Renaissance Dbq Essay

The Renaissance, in comparison to the Medieval period, is shown to cause a change in modern people’s worldviews. Two examples of this change are anatomy and astronomy.

The Renaissance changed man's view of the world by art, scientific advancements, and the idea of humanism. Document A shows how the Renaissance changed man’s view because it shows how art was very important. Document A shows a comparison between the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci from the Renaissance, and The mother Mary by Duccio Di Buoninsegna from the Late Middle Ages. The reason that art was crucial to the Renaissance is because from the text I noticed that it says “... feels stronger emotions in the subjects… see well-defined landscapes,natural folds in drapery, and three-dimensional figures.” The reason this is so important is because before the Renaissance, the Middle ages and Classical period artworks were flat, 2D, and had no emotion.

“The church (…) individualism was identical with arrogance, rebellion, and sin”(doc 1). This shows that actions like rebellion and sin relate with individualism, which is just like Humanism. “In true order that mortal man should first care for mortal things”(doc 4). This just shows how important things have meant to people, and to respect person’s property. Humanism brought the idea of civilized people with great ideas into the world. Before the Renaissance, religion was everything, when the Renaissance came, the people were exposed to the arts and

Could 350 years change man’s view of the world forever? The Renaissance lasted from 1350 until about 1700. The Renaissance started after the Middle Ages which lasted from 500 C.E. to 1350. During the Renaissance, people saw themselves in a new way. However, there are three main reasons that the Renaissance changed man’s view of the world: art, scientific discoveries, and literature.

During the early Middle Ages, Europe was chaotic and organized in several ways. In European history, the Middle Ages began after the fall of the Roman Empire in 476 CE. It was led to believe that the reason was because of economic, civil war, and invaders. Most of Europe was united through christianity. It provided them power and stability. In that period the Normans established what is called Feudalism. It was a system for ruling villages centered around “protection and military service”. During the Middle Ages, the Crusades were battles and wars that happened between 11th to 13th century. Palestine and Israel were fighting to capture the Holy Land. First of all, Europe in the early Middle Ages was chaotic because there was a lot of violence. For example, The Northerners stole and

The Renaissance movement was characterized in thought, writing, and art in a plethora of ways, it provided a bridge from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance period. To start with, thought was one of the building blocks of the bridge that gave way to the Renaissance period. Man was blind during the Middle Ages, hidden in “faith, illusion, and childish prepossession,” but then they woke up during the Renaissance and that is when the Renaissance man was born (Document 7). A Renaissance man is a man who is assertive but gentle and humble, avoiding excessive bragging. He should also be well-versed and proficient in writing verse and a jack of all trades (Document 1).

Before The Renaissance, there was a time period known as the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages was a time of darkness and illiteracy. Around eighty percent of the European population was illiterate and or uneducated relying completely on the Roman Catholic Church for education. The uneducated were mostly peasants. The few people that were educated were priests, and other religious figures in the church. Although as time progressed peasants, began to become more independent. With the invention of the printing press education began to become more widespread. Many people began to become specialized in other subjects besides farming and questioned the ideas of the church. As the Middle Ages came to an end so did the strength and overall power of the Roman Catholic Church.

The time period from the fifth to the fifteenth century was known as the Middle Ages. The Middle Ages in Europe was also a time of prosperity and hope. New civilizations were formed and the industrial revolution started. Towns became so much easier to control and population grew because of modern conveniences. They changed the way the people of the Middle Ages lived. The Middle Ages should not be called the Dark Ages because structured laws called for order, education changed the way people thought, universities were founded, the economy prospered, and food supply increased the population.

By the 11th century Italy dominated commerce in the Mediterranean and Western Europe, this enabled them to amass great wealth and a certain sense of self-confidence. The Italians, through organization and cleverness exploited their advantages, and by the high Middle Ages strong, wealthy and independent city-states, unlike the manors of Europe, had evolved. In addition, Italy was consistently exposed to not only the large-scale flow of goods, but also to new ideas and knowledge. It is important to note that although Italy had become independent, the Church still remained powerful and religion continued to be a governing factor. But, pre humanists began to question the teachings of the church and the corruption evident in the Papacy. Many pre Renaissance and Renaissance individuals felt torn between the pious teachings of the church and the earthly pleasures which wealth and independence brought. Until this point, education was scarce and only monastic schools existed, mainly for educating the clergy. The wealthy Italians, dissatisfied with the monastic schools, established independent municipal universities with a secular approach to learning, based on the classics. This was one of the decisive steps away from the church and towards a

Would it not be nice if we could go back in time to experience the Renaissance for ourselves? Being able to walk down the streets of Florence, Italy and experience this time period that not only gave rebirth to old values and artistic ways of statement, but also were a period of great individualism. (make this into a sentence…add a subject and a verb to make it flow). Indeed, Renaissance was a period of great individualism based on old traditional values.

