The Renaissance
C. Oldstone-Moore
The Renaissance is the label we put upon the
emergence of a new perspective and set of ideals in Europe in 1300s through the
1500s. It was not sudden, neat and clean. It was gradual,
inconsistent, and variable from place to place. But generally speaking,
it was the emergence, especially in Italy, of new worldly ideals, referred to
as "humanism," to replace the medieval emphasis on self-denial and
eternal life. Humanists did not reject religion or eternal life, but they
paid much more attention to life in this world. Note, for example, how Van
Eyck's painting portrays both piety and humanism by representing the Madonna
and child in a physically realistic way.
The main driver of this new movement was the
expanding power of the nobility in comparison to the church, and the growing
wealth and confidence of the Italian merchant class. More riches, a new passion
for classic literature, and new discoveries in an age of exploration (which we
will discuss later) arose from-- and helped create--a new emphasis on the idea
that humanity was not a band of helpless sinners, but was instead capable of
greatness by its own efforts through knowledge and art. As a consequence,
educated people during the Renaissance tended to become more interested in
human, rather than spiritual concerns.
Making of Renaissance society in Italy
In the century after 1450, Europe generally,
and Italy in particular, experienced a great recovery of trade and
manufacturing after the war-torn and plague-ravaged late Middle Ages.
Population expanded again, and prices rose. Merchants traded woolens,
linens, wine and other goods to the Muslim east for luxury goods such as silk
and spices from China, Indonesia and India (pepper, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg and
ginger) which were valuable in making bland foods and slightly spoiled meats
delicious and exciting. The most
important social change wrought by new economic growth was the rise of a new
merchant class. They were an exclusive business elite, making up about 2%
of residents in the great Italian trading cities. They were wholesalers,
bankers, distributers, and manufacturers. Many became enormously
wealthy, built palaces, funded popes and princes, and dominated political life
in city.
The social influence of this merchant class
was very important. Naturally, they developed a different social and
moral outlook on life than the traditional aristocrats and clergy of the Middle
Ages. They had a kind of secular ethic, not in the sense that they were
atheist (they were not), but in the sense that they believed worldly
accomplishment and wealth was just as honorable as fighting or praying.
Aristocrats and clergy would deny this. Medieval monks or friars like St.
Francis insisted that wealth was dangerous to the soul, and usury was a
sin. For medieval knights, fighting, whether for God or love, was the
chivalric ideal. Merchants, by contrast, had their own code. They
honored trade and wealth, and the earthly and spiritual good that wealth could
produce, including the well-being of the family, the state, the church,
learning and art. In short,
renaissance businessmen believed they deserved honor for their worldly
accomplishments.
The merchant family
Insofar as family life changed in the
Renaissance, it changed most in urban merchant classes. The most
significant change here was in the role of women, which was carefully defined
in contrast to the worldly man of commerce. The urban wife of a merchant
was not an aristocratic heiress of castle, nor was she a laborer, as wives of
peasants and craftsmen would be. What, then, was her role? It was
to be mistress of the home and family. But the home for merchants was not
the place of business, as it was for ladies of medieval courts, or for peasant
women on the farm. Wealthy renaissance wives were separated from both
business and public life, and this separation was strictly enforced.
Women were excluded from the guilds and from trade, and the gender roles men
and women became more strictly drawn as they grew apart in practice. In
the Renaissance, we find the first writings about the roles of men and women,
designed to indoctrinate both men and women in their proper stations in
society.
Leon Battista Alberti, a humanist scholar,
architect, and papal advisor in Florence, tried to explain these matters in his
book On the Family, which he wrote to
guide his own children. He explained that a man ought to "have but
one companion in his life, that he take refuge under a roof with her, that he
never leave her, that he bring and order what is necessary and commodious to
his family, and that the woman at home be charged with conserving what is
brought to her." He argued that very young women are the best wives,
because, "at that young age the girls have not yet learned evil ways, they
have not yet lost their natural modesty, and they more easily learn to follow
the manners and the wishes of their husbands."
Why should Alberti stress these points?
The merchant class fostered a spirit of individualism, adventurousness, and
business. All this took place outside the home. Women must be
excluded from this individualism and adventurousness for the sake of the
family. They must also be subordinate and loyal when there husband was
away, and unable to keep watch over his wife and children. This raises the
question of whether wealthy women of the Renaissance were better or worse off
than their medieval counterparts.
The Renaissance Man 
Many important trading cities like Venice,
Florence, Genoa and Siena established republics, which meant they were ruled by
councils. Other cities and regions were ruled by dukes or other nobles, and a
large part of Italy was governed directly by the Pope. Great families competed with each other
to dominate city councils, influence noble rulers and gain high offices in the
church. Sometimes it went so far as assassination and outright war. A great disadvantage to this
competition was the almost endless political and military conflict in
Renaissance Italy. Another problem was the corruption of both civil government
and the church. Bribery, nepotism and favoritism, not to mention violence, made
Renaissance society rather unfair and unstable. On the other hand, the
competition of Italian society was a great stimulus to innovation and creativity.
Leading men wished to win admirers and awe their rivals by commissioning great
buildings, art and scholarship. Great painters like DaVinci, Raphael and
Michelangelo relied on the patronage of powerful men, including popes, who
sought lasting glory for themselves.
