The European Renaissance

• How did the

civilizations of Asia,
Africa, and the Islamic
World help spark
learning in Europe?
• How is the European
Renaissance a
process of global
exchange?
 What is the European
Renaissance?
A cultural movement from the 14th -17th
century (1300s-1600s)
• The European Renaissance began in Italy
and spread north- It means “rebirth” in
French
• It influenced literature, philosophy, art,
politics, science, and religion
 Islamic roots to the European
Renaissance
European Scholars began to study original
Roman, Greek and Islamic texts directly

• The Muslim World also inherited the

heritage of Greece and Rome – they had
copied ancient documents and improved
on ancient learning
Europe at 1300
 Global Exchange
• The Italian city states
Venice and Genoa
were able to tap into
the wealth of the
Islamic, Indian, and
Chinese civilizations
through trade
 Islamic Achievements
• Great centers of learning
– Cairo, Cordoba,
Baghdad

• Advances in:
Philosophy,
Medicine,
Mathematics,
Astronomy
Cartography,
Social sciences,
art, music, literature
 Influence of the Mongols:
How did they unite the Eurasian landmass?
What did they bring West from China?
Where did these new ways of thinking come
from?
 Mongol influence on the Silk Road
• From 1204 to 1368, the
Mongol Empire united
most of the Eurasian land
mass-revived silk road
trade zone– and brought
many Chinese inventions
to the Middle East and
the Byzantine empire and
eventually Europe -
compass, stirrups,
printing press, paper,
gunpowder, rudder
The Influence of the Byzantine Empire:

• The Byzantine Empire

preserved some of
the learning of the
Greeks and the
Romans
• Constantinople
connected by trade to
both the Silk Road
and the
Mediterranean world
The Influe nce of the By za ntine Empire

• By the 1400s, much

of the Byzantine
Empire had been
conquered by the
Ottoman Turks.
While many
Byzantine scholars
stayed to work within
the Ottoman Empire,
some took their
scholarship to Europe
 What changed in Europe to create
conditions for the Renaissance?
• The Crusades showed
the Europeans how
advanced the Muslim
World was. This awoke a
hunger for new goods
and new learning- like
medical advances, sugar,
textiles, almonds, spices,
science etc.
• European scholars began
to visit Islamic centers of
learning and bring back
ideas-
 Influence in Europe
Through these many new sources
Europeans discovered that the ancients
did not always agree with each other.
This also helped Renaissance scholars to
debate and questions established ideas.
What changed in Europe to create
conditions for Renaissance?
 What changed in Europe to create
conditions for the Renaissance?
• The Black Death killed 1/3 of the
population of Europe

• Some people turned to religion to

find answers, but others turned
away from the Church

• There was more land and fewer

workers in Europe now- people
could demand better treatment
from landlords-they looked to life
on earth for happiness- not just
heaven.

• The garments of dead were turned

into rag paper- books became
cheaper at the same time the
printing press (a Chinese, Korean,
German invention) evolved
 Why did the Renaissance begin in
Italy?
• Italian city-states looked to the
sea for their economic
prosperity. Genoa and Venice
controlled the Mediterranean
trade routes that connected
Europe with the Islamic,
Mongol, and Byzantine
Empires.
• surrounded by the ruins of
Rome
• ruled by the merchant class-
they believed that they earned
their social ranks (unlike
nobility) so placed high
emphasis on individual merit
 Why Florence?
• Florence was ruled by
the Medici family who
gave great donations
to support the arts
 Renaissance Themes
• Humanism- looks at human potential and achievements,
encourages people to go back to the original sources
and interpret them for themselves
• Enjoyment of worldly pleasures-without offending God
• Patrons of the arts- the Roman Catholic Church and the
wealthy
• Renaissance men – strive to master almost every area
of study (universal man) both academic and artistic (be a
dancer, poet, scholar, and a swordsman etc.)
• Renaissance women- inspire art but rarely create it,
know Classics and be charming but don’t seek fame