Chapter 11: The Renaissance (Part I)

Pre-reading

A. Skim and scan the following passage and answer the following questions.

1. What were the historical backgrounds of the Renaissance ?

2. What were the characteristics of the Renaissance?

3. What interpretations of the Renaissance have been given by scholars?

4. What were the economic and social bases of the Renaissance?

5. How did the Renaissance affect the political system in Europe ?

6. How did the Renaissance affect the church and religion?

Reading 

Renaissance refers to a series of literary and cultural movements from the 14 th to 16 th centuries. These movements began in Italy and eventually expanded into Germany , France , England , and other parts of Europe . Participants studied the great civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome and came to the conclusion that their own cultural achievements rivaled those of antiquity. Their thinking was also influenced by the concept of humanism, which emphasizes the worth of the individual. Renaissance humanists believed it was possible to improve human society through classical education. This education relied on teachings from ancient texts and emphasized a range of disciplines, including poetry, history, rhetoric (rules for writing influential prose or speeches), and moral philosophy.

The word  renaissance   means “rebirth.” The idea of rebirth originated in the belief that Europeans had rediscovered the superiority of Greek and Roman culture after many centuries of what they considered intellectual and cultural decline. The preceding era, which began with the collapse of the Roman Empire around the 5th century, became known as the Middle Ages to indicate its position between the classical and modern world.

Scholars now recognize that there was considerable cultural activity during the Middle Ages, as well as some interest in classical literature. A number of characteristics of Renaissance art and society had their origins in the Middle Ages. Many scholars claim that much of the cultural dynamism of the Renaissance also had its roots in medieval times and that changes were progressive rather than abrupt. Nevertheless, the Renaissance represents a change in focus and emphasis from the Middle Ages, with enough unique qualities to justify considering it as a separate period of history.

This article begins with a brief overview of the characteristics of the Renaissance and then discusses conflicting views on how to define and interpret the Renaissance . This analysis is followed by a discussion of the economic, social, and political changes that began in the 14th century and contributed to the development of the Renaissance . The ideas of the Renaissance , particularly of humanism, are then explored, and their impacts on established religion, on science, and on the arts are examined.

During the Middle Ages there was a lively interest in classical literature, especially Latin and Latin translations of Greek. This attention was mostly confined to the professional activities of theologians, philosophers, and writers. In the Renaissance , however, people from various segments of society—from kings and nobles to merchants and soldiers—studied classical literature and art. Unlike the professional scholars of the Middle Ages, these people were amateurs who studied for pleasure, and their interest in art from the past was soon extended to contemporary works. Medieval art and literature tended to serve a specialized interest and purpose; Renaissance works of art and literature existed largely for their own sake, as objects of ideal beauty or learning.

The  Renaissance  was marked by an intense interest in the visible world and in the knowledge derived from concrete sensory experience. It turned away from the abstract speculations and interest in life after death that characterized the Middle Ages. Although Christianity was not abandoned, the otherworldliness and monastic ideology of the Middle Ages were largely discarded. The focus during the Renaissance turned from abstract discussions of religious issues to the morality of human actions.

In the  Renaissance , the unique talents and potential of the individual became significant. The concept of personal fame was much more highly developed than during the Middle Ages. Renaissance artists, valuing glory and renown in this world, signed their works. Medieval artists, with their focus on otherworldliness and on glorifying God, were more humble and remained largely anonymous.

The attention given to the development of an individual's potential during the Renaissance brought with it a new emphasis on education. The goal of education was to develop the individual's talents in all intellectual and physical areas, from scholarship and the writing of sonnets to swordsmanship and wrestling. It was believed that the ideal person should not be bound to one specific discipline, such as that of scholar, priest, or warrior. This was in stark contrast to the Middle Ages, when specialization had been encouraged.

Both the idea of historical rebirth and the use of the term renaissance to describe this process were characteristic products of the Renaissance itself. The term rinascità (an Italian word for " renaissance ") was probably first attached to the modern period in a book of biography entitled Le vita de' più eccellenti architetti, pittori, ed scultori italiani (1550; The Lives of the Most Eminent Italian Architects, Painters, and Sculptors, 1568), more commonly known as Lives of the Artists, published by Italian painter Giorgio Vasari. Vasari applied the concept specifically to a rebirth of art that drew its inspiration from antiquity rather than from the work of more recent medieval artists.

In the 14th and 15th centuries many Italian scholars began to display a remarkable awareness of history. They believed that they lived in a new age, free from the darkness and ignorance that they felt characterized the preceding era. These scholars compared their own achievements to the glories of ancient Rome and Greece . One group of Italian writers in the 14th century, following the example of the contemporary poet Petrarch, emphasized that their age resembled the great civilizations of the past because it focused on artistic achievement. In their view, this renewed emphasis on the arts had begun in the late 13th and early 14th centuries with the work of Italian painter Giotto and Italian poet Dante Alighieri.

