The Renaissance was an ideological and cultural movement from the 14th to 16th centuries that reflected the demands of the emerging bourgeoisie in Western European countries. Its main center was originally in Italy.

The essence of the Renaissance: It is not simply the revival of the classical culture of Greece and Rome, but the rise of a new cultural form, that is, the representative of bourgeois ideology. It was a great liberation movement in the European cultural field that promoted the interests and demands of the bourgeoisie, and advocated and shouted for the bourgeoisie to enter the political stage.

The Renaissance opened the prelude to modern European history and was the dividing line between the medieval era and modern times. It is the dividing line between the feudal era and the capitalist era.

The word Renaissance comes from the Italian word Rinascimento, which means rebirth or revival. It later spread to Western European countries and reached its peak in the 16th century. In 1550, Vasari officially used it as the name of the new culture in his "Biographies of Celebrities in the Art Garden". This word was translated into Renaissance in French and became common in European countries after the 17th century. In the 19th century, Western historians further regarded it as the general term for Western European culture from the 14th to 16th centuries. Western historians once believed that it was the revival of the culture and art of the ancient Greek and Roman empires.

Produced:

The Catholic Church monopolized all knowledge and education, used feudal theology to rule people's thoughts, suppressed scientific research, and the culture fell into a low ebb.

In order to develop capitalism and pursue enjoyment of life, the emerging bourgeoisie requires a struggle against the church in the ideological field.

From the 14th to the 16th century, a new trend of bourgeois culture first broke out in Italy.

Many intellectuals relied on the classical culture of ancient Greece and Rome to attack the shackles of the church from all aspects and establish a bourgeois humanistic worldview. What people thought at the time was the "Renaissance" was actually the rise of bourgeois culture.

In the 14th century, with the development of factory handicrafts and commodity economy, capitalist relations gradually formed within the European feudal system; politically, feudal separatism had caused widespread dissatisfaction, and national consciousness began to awaken. The public in various European countries expressed a strong desire for national unity. As a result, a new period began to emerge in culture and art that reflected the interests and demands of emerging capitalist forces. The emerging bourgeoisie believes that medieval culture is a regression, while Greek and Roman classical culture are examples of bright development. They strive to revive classical culture - and the so-called "revival" is actually an unprecedented liberation and creation of knowledge and spirit.

At that time, Italy was in a state of numerous cities. Each city was an independent or semi-independent country. After the 14th century, each city gradually moved from a dictatorship to a dictatorship. The dictator was addicted to pleasure, believed in Neo-Platonism, wanted to get rid of the shackles of religious asceticism, and vigorously protected artists' depictions of secular life. At the same time, the religious radicalism of the Franciscans sought to abandon the scholasticism of orthodox religion and celebrate the beauty of nature and the spiritual value of man. The Holy See is also heading towards corruption. The scale of enjoyment of successive popes is greater than that of secular dictators. They are also protecting artists and allowing art to deviate from orthodox religious dogma. Philosophy and science are gradually developing in a relatively relaxed atmosphere, and a prelude to the religious reform is brewing.

The Renaissance movement originated in northern Italy. It is generally believed that the first representative figure was Dante, whose representative is the "Divine Comedy". His works first implicitly criticized and exposed the corruption and corruption of medieval religious rule. Folly, writing in a regional dialect rather than Latin which was the official literary language of medieval Europe.

Another representative figure is Petrarch. He believed that the ancient Greek and Roman eras were the most perfect eras of human nature. It was against nature to suppress human nature in the Middle Ages. Although he had an in-depth and extensive study of Latin literature, he wrote a large number of lyric poems in the form of sonnets in Italian dialect, which were warmly welcomed by the rulers of various cities and countries.

Another important reason for the Renaissance was the capture of Constantinople by the Ottoman Turkish Empire in 1453 and the demise of the Eastern Roman Empire. A large number of talents who were influenced by Eastern culture and still retained the spirit of the ancient Roman Empire fled to Italy, bringing back many fresh ideas and arts, and opened schools teaching Greek in Rome, which promoted the formation of the Renaissance movement.

3. Renaissance works and ideas

Renaissance works embody humanistic ideas: advocating the liberation of individuality, opposing medieval asceticism and religious views; advocating scientific culture , oppose obscurantism, get rid of the church's shackles on people's thoughts; affirm human rights, oppose theocracy, abandon all authority and traditional dogma as the basis of theology and scholastic philosophy; support centralization and oppose feudal separatism, this is the main idea of ??humanism. Among them, representative works include: Dante's "Divine Comedy", Boccaccio's "Decameron", Machiavelli's "The Prince", Rabelais's "The Gigantic", etc.

