-
fourteenth century
is age that marks end of medieval period and beginning of Renaissance but also
age of natural calamity, institutional decay, cruel violence
-
bubonic plague
swept through Europe and killed untold numbers during this time
-
Giovanni Baccocio
wrote Decameron ('ten days') during this time
o
Plague setting-
group of young men and women flee Florence to avoid plague and tell stories to
amuse each other, resulting in a hundred stories
o
Constitute folktales, flabliaux ('ribald fables'), exempla
romances from oral and written traditions of Euopre
o
Often called the
'Human Comedy' in contrast to Dante's work because Decameron is more
romantic, earthy, bawdy
-
church weakened
o
Pope Boniface VIII
imprisoned and abused by Philip the fair of France; Boniface died as result
o
Papacy (under
severe pressure from French) moved to Avignon
o
Great Schism
occurred and was not healed until 14717 when church had to depose three papal
pretenders to reunify church
o
Demands for
church reforms
o
Popular literature
satirized decadence of church
o
Cries against
immorality of higher clergy and corruption => Peasant Revolt of 1381
-
Hundred Year's War
between France and England => alienation of peasants, terrible violence
o
Between battles,
mercenaries pillaged landscape to make up for lack of pay
-
plague was
'greatest natural disaster ever to have struck Europe'
o
many blamed plague
on Jewish population
o
some turned to
religious mania
§
flagellants-
itinerant men and women who marched through villages and towns, scourging
themselves, crying out for penance, and describing plague as God's judgment
o
resulted in famine
because manpower shortage in agriculture, breakdown of social authority, etc.
March
23, 2007- In-class Notes
-
religion dominates
art and life in medieval times
-
life focuses on
afterlife
-
St. Bernard played
leading role in development off Virgin cult, which is one of the most important
manifestations of the popular piety of the twelfth century; with the rise of
emotional Christianity in the eleventh century that she became prime intercessor
for humanity with deity
o
God the
disciplinarian => God nurturer, sustainer
o
Madonna and child
image explodes in popularity
§
Jesus still severe
as baby in Middle Age art
Pg
257-268 (humanities book) Art in Italy
-
Giorgio Vasari
wrote Lives of the Artists
treating Florentine painter Giotto da Bondone with credit for settling
painting once again on right path, from which it had strayed
o
Giotto was
revolutionary figure for history of European art, making major break with art of
Middle Ages
-
Throughout later
Middle Ages, Italian art not as rich or inventive as art of other northern
European center- in France, University of Pars formed capital of intellectual
capital of Western world; in England/Germany, Gothic cathedrals provided
opportunities for artists to refine and develop their techniques
o
This is because
northern Gothic artists began turning to Classical art with realistic portrayal
of body and drapery for inspiration whereas Italian artists rooted in Byzantine
tradition (mosaics in Italo-Byzantine tradition)
§
Exceptions to this
seen in sculpture of Nicola Pisano and his son Giovanni, creators
of modern sculpture
·
Nicola clearly
influenced by Roman sarcophagi in Pisa and recaptured vitality and realism of
late Roman art, filling scenes with lively detail and crowding in figures while
retaining expressive Gothic qualities
·
Giovanni les
influenced by Classical models but by contemporaries in northern Europe, his
sculpture more elegant, less crowded, and more intense in feeling than his
father's works
§
Nicola's emphasis
on Classical models and Giovanni's naturalism, emotionalism, and use of space
foreshadowed characteristics of Renaissance
-
Painting in Italy
remained firmly grounded in Byzantine tradition
o
Byzantine art
originally derived from Classical art and exhibits late Hellenistic/Roman
ability to give figures 3-D quality and represent foreshortening that helped
Giotto to break away from Italo-Byzantine art and bring painting to same
naturalism and emotional power seen in Giovanni Pisano's sculptures
-
Giotto's
predecessor as leading painter in Florence ad perhaps teacher was Cimabue
o
Crucifix Cimabue
painted for church of San Domenico in Arezzo shows remarkable realism ad
