NORTHERN RENAISSANCE Politics and the State More of a blend of old and new - less classical Much more

religious than in Italy Studied Greek and Hebrew texts for a greater understanding of Christianity Students from England, Holland, France, and Germany went to Italy for the new learning Northern humanists interpreted Italian ideas in terms of their own traditions. They were more religious They stressed the Bible and early Christian themes They developed an ethical way of life - provided guidance on personal behavior Classical and Christian cultures should be combined They had a profound faith in the human intellect People could be improved through education

Northern (Christian) Humanists In Germany: Western and southern Germany were economically advanced 14th century - mystics like Thomas a Kempis (The Imitation of Christ) (1427) believed the human soul could communicate with God They did not rebel against the Church but wanted a deeper religion Around 1450 Gutenberg invented printing with movable type In France Jacques Lefevre dEtaples applied humanism to religion Believed in education

Wrote Gargantua and Pantagruel Rabelais was secular In England John Colet Thomas More was trained as a lawyer at the Inns of Court Deeply interested in the classics and greatest English humanist Entered government under Henry VIII Wrote Utopia (1516) where all children receive a humanist education. More believed private property caused vices and civil disorder Lost his life to maintain his convictions Edmund Spenser Christopher Marlowe Shakespeare Low Countries Erasmus (1466-1536) "Prince of the humanists" had a deep appreciation for the classics Most well-respected man in Europe Influenced by John Colet in England Wrote The Education of a Christian Prince and The Praise of Folly (1512) Two main themes: Education is the means to reform The philosophy of Christ Christianity is an inner feeling

Artists

Jan van Eyck Hubert van Eyck Bosch Brueghal Drer Holbein the Younger

new monarchs A new breed of leaders - ruthless, preferred security to love Outside of Italy they were actively building states They used the monarchy to guarantee law and order The despots of Italy, Henry VII of England, Louis XI of France, Ferdinand of Aragon All Machiavellian (but could not have read The Prince) invested kingship with strong authority and national purpose Monarchy linked all classes of society within a boundary Insisted on respect and loyalty Ruthless oppressed rebellions and opposition Loved the business of kingship Tended to rely on the middle-class - new bourgeoisie

FRANCE Charles VII revived the monarchy

expelled the English increased the influence of the middle class strengthened finances through taxes like salt (gabelle) and land (taille) created first permanent royal army by the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges (1438) asserted supremacy over the papacy crown could appoint bishops

His son, Louis XI (Valois) was a Renaissance prince Promoted industry improved the army signed international treaties The Estates General met only once during his reign 1516 Francis I signed the Concordat of Bologna which rescinded the Pragmatic Sanction king could appoint bishops

ENGLAND Decimated by the Black Death The Tudors (1485-1603) won War of the Roses They passed laws against nobles having standing armies The monarch did not depend on government for money so much more independent Royal Council (Star Chamber) was the center of authority The Royal Council handled the kings business including arranging marriages. Aristocratic threats were dealt with by the Star Chamber Star Chamber used Roman Law and methods to enforce the law accused people were not entitled to see the evidence against them

sessions were in secret torture was often used there were no juries

The Tudors promoted peace and order Henry VII (1485) rebuilt the monarchy Ruled through unpaid officials he encouraged trade built up the merchant fleet crushed an invasion from Ireland secured peace with Scotland (his daughter Margaret married the Scottish king)

SPAIN Isabella of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon married (1469) and united the regions They ruled through hermandades Restructured the royal council - excluded the rich and powerful The church was the linchpin of the reform. Alliance with the Spanish pope Alexander VI Spanish monarchs gained great power and a national church reconquista (1492) - expulsion of the Jews and Moors from Spain lasted over 100 years Conversos- Jews that converted Moriscos - Christians of Moorish background Marranos - Christians of Jewish background

inquisition - the ruthless court that decided if conversos were telling the truth later used against the Protestants Ferdinand and Isabella expelling all Jews from Spain had major economic consequences Absolute religious orthodoxy and pure blood were the foundation of Spain Ferdinand and Isabellas daughter Joanna married Philip. Their son was Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor. Charles V - the Universal Monarch

