14.1 Origins of the Renaissance

Why did many people begin to question the European institutions of Medieval Europe?

• The governing institutions could not prevent or fix the damage caused by the 100 Years War or the Black Death.

• Medieval institutions such as the Holy Crusades brought power and fame to several monarchs.

• European castles could no longer protect the general population from the tyranny of the king.

• Medieval Europe witnessed the expansion of Islam into Europe threatening the general population's safety.

How did culture change during the Italian Renaissance?

• There was a revival of Ancient Greek and Roman culture.

• There was a return to spiritual ideas such as sanctity and salvation.

• There was a growing fascination with the macabre based on the horrors of the plague.

• There was a new found determination to ethnically cleanse the trade routes to Asia.

How did trade during the Renaissance change the socio-economic structure of Italy?

• A middle class composed of bankers, merchants and other professionals developed.

• Islamic merchants migrated to the Italian City states of Florence, Milan, and Venice.

• The Italian peasants became empowered by their food production and food exports made Italy wealthy.

• The Italian nobility migrated to France and England to join the Hundred Years War.

How did overseas trade affect the economy of Italy?

• Italy urbanized as commerce rather than agriculture shaped the expanding economy,

• The taxation on imports caused an economic panic leading to the fall of the Roman Empire.

• Italian merchants began to migrate to neighboring countries to avoid the domestic surcharge on international trade.

• Italy became the largest shipbuilding nation on earth and developed the most powerful naval fleet.

How did the development of the banking industry affect the economy of Italy?

• A wealthy merchant class developed economic and political power over the City-States.

• The Roman Catholic Church began to raise tithes to nearly half the income of the merchant class.

• Bankers began to provide lower interest loans to allow peasants to own their own land.

• The banking industry developed universal coinage that could be used to buy and sell goods throughout the world.

How did the study of classic literature influence the culture of Italy?

• It led to the development of humanism, an intellectual movement focused on human potential.

• It led to the development of realism, a literary movement that focused on nonfiction as the key form of writing.

• It led to the expansion of true crime fiction including the famous works of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.

• It led to the use of typewriters to mass produce literature and fill the public library system with literature.

How did humanism and materialism change the culture of Italy?

• The culture of the Renaissance started to become more secular than spiritual.

• The culture of the Renaissance emphasized the spiritual development of the merchant class.

• The culture of the Renaissance emphasized the political development of the nobility.

• The culture of the Renaissance started to become more spiritual than secular.

Refer to the Biography excerpt on Lorenzo Medici (page 542). What can be inferred about the political culture of the Italian Renaissance?

• Italian politics was very ruthless.

• Italian politics was very democratic.

• Italian politics was based on trade.

• Italian politics was authoritarian.

How did Baldassare Castiglione's The Courtier contribute to the culture of the Italian Renaissance?

• He described the traits needed to be the well rounded, educated Renaissance man.

• He described the role of the Roman Catholic Church in Medieval Society.

• He recorded and rewrote all the speeches from the Italian monarchy.

• He narrated the rise and fall of Italy's most powerful Renaissance family, the Borgia.

How did Isabella D'Este contribute to the culture of the Italian Renaissance?

• She served as a patron of the arts by funding artists.

• She wrote a series of sonnets describing Italian pastoral life.

• She scultped the classic Renaissance artwork, The David.

• She is the woman in Leonardo DaVinci's classic artwork, the Mona Lisa