Unit 1: Renaissance & Exploration

The revival of interests in Greek and Roman classics promoted by humanists and spread by the printing press engendered a more secular and individualistic value system that culminated in the ideal "Renaissance man," the man of virtue. These ideals influenced education, the arts, and the study of science. Civic humanist culture developed in the Italian city-states, and Machiavelli's work, The Prince, changed the concept of ruling. New monarchs consolidated their power in England, France, and Spain through marriage, war, art, and diplomacy.

Italian and northern Renaissance families grew powerful through international trade, banking, and shipping. After the Turkish conquest of Constantinople, however, trade shifted to the Atlantic, and the African slave trade was dominated by Portugal. Most Italian slaves were freed by the sixteenth century.

Wealthy patrons commissioned works of classically derived art using geometric perspective, literature, and architecture. Writers modeled their works on classical literary forms and wrote in the vernacular. Artists invoked a more realistic naturalism that was centered on man instead of God. Although some women were able to rise to prominent positions or practice the arts, most women were bound by the strict gender roles of the Renaissance family.

Source: Western Civilization, Spielvogel, Chapter 12, pg. 331

Innovations in shipbuilding and cartography allowed Europeans to explore and settle territories overseas. The capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Empire made necessary a shift in trade routes, if Europeans were to continue trade with the far east. Motivated by commercial interests and religious fervor, and aided by new military advances, explorers from Portugal and Spain at first, then later from England, France, and the Netherlands, encountered indigenous peoples and claimed the land for their countries. Trade between continents brought new plants, animals, and diseases, together called the Columbian Exchange. Superior weapons and diseases facilitated the defeat of native peoples, and new food sources and luxury items were brought to Europe, forever changing the economy and affecting demographics of the continent. Plantation farming brought a need for labor that led to an expansion of the slave trade and further subjugation of native peoples. Governments established mercantilist policies, which enabled the state to reap the benefits of trade and colonization, while commercial and professional elites used innovations in banking and finance to gain wealth and importance, particularly in the rapidly growing cities. The economic and social effects of the discovery of the New World on the lives of Europeans was unprecedented.

Source: Western Civilization, Spielvogel, Chapter 14, pg. 399

Key Concepts

1.1: The rediscovery of works from ancient Greece and Rome and observation of the natural world changed many Europeans’ view of their world.
- 1.1..I: A revival of classical texts led to new methods of scholarship and new values in both society and religion.
- 1.1.II: The invention of printing promoted the dissemination of new ideas.
- 1.1.III: The visual arts incorporated the new ideas of the Renaissance and were used to promote personal, political, and religious goals.
1.5: The struggle for sovereignty within and among states resulted in varying degrees of political centralization.
- 1.5.I: The new concept of the sovereign state and secular systems of law played a central role in the creation of new political institutions.
1.3: Europeans explored and settled overseas territories, encountering and interacting with indigenous populations.
- 1.3.I: European nations were driven by commercial and religious motives to explore overseas territories and establish colonies.
- 1.3.II: Advances in navigation, cartography, and military technology enabled Europeans to establish overseas colonies and empires.
- 1.3.III: Europeans established overseas empires and trade networks through coercion and negotiation.
- 1.3 IV & V: Europe's colonial expansion led to a global exchange of goods, flora, fauna, cultural practices, and diseases, resulting in the destruction of some indigenous civilizations, a shift toward European dominance, and the expansion of the slave trade.
1.4: European society and the experiences of everyday life were increasingly shaped by commercial and agricultural capitalism, notwithstanding the continued existence of medieval social and economic structures.
- 1.4.I: Economic change produced new social patterns, while traditions of hierarchy and status continued.
- 1.4.II: Most Europeans derived their livelihood from agriculture and oriented their lives around the seasons, the village, or the manor, although economic changes began to alter rural production and power.
1.5: The struggle for sovereignty within and among states resulted in varying degrees of political centralization.

Guiding Questions

What ideals formed the foundation of the Renaissance, and how did these ideals manifest themselves differently in southern and northern Europe?
How did the humanist writers and philosophers challenge the status quo politically, intellectually, and socially?
How did changes in art reflect the Renaissance ideals?
What methods did the new monarchs use to overcome obstacles that hindered the growth of royal power?
What was the Afro–Eurasian trading world like prior to the 15th-century explorers?
How and why did the Europeans undertake voyages of exploration? What motivated Europeans to explore beyond Afro-Eurasia?
What was the impact of European exploration and conquest on the peoples and places of the New World?
What role did overseas trade, labor, and technology play in making Europe part of a global economic network and encouraging the adoption of new economic theories and state policies? What economic changes began in Europe as a result of exploration?