Germany Part of the Holy Roman Empire Local lords recognized the supremacy of the Emperor, who was elected by 7 Electors 1452 Archduke of Austria (Habsburg) was elected Emperor Maximilian I (1493-1519) He married the heiress of the Duke of Burgundy Their son, Philip married Joanna, daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella Their son was Charles V

Politics The Prince - Machiavelli For Machiavelli the test was a good government was an effective government. Machiavellis work rests on two principles: i. Permanent social order ii. reflecting Gods will is impossible Politics should be considered a science. Johann Gutenberg changed the course of history with the movable print. Printing made propaganda possible and forced people into groups i.e. church and state or Crown and nobility.

Printing stimulated literacy of lay people.

Women The status of upper-class women declined Women generally had less power than in the Middle Ages Renaissance humanism represented an educational advance for a small minority. Women had to choose marriage or education Education brought jealousy and envy Girls in the upper-class were taught how to dance, paint, and play music - they were decorative Love and sex also worsened during the Renaissance Women belonged at home Educational opportunities were severely limited Literary and art works had no effect on ordinary women Women were a sign of wealth.

Northern Renaissance Humanism

The ideas of the Italian Renaissance gradually moved north to the rest of Europe. The penetration of Renaissance ideas to the rest of Europe came to be called the Northern European Renaissance. The Northern Renaissance's high point took place between 1490 and 1520. After 1520, there was a rapid decline in the Northern Renaissance due to the events of the Reformation. When the ideas of the Italian Renaissance were carried into Northern Europe, they were being brought into a world that was very different from the one that had produced them. There was very little urban development in Northern Europe and its political structure was different from that of Italy. The dominant Italian political unit was the city-state. The dominant Northern European political institution was the nation state. The nation state was larger than the city-state, had different problems, and was based on different theories of government. These differences affected how Renaissance ideas were received and what was done with the ideas afterwards. They also help to explain why we distinguish between the Renaissance experiences of Italy and Northern Europe. Another factor that makes the distinction even more clear was religion. We will examine the religious factor later in this lesson. How did the ideas of the Italian Renaissance move northward? You should be able to make some educated guesses about this movement based on your previous reading and your familiarity with how culture spreads in Western civilization. The most obvious explanation for cultural spread is trade. You have read references to the extensive trade conducted by the Italian city-states, especially that of Florence and Venice. The point was made in Lesson 1 that ideas follow trade routes and Renaissance ideas were no exception. Italian universities, such as the University of Bologna, also served as intellectual conduits. Students from all over Europe attended universities in Italy and were exposed to Renaissance ideas. When they completed their studies and returned home, they took the ideas with them. Even war had an effect on the transfer of ideas. Italy became a battlefield for some of the major European powers after 1494. At least some of the men of foreign armies took ideas home with them, as well. New technology also spread Renaissance ideas. The development of movable type and a printing press (whether by the German, Johann Gutenberg, or other printers in Holland or Italy) had a major impact on the spread of ideas. Finally, the Italian aristocracy interacted with other European aristocrats, for the bonds of aristocracy transcended national boundaries. (A point to remember is that the aristocracy was the last group in Europe to surrender class loyalty for national loyalty.) The Northern Renaissance is also referred to as the Christian [Link] are safe to assume from this title alone that religion played a more significant and overt role in the Northern Renaissance than it did in the Italian Renaissance. The Christianity of Northern Europe was affected by an upsurge in the popularity of mysticism during this period. Mysticism emphasizes personal communication with God through contemplation. Not all mystics achieved the supreme happiness that resulted from this personal communication, but that achievement was their goal.