sophistication in depiction of Christ's body using anatomy to emphasize sense of
strain/weight
-
Duccio di
Buoninsegna, too,
exhibits new spirit of the times
o
Madonna
Enthroned at Siena
Cathedral shows new and astonishing range of emotion, revealing emotional states
of his subjects
§
Some scenes are in
architectural setting that conveys greater sense of space than before
Giotto's
Break with the Past
-
Giotto's boldness
and certainty with which he communicates represents one of supreme achievements
of western art
-
Giotto's
preeminent characteristic was his realism with figure, sense of depth, their
volume represented by use of light and dark
o
Ex- Madonna
Enthroned shows majestic solidity of her form enhanced by realistic thone on
which she sits and 3-D sense of space that surrounds Virgin and child
-
Giotto could
'imitate Nature' and use these realistic images for dramatic effect
o
Chief claim to
fame was cycles of frescoes at Arena Chapel in Padua
§
Used naturalistic
style to express range of emotion and dramatic situations
§
Meeting
of Joachim and Anna
shows quiet restraint and deep affection communicated by simplicity and humility
whereas The Lamentation over the Dead Christ depicts cosmic drama and
grief
o
Franciscans
engaged Giotto to pay honor to Francis of Assisi
§
Did frescoe cycle
in Bardi Chapel
§
Interpreted deeds
of St. Francis based on Life of the
Artists by Saint Bonaventure
Painting
in Siena
-
scene of most
interesting new developments in generation after Giotto was in Siena
where Ducci had influence
-
Simone Martini
was Ducci's pupil and began last development of Gothic art, the International
Style
o
Elegant courts of
France developed taste for magnificent colors, fashionable costumes, and rich
designs, and in Martini's Annunciation
can be seen grace and sophistication as opposed to Giotto's realism
§
Sacrificed
naturalism to brilliance
-
Also from Siena,
Petro Lorenzetti and his brother Ambrogio Lorenzetti applied
Giotto's discoveries
o
Ambrogio's
best-known work is Peaceful City decorating
Siena's city hall, Palazzo Pubblico
§
Also painted Peaceful
Country
Art
in Northern Europe
-
gap between
artists in Italy and north of Alps shrank because painters carried Sienese art
throughout Europe to France and back; also, political developments =>
artistic unity throughout western Europe (ex. when Charles IV moved to Prague,
the city became major art center that rivaled even Paris)
-
Wilton Diptych-
painted by unknown artist on two panels (diptych) commemorating King Richard
II's coronation
o
Delicate, rich
colors and careful shading in International Style
-
Court of Duke
Burgundy at Dijon where Duke Philip the Bold and his brother John, Duc
de Berry made it one of the first great centers of the International style
o
Claus Sluter
commissioned to provide sculpture for monastery; Well
of Moses made with elaborate base surrounded by statues of Moses and five
other Old Testament prophets on which once stood crucifixion
§
Details carefully
depicted, differentiated, expressions vivid
§
Tres
Riches Heures du Dub Berry,
an illuminated prayerbook, shows most attractive
details in late Gothic art
·
Painted by the
Limbourg brothers- Pol, Hennequin, and Herman
·
12 illuminations
illustrate 12 months of year
Pg
271-273 (humanities book)
MUSIC-
ARS NOVA
-
musicians began to
break away from traditional role as servants of church and established
themselves as independent (most music that survives from 14th century
is secular)
o
much music was
written for singers/instrumentalists to perform at home for their own pleasure
or for aristocratic audience
o
texts increasingly
varied- love songs, ballads, even descriptions of contemporary events
-
music of
fourteenth century known as ars nova from Ars Nova Musical (The New Art of Music) by Philippe de Vitry
o
ars nova began in
France and spread to Italy
o
chief
characteristic is greater richness and complexity of sound than before (achieved
by use of richer harmonies)
o
elaborate rhythmic
devices introduced including isorhythm
§
created richness
and variety of texture and gave piece unity
-
Guillaume de
Machaut most famous French composer of period
o
Most famous
composition was Messe de Notre Dame
§
Was an Ordinary
of the Mass set to polyphonic music (ordinary of Mass do not change from day
to day whereas Propers (readings from Gospel or Epistles) do)
§
Five parts:
1.