Renaissance art celebrated the beauty of the human body, advocating that the proportions of the human body are the most harmonious in the world, and applied them to architecture. A series of paintings, although still with religious stories as the theme, Sculptures, but showing scenes of ordinary people, pulling gods to the ground.

Humanists began to study the Bible using the methods of studying classical literature and translated the Bible into the native language, which led to the rise of the religious reform movement.

Humanism praises the world and despises heaven, flaunts rationality to replace divine revelation, affirms that "man" is the creator and enjoyer of life in this world, requires literature and art to express people's thoughts and feelings, science to benefit people, and education To develop human personality requires liberating human thoughts, feelings and wisdom from the shackles of theology. It advocates freedom of individuality and therefore plays a very progressive role in historical development.

IV. The Renaissance in Different Categories

(1) Natural Science

1. Astronomy

Polish astronomer Copernicus In 1543, he published "On the Revolutions of the Celestial Spheres", in which he proposed a heliocentric system that was different from Ptolemy's geocentric system. Italian thinker Bruno declared in books such as "On Infinity, the Universe and the Worlds" and "On Causes, Origins and Unity" that the universe is infinite in space and time, and the sun is only the center of the solar system rather than the universe. Galileo invented the astronomical telescope in 1609, published "The Astral Messenger" in 1610, and "Dialogue Concerning the Two World Systems of Ptolemy and Copernicus" in 1632. The German astronomer Kepler studied the observation data of his teacher, the Danish astronomer Tycho, and proposed the three laws of planetary motion in "New Astronomy" in 1609 and "Harmony of the World" in 1619, and determined the planets. It moves around the sun in an elliptical orbit, and this motion is not unequal.

2. Mathematics

Algebra achieved important development during the Renaissance, and solutions to cubic and quartic equations were discovered. The Italian Cardano published the formula for finding the roots of cubic equations in his book "The Great Art", but the discovery of this formula should actually be attributed to another scholar, Tartaglia. The solution to the quartic equation was discovered by Cardano's student Ferrari and is also recorded in "The Great Art". In his work, Bombelli explained the irreducibility of cubic equations, used imaginary numbers, and improved the algebraic notation popular at the time. Symbolic algebra was established by the French mathematician Veda in the 16th century. He published "Introduction to Analytical Methods" in 1591, which systematically organized algebra and consciously used letters to represent unknown and known numbers for the first time. In another of his works, "On the Identification and Correction of Equations," Weda improved the solution methods of cubic and quartic equations, and also established the relationship between the roots and coefficients of quadratic and cubic equations, which is called Weida in modern times. reach theorem. Trigonometry also achieved great development during the Renaissance. German mathematician Regmontanus's "On the Various Triangles" was the first European work on trigonometry independent of astronomy. The book provides a systematic explanation of plane trigonometry and spherical trigonometry, as well as a very precise table of trigonometric functions. Rheticus, a student of Copernicus, created more sophisticated tables of trigonometric functions based on redefining trigonometric functions.

3. Physics

In terms of physics, Galileo discovered the three laws of falling bodies, projectile bodies and oscillation through many experiments, which gave people a new understanding of the universe. . His student Torricelli proved air pressure through experiments and invented the mercury barometer. French scientist Pascal discovered the law of pressure propagation in liquids and gases. British scientist Boyle discovered the law of gas pressure.

4. Physiology and Medicine

The Belgian doctor Vesalius published the book "The Structure of the Human Body", challenging Galen's "Trinity" theory.

The Spanish doctor Servetus discovered the small circulatory system of blood and proved that blood flows from the right ventricle to the lungs and through a tortuous route to the left ventricle. British anatomist Harvey conducted a large number of animal anatomy experiments and published treatises such as "On the Movement of Heart and Blood", which systematically explained the laws of blood movement and the working principle of the heart. He pointed out that the heart is the center of blood movement and the source of power. This major discovery made him the originator of modern physiology.

5. "The Great Geographic Discovery"

Navigation technology took a revolutionary leap, and explorers from Portugal, Spain, and Italy began a series of long-distance navigation activities. The geographical discoveries of Columbus, Magellan and others provided strong evidence for the theory of a round earth.

6. The rediscovery of printing in Europe, as well as papermaking, compasses, and gunpowder (China’s four great inventions) brought from the East, promoted the rapid spread of scientific ideas.