Another group, led by Florentine scholar and diplomat Leonardo Bruni, added an equally important political dimension to this concept. Bruni and his followers admired a republican or representative form of government and looked to ancient Rome , as it was before the emperors came to power, as the best model. They applied humanistic learning to social and political life and encouraged patriotism among the residents of Florence and other Italian city-states.

The  Renaissance  originally grew out of cultural and political developments in Italy . Over the next three centuries, writers north of the Italian Alps adopted some of these ideas and soon spread them widely throughout Europe . Northern European Renaissance scholars, such as Dutch writer Desiderius Erasmus, added their own dimension to the Renaissance . They emphasized the need to reform Christian society and believed that this reform could be accomplished through education that was based on the great writings of ancient Greece and Rome .

Intellectuals continued to build on the ideas of the Renaissance during the 18th century Age of Enlightenment, a time when scientific advancements led to a new emphasis on the power of human reason. One of the early Enlightenment thinkers was French philosopher and writer Voltaire. He claimed that the Renaissance was a crucial stage in liberating the mind from the superstition and error that he believed characterized Christian society during the Middle Ages. Voltaire applauded the declining power of the Roman Catholic Church during the Renaissance .

Later historians and writers who became part of the 19th-century romantic movement evaluated the Renaissance in an entirely different manner. Followers of romanticism emphasized passion over reason. They showed a keen interest in the vital, heroic, and unconventional personalities of the Renaissance such as Italian poet Petrarch, Italian artist Michelangelo, and French philosopher René Descartes. The romantics believed that an important characteristic of the Renaissance was individualism, which emphasized the capabilities and rights of the individual.

By the middle decades of the 19th century, two historians—Jules Michelet of France and Jakob Burckhardt of Switzerland —had combined these various perspectives in their interpretation of the Renaissance . Michelet saw the Renaissance as the momentous debut of a new phase in human history. He believed that it made possible all the great achievements of modern man, including the discovery of the Americas , the new science, and modern literature and art.

Michelet's view of the Renaissance as the beginning of the modern era was refined in Jakob Burckhardt's Die Kultur der Renaissance in Italien ( The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, 1878 ) , first published in 1860. He attached particular importance to the Renaissance state and saw in it the origins of modern political attitudes and behavior. In Burckhardt's view, Renaissance leaders conceived of the state as a work of art, one that they created deliberately by identifying and then applying the best means to reach their desired goals. Another characteristic of the Renaissance that Burckhardt considered modern was an interest in human personality and behavior.

Burckhardt saw all these traits as indications of a deeper quality: a fundamental individualism that was a central feature of the Italian Renaissance . He believed that the absence of centralized control in Italy during the 13th century had created an atmosphere of insecurity that encouraged the emergence of ruthless individuals, free spirits, and geniuses. Burckhardt believed that the study of antiquity had inspired Italians, but that its impact was less significant than other scholars had believed.

Historians who followed Burckhardt rarely disputed his interpretation of the Renaissance . However, they supplemented it with detailed investigations of other aspects of Renaissance life, including economics, science, and philosophy. These studies have reinforced the interpretation of the Renaissance as a period of striking innovation that pointed toward the modern world. Other scholars have also applied Burckhardt's vision of the Italian Renaissance to Europe as a whole.

Those who have challenged Burckhardt's theories have generally argued that the Renaissance was not as unique or different as previous scholars claimed. In particular, scholars who studied the Middle Ages became convinced that the centuries before the Renaissance , far from being a period of unrelieved barbarism, had developed a high order of civilization. They insist that most elements of the Renaissance had their roots in the past, and that it is misleading to speak of the "rebirth" of culture in the Renaissance or to emphasize its significance in the formation of the modern world. These alternate interpretations have suggested that the Renaissance was a waning of the Middle Ages rather than the dawning of a new era, and that medieval scholars also knew and valued classical writings. Scholars have largely abandoned the notion of an abrupt break between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and have modified older ideas about the nature of the era. It is now clear, for example, that people of the Renaissance did not abandon Christianity and that vigorous religious impulses were a major feature of the Renaissance . Scholars recognize that many aspects of the Renaissance were not modern; they also acknowledge that what may be true of one movement, region, or decade, may not be true of another. Despite these differing interpretations, there are many indications that Europe had changed dramatically by the 16th century. Particularly noteworthy is the fact that Renaissance intellectuals believed their age marked a momentous turning point in history and that they were somehow fundamentally different from their medieval ancestors.

