“The word renaissance means “rebirth,” and it is used to refer to the attempt by artists and
thinkers to recover and apply the ancient learning and standards of Greece and Rome … During
the Renaissance, …, individuals showed an increasing concern for worldly life and self-
consciously aspired to shape their own destinies, attitudes that are the key to modernity.”
“The Renaissance, then, marks the birth of modernity – in art, in the idea of the individual’s role
in history and nature, and in society, politics, war, and diplomacy. Central to this birth is a bold
new view of human nature: individuals in all endeavors are free of a given destiny imposed by
God from the outside – free to make their own destiny, guided only by the example of the past,
the force of present circumstances, and the drives of their own inner nature. Individuals, set free
from theology, are seen to be the products, and in turn the shapers, of history. Their future is not
wholly determined by Providence but is partly the work of their own free will.”
- Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics & Society: Vol 1 to 1789
The Renaissance
By Bennett Sherry
Narratives of the Renaissance often portray its cultural achievements as
uniquely European. Let’s evaluate these narratives and look for global
connections in Renaissance art.
Renaissance Narratives
The Renaissance was a cultural movement in late medieval and early
modern Europe. Most historians agree that it started in the Italian city-
state of Florence in the fourteenth century. Some historians think it
reached its peak in the late sixteenth century, but these dates vary. From
the Italian city-states, the Renaissance gradually spread across Europe.
The Renaissance produced dramatic changes in European art,
architecture, and culture. It reshaped artistic, societal, and religious norms
as medieval Europe’s connections with the rest of Afro-Eurasia increased.
Artists like Raphael, Michelangelo, and Leonardo da Vinci embraced
realism and individualism in styles that moved away from the religious
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focus of medieval art. Humanist scholars like Francesco Petrarch
combined ideas from Christianity with the philosophy of the Greeks and
Romans. Humanists studied philosophy, rhetoric, and literature in the
belief that human achievements were as important as religious theory.
Architects imitated the style of Roman and Greek ruins to create new
architectural marvels in wealthy Italian city-states. The artists and writers
of the Italian Renaissance believed they were creating something totally
new by reviving the teachings of the ancient world.
But were they? Did Italian Renaissance artists and thinkers create
something new and uniquely European?
The term Renaissance (French for “rebirth”), was coined by
European historians in the nineteenth century. These historians began
portraying the Renaissance as something uniquely European, supporting
narratives about the “rise of the West.” In these narratives, the
Renaissance’s return to ancient Greek and Roman culture is presented
as the beginning of Europe’s rise to global power. Narratives of
European cultural superiority were then used to justify the expansion of
European empires.
But as a student of history, you know that challenging narratives is
central to the work of historians, so let’s evaluate the narratives of the
Renaissance. To do that, we need to answer some questions: Who
participated in the Renaissance? Where did it take place? And why did it
start?
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Renaissance “Man”
The Renaissance was important—if you were a wealthy, educated
man. For most people living in Europe, the Renaissance was not
something they experienced or noticed. It was a movement of and for the
wealthy and the elite in European societies. A small class of merchants and
aristocrats participated in this cultural movement, and most of them were
men.
Yet, women were not silent in this period, and they did help shape
the Renaissance. Christine de Pisan, for example, wrote dozens of works
of poetry and political theory, arguing for women’s education. Lucrezia
Borgia and Catherine de’ Medici wielded significant political power. There
were plenty of others, such as Marguerite de Navarre and Sofonisba
Anguissola, who were patrons of the arts and artists themselves. Like the
men of this movement, these women came almost exclusively from the
upper classes, their works directed at the courts of French monarchs and
Italian princes. Today, the phrase “Renaissance Man” is used to describe
someone who has broad knowledge in many topics. Yet, many women
participated in the Renaissance through their writing and art. Still others
exercised political power, collected art, and patronized artists. Among the
wealthy classes, at least, it seems there were plenty of “Renaissance
Women.”
Did the Renaissance really happen? Well, that depends who you
ask and where you look. If you look at art, literature, and—as we’ll see
below— trade and the merchant class, there were huge transformations.
But for most peasant farmers—who made up the vast majority of the
population—not a lot changed. For most people outside a privileged few
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in wealthy urban centers, the changes started by the Renaissance would
not be felt for generations.
An Economic Rebirth
The Renaissance is commonly called a European cultural movement.
