AP Weekly Schedule: 9/4 - 9/11

The Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. 316-351

My E-Mail ***AP Students: If you E-mail me, be sure that it is a matter of real urgency.

Weekly Basics:

• Check this page every day. The schedule presented initially is a template. There will be revisions that will have an effect on your workload. Obviously, any changes will be presented in class as well.
• This course can overwhelm you if you don't break your workload into the smaller component parts given.
• Taking reading notes will be crucial! We will continue to use the Cornell Method, and we must emphasize the importance of the 1/3 summary, and memorization.
• Rely on your team members for support.
• Key Links for this section:
  • Humanism
  • Renaissance Sites
  • Internet Medieval Sourcebook

Big Picture: Introductory Concepts:

1. The population recovery after the Black Plague: understand demographic changes in Europe
2. The rise of the strong monarchies; changes in political order and their effect on the Renaissance
   1. Differences between the "Big Three" (England; France;Spain) and the rest of Europe
3. The Italian City States, and their unique economic and social order
   1. Understand how geographic location and rising capitalism transformed Italy
   2. Understand the Political Climate in the City States, and the "French Incursion."
4. The Commercial Revolution, the rise of patronage and its impact on the City States
   1. Renaissance Art
      1. Artists/Works/Technique
5. Constantinople's Fall, and its effect on the Italian City States
   1. Islam's threat; the exodus of Scholars, and the rise of Platonism
6. The Rise of Humanism, and what we will call "Christian Humanism"
   1. What was Humanism? How did it differ from Scholasticism?
   2. What was Civic Humanism?
   3. What was Christian Humanism?
7. Be able to understand the effects Humanist studies had on the Catholic Church role in society
8. The Northern Renaissance
   1. What was it?
   2. How did it differ in character from the Italian Renaissance?
   3. Who were the major figures in the Northern Renaissance?
9. Exploration/Exploitation in the New World.
   1. Describe Spain the the exploitation of "New Spain"
   2. What was the The Colombian Exchange
   3. Explain the insitution of New World Slavery

Reniassance Key Issues:

• Why did the Renaissance first begin in Italy?
• Why was Florence at the heart of the Italian Renaissance?
• What role did the Medici family play in Renaissance Florence?
• Regarding humanism: - What are the characteristics of humanism?
• How was it different from medieval scholasticism? -
• Why is Petrarch considered to be the "Father of Humanism"? -
• Why was Cicero a favorite classical figure of Renaissance humanists? -
• What was the goal of a "liberal arts" education?
• What were core subjects taught? -
• What is meant by the term "civic humanism"?
• How did the Italian Renaissance differ from the Renaissance of the 12c?
• According to Castiglione, what are the basic attributes of the Renaissance courtier?
• How did the values of this courtier influence the development of a modern aristocratic class in Western Europe?
• List the qualities of a "Renaissance Man", the l'uomo universale.
• List the basic beliefs of Neo-Platonism. How did their beliefs differ from the civic humanists?
• How were humanists responsible for secularizing and professionalizing the writing of history {historiography}?
• What were the distinctive characteristics of Renaissance art and architecture?
• How were they different from medieval art and Gothic architecture?
• Who were the major artists of the Quattrocento and High Renaissance periods?
• How were Renaissance artists trained?
• What was their status in Renaissance society?
• Who was their audience?
• What new artistic techniques were introduced by Renaissance artists?
• In what ways did Renaissance art and philosophy reinforce each other?
• How was the Renaissance artist different in personal style from his medieval predecessors?
• How did Renaissance art reflect the political and social events of the period?
• What were the characteristics of the art of the Northern Renaissance?
• How did it reflect the societies of Northern Europe?
• How was the Northern Renaissance different from that in Renaissance Italy?
• What is meant by the term "Christian humanism"?
• What were some of the causes of religious discontent in early 16c Europe?
• Explain the role of the veillèe and the impact of the printing press on Northern European art and literature.
• What were the major themes expressed in the works of Rabelais, Erasmus, More, Montaigne, and Cervantes?
• How do Shakespeare's works reflect Renaissance ideals?
• Had you been a contemporary scholar during the Renaissance, what remedies would you have presented for the problems of the church under the leadership of the major Renaissance popes? How did the development of the printing press contribute to the Renaissance?