The Renaissance challenged the status quo of the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, the Church had authority over most people. These people also had limited rights. All of this changed during the Renaissance. This period of time focused on the philosophy of humanism, which embodied the idea that humans were a significant part of the world. The Renaissance changed man’s view of man through the institutions of literature, astronomy, anatomy, and art.

Botticelli produced art at a time in which many patrons sought to celebrate the best of man’s qualities through the creation of paintings in which figures have idealized forms and are displayed accomplishing individual achievements. One example of Botticelli’s ability to portray this value through his art is in the “Birth of Venus”. Botticelli painted a dark line around the contours of Venus’s body which emphasizes the color of her milky skin as well as her ideal form against the background of the painting. As a result, Venus’s skin almost resembles marble, highlighting the her body’s resemblance to a sculpture (Botticelli’s Birth of Venus). By painting the ideal figure of Venus to resemble a marble statue, Botticelli clearly reflects the value of celebrating humans at their best. Another example of Botticelli’s glorifying the human form and celebrating the qualities of humans in his paintings is his portrait of a young man holding the medal of Cosimo de’ Medici. The portrait of the young man, who is thought to be a son or grandson of Cosimo de’ Medici, is very lifelike with defined cheek and jawlines as well as full lips. He is painted to be holding a medal with a small portrait of Cosimo de’ Medici, who was a member of the most distinguished family in Florence at the time (Rymer). The commission of this portrait, presumably by the Medici family, not only glorifies the human form, but also celebrates the individual achievements of the Medici family, displaying the Renaissance value of celebrating humans at their best. Botticelli was looking to celebrate the qualities of humans, a common value of the time, evident in his paintings the “Birth of Venus” and the portrait of the young man with a

There were several conditions that contributed to the rise of the Italian Renaissance. First are the Crusades, the holy wars fought between the Christians and the Muslims. Over time, the Crusades opened up multiple new trade routes, especially in the city-states of Italy. Their prime geographical location resulted in the Europeans coming in contact with foreign cultures. Acquiring exotic goods and ideas from the eastern world had a great impact on Europe during the Dark Ages. Secondly, the scandals of the Roman Catholic Church during the Medieval Ages lead to the Renaissance. People started to notice the Church's corruption, doubting their ultimate authority over every aspect of European culture and society. This resulted in many developing a secular outlook, rather than being heavily dependent on the Church. Third is the growth in wealth and population of the middle class. As their fortunes improved and began to accumulate money, they could spend it on things other than their basic needs. Their desires stimulated the European life economically and culturally. With the emerging capitalist society, individuals publicly exposed their wealth and others were motivated to emulate this expensive living. Lastly, the healthy competition between the upper class for status, gave rise to the Renaissance. Serving as patrons to artists, the wealthy began to compete in sponsoring the best artworks. While artists achieved public

     The influence of universities and merchants, as seen, changed the kingdom. Medieval universities were first formed in the 12th century AD after a need for educated public officials became evident. Schools like the Law School at Bologna as well as medical schools gave towns lawyers, judges and capable local officials. Other schools like the University of Paris taught scholars literature and theology. The breed of Renaissance thinking was most likely developed in such places. Scholars like Peter Abelard and Thomas Aquinas led an interest in the study of classical Greek and Roman philosophy. This interest, along with challenged perspectives of the time eventually led to modern science. Guilds, as afore-mentioned, were monopolistic practices over certain trades set by merchants. They virtually eliminated competition and ensured quality. Compared to Renaissance art, and Shakespearean and Elizabethan literature the precursor saw little. However, works like Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales were popular, and the Gothic architectural style laid a foundation for many cathedrals and buildings. It is still a dominant facade in today’s world and was relished in modern Western Europe. A powerful education system and study of art are necessary for society’s to flourish and carry it’s roots into the next era;

Some of the basic characteristics of Humanism especially during the beginning were that it mostly consisted and was centralized around Italy. The reading mentions that something that made Italy different from Europe was that their members were part of the clergy. Being part of the clergy defiantly have them an advantage in which they had some governmental and educational experience. Something else that the reading mentions is that humanism meant rhetoric and literature bases. In my opinion, this was really important because it focuses more attention on the importance of education, history, and literature. This was just a starting point of what education and the importance of it would eventually become. The beginning of humanism also bega the practicing of history, one in which people actually wrote in means of history actually writing for it. Humanitism increased in popularity and therefore inspired others to learn and do the same. Italians viewed this situation as a preparation for the public life. With this, not only people benefit but the whole society as a whole were benefited.