Its cultural and artistic elements get all the attention. Yet, the Renaissance
was as much about trade as it was about art.
The Renaissance started at the end of some major upheavals. The
Black Death had killed millions. The Crusades, the wars between Venice
and Genoa, the Hundred Years War between England and France, and the
Spanish Reconquista each created instability and hurt trade. By the
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, these upheavals settled down enough
to allow trade networks to expand between Southern Europe and the
Islamic world and between Northern and Southern Europe.
Trade connections made Italian bankers and merchants very rich. As
parts of Europe emerged from the devastation of the Black Death, patterns
of wealth and labor changed, with many people concentrating in urban
centers and demanding higher wages. As more people could afford luxury
goods, demand for trade increased. Italian merchants grew wealthy from
trade, and Italian cities emerged as commercial hubs. Great banking
families, like the Medici in Florence, dominated the politics of the region.
With their new wealth, these merchants, bankers, and rulers funded
the arts and architecture of the Renaissance, patronizing artists like
Donatello, Botticelli, and Titian. These patrons were not acting out of a
sense of generosity or civic virtue. They wanted art and buildings that
showed their wealth and power. In many cases, the wealthy
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commissioned elaborate portraits of themselves or had their family
inserted into paintings of biblical or historical scenes. It was a bit like
taking a selfie with a celebrity, but more expensive.
The great art and innovations of the Renaissance were made
possible by Europe’s integration into Afro-Eurasian trade networks.
Trade introduced new pigments from Central and South Asian plants and
minerals to the palettes of Renaissance painters. The advances in finance
employed by Italian bankers relied on mathematical concepts developed
by Arabic and Indian scholars. Even the technologies behind the printing
press—which allowed Renaissance ideas to spread rapidly after its
invention in the fifteenth century—were probably the result of
AfroEurasian trade. Moveable type and papermaking were first pioneered
in China, Korea, and the Islamic world.
Renaissance Sultans
Another narrative is that Renaissance art and architecture was
inspired by ruins from ancient Greece and Rome and by the rediscovery
of classical art and literature. But that narrative is worth questioning, too.
Powerful Italians like the Medici weren’t the only Renaissance
rulers. To the east, the Ottomans rose to a position of dominance soon
after their conquest of Constantinople in 1453. As Sultan Mehmet II
expanded his empire into Eastern Europe, he also funded architectural,
artistic, and intellectual innovations to showcase his power. He hired
Italian artists and architects to work in his court. These artists in turn
drew inspiration from the art and architecture of the great Islamic cities.
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The Italian Renaissance is inseparable from cultural and economic
exchange with the Islamic world. Muslim scholars preserved Greek and
Roman texts. Renaissance poets and writers like Petrarch were inspired
by themes in Islamic poetry. Much of the architecture of the Italian
Renaissance was modeled on the great cities to the east, such as Aleppo,
Cairo, and Tabriz. Paintings from European artists highlight these
connections.
The painting above depicts the Christian Saint Mark preaching in
Alexandria. The painting shows him addressing a crowd of Muslim men
(Islam was not founded until nearly 600 years after Saint Mark’s death).
The historian, Jerry Brotton, argues that the mixture of Christian and
Muslim motifs in the painting “shows how the European Renaissance
began to define itself not in opposition to the east, but through an
extensive and complex exchange of ideas and materials.” As Europe
integrated with the expanding networks of Afro-Eurasian trade, the Italian
Renaissance was as much defined by its exchange with Islamic culture as
its rediscovery of Greco-Roman styles.
Legacies of the Renaissance
Trade also inspired some Europeans to sail south along Africa’s
western coast. European merchants bought silks and spices from the
Ottomans with gold and silver, but Europe’s supply of precious metals was
limited. To gain direct access to West African gold, Italian merchants
funded Portuguese mariners to sail further and further south, bringing
gold back to the Mediterranean. These voyages also introduced Europe to
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West African art—ivory sculptures were especially prized—kicking off
new exchanges in artistic styles.
The painting above, by an unknown artist, depicts the waterfront of
the Portuguese capital of Lisbon. It illustrates the diversity of Renaissance
Europe. If you zoom in on the image, you’ll see that many of the occupants
are Black. Many of these people are enslaved, but the painting features
several free Black people. It shows Black and white people dancing
together. And in the middle-right, a Black man rides a horse. He is a knight
of the Order of Santiago. This painting and many others are evidence that
the urban centers of Renaissance Europe featured a great deal of racial,
ethnic, and religious diversity.