The civilization of the Renaissance was the creation of prosperous cities and of rulers who drew substantial income from their urban subjects in the Italian city-states and the countries of England and France . The commerce that kept cities alive also provided the capital and the flow of ideas that helped build Renaissance culture. During the early Middle Ages foreign trade had virtually come to a halt. By the 11th century, however, population growth and contact with other cultures through military efforts such as the Crusades helped revive commercial activity. Trade slowly increased with the exchange of luxury goods in the Mediterranean region and various commodities such as fish, furs, and metals across the North and Baltic seas. Commerce soon moved inland, bringing new prosperity to the citizens of towns along major trade routes. As traffic along these routes increased, existing settlements grew and new ones were established.

The cities of  Italy  were strategically located between western Europe and the area along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea known as the Levant . Italy 's leadership in the Renaissance was due in part to its central location for trade. The cities became important and wealthy commercial centers, and the riches accumulated by the merchants of Venice , Genoa , Milan , and a host of smaller cities supported Italy 's political and cultural achievements.

Important towns developed beyond Italy as well. Especially with the expansion of trade, towns grew along the Danube, Rhine, and Rh?ne rivers of Europe; around the North Sea and the Baltic Sea; and in the Low Countries of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands where northern and southern trade routes met. Wherever these towns were located, they became a unique element in a medieval world that up to this time was dominated by seignorialism, an agricultural system in which the primary economic and political relationship was between landowners and their tenants.

Capital that accumulated through trade was eventually available for other enterprises, notably banking and, to a lesser degree, industry. The wealth of Florence , the leading cultural center of the Renaissance , came particularly from these alternate enterprises because the city's inland location limited participation in large-scale commerce. At its height the Florentine textile industry employed 30,000 people, but it was banking that helped build the greatest family fortunes in Florence .

In the early 14th century, Florence became the banking center of Italy . The city's importance as an international financial center was reinforced in the 15th century by the Medici bank. Under the management of Cosimo de' Medici, also known as Cosimo the Elder, this firm maintained branches in the major cities of Europe . The bank loaned money to popes, rulers, and merchants; operated mines and woolen mills; and carried on various other commercial enterprises. It accumulated huge profits that were used to finance political activity and to support cultural activities.

Well before the end of the 15th century, other powers challenged the economic leadership of Italy . In the kingdoms beyond the Alps , powerful rulers consolidated their control. This consolidation was accompanied by the growing prosperity of local businesses and by efforts to dispense with the Italian middlemen in trade. Rulers in France , England , and the Spanish kingdoms pursued policies favorable to their own middle-class tradesmen. In central Europe, powerful banking houses, such as that of the Fugger family in Augsburg , Germany , emerged at the encouragement of one of Europe 's most prominent royal dynasties, the Habsburgs.

Portugal 's development of a direct sea route to Asia at the end of the 15th century also undercut Italy 's role as the primary intermediary between the Far East and the Western world. Europe 's expansion to other parts of the world was one of the most momentous developments of the Renaissance era. The voyages of Italian-Spanish navigator Christopher Columbus to the Caribbean Sea in 1492 and of Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama to India in 1498 set in motion a series of explorations that sparked European imagination during the late Renaissance period.

These journeys intensified national rivalries. The Atlantic powers, including Spain , Portugal , and France , competed for colonial territory and vastly increased their wealth. For Italy the geographical discoveries had a less positive effect, however. They signaled the eventual transfer of the world's major commercial routes and, thus its wealth, from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic seaboard. These economic developments also exposed other countries to Renaissance ideas and gave them the resources to rival Italy in cultural expansion.

The relationship between economic prosperity and the achievements of the Renaissance is not direct. The 14th century, which is generally regarded as the beginning of the Italian Renaissance , was a time of economic stagnation and even contraction, at least compared to the centuries that preceded it. Political disorder interfered with commerce; agricultural productivity appears to have declined; and the outbreak of the bubonic plague, or Black Death, drastically reduced the population of many parts of Europe . The 15th century probably saw some recovery, but it is not certain that this prosperity matched the success of the 13th century, particularly in Italy . Although economic conditions had an effect on the development of the Renaissance , economic prosperity and the accumulation of wealth were not necessarily the most important factors in the achievements of the era.

Other factors related to economic growth were at least as important in stimulating the political and cultural changes that became part of the Renaissance . Certainly one of these was the new environment provided by the town, an environment that was a by-product of increased commercial activity. The pursuit of wealth and the opportunity for traders and bankers to interact with the world beyond their town walls created an atmosphere more open to new ideas and to innovation, experimentation, and enterprise in all aspects of life.