Kyrie Eleism-
repeated Greek phrases that mean 'Lord have mercy on us!'
2.
Gloria-
hymn of praise sung at all masses except funerals and during Lent/Advent
3.
Credo-
profession of Faith sung after Gospel
4.
Sanctus and
Benedictus- short
hymn based on angelicp praise
5.
Agnus Dei-
praywer sung before Communion
o
Machaut also
contributed to secular song through ballades that were written for two or
more voices, the top carrying the melody while the others accompanied
§
Poems consisted of
three stanzas
§
Popular topics
were sorrow of parting, reproaches for infidelity, protestations of love, and
other amorous topics
-
Francesco Landini
important Italiam composer
o
Wrote several madrigals,
a form of word setting involving two or three verses set to same music separated
by refrain set to different music
o
Also wrote ballate
("ballads") for solo voice and 2 accompanying instruments
o
Rich harmonies but
no specification of instruments intended or performance style, so music ficta
("fictitious music") used in which performers would make sounds
other than that on the page
Pg
334-341 (World History Book)- The Renaissance and Reformation
ITALIAN
CITY-STATES
-
Italy birthplace
of Renaissance because:
o
Renaissance marked
by new interest in Rome, and Italy was center of Roman empire and had
architectural remains, statues, coins, inscriptions, etc.
o
City-states
survived Middle Ages and became prosperous trade/manufacturing centers
§
Wealthy merchant
class promoted cultural rebirth because they stressed education and individual
achievements, spent lavishly to support arts
-
Renaissance
symbolized by Florence and produced gifted poets, artists, architects, scholars,
scientists, etc.
-
Medici family of
Florence became among richeset merchants and bankers in Europe; Cosimo de'
Medici gained control of Florentine government in 1434 and family ruled as
uncrowned rulers for many years
o
Cosimo's grandson,
Lorenzo the Magnificent, held Florence together during difficult times
and was generous patron (financial supporter) of the arts
RENAISSANCE
VALUES
-
reawakened
interest in classical learning of Greece and Rome; people felt their era was
rebirth after disorder and disunity of medieval world, but it did not completely
break with medieval past since monks and scholars of Middle Ages preserved
classical heritage, Latin had survived as language of Church, Euclid, Ptolemy,
and Aristotle well known to medieval scholars
o
Renaissance
thinkers explored richness and variety of human experience here an now rather
than focusing on afterlife
o
New emphasis on
individual achievement
-
new adventurous
spirit propelled Colombus, Copernicus, (who revolutionized people's views of
universe), and Renaissance artists/writers who experimented with new forms
-
humanism-
focused on worldly subjects rather than religious issues; believed that
education should stimulate individual's creative powers
o
turned to the humanities,
subjects taught in ancient Greek/Roman schools (grammar, rhetoric, poetry,
history)
o
Francesco
Petrarch assembled
library of Greek and Roman manuscripts and made works of Cicero, Homer, and
Vergil known once again to Western Europeans; also wrote Sonnets to Laura (love poems)
GOLDEN
AGE IN THE ARTS
-
wealthy patrons
played major role in "artistic flowing" of Renaissance
-
art reflected
humanist concerns (portrayal of religious figures often against Greek/Roman
background, portraits of well-known figures of the day reflected humanist
interest in individual achievement)
o
Donatello sculpted
life-size statue of a soldier on horseback, first such figure done since ancient
times
-
Renaissance art
became very realistic and artists learned rules of perspective and vanishing
point and used shading to make objects look around and real; human body
depicted more accurately
-
Some women artists
gained acceptance as professionals
o
Sofonisba
Anguissola became
court painter of Philip II of Spain
-
architects
rejected 'cluttered and disorderly' Gothic style and adopted columns, arches,
and domes favored by Greeks and Romans
THREE
GENIUSES OF RENAISSANCE ART
1.
