feelings and ideas in writing.

Poetry today

Some modern poets are professional writers. Sometimes they use their poems to express their beliefs, life experiences, and ideas about how to improve society. A famous poet named Maya Angelou wrote many poems about her childhood and equality. One of her most famous poems is called "Caged Bird."

Other present-day poets put their poems to music. Many musicians write their lyrics, or words of a song, in poem form. Then they add rhythm to create songs. Think about some of your favorite musicians. Do you think they see themselves as poets?

Why does Renaissance art look more realistic than Middle Ages art?

Renaissance artists studied new techniques and used new supplies. These new practices and tools helped them create more realistic works of art.

Studying the human body

Renaissance artists examined human bodies to learn how the body works. This helped artists paint and sculpt subjects that looked just like real people.

Studying math

Renaissance artists used lines and angles to make paintings look three-dimensional, or 3-D. This technique helped painters create realistic backgrounds.

New paint

Renaissance artists started using oil paint. Other paints dried quickly, but oil paint used linseed oil to slow the drying process. So, Renaissance artists didn't have to rush through their work.

Many Italian humanists were impressed by the ancient Roman style of art, sculpture, and architecture. However, they also valued the Christian themes often seen in Middle Ages art. So, Renaissance artists often created works with Christian themes and figures while using Roman style.

The "sacred city" of Rome

Many humanists saw ancient Rome as sacred, or important to God. Some humanists even wanted to bring back the Roman Empire!

In the mid-1300s, a humanist named Cola Di Rienzo planned a revolution. He held an election for a new Roman emperor and tried to re-unite Italy as one nation with Rome as the capital.

His revolution was unsuccessful, but his actions had an impact on how people viewed Rome. Many scholars became more interested in ancient Roman works and ideas. Also, the pope, a powerful religious leader, moved back to Rome. The pope hired artists, such as Michelangelo and Raphael, to create buildings and art to decorate the city.

Since humanism was popular during the Renaissance, many artists made paintings that illustrated humanist ideas and beliefs.

The School of Athens is a famous fresco, or special type of wall painting, from the Italian Renaissance. It applies humanist ideas in many ways. The painting shows an ancient Greek school with many famous ancient scholars. But the painting also shows that Renaissance humanists wanted to be a part of the legacy, or remembered achievements, of ancient Greece.

Art comes in many forms, such as written works, paintings, drawings, or statues. From the earliest civilizations in Europe, art has been an important way for people to share their ideas, beliefs, and values. Read the passage.

According to art historians, the way art was made along the Italian Peninsula started to change in the 1300s. Over the next 300 years, many artists started to create lifelike and detailed artwork, showing that humans and the natural world were important and beautiful. Historians call this change, and the movement that came from it, the Renaissance (REN-uh-sonce).

Art that inspired the Renaissance!

Ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and the Middle Ages helped to shape the Renaissance. Many Renaissance artists and scholars were inspired by art from these time periods and often copied their style or used the same subjects.

Some of the most famous Renaissance leaders believed in a new idea called humanism. The table below lists some humanist beliefs. These beliefs were often expressed in Renaissance literature and art.

Some humanists read the works of Dante Alighieri (DON-tay ahl-ee-GAIR-ee), a famous poet from the 1200s. He wrote a long poem about his imaginary journey through a Christian version of hell and heaven, where he met people who had died. Along his journey, he saw that people were either punished or rewarded for the way they lived while alive. The text below lists some of the events in Dante's poem. =

Events in Dante's journey through hell

- Dante meets two ancient Greek and Roman figures—a poet named Homer and a famous political leader named Julius Caesar. They are good men, but they are not allowed into heaven because they were alive before Christianity began.
- In a river boat, Dante sees people who have to fight others to avoid drowning. One of them is a greedy Italian politician named Filippo Argenti.

Events in Dante's journey through heaven

- On the sun, Dante sees a group of wise, intelligent Christian figures. One of them is an Italian scholar named Thomas Aquinas.
- Dante sees Mary, an important figure in the Christian Bible, in a beautiful garden. She is surrounded by light and smiling angels.

Dante: an Italian celebrity

Dante Alighieri's writing became so popular that art was created about him and his poem. This 16th-century painting by an Italian artist shows that Italians saw Dante as kind, strong, and wise. The artist included many features in the painting to accomplish this:

Dante is painted wearing a red robe. During this time period, a person who wore red was seen as loving and giving.
Dante's right hand is hovering over a tiny version of Florence. This suggests that he is a proud Italian and protector of his city.
Dante has a laurel wreath around his head, showing him to be an expert poet and writer. This symbol was used in ancient Greece and Rome to honor important people.

Below are some examples of things that happened in Dante's journey through hell and heaven. Some historians argue that Dante wanted these events to help encourage his readers to do good things, and discourage them from doing bad things. In order to do this, Dante described good and bad consequences, or results, that came from good and bad actions.

The punishments of Dante's Inferno

In the first half of Dante's poem, he described different punishments for the people he saw on his journey. According to Dante, the way people behaved while alive would determine what punishment they experienced after death.

Inspired by Dante, some writers began to include humanist beliefs in their works of literature.

Petrarch, the "father of humanism"

Petrarch was a scholar and writer during the 1300s in Europe. His writings became so famous that other scholars tried to copy his writing style, leading to a movement that would later be called humanism. That is why he is often called the "father of humanism."

By the 1400s, humanist ideas had spread throughout the Italian peninsula and into other parts of Europe.

