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Recommended: Renaissance In Italy
When the Black Death arrived in Europe in 1347, it completely overtook the country and left nothing but chaos. Europe was desperate for a rebirth. Luckily, a new beginning of the modern world arose, the Renaissance. Not only was this a new era for Europe, but also a great turning point in Western intellectual and cultural tradition due to changes in multiple, important subjects
Humanism, a completely new perspective in life emerged during the Renaissance. Once humanist figures, such as Petrarch, Machiavelli, and Erasmus, spread their knowledge about it, people started to adopt the thought of humanism, secularism, and individualism. They realized how important and valuable humans are in this world. Once humanism became more popular, it was
easier to change politics, government, and civilization. Art played a very big role in the Renaissance. Due to the discovery of math, perspective, anatomy, oil paints, and inspiration from classical Rome and Greece, art drastically changed during this new era. It became more realistic, free-standing, less symbolic (expressed the artist’s feelings), and modern looking. Countless artists contributed to the transformation of art during the Renaissance. Some such as Jan van Eyck and Leonardo da Vinci created legendary paintings while Donatello and Michelangelo mastered the art of sculpting. The art of the Renaissance was one of the biggest impacts in the turning point. Vision of Politics also remarkably altered. Machiavelli, a significant figure in Renaissance politics, believed Italy needed a powerful, ruthless leader who could unite Italy and defend them against foreign invasion. He also viewed religion and morality as weak in political life and believed anything is allowed as long as it serves the state. On the other hand, Erasmus, a figure of theology, believed in peace and that a ruler should work for the common good/his people. Although there were many different beliefs arising during the Renaissance that opposed other’s ideas, it was good because it shows how people started to expand their thoughts and think differently. People were thinking about others (humanism) and trying to find the best solution to a successful lifestyle. The Renaissance will always mark an important turning point in European history. Everything changed during the Renaissance, from art and literature to thought and feeling. The Renaissance was a period of great development which influenced every life in Europe. Without the Renaissance, art, government, thought, education, literature, and cultural tradition would have still been the same for several centuries after the Black Death.
Sofonisba Anguissola is a very good example of individualism in the Renaissance. She painted several self-portraits, such as the one above, as well as portraits of other people. Strayer defines the individualism movement as “a new emphasis on man as a private person, mainly concerned with himself” (Strayer). It can obviously be seen that Anguissola cared for herself very much as it took a very long time to make a single portrait and to do one of herself must have been very complex. The people that she painted portraits of are also examples of individualism. They had to commission an artist and pose for hours to just have a picture of themself. This behavior of appreciating yourself and your own talents was very different from the Middle Ages,
But, what about the enemy that they could not see; the enemy that would plummet Medieval Europe into an age of darkness and, ultimately, death? The Bubonic Plague was a pivotal moment for Europe, bringing forth a new era of social mobility, thought, and artistic expression, leading to the Renaissance. This is very evident, as one looks farther into the supply and demand of labour, the altering perspective of the church, and the new movement in artwork.
According to Nicholas Mann, "Humanism is that concern with the legacy of antiquity, and in particular but not exclusively with its literary legacy... it involves above all the rediscovery and study of Greek and Roman texts, the restoration and interpretation of them, and the assimilation of the ideas and values they contain." The Studia Humanitatis (Studies of Humanity) is a Latin term used by Roman writers describing a cycle of studies in the humanities including, grammar, rhetoric, history, poetry, and moral philosophy. Francesco Petrarch, an Italian scholar and poet of the fifteenth century, is considered by many to be the father of humanism. Petrarch 's influential texts had circulated widely throughout Florence and made their way into the government. Thus, humanist learning began to shape political ideologies in Florence. By inspiring humanist philosophy, Petrarch helped pave the way for the start of the Renaissance.
The Black Plague, perhaps one of the worst epidemics in history, swept its evil across Europe in the middle of the 14th century, killing an estimated 20 million people. This major population shift, along with other disasters occurring at the time, such as famine and an already existing economic recession, plunged Europe into a dark period of complete turmoil. Anarchy, psychological breakdowns, and the dissipation of church power were some of the results. As time passed, however, society managed to find new ground and began its long path of recovery. The plague, as catastrophic as it was to medieval Europe, had just as many positive effects that came with this recovery as it did negative effects prior. An end to feudalism, increased wages and innovation, the idea of separation of church and state, and an attention to hygiene and medicine are only some of the positive things that came after the plague. It could also be argued that the plague had a significant impact on the start of the Renaissance.
During the Renaissance, people were dedicated to studying human works. They would observe from real life to gain inspiration, new ideas, and to try to recreate the world as they saw it in their art. New techniques such as scientific and atmospheric perspective were created, changing art forever. Artists would use their skills to create works for patrons, from the Church, various guilds, and other religious orders. During the High Renaissance, Julius II commissioned Raphael to decorate the Vatican Palace. The first of the rooms he decorated was The “Room of the Signature”, where he painted The School of Athens. Originally, this room housed Julius II’s personal library, but later on it would be the room where papal documents were signed. In 1508, Raphael began painting four frescoes that represented theology, philosophy, law, and the arts. As stated in Janson’s History of Art Volume II, This fresco “represents a summation of High Renaissance humanism, for it attempts to represent the unity of knowledge in one grand scheme.” Raphael’s The School of Athens is a prime example of humanistic art, as evidenced by the subject of the art itself, the classical elements in the piece, and it’s scientific and illusionistic rendering.