The towns also developed a distinctive class structure. As urban areas grew in size and wealth, their social and political organization became more complex. When towns were small, urban populations tended to be homogeneous and democratic. With increased size and prosperity, the populations became more diverse, with different social classes that varied in background and power.

Peasants migrated to the towns from the countryside, often to escape their status as serfs, and began to form a growing working class that had no political rights. Members of the nobility who lived in the towns made up another distinct class. Merchants who were engaged in large-scale commerce or other particularly profitable enterprises gradually became differentiated from other tradesmen by their greater wealth. As a ruling class developed that manipulated government for its own interests, the gulf between social groups widened. By the 14th century the tensions generated by great inequalities of wealth and power had reached the breaking point. Disorder followed and, as a result, ambitious despots became the rulers of many Italian towns, then known as communes.

Rural society also changed as a result of the development of trade and towns. The towns and noble families of Italy , and later of northern Europe , provided the resources and the initiative behind the Renaissance , but the majority of Europeans still lived in rural areas and worked the land. The new urban markets for agricultural products steadily transformed a largely self-sufficient rural economy into a system that produced goods for sale. Whereas landowners had previously required payments in goods or services from their tenants or serfs, they now wanted to receive money in order to buy products sold by the merchants. The agricultural labor system known as serfdom was slowly transformed. In the new system, tenants held land based on money rents. The practice of making collective decisions based on long-established customs, a tradition that was common in closely knit medieval peasant communities, dissolved into a more independent kind of rural life.

Otherwise, the rural populations participated little in the new movements of the Renaissance . People who lived in rural areas often suffered profoundly from the political decisions of the period, as they bore the burdens of the warfare and economic reorganization that national rivalries and internal struggles brought. In contrast, the cultural energy of the Renaissance hardly affected them at all. The driving forces behind both the political and cultural changes of the period were the townspeople, especially the urban elite, and the rulers with whom they were allied.

Dramatic political changes occurred in Europe during the Renaissance . For many centuries after the collapse of the western Roman Empire around 500, the only strong unifying force in Europe was the Roman Catholic Church. However, the growth in commerce increasingly unified Europe economically. Invasions from the outside declined, and rulers in the various countries gradually consolidated their power. In most of Europe , the states they ruled became focused almost exclusively on self-preservation. They operated with growing efficiency and increasingly used their power at home as a basis for expansion abroad.

This trend developed in different ways in Italy than it did in areas north of the Alps . As towns grew in Italy , they demanded self-rule and often developed into strong, independent city-states. In the northern areas of Europe , national monarchs established their power over the nobility. During the Renaissance , both of these political systems evolved from medieval roots, but neither was completely transformed into a modern state. The advancements that did occur were accompanied by even greater changes in attitudes toward politics.

The way was prepared for these changes by the decline of the Holy Roman Empire and the papacy, or office of the pope. These two universal institutions played a large role in medieval politics. In the medieval world, the Holy Roman emperor held political control over large amounts of territory in central Europe and in Italy . The pope, as head of the Catholic Church, wielded spiritual authority over all of Europe . The church and the state were viewed as two different aspects of one Christian society, sometimes referred to as Christendom.

Despite the strong ties between church and state, popes and secular rulers frequently struggled with each other for control over church administration and secular lands. Since the church was responsible for the souls of the people, including the emperor himself, the popes claimed ultimate supremacy over the state as well as the administration of the Catholic Church. At the same time, rulers sought to protect and expand their power within their domains. In addition, the Holy Roman emperors were frequently involved in struggles to control territory in Italy ; they were generally opposed in this effort by the popes. In the 13th century this struggle for dominance between the emperor and the pope was almost fatal to the authority of both. Innocent III, who became pope in 1197, tried to strengthen papal authority. He claimed that the pope had the right to play a role in naming a new Holy Roman emperor after the death of Henry VI. The maneuvering that followed greatly diminished the power of the emperor. Henry's son promised many concessions to the papacy in exchange for the pope's support of his claim to the throne; later, when he was named Frederick II, king of Germany and Holy Roman emperor, he failed to fulfill all of his promises. After the death of Frederick II in 1250, the imperial throne was vacant for over two decades. The German princes, whose lands made up most of the Holy Roman Empire , took the opportunity to increase their own power.

The papacy was also weakened and discredited by its concentration on political control rather than spiritual matters, and the papacy fell increasingly under French influence. Between 1309 and 1377 the popes were forced to live in Avignon in the south of France under the domination of several French monarchs; this papal exile is sometimes referred to as the Babylonian Captivity. The return of the papal court to Rome was promptly followed by the so-called Great Schism that lasted from 1378 to 1417. During much of this period, three contenders vied for the title of pope. When the Council of Constance unified the papacy in 1417 with the election of Martin V, the pope's political authority outside of the church was dead.