However, this painting is also a reminder that, just as Renaissance
art and culture flourished, systems of racism and enslavement were also
developing. The Portuguese voyages to West Africa—funded by Italian
merchants and bankers—returned with enslaved Africans onboard. By
the mid-fifteenth century, slavery was common in the Italian city-states
and the Iberian Peninsula. The great cultural achievements of Renaissance
art were made possible by the same economy that eventually created the
institutions of the modern slave trade.
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Reference: World History Encyclopedia
Johannes Gutenberg (1398-1468) was the inventor of the printing press (1450) who seems
to have developed the device from wine and oil presses of the time. Gutenberg’s printing press not
only revolutionized book making but literally changed the world in that ideas could now be shared
over long distances with a wider audience than ever before.
The Gutenberg press also suggested the concept of machines taking the place of human
labor in delivering uniform products to a mass market. Prior to Gutenberg, books were copied by
hand or made using woodblock printing, which was time consuming, expensive, and resulted in a
product few could afford. Afterwards, books could be produced quickly, cheaply, and uniformly.
Every copy of a book was exactly like any other and, in a world where scribal error could often
change meaning, this was a significant innovation.
Anyone who could write could now have their works printed and distributed and anyone
who could read and had some disposable income could buy those works. Gutenberg understood
the value of his invention and believed it would make him a wealthy man, especially after he
printed the Bible in 1456.
His invention is understood as one of the most significant contributions to world culture and
understanding in history. The printing press in Europe enabled:
• An increase in the volume of books produced compared to handmade works.
• An increase in the access to books in terms of availability and cost.
• Successful authors earning a living solely through writing.
• An increase in the use and standardization of the vernacular as opposed to Latin in printed
works.
• An increase in literacy rates.
• The spread of ideas concerning religion, history, science, poetry, art, and daily life.
• Movements could now be more easily organized by leaders who had no physical contact
with their followers.
• The creation of public libraries.
Gutenberg’s press facilitated and empowered the Renaissance, the Protestant Reformation,
the Age of Enlightenment, and the Scientific Revolution by providing the means for the mass
consumption of ideas.
Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) was a Genoese explorer (identified as Italian) who
became famous in his own time as the man who discovered the New World and, since the 19th
century, is credited with the discovery of North America, specifically the region comprising the
United States.
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Columbus made four voyages to the area of the Caribbean, exploring Cuba, Central
America, South America, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, the
islands of the Bahamas, and others between 1492-1504.
Columbus never set out to discover a New World, but to find a western sea route to the Far
East to facilitate trade after the land route of the Silk Road, between Europe and the East, had
been closed by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. In an effort to re-establish trade with the East,
European merchants took to the sea, launching the so-called Age of Discovery which launched
many European sea expeditions.
Columbus had taught himself Latin, Spanish, and Portuguese and so was able to access a
wide range of documents and maps in developing his vision of a voyage across the Atlantic Ocean
to establish a new trade route. After numerous rejections by Portugal, Genoa, and Venice,
Columbus turned to Ferdinand II and Isabella I of Spain who also rejected him but were intrigued
enough by his plan that they kept him on retainer, paying him a significant sum to keep him from
proposing the expedition to any other government. Ferdinand and Isabella were in the midst of
their own problems trying to drive the Muslim Arabs, known as the Moors, from their territory in
the effort which has since come to be known as the Reconquista (711-1492). The last stronghold
of the Moors at Granada fell in 1492, and, afterwards, Columbus was granted the three ships and
funding he had requested.
Columbus' first voyage brought him to one of the islands of the Bahamas on 12 October
1492, which he claimed in the name of the monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and his wife Isabella
of Castile of Spain. European Christendom was thrilled at the prospect of a New World of future
converts to Christ and the possibilities of unimaginable wealth and Columbus was sent back, in
September 1493 to secure such possibilities. His next three voyages were made to consolidate
Spain's control of the region and establish colonies.
Columbus is acknowledged as the first to establish contact between Europe and the
Americas known as the Columbian Exchange whereby people, plants, technology, and other
aspects of culture passed between the Old and the New World, transforming both and establishing
the foundation for the modern age.
Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519) was an Italian Renaissance artist, architect, engineer, and
scientist. He is renowned for his ability to observe and capture nature, scientific phenomena, and
human emotions in all media. Leonardo’s innovative masterpieces demonstrate a mastery of light,
perspective, and overall effect. His most-loved works include the Mona Lisa portrait and The Last
Supper mural.
Considered one of the greatest minds in history, Leonardo's approach to acquiring
knowledge on everything from anatomy to mechanics involved understanding both the theory and
practice of any given subject.
Leonardo was far from being restricted to art and his interests were wide indeed,
encompassing just about all the physical world. He studied architecture, engineering, geometry,
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and mechanics. The natural world was not neglected with studies in anatomy, botany, zoology, and
geology. Leonardo kept notebooks throughout his life in which he recorded the results of his
investigations and his ideas for new inventions. Machines the artist conjured up include cranes,
paddlewheel boats, tanks, cannons, apparatus to breathe underwater, and even flying contraptions.
The only element many of these designs lacked was an internal combustion engine, not to be
invented, of course, until centuries later. The notes in these books are often interspersed with
sketches, many being miniature masterpieces in themselves.
Petrarch (1304-1374), whose full name is Francesco Petrarca, was an Italian scholar and
poet who is credited as one of the founders of the Renaissance movement in art, thought,
and literature. Petrarch actively searched for 'lost' ancient manuscripts hidden away in forgotten
corners of medieval libraries. He not only found, edited, and collected these ancient works together
but also wrote a vast catalogue of his own poems, texts, and letters. Petrarch's most famous work
today is his Canzoniere, a collection of love poems written in the vernacular which revolve around
an unknown and unobtainable woman called Laura. Through his discoveries, scholarship, and
original works, Petrarch spearheaded a revival in ancient ideals and secular intellectual studies
which focused on human affairs rather than religious matters, even if, paradoxically, he himself
remained very much interested in Christian studies. Consequently, Petrarch is, in this respect,
considered the father of what became known as Renaissance humanism.
The high point of Petrarch's public career was perhaps his coronation as Poet Laureate in
Rome on 8 April 1341. He was by then internationally famous as a poet and scholar and was the
first to receive this award, which was revived from antiquity. Petrarch had long lobbied the Pope
to have the title, and it symbolised for him the possibility that poets and scholars could lead Italy
and Europe back to the glory days of the Pax Romana of the Roman Empire. This would be a
rebirth, a renaissance. From then on, he concentrated on literature, both studying the past and
creating new works for the future.
Petrarch criticised the Christian medieval Church for demonising pagan antiquity and its
achievements. Although not rejecting religious studies himself, Petrarch's work with ancient
manuscripts encouraged the scholarship of non-religious subjects with humanity at its centre, and
this became a legitimate activity for intellectuals. Consequently, Petrarch is often cited as the
founder of humanism.
Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1469-1536) was a Dutch humanist scholar considered one of the
greatest thinkers of the Renaissance. A prolific writer who made full use of the printing press, he
produced editions of classical authors, educational treatises, translations, dialogues, and letters.
Erasmus was a great champion of education, believing this was the best way to reform
the medieval church.
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The Printed Word
Erasmus' talents allowed him to secure positions at universities and gain lucrative
employment from rulers. He travelled to England in 1499, where he met the scholar Thomas
More (1478-1535), then stayed in Italy from 1506 to 1509. It was in Venice in 1508 that Erasmus
expanded his 1500 Adagiorum Collectanea an annotated collection of Greek and Latin adages or
short sayings. It was this work that first brought Erasmus to the attention of the wider European
community of scholars. He revised and reprinted the work again in 1515.
Erasmus returned to England, spending five years there, from 1509. Not a great deal is
known of this period except that he worked on his edition of the New Testament and gave lectures
at the University of Cambridge. However, for most of his career, he was able to write as an
independent author because of the recent invention of the printing press.
The New Testament
Besides his many translations of the works of ancient writers, Erasmus studied the history
of the Christian Church, its founding fathers, and the New Testament texts. Erasmus believed that
the Bible, and especially the New Testament, was the best way for ordinary (educated) people to
come to know God and salvation. Erasmus hoped that by reading for themselves, Christians would
move away from what he considered were the more vulgar aspects of the medieval church such as
relics, crusades, and illiterate clergy. Further, Erasmus sought to change the approach of the
Church through its very heart: the biblical text. His translations and edits changed certain concepts
to reflect his humanist views. For example, in his edition, he translated the
Greek metanoete into resipiscite, a meaning of 'repent' closer to 'return to one's true senses' rather
than the previous poenitentiam agite, meaning formal and public acts of penitence. Naturally,
conservative elements within the Church did not accept these interpretations.
