The Renaissance in different countries. European Renaissance. General problems of the art of the European Renaissance

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Introduction

Conclusion

Introduction

Renaissance, or Renaissance, is an era in the cultural history of Europe, which replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of modern times. Approximate chronological framework of the era: the beginning of the 14th century - the last quarter of the 16th century. A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in man and his activities). Interest in ancient culture appears, its “revival,” as it were, occurs—and that’s how the term appeared.

The term Renaissance is found among Italian humanists, for example, Giorgio Vasari. In its modern meaning, the term was introduced into use by the 19th century French historian Jules Michelet. Nowadays, the term Renaissance has become a metaphor for cultural flourishing: for example, the Carolingian Renaissance or the 12th-century Renaissance.

The culture of the Renaissance arose and took shape earlier than other countries in Italy, reaching a brilliant peak here in the first decades of the 16th century. Its origins were in the 14th century. and rapid progressive development in the 15th century. were determined by the historical characteristics of the country.

The formation of a new culture became a matter, first of all, of the humanistic intelligentsia, in its origin and social status very colorful and heterogeneous. Although the ideas put forward by humanists received increasing public resonance over time, in general it is difficult to associate them with the ideology of a particular layer of society, including characterizing them as “bourgeois” or “early bourgeois”. With all the ideological diversity in the culture of the Italian Renaissance, however, the core of a single new worldview emerged, specific features which is defined by its “renaissance”. Ultimately, it was generated by the new needs of life itself, as was the task set to achieve more high level education for a fairly wide segment of society. The internal laws of the development of culture itself also led to the promotion of this important educational goal. In Italy, its implementation was facilitated by the diverse educational structure that existed in the cities.

The purpose of this essay is to look at life in Italy during the Renaissance.

1. Progressive changes in the economy, politics, culture of the XII-XIII centuries.

The culture of the Renaissance arose and took shape earlier than other countries in Italy, reaching a brilliant peak here in the first decades of the 16th century. Its origins were in the 14th century. and rapid progressive development in the 15th century. were determined by the historical characteristics of the country. One of the most urbanized areas of Europe - Italy in the XIV-XV centuries. reached a very high level of medieval civilization compared to other regions of Europe. Free Italian city-states, in conditions of political particularism, gained economic power, relying on advanced forms of commercial, industrial and financial entrepreneurship, monopoly positions in foreign markets and widespread lending to European rulers and nobility. The independent cities of Northern and Central Italy, rich and prosperous, extremely active economically and politically, became the main base for the formation of a new, Renaissance culture, secular in its general orientation.

Of no small importance was the fact that in Italy there were no clearly defined estates, the feudal nobility was involved in the turbulent city life and was closely linked in its political and economic activity with a merchant elite and a wealthy layer of the middle class, the boundaries between which were blurred. This feature of Italian society contributed to the creation of a special climate in the city-state: the freedom of full citizens, their equality before the law, valor and enterprise, which opened the way to social and economic prosperity, were valued and cultivated here. In the urban environment, new features of the worldview and self-awareness of various layers of society were more clearly manifested. A typical example is business books, family chronicles, memoirs, letters from representatives of prominent families in Florence, Venice, and other cities - the so-called merchant literature clearly reflected the mindset of both the patriciate and the popolian milieu. The very existence of this kind of literature is indicative, indicating the high level of education of the leading social stratum of the city.

Among the prerequisites for the emergence and development of Renaissance culture in Italy, one of the most important was a broad education system - from primary and secondary schools supported by the city commune, home schooling and vocational training in the shops of merchants and artisans to numerous universities. Unlike other countries, they were early open to teaching disciplines that expanded the scope of traditional humanities education. Finally, a significant role was played in Italy by the especially close historical connection its culture with Roman civilization - we should not forget about the numerous ancient monuments preserved in the country. Restoring continuity with ancient culture - the task put forward by the figures of the Renaissance, it was not by chance that it arose and for a long time was most fully realized in Italy, for which the culture of Ancient Rome was an important part of its own past. A new attitude towards the ancient heritage has become the problem of resurrecting the tradition of our ancestors.

