Chapter+12

Chapter 12

**Big Ideas**

 * Students would understand...**
 * **"Renaissance"** is understood to mean **"rebirth,"** and citizens in the context of this time period took this meaning rather literally. Many truly believed the thousand (plus) years between the Roman Empire and the 15th Century were **"dark ages"** without cultural or intellectual legitimacy. Scholars like Jacob Burckhardt pushed this concept further, deeming Italy a place for the revival of antiquity or the perfecting of the individual. This led to an idealization of the time period and a somewhat skewed version of history, as we know the Renaissance was in fact a **continuation and not a complete break with the Middle Ages**. The legitimacy of the meaning "rebirth" remains a topic for debate and an interesting idea to consider when studying the Renaissance.
 * A new concept of the Renaissance man or **"l'uomo universale"** emerged during this time period. Now, an emphasis was placed on the ability of an individual and the realization of one's potential. A man should be well-rounded, or proficient in many different areas. This was a rather deviant ideology from the previous thought that men should concentrate on, say, one area of life. Castiglione wrote of this in //**The Book of the Courtier**//, where he outlined the perfect courtier as one who possesses character, grace, military skill, a liberal arts education, and a noble or modest personality.
 * **Humanism** was a major literary movement during the Renaissance. This concentrated on intellect, from studying the humanities or **liberal arts** to pursuing higher education. Grammar, poetry, philosophy, and rhetoric were now studied by many. **Petrarch**, or the father of humanism, stressed other values important to this movement like **individualism** and, to some degree, **secularism**. This surfaced in the form of civic humanism, as well, and later helped to bring about new philosophies like Neoplatonism and Hermeticism.
 * **The Italian Artistic Renaissance** was characterized by idealization, a realistic 3D style of painting, perspective, geometry, human-centered designs, movement, etc. Donatello's David presented a large, freestanding sculpture; Brunelleschi's architecture celebrated humans; da Vinci's art illustrated perspective, idealization, and an insight into the subjects of a piece. Each of these characteristics or figures (and many more) took the ideals of the Renaissance and manifested them into art.

**Essential Questions**

 * Why did the Renaissance movement begin and thrive in Italy?
 * How did the concept of an "ideal man" change in the Renaissance?
 * What was the role of Humanism? effects?
 * What was distinctive about Italian Renaissance art?

**Primary Sources**

 * ===Written //http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/prince-excerp.html// ===
 * Machiavelli's //The Prince//
 * This treatise on politics provided a concrete illustration of the Renaissance preoccupation with power. Machiavelli outlined a form of rule in which a prince must achieve and expand power in order to maintain a secure state. A prince must also place ethics aside or abandon morality at times on behalf of the state. Human nature can be self-centered, deceptive, and fickle; and thus successful politics must be as well. Machiavelli caught the attention of many through this revolutionary novel and basis for political philosophy. Part of this excerpt takes on the age-old question of whether a ruler should be loved or feared. Machiavelli deems both would be ideal, but it is infinitely more secure to be feared.
 * ===**Visual** //http://www.artchive.com/artchive/l/leonardo/lastsupp.jpg// ===
 * Leonardo da Vinci's //The Last Supper//
 * Leonardo da Vinci was a major figure in the last stage of Renaissance art, referred to as the High Renaissance. He used many fresh principles of the time in his art, such as the idealization of nature and of the human figure. In this infamous painting, da Vinci used perspective and three dimensional figures, as well as gestures and movement to show the inner life of the subjects.



Map

 * //[]//
 * The concept of the Renaissance movement began in Italy, which was dubbed "the birthplace of the modern world" by Burckhardt. This was a result of "geographic determinism," or certain factors that provided the Italian peninsula a leg up on the rest of Europe. As seen in this map, Italy has ideal access to the Mediterranean Sea, granting it a model climate, supreme soil, and prosperous economy due to the expanding trading market. Trade boomed, new industries were invested in, and a wealthy commercial empire resulted. Also seen in the map is the breakdown of the major states--Milan, Venice, Florence, the Papal States, and Naples. This fragmented nature led to fights or warfare between the states, and eventually precipitated the balance of power ideal and diplomacy.

Ten Key Terms

 * l'uomo universale
 * Humanism
 * Gutenburg
 * Civic Humanism
 * Neoplatonism
 * Hermeticism
 * Northern Renaissance
 * High Renaissance
 * Inquisition
 * Sacrosancta

Machiavelli Page
I purposely spelled his name "Nicolo Machiavelli" (as opposed to the correct Niccolo) in order for facebook to allow me to create the profile. http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002356892205