In  Italy  the towns had taken advantage of the struggle between the popes and emperors and enlarged their own power and independence. During the 14th century, many of these cities expanded their rule to include much of the surrounding countryside.

The Italian city-states slowly consolidated their power, and by the 15th century five states controlled the entire peninsula. The kingdom of Naples and Sicily in the south, in contrast to the northern states, still retained the system of political and military relationships among the nobility known as feudalism. In the Papal States, which occupied the center, the popes were preoccupied during the 15th century with recovering the control they had lost during the period of Avignon and the Great Schism. Florence dominated the Tuscany (Toscana) region to the north, although the state was plagued in the 14th century by class conflicts, which led eventually to a behind-the-scenes dictatorship by the powerful Medici banking family. Milan was firmly controlled by the Visconti family that led Milan in extending its empire over large areas of northern and central Italy . Venice , too, expanded on the mainland to protect its trade routes and food supply. Its relatively unified population and its complicated constitution kept class conflict at a minimum and preserved its republican government. None of these powers was strong enough to control the others. Attempts at more than local conquest, such as a move by the Visconti of Milan to expand southward, only united the other states in opposition. A shaky equilibrium resulted, which was given formal recognition by the general Peace of Lodi in 1454. This agreement is often cited as the first example of that basic principle of modern international relations, the balance of power, in which states use alliances as a means of equalizing political power. In fact, the most modern aspect of the states of the Italian Renaissance was their relationship with one another. They behaved as independent and sovereign nations, rather than as members of the broader community of Christendom. In order to carry on the diplomacy required by this new idea of the state, they developed such techniques as the institution of resident ambassadors.

Somewhat later, a similar development occurred in the monarchies north of the Alps . During the last half of the 15th century in France , England , and Spain , strong rulers emerged. These rulers were far more successful than earlier monarchs had been in securing the resources and developing the machinery of effective centralized government. Not all aspects of the reigns of these "new monarchs"—Louis XI of France, Henry VII of England, and Ferdinand and Isabella in Spain—were equally new, and they still wielded far less power than later rulers would. In particular, with the possible exception of the French king, these monarchs were limited in the essential ability to tax. Nevertheless, their reigns marked the beginning of the development toward the modern state.

These European rulers had much in common. Their success was largely due to their subjects' longing for peace and order after prolonged civil wars in each country: the Hundred Years' War (1337-1453) in France , the Wars of the Roses (1455-1485) in England , and factional struggles among the nobles of Spain in the first half of the 15th century and before. These troubles were primarily caused by a disorderly feudal system, in which the nobility had an interest in restricting the power of the king. Monarchs soon realized that they could challenge the nobility, who had become their greatest enemies, by forming alliances with townspeople. The wealth of city residents was based on trade, and they owed no particular allegiance to members of the landholding or noble classes. Monarchs began to serve as administrators rather than leaders of a constantly battling aristocracy. They developed a new, professional bureaucracy staffed by lawyers and other non-noble subjects and used it to impose a new degree of order and unity in their states.

The German king Maximilian I was unable to unify his empire in a similar fashion. He did bring together the holdings of the Habsburg family in central Europe . In other regions, however, increasingly ambitious rulers consolidated political power and adopted an attitude toward the use of this power that closely resembled that of the princes of Italy .

The two political systems drew closer together during the latter part of the 15th century. The wealth of Italy had always attracted the interest of outside powers, and disunity made Italy increasingly vulnerable to attack and conquest. Beginning in 1494 when the armies of French king Charles VIII marched into Italy , France and then Spain attempted conquest. They fought each other for dominance until 1559, when Spain gained control of most of the peninsula. These wars effectively ended the independence of the Italians until the 19th century.

The fighting in  Italy disrupted daily life and destroyed wealth. The culture, which had flourished in the independent atmosphere of the Italian city-states, now languished in a quite different environment. Many scholars believe that this period marks the end of the Renaissance .

For the northern powers fighting in Italy , the wars interrupted the work of consolidation that the preceding generation had begun. The war efforts used energy as well as resources that might have aided the internal development of the northern domains. However, the wars also exposed northern Europeans to the accomplishments and the attitudes of the Italian Renaissance . Between 1494 and the 16th-century religious revolution, known as the Reformation , Italian influences were widely dispersed. These influences made a significant contribution to the development of the Renaissance throughout Europe .

