Chapter 14: the Renaissance and Reformation

Chapter 14: The Renaissance and Reformation

14.1 THE RENAISSANCE IN ITALY

Why Italy?

The Renaissance began in Italy and then spread north to the rest of Europe. It started in Italy for several reasons. One, Italian cities survived the Middle Ages with a rich merchant class, so there was money to spend. Two, Rome is in Italy, and the Renaissance experienced a rebirth of interest in ancient Rome and Roman ideas. Three, rich Italian merchants thought that education, individual achievement and the arts were very important. They spent their money helping talented individuals study and master their skills. A patron is somebody who spends their money supporting the life, education and talent of somebody else. The Medici family of Florence, Italy was very rich and powerful. They became patrons, or financial supporters, of many artists. Because of the Medici’s patronage, Florence produced many poets, artists, architects, scholars and scientists during the Renaissance. Three of the most famous artists of Florence were Michaelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Raphael. Michaelangelo is famous for carving the statue David and painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. Leonardo is famous for his paintings of the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. We still consider these Florentine artists some of the greatest masters of all time.

What was the Renaissance?

During the Renaissance, people had a renewed interest in the ideas of ancient Greece and Rome. They felt that their time was a rebirth from the chaos and fighting of the Middle Ages. Instead of just focusing on religion and the afterlife, Renaissance thinkers were also interested in real people and this life here on earth. This was called humanism. Pictures were painted of real people doing real things. Real emotions were expressed in art. In the Middle Ages, children were raised to be one kind of person—a farmer or a knight or a baker, for example. They were trained to do that job and they didn’t know anything else. In the Renaissance, individuals tried to develop many talents. Renaissance thinkers believed that individuals should achieve as much as possible.

People in the Renaissance were curious. They explored new parts of the world. They tried new techniques in painting. People during the Renaissance made important scientific discoveries. They were open to new religious ideas. Humanists believed that education would make people more talented and creative.

Literature changed a lot from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance. In the Middle Ages, very few people knew how to read and write. Some priests and monks copied religious texts, and most of those were written in Latin. During the Renaissance, humanistic writers began writing about real life. They started writing “how-to” books. In The Book of the Coutier, people could read about what “proper behavior” was for different classes of people. The Humanists believed in studying the humanities like grammar, rhetoric, history and poetry like the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

A Golden Age in the Arts

Renaissance arts reflectedHumanistconcerns. Paintings still included religious figures, but also included real people. Peasants, wealthy merchants and Jesus were all popular subjects for art. New techniques for painting were also discovered. Renaissance artists learned how to use perspective, atechnique that uses slanting lines and objects of different sizes to give art a feeling of depth. Artists used perspective to make things look 3-D. They used shading and lighting to make objects appear round and real. They studied the human body in order to make people look for realistic.

Some women became famous artists. SofonisbaAnguissola was a woman that became a painter for the King of Spain. Some women created beautiful art, but let their husbands take credit for it.

In architecture, the Gothic style of the Middle Ages was not used as much. Renaissance architects used the columns, arches and domes that were used by the Ancient Greeks and Romans.

Three Geniuses of Renaissance Art

Leonardo da Vinci had endless curiosity. He made sketches of inventions for flying machines and underwater boats. He painted famous works like the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. He studied anatomy so that he could understand and draw the human body in a realistic way.

Michelangelo was a sculptor, engineer, architect and poet. He carved famous works like David and Pietá. Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome. It took him four years, laying on his back, to paint. The image of God reaching out and touching Adam’s finger (giving Adam life) is one that millions of people recognize.

Raphael was a painter and sculptor that studied the works of Leonardo and Michelangelo. He is known for religious paintings that are also humanistic. He had many paintings of Mary holding Jesus. In his famous painting, The School of Athens, Raphael used perspective to paint an almost 3-D picture of an imaginary gathering of great philosophers and scientists like Plato, Socrates, Leonardo, Michelangelo—and himself.

14.2 THE RENAISSANCE MOVES NORTH

Like humanists from Italy, humanists from northern Europe also valued education and classical learning. They believed that humanist learning would help people become more religious and moral. There was a great Dutch priest named Erasmus who believed that the bible should be translated into the vernacular of the people. Vernacular means the everyday language of people. In those days, the bible was written in Latin but most regular people did not speak Latin, so most everyday people could not read the bible. Erasmus also spoke against corruption in the Church. Erasmus had a friend named Thomas More. Thomas More wrote a book called Utopia, where he describes a peaceful, productive society.