Leonardo da
Vinci- born 1452
a.
Invented, sketched
nature and models in studio, dissected corpses, painted
b.
Painted Mona
Lisa and The Last Supper
2.
Michelangelo-
a.
Sculptor,
engineer, painter, architect, poet
b.
Designed dome for
St. Peter's Cathedral in Rome
c.
Sculpted the Pieta
and David, painted cailing of
Sistine Chapel in Rome
3.
Raphael-
a.
Paintings blend
Christian and Classical styles (best known for portrayals of Madonna)
b.
Painted The
School of Athens depicting imaginary gathering of great thinkes and
scientists including Michelangelo, da Vinci, and himself
ITALIAN
RENAISSANCE WRITERS
-
Baldassare
Castilione wrote The
Book of the Courier describing manners, skills, learning, and virtues that
members of a court should have
-
Ideal man- good at
games, but not gambler; athletic but not overactive; plays musical instrument
and knows literature and history but not arrogant
-
Ideal woman-
graceful, kind, lively but reserved, beautiful
-
Niccolo
Machivelli wrote The
Prince which looked at real rulers in age of ruthless power politics;
stressed that ends justified means
o
Critics attacked
cynical advice
Pg
279-286 (humanities text)- The Early Renaissance
-
as Europe
recovered from plague, rebirth aided by new growth in economics and trade;
wealth based less on noble blood than ability to make money
-
Florence was
center of Renaissance
o
Stood on main road
connecting Rome with north
o
Tuscan dialect was
strongest, most developed of Italian dialects
o
Twelve Arti
("trade guilds") were commercially important for the city
o
Representatives of
seven senior guilds formed a 'representative' government that ruled from town
hall (Palazzo Vecchio) and prevented rise of terrible tyrants
o
Center of European
banking system, and moden banks' systems of handling money largely based on
Florentine practices
§
First to emphasize
important of stable monetary system
§
Florin- standard
coin in Europe for centuries
§
Great Florentine
families made and lost fortunes in banking- the Strozzi, Bardi, Tornabouni,
Pazzi, and Medici
-
Palla Strozzi
commissioned Gentile da Fabriano to paint altarpiece for Church of Saints
Trinita, and he painted Adoration of the
Magi in International Style and reflects old-fashioned tendency to fill up
spaces of panel, employ brightest colors on palette, use gold lavishly, and
ignore proportions
-
Five years later,
Tommase Guidi (known as Masaccio) painted The
Holy Trinity
o
Utilization of
space made so that characters stand in foreground of deep 3-D space created by
painted architectural framing that is Roman, with barrel vaulting and Corinthian
columns
§
Entire scene has
geometric clarity based on a pyramid with God at apex
o
Clarity of line,
concern for perspective, 'real people', concern for psychological states,
uncluttered arrangements
o
Painted The
Tribute to Money showing Masaccio's concern with realistic depiction of
humans
o
Fresco of Expulsion
of Adam and Eve from Eden shows realism and profound sense of human emotions
-
famous competition
to decorate doors of Florence Baptistery (focal point of Florentine life) shows
changes in sculpture and architecture; Baptistery was ancient and Romanesque; Lorenzo
Ghiberti won competition over Filippo
Brunelleschi on the competition's assigned subject, Abraham's sacrifice of
Isaac
-
ghiberti worked
for quarter of century on North Doors, then commissioned to do panels for East
Doors that are so striking that they are called the "Gates of
Paradise"
-
Brunelleschi,
although he lost, made major contributions to architecture
o
Went to Rome after
competition with Donatello, studying Roman architectural monuments
o
Figured out how to
build dome for Saint Mary of the Flower
in Forence without massive buttresses and armatures
§
Combined