Humanism is a literary and linguistic movement cultivated during the Renaissance that was founded on revising classical Latin and Greek texts, styles, and values. Humanists encouraged looking to the past to discover what is good and how people should act including leaders. Many humanist wrote about how they believe a prince should act and what he should do to be successful in his rule. Most humanists believed that princes should be virtuous in order to be successful rulers as many ancient leaders were. However, Machiavelli in his work The Prince uses history as a part of his argument to undermine some humanist ideals such as being purely virtuous and morality being the key to good government but also uses it to promote humanist ideals such as looking to the past to discover how a leader should behave.
The Black Death plagues had disastrous consequences for Europe in the 14th century. After the initial outbreak in Europe, 1347, it continued for around five years and then mysteriously disappeared. However it broke out again in the 1360s and every few decades thereafter till around 1700. The European epidemic was an outbreak of the bubonic plague, which began in Asia and spread across trade routes. When it reached Europe, a path of destruction began to emerge. Medieval society was tossed into disarray, economies were fractured, the face of culture and religion changed forever. However the plagues devastation was not all chaotic, there were benefits too, such as modern labour movements, improvements in medicine and a new outlook on life. Therefore in order to analyse the impact the Black Death had on societies in the 14th century, this essay will consider the social, economic, cultural and religious factors in order to reach an overall conclusion.
During the renaissance, there was a renewed interest in the arts, and the traditional views of society came into question. People began to explore the power of the human mind. A term often used to describe the increasing interest in the powers of the human mind is humanism. Generally, humanism stresses the individual's creative, reasoning, and aesthetic powers. However, during the Renaissance, individual ideas about humanism differed.
In the years 1331 to 1350 all of Europe broke out in an epidemic, called the Black Death. This terrible sickness murdered about one third of all the people in Europe, it spread, and killed quickly. People’s lives were changed drastically; they were scared to go outside in fear of catching the gross disease. The Black Death spread rapidly through Europe having significant impacts on society.
The Black Death was a true historical turning point in European history. It was a fast spreading, fatal disease which compared to smallpox took 25 million more lives than the outbreak of smallpox. While some historians debate over the fact whether it made a long lasting change to European everyday lives, there is overwhelming evidence to support the fact that the Black Death was truly a turning point in history with the improvement of medical practices, the change of the economy, the weakening of feudalism and the first stages of doubting the Church. With these changes to European life it can be safe to vouch that the Black Death was a historical turning point.
The Black Plague devastated Europe in the mid-1300s, killing half of the continent’s entire population. It was one of the greatest crises of the Medieval time period, but it began the societal development that was necessary for Europe to evolve. The Black Plague was one of the most important turning points in the West during the Late Middle ages. It was the spark that began the gradual motion towards religious, social, and economic freedom.
The 14th century is ranked as one of the most distressing epochs in the history of Western culture. With the transformation of the Holy Roman Empire into a greatly destabilized elective monarchy, the transfer in political power from Germany to France and the escalation of England's power comes the end of the High Middle Ages in which Europe sank into a time of despair. Many events were responsible for this decline and loss of hope. Among them, three deserve special attention: the Great Schism, the Hundred Years War, and the Black Plague.
1.) The 14th century century in Europe would mark a period of incredible instability due to factors such was war, plague, and schisms in the church. In particular, Medieval Europe would experience significant changes due to these crisis’s. To begin, one must focus on a factor that cannot be ignored during this time period, the Black Death. The Black Death had easily killed one-third of the population of Europe in a span of a few years and spread rapidly throughout Europe. This is exemplified through the article Crisis and Renaissance in which an individual states “countless numbers of Tartars and Saracens were struck down by a mysterious illness which brought sudden death” (257.1) and even “480,000 [people] in the city of Babylon were carried of by this
M. H. Abram's A Glossary of Literary Terms defines Renaissance Humanism, stating that some of the key concepts of the philosophy centered around "the dignity and central position of human beings in the universe" as reasoning creatures, as well as downplaying the "'animal' passions" of the individual. The mode of the thought also "stressed the need for a rounded development of and individual's diverse powers... as opposed to merely technical or specialized training." Finally, all of this was synthesized into and perhaps defined by their tendency to minimize the prevalent Christian ideal of innate corruption and withdrawal from the present, flawed world in anticipation of heaven. (p. 83)
The re-introduction of individualism in the Renaissance, from 1400 to 1700, brought to people a sense of opportunity to depict their emotions and opinions through art and religion. One’s abilities, overall character, uniqueness, and intellectual and creative power were realized and acknowledged through individualism instead of the former melding into the communal whole of the Roman Catholic Church (“Individualism”). It was introduced because of the importance of humanism in the Renaissance, a literary movement that put prime importance towards humans rather than supernatural matters (“Humanism”). Individualistic values were originally introduced in Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome right before the Middle Ages, but ended because of the rise of the caste system in the later Roman Empire, by the rise of the Roman Catholic Church, and by feudalism in