New attitudes toward politics accompanied the new forms of political organization and behavior, both in Italy and in the north. These changes first became evident in historical writing, and then appeared in more theoretical works. During the Middle Ages, historians had used their own moral framework to study the past; they depicted events as part of the destiny of all Christendom. In contrast, histories composed by humanists such as Leonardo Bruni stressed the earthly progress of a particular place and accounted for political developments in purely natural and nonreligious terms. These humanists described human rather than divine control and direction of events, and they used their writings to support causes that they considered patriotic or worthwhile.

By the 16th century, as Italy 's troubles mounted, this tendency to free politics from any relationship to religion became an important part of the thinking of a number of distinguished Florentine writers, including the best known, Niccolò Machiavelli. Stimulated by the political crisis of his time, Machiavelli sought to base statecraft or the art of governance on science rather than on Christian principles. He focused on how to preserve the state by any effective means. His acceptance of the principle that the end justifies the means, so bluntly expressed in his most famous work, Il principe (1532 ; The Prince, 1640), reflects the degree to which the new political environment had changed popular thinking.

This new political perspective also began to appear in the monarchies of the north. These ideas were first introduced in the writings of humanists who came from Italy , but before the end of the 16th century, northern Europeans had begun to develop similar philosophies. In his Six Livres de la République (1576; Six Books of the Republic, 1606), for example, French historian Jean Bodin advanced a theory of sovereignty that gave almost unlimited authority to the national ruler and that was based on purely secular arguments.

This modern way of thinking about politics emerged during the Renaissance , but it was not universally accepted at the time. Works such as Utopia, written by English statesman Sir Thomas More in 1516, show that idealistic and religious attitudes toward politics still remained strong in this era. Nevertheless, the modern secular state that recognized no higher law than its own welfare originated in the Renaissance .

The history of Christianity during the Renaissance presents a number of sharp contrasts. In various ways, the influence and prestige of the Catholic Church were declining. Its institutions were deeply rooted in older patterns of life and traditional ways of thought, and these institutions were slow in adapting to new conditions. For example, the church had long been an important part of the feudal system, which was based on allegiances between lords and vassals. The Catholic Church had difficulty adjusting to the demands of a society based on money rather than allegiances. As towns grew, the parish priests and monks, who had served as the main religious teachers of the peasantry, found that they knew little about the needs of the rising commercial class.

The prestige of the church also suffered when some church leaders sold their services, violated the biblical laws they were entrusted with upholding, and lived no differently than secular merchants and political figures. Furthermore, the leaders of the growing city-states, as well as the new monarchs, had much less need of an alliance with the Catholic Church to maintain power than they had in the past.

The result was a series of failures, such as the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism, that discredited and weakened the Catholic Church. Yet there is no evidence to suggest that significant numbers of Europeans rejected Christianity as a result; on the contrary, during the 14th and 15th centuries there was a widespread revival of popular religious fervor, reaching a climax in the Reformation of the 16th century.

The 14th century had opened with the dramatic humiliation of the papacy, as the French king forced the papal court to move to Avignon and made the church's highest leadership appear to be pawns of France . Disaster then followed disaster for the church. Instead of providing spiritual direction in a rapidly changing world, the papal court was preoccupied with the development of its administrative machinery and with the collection of revenue. The problems only grew worse with the Great Schism, as rival popes competed for control. Although the papacy was reunited in 1417, it faced other challenges to its authority and struggled to recover control of the Papal States , which it had lost during the Babylonian Captivity and the Great Schism.

Certain  Renaissance  popes were learned, devout, and worthy leaders of the Catholic Church during this difficult period. Notable examples are Nicholas V, who ruled in the mid-15th century, and Pius II, who followed him. Other popes—such as Alexander VI, who took over the papacy in 1492, and Julius II and Leo X, who held the position in the early 16th century—were chiefly concerned with politics, the promotion of their families, or the patronage of the arts. These popes further weakened the ability of the church to influence society. Under these conditions, local and national forces increasingly challenged papal control over the church, and clerical discipline and morale deteriorated. Heresy (challenges to church doctrine) flourished, and critics of the Catholic Church became more numerous and outspoken.