buttressing methods of Gothic cathedral and Classical vaulting techniques
§
Put smaller dome
in larger dome to support weight of outside dome
§
Broke with older
forms of architecture
·
Fouldling
Hospital seems simple
but calculated with mathematical rigor; departs from heaviness of Romanesque and
overly elaborate Gothic exteriors
§
Concern with
Classical order, proportion, and serenity seen in Brunelleschi's finest work,
the Pazzi Chapel, which has Roman
austerity with delicate columns, sever façade, and small dome
-
Renaissance style
reflects-
o
Concern with and
ability to handle space and volume in believable way
o
Studious approach
to models of art from ancient Rome
o
Greater concern
for human realism
Pg
286-299 (humanities)- The Medici Era
-
Medici family
controlled Florence 1434-1492
-
Made fortune from
banking
-
Arnolfini
and His Bride by Jan
van Eyck commemorates marriage of Florentine representative of Medici bank in
Bruges
o
Testimony of how
far influence of Medici extended
Cosimo
de' Medici
-
spent vast sums
collecting and copying ancient manuscripts
o
had his copyists
write in neat cursive hand that later became model for italics
-
intensely
interested in Greek philosophy/literature
o
financed chair of
Greek at Studium (lecture halls for professors either in monasteries or
civil establishments)
o
persuaded
Genisthos Plethon, a lecturer on Plato, to remain in Florence
-
most significant
contribution was foundation and endowment of an academy for the study of Plato;
he supported a priest, Marsilo Ficino, so he could translate and comment
on the works of Plato
o
Ficino wrote his
own compendium of Platonism called Theologica Platonica
-
Cosimo often
joined friends at suburban villa to discuss Plato under tutelage of Ficino and
embraced Plato's ideas of striving for ideal good and searching for truth and
beauty (idealism became part of Florentine culture)
o
Ficino combined
study of Plato and Christianity and coined term "Platonic love"-
spiritual bond between two people joined together in search for the true, good,
and beautiful
-
very patriotic,
known as Pater Patriae ("Father
of the Homeland"); gave funds to art projects to enhance beauty of city
-
befriended Donatello,
the greatest Florentine sculptor of the first half of fifteenth century
o
Saint
George- tense,
classically severe niche sculpture
o
David-
meant to be seen from
all sides
§
First freestanding
statue of a nude figure since Roman times
§
Shows beauty of
form
o
Saint
Mary Magdalene-
originally polychrome (painted)
§
Shows Mary
Magdalene as ancient penitent, ravaged by time
§
Comments on vanity
of life but is also hymn to penitential spirit that made Magdalene a saint
-
fondness for
Dominican Convent of San Marco in Florence and asked Michelozzo (architect who designed Medici palace) to rebuild it for
the friars; after renovations were done, Fra
Angelico, a painted, decorated many walls and most cells with paintings
-
Cosimo aslso
supported Paolo Uccello, who created series of three paintings for Medici palace
commemorating Battle of San Romano in which Florentines defeated Sienese
o
Shows Paolo's
fascination with perspective
-
Cosimo suffered
chronic illness and depression in his last years
Piedro
de' Medici
-
rule lasted only
five years and was beset by political turmoil as well as continued artistic
activity (continued to support Donatello, Ficino, religious and civic
art/architecture)
-
Piero and his wife
Lucrezia Tornabouni (a religious poet) took Sandro Botticelli into their home and treated him as family
o
Painted Adoration
of the Magi (commissioned for Church of Santa Maria Novella) that shows
three generations of Medicis as Magi; votive offering to church in thanksgiving
for safety of family during political turmoil of 1466 (?)