The ideological origins of the Renaissance are revealed already in medieval culture Europe XII-XIII centuries. They can be seen in Provençal lyricism and vagant poetry, in urban satire and short stories, in the philosophy of the Chartres school, Pierre Abelard, and John of Salisbury. Secular motifs characteristic of knightly and urban literature, attempts to free philosophy from dogmatism, as well as a number of other features of medieval culture - all this prepared the way for the culture of the Renaissance with its unconventional, although remaining within the framework of the Christian worldview, ideas about the world and man . In Italy, new trends emerged in the poetry of the “sweet style”, the art of the Proto-Renaissance, and the work of Dante Alighieri. “The Divine Comedy” is a poetic and philosophical generalization of the medieval worldview, like other works of the great Florentine (the treatises “The Feast” and “The Monarchy”, the poetic cycle “New Life”), contain many ideas that were adopted and developed later by humanists. This is a new understanding of nobility as the result of individual efforts, and not a sign of birth, and large-scale images strong personalities in The Divine Comedy, and an appeal to the ancient heritage as an important source of knowledge.

The ideological guidelines of the Renaissance culture of Italy were also influenced by the psychological climate of city life and changes in the mentality of various strata of society. In this regard, the urban environment was by no means homogeneous. In business circles, sobriety of practical thinking, business rationalism, high quality professional knowledge, breadth of outlook and education were valued. The principles of corporate consciousness gradually gave way to individualistic tendencies. Along with the growing apology for enrichment, the concepts of group and personal honor and respect for laws were preserved, although the cult of communal freedoms typical of Italian cities had already begun to be combined with attempts to reasoned justification for deceiving the state in favor of the family and clan when paying taxes. In merchant morality oriented towards secular affairs, new maxims began to prevail - the ideal of human activity, energetic personal efforts, without which it was impossible to achieve professional success, and this step by step led away from church ascetic ethics, which sharply condemned acquisitiveness and the desire for hoarding.

Among the nobility, especially among the old aristocratic families, traditional performances about feudal virtues, family honor was highly valued, but here, too, new trends appeared, not without the influence of the merchant-Polansky environment. The daily routine of the nobility who had long since moved to the city included, as a rule, trade and financial entrepreneurship, which gave rise to practical rationalism, prudence, and a new attitude to wealth. The desire of the nobles to play a leading role in urban politics intensified not only personal ambitions in the sphere of power, but also patriotic sentiments - serving the state in the administrative field relegated military prowess to the background.

The bulk of the population - middle-class merchants and guild craftsmen, as well as representatives of traditional intellectual professions (clergy, theologians, lawyers, doctors) advocated for the preservation of social peace and the prosperity of the city state, drawing closer in this part to “business people.” Here the traditions of corporatism were stronger.

In the lower urban environment, with the growing contrast between poverty and wealth, outbursts of social protest often arose, sometimes leading to uprisings, and their own ideas about justice, sinfulness and retribution were formed, which were far from the sentiments of not only the ruling elite of society, but sometimes also from the mentality of the craft environment of the populace. The peasantry, for the most part personally free and quite mobile, in the specific conditions of Italian feudalism was closely connected with the city and replenished the ranks of its unskilled workers. This environment was the most conservative; it was in it that the traditions of folk medieval culture were firmly preserved, which had a certain impact on the culture of the Renaissance.

2. Transition from theocentric to anthropological understanding of the world

The Renaissance meant the crisis of the feudal system and the emergence of capitalism in Europe. For philosophy, this time became a kind of transition period - from theocentrism to rationalism, to the study of the world by means scientific knowledge. The process of secularization began as a trend towards the gradual liberation of society from the spiritual dictates of religion and the church and the formation of a secular culture. The development of philosophy during the Renaissance was determined by a number of factors. Firstly, the influence of advanced ancient philosophical thought (Socrates, Epicurus, etc.). Secondly, interaction with the systematic science that was emerging in that era. And thirdly, the growing influence of the established capitalist system on public consciousness, culture and morality of society.

Within this great era a deep breakdown in the theological picture of the world (theocentrism) that had developed in the Middle Ages became obvious. The greatest contribution to this turn was made by natural philosophy and natural science of the Renaissance. However, the position of science had not yet strengthened, and religion was still very influential. Pantheism (“omnitheism”), which affirmed the idea of ​​God’s dissolution in nature and in all its things, became a unique form of struggle and compromise between them. “God is inside nature, and not outside it” - this thesis became dominant during the Renaissance.

Very important characteristic the new era was anthropocentrism. It represents a type of philosophizing, the essence of which is the perception of man as a certain center of the world, the “crown” of the evolution of nature. The expression of such a worldview was humanism - an ideological movement that originated in Italian cities, which proclaimed man as the highest value and goal of society and shaped the concept of personality. The spirit of humanistic anthropocentrism permeated not only philosophy, but also the entire culture of the Renaissance, especially literature and fine arts. In fact, it was a philosophical and artistic era where the cult of man, his spirituality and beauty, freedom and greatness prevailed. The Renaissance emphasized not only the freedom of man, but also the idea of ​​the comprehensive (universal) development of his inclinations and abilities (essential forces), his creative calling in the world.