Mystics emphasized that the attainment of their goal was dependent on many factors. One factor was the type of life that an individual led. One was to lead as godlike a life as possible to create the proper frame of mind for communicating with God. Thus, the mystics emphasized a practical life program that stressed inner piety as the key to mystic communication. Externals were not important. Formal religious rituals and services were not important. It was the inwardness of religious experience that helped to create an atmosphere conducive to communication with God. Individuals established a direct personal communication with God that eliminated the need for a priestly middleman. It soon became clear that Northern European mysticism was going to have an impact on the Catholic Church. The humanists of the Northern Renaissance were not themselves mystics, but the intellectual climate of the time made it impossible for them not to be influenced by the mystic movement. The mystics were individualists in religion; most claimed authority from a God or saints; some operated outside the usual limits of the Church. Like the Italian humanists, the humanists of the Northern Renaissance turned to the classics for their ethical content, but they defined "the classics" differently. During the Italian Renaissance, the term classic was applied only to works that had been produced in Latin during the first century B.C. to the first century A.D., although the great works of the Greek world were later included in the definition. Northern Europeans considered the writings of the early Christian authors to be classics, too. The Italian humanists would have rejected this inclusion. The Church of the New Testament and the first five centuries of Christian development were crucial periods to Northern Humanists. The Northern Humanists tended to regard the early Church as classic and later developments as less true to Apostolic standards. The medieval Church could have argued that institutional Christianity and doctrine developed naturally and purposefullyfrom the less structured to the more complex. However, the Medieval Church had constantly argued that an Apostolic standard laid down in the early Church was and remained the Christian ideal. Christian Humanists took this standard seriously and wanted to know more about the history of the time. When the humanists of the Northern Renaissance studied the works of the early Christian writers, they saw a much more simple and vibrant Christianity than they felt was practiced in their own time. They hoped to return Christianity to this earlier standard, which is why they are referred to as Christian humanists. They hoped to accomplish this restoration through a reform program based on human dignity. The Christian humanists felt that a proper educational program could encourage individuals to read the early Christian writers and to encounter the attitudes of the earlier period. They believed that an exposure to such literature would lead readers to seek the reform of the present Church. Thus, Christian humanists were a reform group within the Church. They hoped to translate the early Christian writers and to use printed copies of the works to spread their discoveries. It is fair to say that the Christian humanists were tremendously optimistic about the human capacity for improvement because they saw human beings as having innately good natures. They firmly believed that once individuals were exposed to the problems of the present-day Church and presented with attractive classical alternatives that they would make the correct choices without hesitation. Although they sought simply to reform the Catholic Church, the Christian humanists helped prepare the way for the Protestant Reformation. They were somewhat naive in believing

that they could control the human reaction to the material they presented. Once the door to criticism and change was opened, there was no way to shut it. The overwhelming majority of Christian humanists did not become Protestants, but they certainly opened the door for others.

Erasmus and Christian Humanism

The greatest of the Christian humanists was Desiderius Erasmus. He was born the illegitimate son of a clergyman and was sent to a monastery while quite young. His early education was an almost constant struggle between the classics and religion. Eventually, he was able to reconcile the two by emphasizing their common ethical content. Erasmus published a work called the Adages in 1500 that helped to establish his reputation as a writer. It was a collection of quotations from classical writers accompanied by commentaries by Erasmus. He published The Handbook of the Christian Knight in 1503. The book demonstrated what Erasmus thought should be the chief aim of religion: the restoration of Christianity to its condition at the time of Christ and the apostles. Erasmus thought that early Erasmus Christianity was a much more practical belief than the formalized Christian structure that had grown up around it over the centuries. The "philosophy of Christ," as Erasmus referred to early Christianity, should be a guide for daily life. In this, he was influenced by a lay movement, the Brethren of the Common Life, founded by a pious layman, the Dutchman, Gerard Groote. Erasmus, like Groote, stressed lay religious piety and more simple religious services. Erasmus' brilliant translations of the Greek and Latin classics were tremendously popular and became the sixteenth-century equivalent of today's "best-sellers." He firmly believed in the educational program of the Christian humanists. His criticisms of Church practices and churchmen (especially the criticism of churchmen included in his In Praise of Folly) made Erasmus unpopular with the leaders of the Church. They strongly opposed Erasmus' basic argument that the Church's stress on formalism was not necessary for salvation. Nevertheless, Erasmus remained dedicated to the ideal of Christendom and papal authority.