Dissent and concern over the condition of the church are evidence of the strength, not the weakness, of religion. Christianity during the Renaissance presents a contradiction: Although the institution of the Roman Catholic Church was in decay, there was extraordinary religious fervor in every part of Europe . Preachers, such as the highly popular Girolamo Savonarola of Florence , called on sinners to repent and enjoyed great success in Italy . A mystical religious movement that drew, in part, from the teachings of German mystic Meister Eckhart flourished in the portion of western Germany known as the Rhineland . Its members sought direct revelations from God without the church as an intermediary. In the Low Countries of Belgium, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands a movement known as the devotio moderna emphasized individual and practical faith, a contrast with the more communal and metaphysical faith of the Catholic Church. These teachings spread through schools and gained public attention through The Imitation of Christ (approximately 1424) , a highly influential work usually attributed to Thomas à Kempis, a German monk and writer. Eager laymen built churches and chapels, and new devotional exercises—such as the stations of the cross and prayers using the rosary—became popular. With the introduction of the printing press in Europe during the 15th century, religious books were produced by the millions, and they found a ready market. The increase in popular devotion posed a threat to traditional religion, especially when the prestige of church officials was low and they seemed incapable of, or uninterested in, close supervision of the faithful. Popular heretical movements emerged and challenged papal authority. These movements proposed, in varying degrees, to do away with the church as an institution. In the 14th century, British philosopher and reformer John Wycliffe and his counterpart in Bohemia , Jan Hus, formalized these attacks on church authority in their teachings and writings. Heretics remained a small minority, however, and a variety of reformers who hoped to change the existing church were far more characteristic of the Renaissance . Theologians such as Jean de Gerson, who was particularly influential at the University of Paris in the early 15th century, supported conciliar theory, which aimed at reforming the Roman Catholic Church by placing supreme authority in a general council rather than in the papacy. Mystics preferred to deepen the religious life of individuals, while many humanists hoped to reform Christian society by relying on education rather than on religious faith. The  Renaissance  also encouraged practical reformers . As papal legate (official representative of the pope) to Germany in the mid-15th century, Nicholas of Cusa pursued a vigorous reform campaign directed particularly at monks who had violated their monastic vows. The monasteries in Paris also underwent significant reform in the early decades of the 16th century. Most successful of all was the work of Cardinal Ximenes, the leading church figure of Spain in the early 16th century. He set standards for qualifications, training, and discipline for the Spanish clergy. Such reforms were by no means universal, and the visible condition of the church continued to bring widespread demands for reform . The religious history of the Renaissance reveals both weakness and vigor. People of this era expressed discontent with the actual state of the church, but they also expressed hope for improvement.

Test yourself

Fill the blanks each by referring to the question given:

1. What does the Renaissance refer to? What were its historical backgrounds?

Renaissance refers to a series literary and cultural movements in 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries, began in Italy and eventually into Germany , France , England , and ___ parts of Europe . Participants studied great civilizations of ancient Greece Rome and came to the that their own cultural achievements those of antiquity. Their thinking also influenced by the concept humanism, which emphasizes the worth ＿ the individual. Renaissance humanists believed was possible to improve human through classical education. This education on teachings from ancient texts emphasized a range of disciplines, poetry, history, rhetoric, and moral .

The word renaissance "rebirth" originated in the belief Europeans had rediscovered the superiority Greek and Roman culture after centuries of what they considered ＿＿＿＿＿＿ and cultural decline. The preceding became known as the Middle .

Scholars now recognize that number of characteristics of Renaissance and society had their origins the Middle Ages. Many scholars that much of the cultural of the Renaissance also had roots in medieval times and changes were progressive rather than ____. Nevertheless, the Renaissance represents a in focus and emphasis from Middle Ages, with enough unique to justify considering it as separate period of history.

2. What were the characteristics of the Renaissance?

In the Renaissance people, from kings nobles to merchants and soldiers, classical literature and art for , and their interest in art the past was soon extended contemporary works. Medieval art and tended to serve a specialized and purpose; Renaissance works of and literature existed as objects ideal beauty or learning.

___ Renaissance was marked by intense interest in the visible and in the knowledge derived concrete sensory experience. It turned from the abstract speculations and _______ in life after death that the Middle Ages. Although Christianity not abandoned, the focus turned abstract discussions of religious issues the morality of human actions.

__ the Renaissance, the of personal fame was much highly developed than during the Ages. Renaissance artists, valuing glory renown in this world, signed works. Medieval artists, focused on and on glorifying God, were humble and remained largely anonymous.

___ attention given to development of an individual's potential the Renaissance brought with it new emphasis on education. The of education was to develop individual's talents in all intellectual physical areas. The ideal person believed not be bound to specific discipline, such as that scholar, priest, or warrior as been done in the Middle .