Humanist Legacy
The greatest legacy of his scholarship and long writing career was his contribution to the
philosophical movement known as humanism. Humanism was a term coined in the 19th century
for Renaissance thinkers who advocated an education which focused on direct access to and
understanding of classical literature.
There was a movement towards changing education and having it focus more on classical
texts. Within these texts could be found material pertinent to the subjects of Latin grammar, poetry,
rhetoric, history, and moral philosophy. It was also considered important to study the ancient idea
of virtue in public and private life. Certainly, this did not mean Erasmus and other humanists
neglected religious texts but it was the beginning of a slow and irreversible shift in the concept of
education which would eventually lead to scholars being able to study entirely secular matters
throughout their careers.
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Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543 CE) was a Polish astronomer who famously proposed
that the Earth and other planets revolved around the Sun in a heliocentric system and not, as then
widely thought, in a geocentric system where the Earth is the centre.
Copernicus’ heliocentric theory was not entirely a new idea as several earlier scholars had
proposed a heliocentric system, but Copernicus additionally theorised a new order for the planets
in terms of their distance from the Sun, that the Earth orbits the Sun once every year, and that the
Earth turns entirely on its own axis each day. These ideas were contrary to those of the Catholic
Church which considered humanity and the Earth as the proper and actual centre of God's
universe. The reaction to Copernicus' major work, De Revolutionibus Orbium Coelestium (On the
Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres), published in the year he died, was muted, and there was
hardly a revolutionary overturning of how everyone saw the world's place in the universe, as is
often claimed.
Despite Christianity's attempt to brush Copernicus' theories under the ecclesiastical
carpet, his work began a long process of scientifically determining the nature of our solar system
and its place in the wider universe. Over the following centuries, great thinkers like Galileo (1564-
1642 CE) and Isaac Newton (1642-1727 CE) would add to an ever-growing body of knowledge
regarding the movement and properties of planets, moons, and stars. In this sense, Copernicus was
one of the first protagonists in the scientific revolution that began in the Renaissance period. In
honour of his contribution to this process and modern astronomy, one of the largest craters on the
Moon is named after Copernicus.
Niccolò Machiavelli (1469–1527) was an Italian political philosopher, musician, poet,
and playwright. He was a key figure of the Renaissance, best known for his treatise on realist
political theory, The Prince (1513). Active in politics during a tumultuous era that
saw popes leading armies, the wealthy city-states of Italy falling one after another into the hands
of foreign powers, and governments rising and falling within a few weeks, Machiavelli analyzed
the successes and failures he saw around him. The Prince described various means by which a
prince could gain and retain control of his kingdom, evaluating each means in terms of how well
it would strengthen the position of the prince while serving the public interest. Machiavelli’s focus
on practical success at the expense of traditional moral values earned him the reputation of an
amoralist. The term "Machiavellian" has come to describe one who deceives and manipulates
others for gain and judges the importance of actions by how well they achieve the desired result.
The Medici family was a powerful and influential Florentine family from the thirteenth to
seventeenth century closely associated with the Renaissance and cultural and artistic revival during
this period. The family produced three popes (Leo X, Clement VII, and Leo XI), numerous rulers
of Florence (notably Lorenzo il Magnifico, to whom Machiavelli dedicated The Prince, and later
members of the French and English royal families.
From humble beginnings (the origin of the name is uncertain, it allegedly reflects a medical
trade—medico) originating from the agriculture based Mugello region, the family first achieved
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power through banking. The Medici Bank was one of the most prosperous and most respected in
Europe. There are some estimates that the Medici family was for a period of time the wealthiest
family in Europe. From this base, the family acquired political power initially in Florence, and
later in the wider Italy and Europe. A notable contribution to the profession of accounting was the
development of the double-entry bookkeeping system for tracking credits and debits. This system
was first used by accountants working for the Medici family in Florence. The most significant
accomplishment of the Medici family was its patronage of art and architecture.
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