Renaissance rulers showed their
sophistication by holding court in elegant palaces graced by artists,
musicians, poets and scholars. It was expected that every man at court would
cultivate the arts, and be able to sing, dance or play an instrument, recite
poetry and discuss history and philosophy. At the very least he should
appreciate the finest examples of these things. This is why we say that someone
with skills in the arts and humanities is a "Renaissance man."
In 1516, an Italian courtier from Urbino
named Baldesar Castiglione published a book, The Courtier (1528) that explained the ideal of the Renaissance
man. The book was really a set of conversations in which nobles, bishops,
ladies at the duke's palace at Urbino (one of the Papal States) discussed the
talents a worthy courtier should have. Whereas medieval nobles emphasized
loyalty, piety, and sometimes romantic love, Renaissance leaders emphasized
capacity in art and literature in addition to military skills like riding and
swordsmanship. Castiglione's speakers insist that the wisdom of a broadly
educated man would lead to better government and better quality of life. Education, one speaker argues, will
make a man more fluent, "and bold and self-confident in speaking with
everyone." Such a courtier would be effective in keeping the ruler
he served on the path of virtue, and in carrying out effective diplomacy with
rival cities. The most important ability was not courage and fighting,
but understanding and wisdom.
Take a look at the portrait of a young man by
Italian artist Bronzino. What do you
imagine are the character, qualities and personality of this man? How does his
looks and manner reflect the values of the "Renaissance man?"
Bronzino, Young
Man (1530s)
Virtue and good government were important reasons
to be a cultivated person, but Castiglione's characters also were interested in
beauty as the source of the good life. The courtier was to study poets,
orators, historians, and to write his own poetry, because it will make him a
pleasant and interesting person. If he does these things, he "will
never want for pleasant entertainment with the ladies, who are usually fond of
such things." Beyond that, however, the idea was that such a man
would make the world a better place.
Anyone with artistic talent was to admired for their ability to capture
the beauty of nature and share it with others:
This
universal fabric which we behold, with its vast heaven so resplendent with
bright stars, with the earth at the center girdled by the seas, varied with
mountains, valleys, rivers, adorned with such a variety of trees, pretty
flowers, and grasses--can be said to be the great and noble picture painted by
nature's hand and God's; and whoever can imitate it deserves great praise, in
my opinion: nor is such imitation achieved without knowledge of many
things, as anyone knows who attempts it. For this reason the ancients
held art and artists in the greatest esteem, wherefore art attained to the
pinnacle of the highest excellence . . .
The
Spirit of Humanism
Catiglione's courtiers express the values of
Renaissance humanism. Humanists believed that human beings can cultivate
knowledge that gives them mastery over nature--including human nature. Giovanni Pico della Mirandola was a
philosopher and writer in Florence who declared in his book, Oration on the Dignity of Man (1486), that
we humans are "able to become whatever we choose." That is to say that human beings can
live lives of justice, beauty and happiness by advancing our knowledge and
understanding. For humanists, the most valuable source of real-world knowledge
was the literature and science of ancient Rome and Greece. Humanist scholars studied Latin and
Greek, and collected all of the ancient poetic, historical, philosophical and
scientific works that they could find.
They admired ancient Greek and Roman (called "classical") art
as well. Renaissance artists imitate the naturalism of classical art, and hoped
to advance beyond what the ancients achieved. Recall the quote above from
Castiglione's book: humanists believed gifted and experienced artists could see
and reproduce the order and glory of Gods' creation. Humanists were convinced
that heaven was not just the afterlife. Great artists and poets could bring
heaven to earth.
Though he was more interested in politics
than in beauty, Nicolo Machiavelli was one of the most influential humanist
writers. His book, The Prince (1513),
offered a truly revolutionary way to look at society and morality. His
main argument was that one must think about human affairs as they really are, and
not as we wish they would be. In
the real world, he said, a prince (ruler) must take whatever actions favor the
fortunes of his state, even if they contradict traditional morals, such as
deception and murder. Machiavelli was expressing humanism in two important
ways: first in his focus on worldly rather and spiritual matters, and
second by deriving inspiration from classic writers of ancient Greece and Rome
rather than Christian writers. In this case, Renaissance humanism did
indeed stand at odds with Christian tradition.
Humanism and the Church
Most Renaissance thinkers did not accept
Machiavelli's radical ideas, at least not openly. The popes of Machiavelli's
time would never have declared support for his philosophy, but they imbibed the
new materialism and humanism of the age, including Machiavellianism. They
took their role as secular rulers more seriously than their role as spiritual
leaders. Renaissance popes were not holy monks, but sons of the powerful
Italian ruling families. Alexander VI (d.1503) was famous for wild
parties and debauchery. He raised a son, a nephew and a brother of a
mistress to the position of cardinal. Julius II was the warrior-pope,
famous for personally leading his troops in battle. He also hired
Michelangelo to paint the Sistine chapel and design and build St. Peter's
Basilica. Leo X, who followed Julius, was made archbishop at the age of
eight, and cardinal at 13, and became Pope at 37. He had refined taste in
art and manners, and appointed many humanists to high positions. He assigned
Raphael to paint some of his greatest works, including the School of Athens. Leo also approved a new sales campaign of
indulgences to finance the building of St. Peter's.