The most famous person in Renaissance literature was William Shakespeare. He was an English poet and playwright. His most famous plays include: Romeo and Juliet, MacBeth ,Julius Caesar and Othello. People watched Shakespeare’s plays. They also could read his plays because of the invention of the printing press.

In 1456, a German named Johann Gutenberg printed a copy of the bible on his printing press. The printing press was a device that made printing fast and easy to read. The printing press brought about some important changes. One, making books and other printed material became faster and cheaper. Two, books became more available, so more people learned to read. Three, people could read books and learn about medicine, religion, law, and other topics. Four, books and other print exposed people to new ideas. When people had new ways to write and share ideas, changes started happening faster.

14.3 THE PROTESTANT REFORMATION

During the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, the Roman Catholic Church had gotten rich and powerful. Popes had political power. They lived in fancy palaces. They were patrons of artists. They would start wars to protect Church lands or to go on Crusades. In order to pay for all of these things, popes started selling indulgences. An indulgence is money paid to shorten the soul’s time in purgatory before it goes up to heaven. Many Christians in northern Europe got sick and tired of these kinds of abuses in the Church. They began to protest, or speak out against, the Church. They wanted the Church to reform, or change. The phrase “protestant reformation” comes from the words “protest” and “reform.”

Luther’s Protest

In 1517, a corrupt priest named Johann Tetzel was selling indulgences outside of the town of Wittenberg, Germany. Tetzel claimed that if you bought the indulgence, it would guarantee that you and your dead relatives would get to go to heaven. Martin Luther was a German monk and professor who was very angry about the corruption of the Church. When he heard about Tetzel selling the indulgences, he was outraged. He wrote up a document called The 95 Theses where he lists 95 reasons why nobody should be selling indulgences. Because of the printing press, suddenly, copies of The 95 Theses were everywhere. A huge debate about indulgences and the Church started. The Church told Martin Luther that he should recant, or take back what he said, about his views. Luther refused to recant.

Luther had a few main teachings that were different from the Roman Catholic Church. First, Luther believed that you could get into heaven by belief/faith alone. The Church said that you had to have faith AND do good deeds. Second, Luther believed that the Bible was the only true source of religious “truth.” The Church believed that the pope and other Church leaders could make up religious “truths.” Third, Luther believed that all people could equally interact and communicate with God. The Church believed that people needed the assistance of priests and popes to interpret God’s word and to interact with God. Luther did not believe in 5 of the 7 Holy Sacraments of the Church because they were not mentioned in the Bible. He did not want indulgences, confession, pilgrimages and praying to saints. He thought that priests should be able to marry. Luther’s followers started the Lutheran Church and they made these changes to their new religion.

Spread of Lutheran Ideas

Lutheranism spread through Germany and Scandinavia. Lutherans started calling themselves “Protestants,” because they were the ones who “protested” the authority of the pope. Luther’s ideas spread because people were sick of the corruption of the Church. German priests also liked taking some of the power away from Church clergy, who had become rich landowners. Peasants liked Luther’s ideas and they thought Luther would help in their Peasants’ Revolt, but he didn’t help them. Finally, the Holy Roman Emperor and the Lutheran princes came to an agreement called the Peace of Augsburg. After signing the Peace of Augsburg, it was decided that each prince could decide which religion their subjects had to be---either Catholic or Lutheran. Most northern German princes chose Lutheranism and most southern Germans chose to be Catholics.

John Calvin

Two other reformers challenged the teachings and corruption of the Catholic church—Ulrich Zwingli and John Calvin. John Calvin was a priest and lawyer. He wrote a book about his beliefs called the Institutes of the Christian Religion. Like Luther, Calvin believed that people were saved by faith alone. He also thought that the Bible was the only source of religious truth. Different from Luther, John Calvin believed in predestination. Predestination means that God had already decided if you would go to heaven or not—if you were poor, it showed that God had already decided that you were a sinner and you were being punished. God knew if you were a saint or a sinner and you couldn’t change. Calvinists tried to live like saints to show that they were predestined to go to heaven. Calvinists were very strict. They punished people for fighting, laughing in church and dancing. They believed in religious education and moral behavior for both boys and girls.