-
theme of Magi was
favorite of Medicis and often attended pageants celebrating the three kings
o
Piero commissioned
a fresco of that scene for chapel in his own palace; it was by Benozzo Gozzoli,
once an apprentice of Fra Angelico, and showed opulent scene filled with persons
modeled on Greek scholars who had come to Florence during ecumenical council and
who stayed to teach Greek
Lorenzo
the Magnificent
-
became most
illustrious of family
-
continued to
collect art, supported various project, added to Medici collection of ancient
gems, antiquities, and books
-
was poet and wrote
Comento ad alcuni sonetti (A Commentary on
Some Sonnets), a long work alternating between his sonnets and extended
prose commentaries
-
also wrote hunting
songs, religious poetry, etc.
-
most famous poem
if "The Song of Bacchus"
with dictum of living for the present because life is short and the future
uncertain
-
Laurentian
patronage of learning extensive; contributed funds to rebuild University of Pisa
and designated it the principal University of Tuscany; continued to underwrite
study of Greek at the Studium
-
Greek faculty at
Florence attracted students from all over Europe and was principal means by
which Greek learning was exported to rest of Europe
o
Renaissance showed
desire for synthesis that required a study of the past but was not merely
ancient history; it was source for new and innovative ideas and concepts
-
Lorenzo financed
the work of Botticelli
o
La
Primavera-
allegory of fertility of world
§
Springtime=rebirth=Renaissance
§
Zephyr (blue guy)
represent cold winter
·
Winter tries to
take hold, but spring breaks free
§
Idealized central
woman (Botticelli idealized women)
§
Cupid seen as good
§
Orange trees
surround people; oranges represented wealth
§
Botticelli's women
known for glazed expression, high cheekbones, realism
o
The
Birth of Venus-
inspired by Venus pudica ("Modest Venus") figures of antiquity
§
Idealized figure
to depict ideal female beauty
§
Combines Platonic
idealism, Christian mysticism (relating to Virgin), and Classical ideal of Venus
-
Leonardo da
Vinci- lived in
Laruentian Florence until 1480s, when he left for Milan; called the genius of
the Renaissance
o
Genius can be seen
in his Notebooks, where there
were sketches of flying machines, submarines, turbines, elevators, ideal cities,
etc.; reflect restlessly searching mind that sought to understand world through
concern with mathematics, respect for natural world, love for beauty
o
Painted The
Last Supper, one of most mathematically perfect but also very
emotionally powerful
o
Madonna
of the Rocks
juxtaposes beautifully rendered persons (Virgin with her arm around infant John
the Baptist and her hand hovering over infant Christ while angel points to
scene) against wildly mysterious nature
o
Vitruvian
Man- examination
of proportions of perfect human man
o
Mona
Lisa-
§
Sfumato-
technique that makes piece of art hazy
-
also a great
genius of Renaissance, Micheangelo Buonarroti sculpted and studied
ancient relief sculpture (cameo carving)
o
sculpted Pieta
for French Cardinal in Rome; combines deep sensitivity with idealism in beauty
of Madonna's face
o
most famous work
is the David; photorealism in
musculature and clear statement of idealized beauty
-
Renaissance did
not make clean break with Medieval ideals
o
Dominican preacher
Fra Savonarola preached against vanities of Florence and degeneracy of
its art and culture
§
Wanted to restore
Republic with strong ethnical and theological base
§
Strangled and
burned in public square when he defied papal excommunication
-
one-pointed
perspective with the innovation of
Renaissance
Pg
299-303 (humanities)- Character of Renaissance- Humanism
-
Burckhardt wrote The
Civilization of the Renaissance
o
Argued that
European culture reborn in 15th century after dormant period from
fall of Roman Empire until beginning of fourteenth century; characteristics of
'new birth' first noticeable in Italy and were foundation blocks of modern world
o
Late fourteenth
and fifteenth century Italy- new ideas about nature of political order developed
(ex. Republican government of Florence) and consciousness of the artist as an
individual seeking personal fame
o
Saw thirst for
Classical learning, desire to construct humanism from that learning, and
emphasis on good life as intellectual repudiation of medieval religion and
ethics
-
Burckhardt's ideas