(2) Literature

Writers from all over the world began to use their own dialects instead of Latin for literary creation, which promoted popular literature and injected a large number of literary works into various languages, including Novels, poems, essays, ballads and dramas, etc.

In Italy, the "Three Literary Heroes" appeared in the early Renaissance. Dante wrote many academic works and poems throughout his life, the most famous of which are "New Life" and "The Divine Comedy". Petrarch is the originator of humanism and is known as the "Father of Humanism". He was the first to issue a call to revive classical culture and proposed to oppose "theology" with "humanity". Petrarch mainly composed many beautiful poems, and his representative work is the collection of lyrical sonnets "Songbook". Boccaccio is the founder of Italian national literature, and the collection of short stories "The Decameron" is his masterpiece.

In France, the Renaissance movement clearly formed two factions, one was the aristocratic faction represented by the "Seven Stars Poetry Society", and the other was the democratic faction represented by Rabelais. The "Seven Stars Poetry Society", represented by Longchat and Du Belle, has made outstanding contributions in language and poetry theory. They were the first to put forward the idea of ??unifying the national language and promoted the development of the French national language and national literature. However, they rejected folk poetry and only served a few nobles. Rabelais is an outstanding humanist writer after Boccaccio and a representative of French Renaissance democracy. "The Legend of Giants", which he created over 20 years, is a realist work that interweaves reality and fantasy, and occupies an important position in the history of European literature and education.

In Britain, representatives include Thomas More and Shakespeare. Thomas More is a famous humanist thinker and the founder of utopian socialism. "Utopia", which he wrote in Latin in 1516, was the first work of utopian socialism. Shakespeare is a talented dramatist and poet. Together with Homer, Dante, and Goethe, he is known as the four epoch-making writers in Europe. His works have complete structures, vivid plots, rich and refined language, and outstanding characters. They collectively represent the highest achievements of European Renaissance literature and have a profound impact on the development of European realist literature.

In Spain, the most outstanding representatives are Cervantes and Vega. Cervantes was a realist writer, dramatist and poet. He wrote a large number of poems, plays and novels, among which the satirical novel "Don Quixote" is the most famous, which had a significant impact on the development of European literature. Vega is a dramatist, novelist and poet, the founder of Spanish national drama, and is known as the "Father of Spanish Drama". He is a rare and prolific writer in the world. He wrote more than 2,000 scripts in his lifetime, and more than 600 of them have been handed down to this day, including religious dramas, historical dramas, mythological dramas, sword dramas, pastoral operas and other forms. It profoundly reflects the social reality of Spain and is deeply loved by the masses. The most outstanding masterpiece is "Yangquan Village".

(3) Architecture

Renaissance architecture is an architectural style born with the Renaissance cultural movement in Italy in the 14th century AD. Based on the criticism of the theocratic supremacy of the Middle Ages and the affirmation of humanism, the architect hopes to use classical proportions to reshape the coordinated order of the ideal classical society. Therefore, generally speaking, Renaissance architecture pays attention to order and proportion, with rigorous facade and plan composition as well as column systems inherited from classical architecture.

1. Features

*Study the classical style represented by ancient Greece and Rome, and developed the concept of 'column style'.

* Emphasize that the proportions of buildings, like the proportions of people, reflect the harmony and laws of the universe. This strongly reflects the influence of Pythagoras and Plato tradition.

*Use symmetrical shapes, centralized

*Restore "nature", use rulers and compasses for drawing, mainly circles and squares

* Opposition to Gothic architecture

2. Famous buildings and architects

Fillipo Brunelleschi (Brunelleschi)

From the perspective of time and place, Florence, Italy, can be regarded as the beginning of the Renaissance. The cathedral built by architect Fillipo Brunelleschi in Florence, Italy, did not use Goethe's form. Instead, it looked very similar to Byzantine's Cathedral of Our Lady. However, it did not use a triangular sail arch, but directly placed the pointed arch in an octagon. on the wall. Finally, a small pavilion on the top that looks dangerous actually plays the role of connecting several parts of the arch and pressing them together with its own weight. In addition, this vault has a wooden roof rather than a Roman stone or concrete roof.

And in the Closter of the Franciscan Friary in Santa Sroce, the Chapel he built for the Pazzi Family really used the spinnaker arch. This time the lower plane was a square, and the upper part was a spinnaker arch. With the addition of round arches, a craft that had been lost for centuries was finally revived. This dome combined with the Basilika's plan became the standard for centuries to come.

