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Review Questions for Chapter 13
Check your understanding of this chapter by answering the following questions:
1. What new social class developed in twelfth-century Italy? How did this social class affect the movement toward republican government? A: Nobles were attacted by the opportunities of long-distance and maritime trade, the rising value of urban real estate, the new public offices available in the expanding communes, and the chances for advantageous marriages into rich commercial families, frequently settled within the cities. Marriage vows often sealed buisness contracts between the rural nobility and the mercantile aristocracy. The merger of the northern Italian feudal nobility and the commercial aristocracy constitued the formation of a new social class, an urban nobility. This new class made citizenship in the communes based on power and social connection which was the minority. Therefore, a new force called the popola revolted and got their wishes for a Republic.
2. What five powers dominated the Italian peninsula in the fifteenth century? How did the Italian city-states contribute to modern diplomacy? A:The five powers that dominated the Italian peninsula in the fifteeth century were the cities of: Venice, Milan, Florence, the Papal States, and the kingdom of Naples. The Italian city-states were always trying to overpower one another, and so these power city-states would frequently switch alliances which caused the invention of the machinery of modern diplomacy.
3. The concept of individualism helps explain the Renaissance because the Renaissance manifested itself in individualism; a new attitude toward men, women, and the world. In the time of the Middle Ages, recognition of the remarkable individuals was limited due to the fact that Christian humility discouraged self-absorption. But in the 14th and 15th centuries the guild and the parish started to support and encourage the idea of individualism. Many Italians became confident in their uniqueness and numerous artists, athletes, painters, scholars, sculptors were recognized for their amazing talents.
4. Humanism or "new learning" was a prominent feature of the Renaissance which was spurred on by a new found interest in the recovery of ancient manuscripts, statues, and monuments. In other words it was the revival of antiquity. Humanists emphasized the achievements, interests, and capabilities of human beings. Humanists believed that men and women were made in the image and likeness of God and studied the Latin classics to learn about human nature. They stressed the realization of human potential.
5. The invention of movable type revolutionized Europe by making the mass production of pamphlets possible. These were used to voice ideas to people, in the form of propaganda.... This was a form of psychological warfare and it helped to form a common identity w/ people separated by geographical barriers... the invention also helped to educate people in medical science, and helped people with practical, and travel manual. .
6. The Renaissance in northern Europe was different from Italy because the New Monarchs, who ruled differently from the Italian oligarchy and signoris, controlled the Renaissance in northern Europe. The "New Monarchs" ruthlessly suppressed opposition and rebellions, especially from the nobility and they loved the business of kingship and worked hard at it... these monarchs reasserted long-standing ideas and practices of strong militaries...
7. Thomas More was a student in a Carthusian monastery leading him to have a household that was a model of warm Christian family life and as a "mecca for foreign and English humanists". More wrote a book called "Utopia" which summed up most of his ideas. It describes an ideal community on an island and all its children receive good education and learning does not cease with maturity. More described the word "utopia" as a "good place. A good place which is no place." According to More, the key to improvement and reform of the individual was reform of the social institutions that molded the individual. Desiderius Erasmus is better known by contemporaries and he was also sent to enter a monastery. His time there was well spent where he met the scholar John Colet who influenced his later life's work: "the application of the best humanistic learning to the study and explanation of the Bible." Two very important themes run through all of Erasmus's work. First, "education is the mans to reform, the key to moral and intellectual improvement. The core of education ought to be study of the Bible and the classics (Latin). Second, the essence of Erasmus's thought is, in his own phrase,'the philosophy of Christ'. In other words he meant that Christianity is an inner attitude of the heart or spirit. It is Christ, his life and what he said and did, not what theologians have written.
8. Since Italy had become the super-power of Europe because of all the riches gained in Venice because of trade and all the goods that could be provided in Italy, it made other countries yearning for that wealth. Along with that was the fact that Italy wasn't united, and because of that they were often against each other when they really should've been against foreign enemies. This left Italy an inviting target for invasion.Charles VIII of France invaded France in 1494 and succeeded and this led him to do it again. They wanted to strip Venice of it's mainland possessions and succeeded. This eventually resulted in a series of wars which usually led to the battlefield being Italy.
9. The monarchs of France were up against the results from the Hundred Years War. The country was divided, drastically,depopulated, the economy had taken a downfall, and the agriculture was weak. Charles VII took up the task of rebuilding France. Charles reconciled the Burgundians and Armagnacs who had been waging civil war for 30 years. By 1453 France had expelled the English except in Calais. Charles gave increased influence to middle class men and strengthened royal finances through taxes such as gabelle (salt) and taille (land). Charles also remodeled the army. He established regular companies of archery and cavalry- recruited, paid and inspected by the state. In 1453,Charles published the Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges, asserting the superiority of a general council over the papacy giving the French Crown major control over the appointment of bishops or demoting popes. The Pragmatic Sanction established French liberties because it affirmedthe special rights of the French crown over the French church.