14.4 REFORMATION IDEAS SPREAD

The English Reformation

Across Europe, hundreds of new Protestant churches sprang up. Many people left the Catholic church. Still, at that time, divorce was not accepted by any church. King Henry VIII (Henry the 8th) had been a good Catholic. But after 18 years of being married to Catherine of Aragon, he had only had one child—Mary Tudor. Henry wanted to have his marriage annulled (or cancelled) so that he could marry Anne Boleyn and have more children—hopefully a son. The pope refused to give him an annulment. Henry was furious. He split with the Catholic church. He formed his own Church of England. He made himself the head of the Church of England so that he could change the rules to whatever he wanted. Henry changed the rules, got his marriage annulled and married Anne Boleyn. They had a daughter, Elizabeth. Henry kept on getting his marriages annulled and remarrying—trying to have a son. He was married 6 times and only had one son—Edward.

When Henry died, 10 year old Edward became king. Edward got sick and died. His sister Mary Tudor became Queen Mary. She wanted to return England to the Catholic faith, but she didn’t succeed. When Mary died, Elizabeth became queen. Some people still wanted the Church of England to return to Catholicism. Some wanted to stay a Protestant church. Elizabeth made compromises that brought back some elements of Catholicism but kept some parts of Protestantism. A compromise is a middle ground where each side gives a little and gets a little, but nobody gets everything they want.

The Catholic Reformation

By the 1530’s, a lot of people had left the Catholic church. Pope Paul III made some changes called the Catholic Reformation. These changes were designed to bring back the moral authority of the church, try to end corruption, stop so many people from leaving the Church, and maybe bring some believers back to the Church. At the Council of Trent, popes and church leaders met to decide the direction of the Catholic church. It reaffirmed that Catholics still believed: 1) you could be saved by faith AND good works; and 2) the Bible is a major source of religious truth, but not the ONLY source. The Council of Trent tried to end corruption by punishing corrupt priests. It also established schools where priests could be better educated about Catholic teachings.

The Church tried to find heretics and root out (discover) heresy by using secret testimony, torture and execution. There were witch hunts where suspected non-believers were tortured or killed. People accused of witchcraft were often social outcasts—beggars, poor women, midwives blamed when babies died, and herbalists. Jews were treated very badly during this time. They were forced to live in ghettos, or small sections of a city where only one race, religion or ethnicity was forced to live. Sometimes they were forced out of the country entirely. A few places tolerated Jews, but most places had a lot of religious discrimination.

14.5 THE SCIENTIFIC REVOLUTION

Changing Views of the Universe

Ancient Greeks believed that the Earth was the center of the universe. The Church also believed this. Therefore, when Nicolaus Copernicus had a theory that the SUN was the center of the universe, people didn’t believe him. Copernicus had a heliocentric (sun-centered) view of the universe, where the Earth was just one of several planets orbiting the sun. Scientists named Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler did scientific research and agreed with Copernicus’ heliocentric theory. In Italy, Galileo Galilei made a telescope. He observed the moons orbiting Jupiter, just like the Earth orbits the sun. Scientists were mad. The Church was mad. They believed that the heavens were fixed and unchanging, so they called Galileo a “heretic.” Galileo was brought to trial before the Inquisition. They said they would kill him if he didn’t take back (recant) this idea of the sun being the center of the universe. They made him say publicly that the Earth stood still in the center of the universe. Galileo said the things they wanted him to, but as he left the Inquisition, he muttered under his breath, “Nevertheless, it DOES move.”

A New Scientific Method

During the Renaissance, science became based on observation and experimentation. This was new for people. A step-by-step process called the Scientific Method began to be used. The Scientific Method is a method of information-gathering with the following steps: state the problem, gather information, form a hypothesis, experiment to test the hypothesis, record and analyze the data, state a conclusion.

The new scientific method was revolutionary at the time. Scientists like Sir Francis Bacon and Rene Descartes (pronounced like: day-kart) used experimentation and observation to discover new ideas and new technologies.

Newton Ties it All Together

Isaac Newton was a brilliant English scientist. He saw an apple fall from a tree and wondered if the same force that pulled the apple to the Earth might be the same force that controlled the movements of the planets. Using observation and mathematics, after 20 years, Newton developed his theory on gravity. He said that gravity was the force that keeps the planets in their orbits around the sun. Newton had many ideas about astronomy and physics. He had many ideas of motion and mechanics that we still use today.

Other Scientific Advances

During the 1500’s and 1600’s, there were also advances in chemistry and medicine. Elements and chemical compounds were discovered and named. More was learned about anatomy. The microscope was invented by Anton van Leeuwenhoek and micro-organisms were able to be seen. This allowed scientists to see cells for the first time and think more about disease and the human body. All of these discoveries were necessary for the beginning of the period called the Enlightenment in the 1700’s.