How have ideas spread throughout time?

Throughout history, technology has been an important part of how ideas spread. In the 1400s, a special kind of printing press was invented to quickly print texts. Books became cheaper, and more people learned to read and write, encouraging new ideas to spread!

In the mid-1800s, the typewriter was invented. The typewriter made it possible for individual people to create their own printed texts, since it was less expensive, smaller, and easier to use than the printing press.

Today, the use of computers has forever changed how information is communicated and spread. With the help of the internet, knowledge is more available than ever!

By the late 1400s, people in certain cities on the Italian Peninsula became active in preserving and spreading humanist literature and ideas. The images in the map below show examples of how different cities contributed to this effort.

Florence: the birthplace of the Renaissance

Many historians claim that the Renaissance started in Florence. Wealthy merchants in Florence funded scholars, artists, and builders to improve their city. These projects helped Renaissance ideas to grow and spread.

During the Italian Renaissance, wealthy people living in cities wanted to honor God, improve their family's reputation, and make their city look important. One way these people did this was by acting as patrons, or supporters, of artists, scholars, and architects. These patrons sponsored, or paid, skilled Renaissance artists and scholars to create impressive buildings and works of art. Look at the timeline of famous projects sponsored by patrons in the 1400s and early 1500s.

Duke Federico of Urbino: a man with many sides

One of the most important patrons of the Renaissance in Italy was Federico of Urbino. Today, he is remembered in several different ways:

Federico was the leader of his army in the city of Urbino. He had a reputation for cruelty in war. In fact, he lost his right eye in a battle! That is why all the paintings of Federico only show the left side of his face.
Federico also had a softer side. He was a loving father, husband, and humanist scholar. In fact, he was nicknamed the "light of Italy" because of his love of humanist art and literature.

Many patrons wanted to have paintings of themselves or their family members. So, they hired artists to create portraits, which are paintings that focus on one person. These portraits often reflected humanist ideas. They showed how great individual people could be, and they used techniques to realistically represent people and the world.

Some of the most famous patrons of humanist art during the Renaissance were members of the Medici (MED-ee-chee) family. The Medici family, who lived in the city of Florence, became wealthy and powerful through trade and opening banks. The painting below was created for the Medici family by a famous Renaissance artist named Botticelli (bot-i-CHEL-ee). Look at the painting, called Primavera, or Spring.

Many humanist artists and patrons showed Christian figures in their work. In the past, religious art often showed Christian figures as holy and sacred. But humanist artists wanted their art to show the human emotions and qualities of these figures. Look at the examples of Renaissance art.

During the Renaissance, some artists studied other subjects such as math and science. Studying these subjects helped artists create works of art that looked more lifelike. The Renaissance artist Leonardo Da Vinci became famous for doing this. Below are some of the subjects he studied. Read the subject definitions. Some of the subjects Leonard Da Vinci studied:

- Architecture – the practice of designing and constructing buildings
- Anatomy – the study of the human body
- Botany – the study of plants
- Geometry – the study of shapes, lines, and angles

Leonardo Da Vinci, weapon maker?

Leonardo Da Vinci was not only an artist and scientist, he was an inventor! Some of his inventions were made to improve society, but others were made to wage war. During the Renaissance, Italy was divided up between cities who fought one another to gain more power and land. So, even though Da Vinci did not agree with war, patrons often hired him to design weapons.

As more artists began studying anatomy, sculptors gained a better understanding about the human body. Humanists wanted to use this knowledge to create art that looked detailed and lifelike. As a result, many Renaissance artists incorporated knowledge of anatomy into their sculptures.

The two statues below are of a biblical character named David. They were carved by two famous Renaissance artists about 100 years apart.

A Renaissance artist's dirty work

Renaissance artists often studied the human body using tiny models and diagrams from books. But over time, more and more artists also performed or watched dissections. A dissection is the act of cutting open a dead body to learn more about muscles, bones, and joints. Read the quotes about dissection from the Renaissance:

In one of Leonardo Da Vinci's notebooks, he wrote:

It is necessary to a painter that he should know the [inner] forms of man.

In this statement, Juan Valverde made this complaint:

[There is a] great lack of men of this nation who understand anatomy.

This source is from a biography about Michelangelo written in 1553, soon after his death:

There is no animal whose [body] he would not Dissect . . .

Some Renaissance artists studied geometry to learn more about shapes, lines, and angles. This helped them create realistic-looking settings in their art.

Artists used measurements to make their art look symmetrical, or balanced and centered. They used lines and angles to make their art look three-dimensional, or 3-D. Here are some the ways they did this:

They created a horizon line when starting their painting to show where the ground met the sky.
They drew diagonal lines that met at the center of the horizon line. These lines helped artists make objects look smaller in the background.
The place where these lines met was called the vanishing point.
They painted a building or figure in the center so the painting looked balanced.

The architect inside the artist

Artists learned how to use lines and angles in their art from architects, or people who plan and design buildings. One architect named Alberti wrote a book about linear perspective, or using lines to make things look three-dimensional and balanced. Many artists read his work and used his ideas in their art!

Many Renaissance scholars also became experts in architecture, or designing and constructing buildings. Humanist architects studied buildings from ancient Greece and Rome. These ancient structures influenced the way that humanist architects designed new churches and houses.

One of the most famous Renaissance works is a large painting by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a church in Rome. Today, Michelangelo's painting is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Italy.

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