10. Henry VII did summon several meetings of Parliament in the early years of his reign primarily to confirm laws. Henry VII revealed his distrust of the nobility. The Royal Council handled any business the king put before it- executive, legislative, and judicial. The council dealt with real or potential aristocratic threats through a judicial off-shoot, the court of Star Chamber. Henry VII made the monarch grave, secretive, cautious, and thrifty. Cloth industry built up the English merchants. English exports of wool and royal tax exports increased. Henry crushed an invasion form Ireland and secured peace with Scotland through the marriage of their daughter Margaret and the Scottish king.
11. What were the achievements of Ferdinand and Isabella in the areas of national power and national expansion?
Isabella and Ferdinand revived the hermendades which were popular groups that had authority to be kind of like a local police force. Isabella and Ferdinand also created a council of people from the middle class, not the nobles. They were also victorious in the reconquista in which they gained Granada and also Navarre.
12. Why were blacks valued in Renaissance society? What roles did they play in the economic and social life of the times?
Black servants were very rare and many people valued them highly. Having a black servant was a symbol of wealth in a sense. Nobles would take around their black servants and have them in their self-portraits to show off their wealth. Black servants or slaves took up many positions in the Renaissance society. They were maids to domestic servants. Black slaves were the labor force for almost all areas. Socially, blacks were involved greatly with entertainment. They performed as dancers, actors, and even as musicians.
13. The life for upper class women changed significantly during the Renaissance. The positive changes that allowed them to participate in the artistic a intellectual rebirth was countered by increased political and social constraints placed on women both at home and in the society.
Despite these drawbacks, women did enjoy the artistic and intellectual progress of the Renaissance. At a young age, girls received an education that was equal to that of the boys. "Young ladies learned their letters and studied the classics (Mckay 432)." More than twenty-five women were renown for writing literary pieces. Renaissance women were encouraged to study the arts and produce artistic pieces of their own.
Compared to the women of the Feudal Age, however, Renaissance women had less power. Their impact on society, work they performed, and access to property were inferior in contrast to those in the middle ages. Many received domestic and social constraints brought about through the course of marriage. All in all, women received artistic progress whereas they degenerated in power.
14. The medieval style of art underwent great revolutions during the Renaissance. Since the artists were paid to produce masterpieces, new styles and techniques were born. The individual portrait became a popular genre. However, the style used in the portraits changed during the Renaissance. The original medieval style tended to reflect spiritual ideals, whereas Renaissance paintings mirrored more realistic characteristics. The style was revolutionized by Florentine painter, Giotto. He replaced the medieval stiffness of the human body with softer, more realistic styles of the Renaissance. Donatello revived the classical figures characterized by balance and self-awareness. This replaced the spiritual and moral characteristics of medieval sculptures.
Another style that came into being was the "international style." This style was characterized by rich colors, ornate, details, curvilinear rhythms, and swaying forms. "Narrative artists depicted the body in a more scientific and natural manner (Mckay 433)." The female sculptures were illustrated with voluptuous and sensual figures. The male sculptures were given athletic and heroic depictions. Perspective, the presence of distance on a flat medium, was brought about by Filippo Brunelleschi and Piero della Francesca. Subtle psychological interpretations such as those in Leonardo da Vinci’s "Last Supper," also came about during the Renaissance.
15. The New Christians were Jewish people who were forced to convert into Christianity. It started when Anti- Semitism began to spread across Europe. Many of the prominent businessmen, doctors, and industry leaders were Jewish. The kings of France and England felt threatened by the Jews and expelled them from their kingdoms. The Jews took refuge in Spain. Sooner or later Spain was one of the most diverse kingdoms in Europe with Muslims, Jews, Moorish Christians and medieval Spanish citizens. But during the 1300s, Anti- Semitism began to spread across Spain also. People were enraged with Jewish preaching and were also irritated with the Black Death plague and the downfall of the economy. Mob groups started destroying villages. For example, a mob group burned down a Jewish village in Seville and forced the surviving Jews to convert into Christianity. After this attack, the Anti- Semitic belief spread across most of Spain.
The Spanish people hated the New Christians. King Ferdinand knew this so he set up an Inquisition on Spain. He sought papal permission to set up the Inquisition so that he would not be blamed for it. The Inquisition basically was set up to find and punish the New Christian people who had converted to Christianity but secretly still believed in Judaism and had secretly reconverted. But in many cities in Spain, the New Christians held prominent administration offices such as secretary ship, and also controlled the treasury. In the churches, they were appointed as archbishops, bishops and abbots. Many New Christians were lucrative merchants and businessmen.
During the 1480s, many New Christians said that they were happy with Christianity and they did not understand why they had to be called “New” Christians. In reality, many of the New Christians had not given up their faith in Judaism and secretly converted. The New Christians were threatened to be killed. The Spanish people wanted to find a believable reason to expel the Jews and the New Christians. They decided to use the reason of what the New Christian and Jews were as humans against them. Basically, they said that they New Christians had the same racial makeup as their ancestors before their conversion into Christianity, therefore making them Jews still. This belief made people believe that all Jews and New Christians were wicked and dishonest. This meant that the New Christians had not fully converted to Christianity.
The Spanish Inquisition used torture as a way to get the New Christians to confess. This method was first used on the New Christians and Jews and then on the Muslims and then on the Protestants. In 1492, Ferdinand and Isabella ordered the expelling of all Jews in Spain.