The history of the renaissance through humanist ideals and satire

The Renaissance was a European period of history and cultural movement at the end of the Late Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern era. Characterized by the rediscovery and revival of classical achievements, it was first centered in the Republic of Florence, then spread through Italy and Europe.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 1 hr 39 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   the history of the renaissance · Wikipedia · 60+ min read

   Renaissance humanist education was based on Studia Humanitatis, the study of five humanities: poetry, grammar, history, moral philosophy, and rhetoric. Ambrogio Lorenzetti's early Renaissance fresco cycle The Allegory of Good and Bad Government (painted 1338 to 1340) strongly promotes fairness, justice, republicanism and good administration. These city republics held both Church and Empire at bay and were devoted to notions of liberty. Johan Huizinga (1872 to 1945), in The Autumn of the Middle Ages, acknowledged the Renaissance but questioned whether it was a positive change. He argued that it was a period of decline from the High Middle Ages, destroying much that was important.

2. Read
   

   "Worthless Idiot, Donkey Head": Parodies of Pedantry on the Renaissance Stage · Public Domain Review · 14 min read

   Arnoud Visser investigates the pedant, a stock character on the Italian stage, and his association with individual superiority, social distinction, and sexual transgression, finding a form of satire that took aim at the Renaissance humanist's erudition and lofty ideals.

3. Watch
   

   Florence and the Renaissance: Crash Course European History #2 · YouTube · 15 min watch

   The Renaissance began in Florence, a center of its art and culture. The Medici family's patronage was part of that story, and the movement went on to shape Europe and the world.

4. Book
   

   The Birth of Venus · Bookshop.org

   The Birth of Venus by Sarah Dunant describes Alessandra and Florence caught between the Medici state's love of luxury, learning, and dazzling art and Savonarola's religious and political control, bringing alive Florence through a story of love, art, religion, and power.

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