Leon Battista Alberti Leon Battista Alberti

Fillipo combines the role of a traditional medieval craftsman, truly represents the Renaissance architect, and truly The person who raised the construction of Renaissance architecture to a theoretical level was Leon Battista Alberti, whose On Architecture was published in 1485. (It is worth mentioning here that Gutenberg invented printing, which made cultural exchanges faster. This is an important factor in cultural dissemination.) In this book, he reflects the discussion from the perspective of a Renaissance humanist Architectural possibilities. He proposed that basic collection systems such as circles and squares should be reorganized proportionally based on Euclid's mathematical principles to find the golden section of beauty in architecture. He used a variety of column types in the construction of Palazzo Rucellai, and these columns have carefully considered proportions. The top of the palace also has original deep eaves, which even cover the roof, so that the appearance of the building remains completely square.

Bramante

Donato Bramante is the person who pushed this ancient rationalist spirit to the extreme. He did his best to consider every architectural proportion. , you can see this kind of proportion that has been refined to near perfection in his Tempietto of San Pietro. In the future, many public buildings and religious buildings, such as St. Peter's Church, the Pantheon in Paris, and even the White House, all have Bramante's shadow.

The largest work of the Renaissance can be said to be St. Peter's Church, which was built over a century ago. The list of architects is like a who's who of the Renaissance. This beginning, or skeleton, was completed by Bramante. Then came Raphael, Peruzzi, Sangallo the Younger, Michelangelo, Vignola, Della Porta, Fontana and Maderna.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo was not a professional architect, but a great sculptor. It is precisely because of this that he avoided the drawbacks of his contemporaries who were too obsessed with proportions and refined architecture from a sculptor's unique three-dimensional perspective. He used various techniques, such as destroying balance, or using long narrow walkways or colonnades, to achieve a touching architectural effect, but he was not very concerned about whether he conformed to strict classical proportions. Among them, the giant column used in St. Peter's Basilica was obtained by raising the ordinary column several times higher.

This creative use of classical motifs introduced the Renaissance into later Mannerism.

Palladio (Palladio)

The leader of vicenca is Palladio. He is a serious classicist. His distillation of classicism makes this master's works always unique. It is as pure as a diamond. It embodies the mathematical precision of Renaissance architecture and the control of centralized plan. Looking further, we can see that under this strict aesthetic system, the main body of the building has been squeezed into a very peripheral corner, and the building has completely become a conceptual carrier in Palladio's hands.

5. National Characteristics of the Renaissance

(1) Italy and its representative figures

Representative figures:

Poets: Dante, Petrarch;

Writers: Boccaccio, Machiavelli;

Painters: Giotto, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael Er, Titian;

Sculptor: Michelangelo; Architect: Brunelleschi;

Musicians: Palestrina, Lasso, etc. .

(2) Spain and its representative figures

The Spanish Renaissance entered the "golden age" in the second half of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, with remarkable achievements in novels and dramas.

Representative figures: writer Cervantes, dramatist Lobo de Vega

(3) Germany and its representative figures

In Germany: the main Achievements are reflected in religious reform, peasant wars, satire, and scientific and technological inventions.

Representative figures: Martin Luther, Dürer, etc.

(4) France and its representative figures

In France: free thinking and skeptical thinking are quite developed.

Representative figures: essayist: Montaigne, novelist: Rabelais, etc.

(5) Britain and its representative figures

In Britain: poetry and drama have an unprecedented prosperity.

Representative figures: Writer Shakespeare, etc.

6. The Significance of the Renaissance

For a long time, the Renaissance was considered to be simply the restoration of classical culture. In fact, the Renaissance did not really want to "restore" classical culture, but used it to criticize the culture and system of the time in order to establish a new culture and create public opinion for the establishment of a new social system.

The Renaissance was a period of gradual development without clear dividing lines or events. But the Renaissance changed people's thinking at that time, leading to the religious reform and fierce religious wars. The later Enlightenment took the Renaissance as its model. Historians in the 19th century believed that subsequent scientific development, geographical discoveries, and the birth of nation-states all originated from the Renaissance. The Renaissance was the watershed between the Middle Ages and modern times in the "Dark Ages" and the premise of public opinion for the bourgeois revolution. The Renaissance was a prelude to freeing Europe from the shackles of decadent feudal religion and expanding to the world.

The main manifestations are:

1. The Renaissance is a great change in the field of thought and culture, with great vitality.

2. Modern science emerged and promoted the progress of human science and civilization.