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I. Renaissance
- a. Means rebirth [of antiquity or Greco-Roman civilization]
- b. Period between end of Roman Empire to middle period= dark because of lack of Classical culture
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Jacob Burckhardt
- a. created modern concept of Renaissance in The Civiliation of the Renaissance in Italy, published in 1860
- i. Portrayed Italy in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries as the birthplace of the modern world and saw the revival of antiquity, the “perfecting of the individual” and secularism as its distinguishing features
- ii. Exaggerated individuality and secularism of the Renaissance and failed to recognize depths of its religious sentiment
- iii. Established framework for future interpretations
- iv. Renaissance manifested in Italy and spread to rest of Europe
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a. Renaissance Italy
- i. Urban society
- ii. Commercial preeminence nad political evolutionà land of independent cities that dominated the country districts around them
- 1. City-states= centers of Italian politics, economics, and social life
- iii. Increasing wealth= new enjoyment of worldly things
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a. Age of recovery from calamitous fourteenth century
- i. Slow recuperation from Black Death, political disorder, and economic recession
- ii. Rediscovery of culture of classical antiquity
- 1. Italian intellectuals interested in Greco-Roman culture of ancient Mediterranean world
- a. This revival affected activities as diverse as politics and art and led to new attempts to reconcile the pagan philosophy of the Greco-Roman world with Christian thought, as well as new view of human beings
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Emphasis on individual ability
i. High regard for human dignity and worth and a realization of individual potentiality created a new social ideal of the well-rounded personality or universal person—l’uomo universal—who was capable of achievements in many areas of life
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a. Characteristics of Renaissance in wealthy upper classes
- i. Achievements were of elite movement
- 1. Indirect impact on ordinary people
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