Chronology of the Renaissance:

1337-1453 - Hundred year war between England and France. Cripples each country for years later

1347-1350 - The Bubonic Plague ravages Europe. 1/3 of all European residents die. It takes until 1500 for Europe to regain its population pre-plague

1350- Boccaccio's Decameron is the first great work of the Renaissance to be published in the vernacular. It presents a great picture of early Renaissance life.

1378 - The Ciompi revolt in Florence is a victory,of sorts, for the urban guilds and was a blow to the powerful of Florence

1390 - Chaucer's Canterbury Tales becomes one of the first great works written in the vernacular:" The beginning of early modern English.

1397 - the Founding of the Medici bank, which would make them the most powerful family in Florence for the next century

1450 - German Johann Gutenberg's Printing Press is the first of its kind in the west; it will revolutionize all aspects of the written word and is probably the most significant invention of the past 500 years.

1455-1485 - The Period known as the War of the Roses, sees the English Houses of York and Lancaster vie for control of the English crown. The Tudor Dynasty will be established in 1485.

1469 - Ferdinand and Isabella marry and unite the Castillian and Aragonese crowns, making Spain the most formidable monarchy in Europe for the next hundred years.

1479 - The Spanish Inquisition, aimed at heretics (read Muslims and Jews) begins its campaign at conversion and prosecution

1492 - Jews are expelled from Spain and all of their property is confiscated.

1503 - 1506 - da Vinci works on the Mona Lisa

1508 - 1512 - Michelangelo completes the Sistine Chapel

1513 - Niccolo Machiavelli writes the Prince, dedicated to Lorenzo de Medici (Lorenzo the Magnificent) as a means of winning a government position and a commentary on contemporary Italian politics.

1516 - 1519 - Desiderius Erasmus produces a translation of the New Testament, in both Greek and Latin. Erasmus maintains that this new translation is more accurate than the Vulgate (the 4th century Latin version previously considered inviolate by the catholic Church) This is Humanism in action.

1527 - Imperial troops lead by Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (AKA Charles I of Spain) sack the city of Rome, calling an "end" to the Italian Renaissance.

Hit List:

1. Oligarchy
2. "grandi"
3. "popolo grasso"
4. "popolo minuto"
5. Ciompi Revolt
6. Cosimo de Medici
7. Lorenzo de Medici
8. Signoria
9. Condotteri
10. Humanism
11. Civic Humanism
12. Petrarch
13. Dante
14. Boccaccio
15. Castiglione
16. Lorenzo Valla
17. Leonardo da Vinci
18. Raphael
19. Michaelangelo
20. Treaty of Lodi
21. Alexander VI
22. Louis XI
23. Charles VIII
24. Louis XII
25. Girolamo Savonarola
26. Ludovico il Moro
27. Julius II
28. Emperor Maximillian I
29. Ferdinand & Isabella
30. The War of the Roses
31. Henry VII
32. Holy Roman Empire
33. Johann Gutenburg
34. Thomas More
35. Erasmus.

1. Be able to profile humanism as a "rebirth" of the classical studies of antiquity, and differentiate between Italian and Northern Humanism. You should be able also to comment intelligently on great humanist writers like Petrarch, and Erasmus.
2. Be able to identify the major artistic figures of the Italian Renaissance (The High Italian Renaissance in particular); be able as well to reference particular works of art, and the dichotomy of the High Renaissance occurring at a time when political and social upheaval were gripping the Italian City States
3. Be able to compare and contrast the High Italian Renaissance from the Northern Renaissance. Why does the northern Renaissance come later chronologically, and how does it differ from the Italian Renaissance in terms of artistic style, subject, and execution.