Changing Cultural Traditions
From the fourteenth to the end of the seventeenth century, Europe experienced significant cultural shifts. This period saw the growth of towns and the development of a distinct 'urban culture'. People in towns began to see themselves as more 'civilised' than people living in rural areas.
Key developments of this era include:
In the nineteenth century, historians began using the term 'Renaissance' (which literally means 'rebirth') to describe these cultural changes. The Swiss scholar Jacob Burckhardt (1818-97) was a key historian who focused on this period. In his 1860 book, The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy, he argued that history was about culture as much as politics. He described the emergence of a new 'humanist' culture, which was defined by a new belief that an individual was capable of making their own decisions and developing their skills. This 'modern' individual was seen as a contrast to the 'medieval' person, whose thinking had been controlled by the church.
After the Western Roman Empire collapsed, many of its former political and cultural centers in Italy fell into ruin. Italy was weak and fragmented, without a unified government.
However, several factors helped Italian culture to revive:
These cities were unique in Europe because clergy and powerful feudal lords were not politically dominant. Instead, wealthy merchants and bankers were actively involved in government, which helped the idea of citizenship take root.
The government of Venice provides a clear example of how these city-states operated. As described by Cardinal Gasparo Contarini in the sixteenth century, the Venetian government was structured to maintain stability.
The first universities in Europe were established in Italian towns. The universities of Padua and Bologna had been centers for legal studies since the eleventh century. Because trade was the main activity in these cities, there was high demand for lawyers and notaries to write and interpret contracts.
A significant change occurred when law began to be studied in the context of ancient Roman culture. Francesco Petrarch (1304-78) was a central figure in this shift. He believed that the ancient Greek and Roman civilisations could best be understood by reading the original works of their authors.
This new educational program led to a culture that nineteenth-century historians would label 'humanism'.
This new way of thinking flourished in universities, especially in Florence. The city became a major intellectual center, known for figures like the writer Dante Alighieri and the artist Giotto, who painted lifelike portraits. The ideal of this era was the 'Renaissance Man', a term used to describe a person with many interests and skills, such as a scholar, diplomat, and artist all in one.
Humanists believed they were restoring "true civilisation" after centuries of darkness. They argued that a 'dark age' had begun after the fall of the Roman Empire.
They divided history into three periods:
While many Greek and Roman texts were known to monks during the Middle Ages, they were not widely circulated. In the fourteenth century, European scholars began reading translated works of Greek writers like Plato and Aristotle.
Crucially, they were indebted to Arab translators for this knowledge. Arab scholars had carefully preserved and translated ancient manuscripts into Arabic.
This exchange of knowledge went both ways. Europeans read Greek works in Arabic, and Greek scholars translated Arabic and Persian works on science, mathematics, astronomy, medicine, and chemistry for other Europeans.
Important Muslim thinkers whose works were studied in Italy include:
Art, architecture, and books were powerful tools for spreading humanist ideas. The key artistic development of this period was 'realism'.
Artists were inspired by the art of ancient Rome, which they discovered in ruins. They admired the perfectly proportioned sculptures of men and women and sought to continue this tradition. In 1416, the sculptor Donatello (1386-1466) created incredibly lifelike statues.
This artistic quest for accuracy was supported by science:
A leading example of this fusion of art and science was Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519). His interests ranged from anatomy to mathematics, and he painted masterpieces like the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper. The combination of science, technical skill, and a sense of beauty gave Italian art a new quality of realism that continued for centuries.
In the fifteenth century, the city of Rome experienced a spectacular revival. Popes became more politically powerful and actively encouraged the study of Rome's history. Archaeologists began to carefully excavate the city's ruins, inspiring a new style in architecture.
This style was a revival of the imperial Roman style, now called 'classical' architecture. Popes, wealthy merchants, and aristocrats hired architects who were familiar with this classical style.
Many individuals were masters of multiple arts.
A major change during this time was that artists began to be known by name as individuals, not just as anonymous members of a guild.
While people had to travel to Italy to see its art and architecture, written ideas could travel much more easily thanks to the invention of printing.
Europeans were indebted to other cultures for this technology:
In 1455, Johannnes Gutenberg (1400-1458), a German, used his printing press to produce 150 copies of the Bible. Previously, it would have taken a monk the same amount of time to hand-write a single copy.
The impact of printing was revolutionary:
A key feature of humanist culture was the loosening of religion's control over daily life. While Italians were not necessarily irreligious, they were strongly attracted to material wealth, power, and glory.
Humanism also promoted the idea that individuals could shape their own lives. This belief in a many-sided human nature went against the strict feudal idea of society being divided into three separate orders (clergy, nobility, and peasantry).
Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) wrote about human nature in his book The Prince (1513). He had a cynical view, believing that "all men are bad and ever ready to display their vicious nature" because human desires are insatiable. He argued that self-interest is the most powerful motive for every human action.
The new ideals of individuality and citizenship largely excluded women.
A few remarkable women were intellectually creative and advocated for humanist education.
These women argued that to achieve an identity in a male-dominated world, they needed economic power, property, and education. This stood in contrast to the view of writers like Balthasar Castiglione, who wrote in The Courtier (1528) that a woman should have a "soft and delicate tenderness" and "in no way resemble a man."
As humanist ideas spread north from Italy, they began to influence members of the Church. Unlike in Italy, where professional scholars led the humanist movement, in northern Europe, many church members were attracted to humanism.
These Christian humanists, like Thomas More in England and Erasmus in Holland, called on Christians to practice a simpler form of religion based on ancient texts, discarding what they saw as unnecessary rituals.
They criticized the Church for several reasons:
The invention of printing played a key role here. When the Bible was translated into local languages, people could read it for themselves and see that their religion did not permit such practices.
This discontent led to the Protestant Reformation.
Some reformers were even more radical. The Anabaptists argued that since God created all people as equal, they should not have to pay taxes and should have the right to choose their own priests.
In response to the Reformation, the Catholic Church began to reform itself from within. In Spain, Ignatius Loyola founded the Society of Jesus (the Jesuits) in 1540 to combat Protestantism. Their mission was to serve the poor and expand their knowledge of other cultures.
The traditional Christian view of the universe was that the Earth was a sinful, immobile object at the center, with the celestial planets revolving around it. This idea was challenged by scientists.
The turning point came from Copernicus (1473-1543), a contemporary of Martin Luther.
His ideas were further developed and popularized by other astronomers:
This revolution in science reached its peak with Isaac Newton's theory of gravitation.
The work of these scientists showed that knowledge could be based on observation and experiments, rather than just belief. This new approach to understanding man and nature became known as the Scientific Revolution.
As a result, some people began to see Nature, rather than God, as the source of creation. Even those who kept their faith began to think of a distant God who did not directly control the material world. These ideas were spread through scientific societies like the Paris Academy (established 1670) and the Royal Society in London (formed 1662), which held public lectures and experiments.
Modern historians, such as Peter Burke of England, have re-examined the concept of the 'Renaissance'. They suggest that Jacob Burckhardt exaggerated the sharp difference between this period and the Middle Ages.
The main arguments against a sharp break are:
However, two important changes did occur during this period:
Great job reading through all sections. Ready to test your knowledge and reinforce your learning?