Join Now: https://join.hsslive.in Downloaded from https://www.hsslive.

in ®

Theme Seven Changing Cultural Traditions

1) Renaissance
• Renaissance is a French word meaning “rebirth”.
• It refers to a period in European civilization that was marked by a revival of classical
learning and wisdom after a long period of cultural decline and stagnation.
2) Jacob Burckhardt
• One of the earliest European scholars who have worked on renaissance
• Burckhardt's 'The Civilisation of the Renaissance in Italy ' describe the cultural changes of
Europe between 14th and 17th centuries.
3) The Revival of Italian Cities
• From the 14thcentury to the end of the 17th century, cities were growing in many countries
of Europe.
• The Italian cities like Florence, Venice and Rome became the centres of art and learning.
Artists and writers were patronised by the aristocratic people.
The important reasons for the revival of Italian cities were:
• Expansion of Trade
• Revival of Italian ports
• Unification of Western Europe under the Latin Church
• Contact with the Islamic Empire
• Development of independent city states.

4) Role of Universities in spreading Humanism

• In Europe ,earlier universities were established in Italian towns.
• The universities Padua and Bologna had been centres of legal studies from 11th
century.
• There was a growing demand for lawyers and notaries to write and interpret rules
and written contracts as increasing trade and commerce depended over them.
• Francisco Petrarch represented this change and stressed the significance of a deep
reading of ancient authors.
• The term humanist began to be applied in early 15th century for masters who could
teach grammar,rhetoric,poetry,history and philosophy.
• These subjects had no connection with religion. They were developed through
discussions and debates of individuals.
• These ideas influenced other universities also especially in newly established
university in Florence ,the home town of Petrarch
• A city was known not only for its wealth but also for its citizens and Florence had
become popular because of Dante Alighieri a layman who wrote religious themes
and Giotto ,an artist who painted life like portraits.
5) Humanism.
• The main feature of renaissance period was Humanism. The centre of discussion
was shifted from the religious aspects to the day to day life and realities of human
beings. By the early 15 th century,
• The term humanist was used for masters who taught grammar, rhetoric, poetry,
history and moral philosophy. The term 'humanities' derived from the Latin word
'humanitas'.
• It was Cicero, a contemporary of Julius Caesar coined the term humanities. To him
the word mean culture.
6) 'Renaissance Man'
• The term 'Renaissance Man' is often used to describe a person with many interests
and skills.
• They were scholar-diplomat-theologian-artist combined in one.

Sajeevan K C GHSS Kallachi Kozhikode

 Join Now: https://join.hsslive.in Downloaded from https://www.hsslive.in ®

7) Artists and Realism

• A thousand years after the fall of Rome, fragments of art were discovered in the
ruins of ancient Rome and other deserted cities.
• Their admiration for the figures of perfectly proportioned men and women sculpted
so many centuries ago, made Italian sculptors want to continue that tradition.
• The artists tried to picturise human body in reality. They went to the laboratories of
medical schools for studying bone structures.
• Andreas Vesalius was the first to dissect the human body. This was the beginning of
modern physiology.
• Painters did not have older works to use as a model. But they, like sculptors,
painted as realistically as possible.
8) Architecture

In the 15 th century,Rome made its mark in a spectacular way. The two factors that
inspired a new style in architecture were;
1. Encouragement of Popes
2. Excavation of the ruins in Rome.
• The new classical architecture was actually a revival of the Imperial Roman Style. The
wealthy merchants, popes and aristocrats employed those architects who were familiar
with classical architecture.
• Artists and sculptors began to decorate buildings with paintings ,sculptures and reliefs.
Several persons were expert equally as painters, sculptors and architects.
• Michaelangelo is remembered for his immortal work in Rome such as the painted
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel ,the sculpture called 'The Pieta' and the design of the
dome of St. Peter's Church.
• Filippo Brunelleschi started his career as a sculptor but became famous for
designing the Duomo of Florence.
9) The First Printed Books
• Johannes Gutenberg, a German ,made first printing press and printed 150 copies of
the Bible in 1455 .
• With the availability of printed books ,the dependency of students over lecture
notes was ended.
• The ideas, opinions and information spread widely and rapidly. The printed books
promoted new views rapidly.
• The printed books were the chief factor to spread humanist culture quickly across
the Alps by the end of 15 century.
10) A New Concept of Human Beings
• One of the features of humanist culture was a loosening of the control of religion
over human life.
• A humanist from Venice, Francesco Barbaro wrote pamphlet in defending acquisition
of the wealth and called it a virtue.
• Lorenzo Valla in his book 'On Pleasure' condemned the Christian restriction against
pleasure.
• Machiavelli wrote about human nature in his work, 'The Prince'.
• Humanist laid importance to good manners and skills a person of culture should
learn.
11) The Aspirations of Women
• The new ideas like individuality and citizenship regarding human beings excluded
women.
• Men from aristocratic families led the public life and were the decision-makers of
their families.
• The sons were provided with education to lead a family business or public life.
• Women had no say in business matters though their dowries were invested in
family business

