Western civilization: concept identifications

Introduction

How did the advent of print influence the Renaissance and the Humanism movement? The Spread of Printing led to much more availability of the written word. Word could be spread much farther and more rapidly with more copies of the news, and censorship of this same news was much harder to control. This fact was utilized by governments as well, spreading words that helped with governing subjects and controlling areas across vast distances more easily.

What Did Machiavelli Portray in His Political Writings?

Machiavelli portrayed his version of the platonic ideal of a prince, a professional and regal upstanding man who can hold and control Political power. This was directed as advice for the Medici family, although this Prince was used as a model for many Renaissance men with ambitions.

Why Can We Say That the Legacy of the Renaissance Comes From Their Artist?

The artists of the Renaissance were viewed as types of heroes, with ever increasing techniques and technologies the artwork created became more and more realistic. This new form of beauty was fought over endlessly, and Princes rushed to create patronages and portraiture to increase their wealth and power.

What Made Leonardo da Vinci a Renaissance Man?

Da Vinci was a Renaissance man because of his grasp of a number of intellectual pursuits. He was an exquisite painter, inventor, weapons manufacturer, and he had many other skills, which various patrons used to their benefit. He was also devoted to studies, in nature and the human body, providing many useful insights into his artwork and information to others.

How did Michelangelo Influence the Renaissance Movement?

Michelangelo focused much more heavily on the Sculpted form. Sculpture became a much more in depth art form, as it was shown without being a relief or connected to architecture. Michelangelo did much great work, sculpting figures out of marble at twice the normal size, in vast detail.

Discuss the Architectural Style of the Renaissance

The Renaissance architectural style largely mimicked that of the Romans. This Romanesque style involved a great reliance on mathematical proportions. Some buildings, such as St. Peter’s Basilica, were built to reflect the mathematical proportions of the human body.

Influential Work of Erasmus

Erasmus was an incredibly learned scholar and theologian. He wrote books that were aimed to refine inner piety and how knights and many people of different strata could adhere to this cause. He also translated a much more accurate version of the New Testament due to his fluency in Latin and Greek.

Discuss the Triumph of the Reconquista

Castile and Aragon’s rulers married in 1469, leading to these two previously rivalling nations to join together and commission the most powerful army in Europe. This they used to reverse the “ Convivencia” of Spain, instead conquering and coercing the conversion of the rest of Andalusia. This process ended with the expulsion of the Jews and the removal of the Granadan Muslims.

Components of Exploration

Henry the Navigator-Prince Henry was highly interested in the Atlantic seafaring opportunities, which he then accessed for Portugal by colonizing the Azores, Canaries, and Madiera. These he used as staging grounds and sources of slaves to assist a connection into Africa by 1444. In the Gold coast Prince Henry then focused on transporting gold and slaves back to Portugal. Dias-Dias was a naval explorer who was surveying down the African Coast past the Congo, when a gale forcefully blew him eventually around the Cape of Good Hope, which he named the Cape of Storms. This allowed Portugal to control a path eventually to India, which was later planned. Technology-Caravels used by the Portuguese were upgraded with much larger hulls and more masts, which needed much less crew and supplies. These ships were also guided by Quadrants, which could find the latitude if not near the equator. Astrolabes could be used to this same purpose if near the equator, and rutters were used like maps, which were detailed descriptions of the voyages and sights, which would help following pilots navigate.

Columbus

Columbus set sail believing that he was sailing straight to Asia. He estimated that after about a month he would reach Japan or different outer islands. In reality after a month he reached Hispaniola, and the natives he returned with were Native American. Still, this led to a great many more voyages to America. Cortez-Cortez was given a land grant by Spain in Hispaniola, and expeditions into the mainland led him to find a consort and translator, La Malinche. This allowed him to talk and forge alliances with people unhappy with Aztec rule and stage an uprising. Although militarily Cortez was not at first successful, the diseases his men brought led the Aztec empire to fall to him.

Cost of conquest

Spain absorbed an incredible amount of gold and silver from the collapsed nations of the new world, and yet they also contracted new diseases as well. Native workers died so frequently from disease that they could not be used effectively as workers, and so slaves were imported in for mining and plantations. The amount of silver brought in was staggering, it caused great inflation in Europe, and at times economical collapse from the new coinage.