provoked strong rejections from historians and scholars; many call his ideas too
simplistic and some speak of a Carolingian Renaissance
-
Renaissance roots
traced to Italy's long tradition of lay learning, Franciscan movement, relative
absence of feudalism from Italy, and maintenance of city life
-
Strong conviction
that humanist learning would ennoble and perfect individual and serve as
powerful instrument for social and religious reform; few Renaissance humanists
denied need for God's grace, but all felt that human intellectual effort should
be first concern of anyone who wished truly to advance good of self or society
Pico
della Mirandola
-
fiend of Lorenzo
de' Medici, companion of Ficino
-
convinced that all
human learning could be synthesized in way to yield basic and elementary truths;
set out to master all systems of knowledge that then existed
-
at 20, proposed to
defend at Rome 900 theses ('intellectual propositions') that he claimed summed
up all current learning and speculation at Rome, but debate never held
o
called Oration
on the Dignity of Man and cited as first and most important document of
Renaissance humanism
o
central thesis
that humanity at apex of creation in way as to create link between world of God
and creation
o
fundamental
proposition- humanity is a miracle
Printing
Technology and the Spread of Humanism
-
printing made
books more accessible to educated class
-
most famous
humanist printer was Aldus Manutis who learned Greek from refugee
scholars in Venice after all of Constantinople
o
employed
professional humanists to collate and correct manuscripts
o
Aldine Press in
Venice
o
Aldus designed typefaces,
created italiz font types (modeled after scribal hand used for copying
Florentine manuscripts), developed new inks, obtained new papers from Fabriano,
still a source of fine papers today
-
in Germany, Johann
Gutenberg originated method of printing from movable type that continued
to be used wih virtually no change until late 19th century
-
pride in humanist
learning and technology of printing permitted wide diffusion of ideas to large
number of people in short time )communications revolution important)
Women
and the Renaissance
-
little provision
made for women to participate in new learning that constituted humanism, but
some aristocratic families educated women and some families who prized learning
highly did as well
-
printing increased
mobility of books, allowing aristocratic women to possess books and leisure to
study them
-
Laura Cereta
continued scholarly life throughout mature years against tide of criticism from
men and women; wrote two letters, one a defense of learning aimed at male
humanists, one a vocation directed at female critics
Two
Styles of Humanism
-
double usage of
humanist learning for secular and spiritual reform
-
Machiavelli-
o
Exiled from
Florence and wrote The Prince,
considered first purely secular study of political theory in Wester
§
Inspiration was
Republican Rome
§
Sees Christianity
as disaster that destroys power of state to govern, so state needs to restrict
power of church
§
Prince must not be
deterred from tasks by any consideration of morality beyond power and its ends
banned by Church
-
Erasmus-
o
Called most
important Christian humanist in Europe
o
Led life of
wandering scholar, gaining immense fame as scholar and author
o
Many books
attempted to combine Classical learning and interiorized approach to Christian
living
o
In Enchiridion
Militis Christiani, Erasmus attempted to spell out Christian humanism in
practical terms
§
Title is pun (enchiridion
is 'handbook' or 'short sword'; "Handbook/Short
Sword of a Christian Knight")
o
New
Greek Testament-
edits Greek text of New Testament by comparison of manuscripts; indicates how
humanist felt he could contribute to ecclesiastical work
o
Erasmus' most
famous book was The Praise of Rolly
§
Criticized makers
of war, venal lawyers, religious corruption
-
both Machiavelli
and Erasmus were heavily indebted to new learning coming out of 16th
century Italy, looked back to Classical heritage for inspiration, were elegant
Latinists who avoided style/thought patterns of medieval world
o
Machiavelli
totally devoted to Roman past and saw development of Christianity as threat and
stumbling black to fine workings of state; Erasmus felt that learning form the
past could be combined with Christian tradition to create new instrument for
social reform
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