Renaissance Lesson 1

Christine de Pizan

An Italian who lived in France and wrote in French., known writting in defense of women. In The Book of the City of Ladies, written between 1404 and 1405, she denounced male writers who had argued that women, by their very nature, are unable to learn.

doge

An elected leader

Why did Savonarola gain power?

He condemned the corruption of the Medici family.

Niccolò Machiavelli

His book The Prince is one of the most influential works on political power in the Western world.

Where and When did the Renaissance Begin

Italy in the late 14th century

What did the Statue David Symbolize

Liberty

How did Machiavelli's view of the responsibilities of a ruling class differ from Castiglione

Machiavelli believed that results, not morality, should control political decisions.

What were the five major territorial states that had come to dominate the peninsula, why?

Milan, Venice, and Florence, the Papal States centered on Rome, and the Kingdom of Naples because of their economic power

He believed that morality was unrelated to politics.

Niccolò Machiavelli

The Italian Wars, fought between France and Spain, reached a turning point when

Spanish forces sacked Rome.

The goal of humanism

They wanted to use classical values to revitalize their culture

In the Renaissance, who were the upper class?

Townspeople that were wealthy from trade, industry, and banking

Which famous family ruled Florence?

Visconti family

patricians

With their wealth from trade, industry, and banking, they dominated their communities and were At the top of urban society.

decline

a change to a lower state or level

burgher republic

a form of government in which the leader is not a king and certain citizens have the right to vote

What does Machiavelli use as the basis for his argument about how a prince should act?

a leader must do good when possible, but be ready to do evil when necessary.

The Divine Comedy

a long poem describing the soul's journey to attain Paradise.

Humanism

a system of values and beliefs that is based on the idea that people are basically good and that problems can be solved using reason instead of religion

dowry.

an amount of money that the wife's family gave to the husband at the time of marriage.

Guild

an association of people who made or sold goods in the Middle Ages

Secularism

an emphasis on the individual non religious

aristocracy

an upper class whose wealth is based on land and whose power is passed on from one generation to another

Why was Florence considered the most influential city during the renaissnce

because its scholars, writers, artists, and architects defined the culture

In the Renaissance, who were the middle class?

burghers

How did the Renaissance spread?

by trade.

What are the three social classes that divided the Middles Ages society?

clergy the nobility the peasants and townspeople.

Medici Family

controlled Florence during the Renaissance

Which attitude is most typical of Italy during the Renaissance?

emphasis on the individual

Why did Dante defended his use of the vernacular in the Divine Comedy?

if he had written in Latin, only scholars would have understood him.

Of the European population, peasants and townspeople

made up the largest group.

What were the Characteristics of a noble or well-developed individual?

must come from a noble family character, grace, and talent a warrior classically educated interested in Arts follow certain standards of conduct

In The Book of the Courtier, Castiglione stated that

nobles should follow a standard of conduct.

aristocrat

one of a group of people who are born into a high social position and who have more wealth and privileges than others

Petrarch had described the intellectual life as

one of solitude

In the Renaissance, who made up most of the European population?

peasants

The word Renaissance means

rebirth

Machiavelli believed that moral principles

should not influence political activity.

mercenaries

soldiers who fought primarily for money.

In the Middle Ages, many writers on political power had emphasized what?

the duty of rulers to follow Christian moral principles.

Francesco Petrarch

the father of Italian Renaissance humanism.

vernacular

the local spoken language

burghers

the shopkeepers, artisans, guild masters, and guild members.

The economic power of the Italian states led to

their increased political power.

dominate

to influence or control

What did Humanist believe the duties of an Intellectual were?

to live an active civic life and to put their study of the humanities to the state's service.

The aim of the perfect noble

to serve his prince in an effective and honest way.

The monarchies of France and Spain were attracted by Italy's

wealth.

Cicero for prose and Virgil for poetry.

were two Roman writers as models for using classical Latin in writing

When did children become emancipated in Renaissance Italy?

when their father freed them