3. What were the economic basis of the Renaissance?

The civilization of the Renaissance __ the creation of prosperous cities __ of rulers who drew substantial __ from their urban subjects in __ Italian city-states and the countries __ England and France . The commerce __ kept cities alive also provided __ capital and the flow of __ that helped build Renaissance culture. __ the early Middle Ages foreign __ had virtually come to a __ . By the 11th century, however, __ growth and contact with other __ through military efforts such as __ Crusades helped revive commercial activity. __ slowly increased with the exchange __ luxury goods in the Mediterranean __ and various commodities such as __ , furs, and metals across the __ and Baltic seas. Commerce soon __ inland, bringing new prosperity to __ citizens of towns along major __ routes. As traffic along these __ increased, existing settlements grew and __ ones were established. __ the early 14th century, Florence __ the banking center of Italy . __ city's importance as an international __ center was reinforced in the __ century by the Medici bank. __ the management of Cosimo de' __ , also known as Cosimo the __ , this firm maintained branches in __ major cities of Europe . The __ loaned money to popes, rulers, __ merchants; operated mines and woolen __ ; and carried on various other __ enterprises. It accumulated huge profits __ were used to finance political __ and to support cultural activities. __

4. What were the social basis of the Renaissance?

One factor stimulating the Renaissance __ the new environment provided by __ town, as a by-product of __ commercial activity. The pursuit of __ and the opportunity for traders __ bankers to interact with the __ beyond their town walls created __ atmosphere more open to new __ and to innovation, experimentation, and __ in all aspects of life. __ towns also developed a distinctive __ structure. Peasants who migrated to __ towns began to form a __ working class without political rights. __ of the nobility who lived __ the towns made up another __ class. Merchants engaged in profitable __ gradually became differentiated from other __ by their greater wealth. As __ ruling class developed that manipulated __ for its own interests, the __ between social groups widened. By __ 14th century the tensions generated __ great inequalities of wealth and __ had reached the breaking point. __ followed and, as a result, __ despots became the rulers of __ Italian towns.

The new __ markets for agricultural products steadily __ a largely self-sufficient rural economy __ a system that produced goods __ sale. Landowners now wanted to __ money instead of payments in __ or services from their tenants __ serfs, so as to buy __ sold by the merchants. Serfdom __ slowly transformed into the new __ : tenants held land based on __ rents. The practice of making __ decisions based on long-established customs, __ tradition that was common in __ knit medieval peasant communities, dissolved __ a more independent kind of __ life.

5. How did the Renaissance affect the political system in Europe ?

In the medieval world, the __ Roman emperor held political control __ large amounts of territory in __ Europe and in Italy . The __ wielded spiritual authority over all __ Europe . Despite the strong ties __ church and state, popes and __ rulers frequently struggled with each __ for control over church administration __ secular lands. Since the church __ responsible for the souls of __ people, including the emperor himself, __ popes claimed ultimate supremacy over __ state as well as the __ Church. At the same time, __ sought to protect and expand __ power within their domains. In __ 13th century this struggle for __ between was almost fatal to __ authority of both. Innocent III, __ became pope in 1197, claimed __ the pope had the right __ play a role in naming __ new Holy Roman emperor after __ death of Henry VI. This __ diminished the power of the __ . Henry's son promised many concessions __ the papacy in exchange for __ pope's support of his claim __ the throne; later, when he __ made king of Germany and __ Roman emperor, he failed to __ all of his promises. __ papacy was also weakened and __ by its concentration on political __ rather than spiritual matters, and __ papacy fell increasingly under French __ . Between 1309 and 1377 the __ were forced to live in __ in the south of France __ the domination of several French __ ; this papal exile is sometimes __ to as the Babylonian Captivity. __ the Council of Constance unified __ papacy in 1417 with the __ of Martin V, the pope's __ authority outside of the church __ dead.

6. How did the Renaissance affect the church and religion?

The history of Christianity during __ Renaissance presents a number of __ contrasts. In various ways, the __ and prestige of the Catholic __ were declining. Its institutions were __ rooted in older patterns of __ and traditional ways of thought, __ these institutions were slow in __ to new conditions. For example, __ church had long been an __ part of the feudal system, __ was based on obligations between __ and vassals. The Catholic Church __ difficulty adjusting to the demands __ a society based on money __ than obligations. As towns grew, __ parish priests and monks found __ they knew little about the __ of the rising commercial class. __ prestige of the __ also suffered when some church __ sold their services, violated the __ laws they were entrusted with __ , and lived no differently than __ merchants and political figures. Furthermore, __ leaders of the growing city-states, __ the new monarchs, had much __ need of an alliance with __ Catholic Church to maintain power __ before.

The result was __ series of failures, such as __ Babylonian Captivity and the Great __ , that discredited and weakened the __ Church. Yet there is no __ to suggest that significant numbers __ Europeans rejected Christianity as a __ ; on the contrary, during the __ and 15th centuries there was __ widespread revival of popular religious __ , reaching a climax in the __ of the 16th century.

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