Sajeevan K C GHSS Kallachi Kozhikode

 Join Now: https://join.hsslive.in Downloaded from https://www.hsslive.in ®

• Those girls whose dowry was not arranged were sent to convents to lead the life of
nuns.
• The women were looked upon as keeper of households only.
• The condition of women in families of merchants was in contrast to that of
aristocratic families. They assisted their husbands in running the business.
• The wives of merchants and bankers looked after their business when they were
away.
• Several women were intellectual humanists .Venetian Cassandra Fedele was one of
them. She was known for her proficiency in Greek and Latin language.
• Another outstanding woman was Isabella d'Este. She ruled the state in the absence
of her husband
12) Debates within Christianity
• In the 15 and 16 centuries, many scholars in universities in north Europe were
attracted to humanist ideas. Like Italian scholars they also paid attention to
classical Greek and Roman texts together with the sacred books of the Christians
• In north Europe humanism attracted many members of the church. They discarded
the meaningless rites which they considered as later additions and directed the
Christians to follow the religion mentioned in ancient texts of their religion.
• The Christian humanists like Thomas More of England and Erasmus of Holland
assumed that the church in their respective country had become a centre of greed
and extortion money forcibly from common men.
• The selling of 'indulgence' document was one of the method to obtain money. The
Indulgences promised the people to free them from the sins committed by them in
the past.
• The printed Bible in local languages disclosed the Christians that their religion did
not allow such practises .
• The peasants ,commons and the princes began to rebel against taxes imposed by
the Church and their increasing interference in the work of the state.

Reformation

• In 1517,Martin Luther, a German monk, started the protestant Reformation against

the Catholic Church.
• He said that a person did not need priest to set up contact with God. That led to the
break-up of German and Swiss Churches with the Pope and Catholic Church.
• In Switzerland,Ulrich Zwingli and Jean Calvin followed Martin Luther's ideas .
• These reformers had greater popular support in towns and rural areas.
• Other German reformers like Anabaptists were more radical. They blended the idea
of salvation to all kinds of social oppression.
• They argued that God has created all men as equals and therefore ,they are not
expected to pay tax and have the right to choose their priests. These ideas
influenced the feudal oppressed peasantry and they revolted.
• MartinLuther opposed radicalism and asked the German rulers to suppress the
rebellions
• In England,the rulers broke the connection with the Pope. The King or queen was
the head of the church from then onwards.

Jesuits

• In Spain, Ignatius Loyola organised the Society of Jesus in 1540.

• His followers were called Jesuits. The aim of the society was to serve poor and to
widen their knowledge of other cultures.
13) The Copernican Revolution
• The scientists had questioned the Christian notion of man as a sinner.

Sajeevan K C GHSS Kallachi Kozhikode

 Join Now: https://join.hsslive.in Downloaded from https://www.hsslive.in ®

• The Christians believed that the earth was a place of sin and the burden of sin
made it stationary. The earth was centre of universe around which celestial planets
moved.
• Copernicus developed a theory that earth together with other planets revolved
around the sun.
• He handed over his manuscript De revolutionibus (The Rotation) to his disciple
Joachim Rheticus before his death. People took time to accept the truth.
Johannes Kepler
• Johannes Kepler popularised the theory that earth is a part of sun-centred solar
system. In his Cosmographical Mystery,he demonstrated that planets revolved
around the sun not in circle but in eclipses.
Galileo Galilee
• Galileo Galilee in his work 'The Motion' proved the notion of dynamic world.
Isaac Newton.
• The revolution in science reached its climax with the theory of gravitation by Isaac
Newton.
14) Was there a European 'Renaissance' in the Fourteenth Century?
• Modern writers like Peter Burke of England suggested that Burckhardt exaggerated
the sharp distinction between this period and the one that preceded it by terming it
as 'Renaissance'.
• The term implied the rebirth of the Greek and Roman civilizations and the
substitution of the pre-Christian world for the Christian world by the artists and
scholars of that period.
• Both these arguments were exaggerated. By terming the Renaissance as a period
of imaginative creativity and the Middle Ages as a period of darkness is a easy
generalisation.
• The elements of Renaissance were already seen from 12 th and 13 th centuries.
Even in 9 th century in France, same type of literary and artistic efforts flourished.
• The archaeological and literary findings of Roman culture show that the
technologies and skill in Asia had contributed to the cultural changes of Europe.
• The expansion of Islam and Mongol invasions linked Asia and North Africa with
Europe in trade and learning skills along with political connections.
• Europe along with Romans and Greeks got knowledge from India,China,Iran,Arabia
and Central Asia.
• The Asian contributions were soon forgotten with the writing of history from the
Europe-centred view point

----------------------------------------------------------

Sajeevan K C GHSS Kallachi Kozhikode