The emergence of capitalism aroused great philosophical interest in socio-political issues and the topic of the state. At this time it was formed utopian socialism, who put forward the ideal of a new and fair society (communism), where people could develop freely, comprehensively and harmoniously.

3. Renaissance humanism and the problem of unique individuality

A very important feature of the philosophy and culture of the Renaissance was humanistic anthropocentrism, i.e. perception of man as a certain center of the world and the highest value. It is known that the object of attention for the philosophy of the ancient world was, first of all, Cosmos, and in the Middle Ages - God. On the contrary, the Renaissance focused its main attention on Man, his essence and nature, the meaning of existence and calling in the world. It is not surprising that it was at this time that humanism was fully formed - an ideological movement whose supporters declared man as the highest value and goal of society. To the question “Is man great or insignificant?” they answered with confidence: “Not only great, but also omnipotent.” Humanism meant the revival (“renaissance”) of the ancient tradition (Socrates, Epicurus, etc.), respect for man, the protection of his self-worth, honor and dignity, the right to freedom and happiness.

Humanism as a movement was formed in the womb fiction as a critical reaction to the dogmas of religion, to the teaching about the sinfulness and unfreedom of man. Italian writers restored and propagated the work of those ancient philosophers and poets (Socrates, Epicurus, Virgil, Horace) who defended the ideas of the high value of man and his freedom. Ancient culture was presented to humanists as a model of perfection, undeservedly rejected in the era of the “thousand-year night” (the Middle Ages). Florence became the center of the Italian humanist movement. Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), “the last poet of the Middle Ages” and at the same time “the first poet of modern times,” was born and worked in this city. In his “Divine Comedy,” Dante put forward a bold thesis for his time that man by nature was created not only for the afterlife, but also for earthly life. And in this poem, Dante rejected asceticism and preached a reasonable way of life. The heroes of the poem are living people, searching and suffering, creating their own destiny. The author of the work emphasized that the result human life depends on the actions of the person himself, on his ability to choose a reasonable path and not leave it. Over time, the theme of freedom as human self-determination became one of the most important in Italian humanism of the Renaissance.

The founder of the humanistic movement in Italy is considered to be the poet and philosopher Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), the founder of lyric poetry as a new genre in European literature. Like most people of his time, Petrarch was a believer. However, he was very critical of the scholasticism of the Middle Ages, seeing in it pseudo-scholarship and far-fetched formulas. In his works, Petrarch defended the human right to earthly aspirations, to love other people. He tried to give his philosophy a moral orientation and for this purpose he restored the ethical teaching of Socrates. In man, he was interested, first of all, in the theme of love, which he considered as supreme expression spiritual origin. Human life is always a constant search for oneself in this world, which is often associated with painful suffering and mental anxiety.

The formation of Italian humanism was also facilitated by Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-1375), who spoke in his work “The Decameron” from the position of criticizing the clergy and supporting the advanced mentality of the urban population. Humanistic motives also took place in the works of other authors of that time. These include Coluccio Salutati, who was at one time Chancellor of the Florentine Republic. Leonardo Bruni translated a number of works by Plato and Aristotle, Plutarch and Demosthenes into Latin. The names were widely known in Italy statesman and the philosopher Gianozzo Manetti, the painter Leon Baptiste Albert and the minister of the church Marsilio Ficino.

The most prominent figure among Italian humanists was Lorenzo Valla, a professor at the University of Rome (1407-1457). He showed himself to be an active supporter of the teachings of the ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus. Valla was an opponent of the secular power of the popes and a sharp critic of asceticism and associated monasticism. In his opinion, scholasticism is an idle and irrational activity. The Italian humanist tried to restore the true teaching of Epicurus, which was banned in the Middle Ages. In his opinion, Epicureanism most fully affirms the idea of ​​the fullness of human life, preaches sensory activity and bodily well-being. In his treatise “On Pleasure,” the scientist argued that the fundamental law of human nature is pleasure as a genuine pleasure of soul and body. He proclaimed: “Long live sure and constant pleasures at every age and for every sex!” Lorenzo Valla even believed that pleasures should continue in a person’s afterlife. His teaching was positive because it restored man's natural right to the fullness of his existence and individual happiness in life.

Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) also took the position of humanistic anthropocentrism. In his “Speech on the Dignity of Man,” he emphasized the most important property of man - his freedom. According to Pico, man represents the fourth world, along with the sublunary, subcelestial and celestial. On earth, man is a great being who has a mind and a soul. The spirit of man determines the freedom of his will and, consequently, of everything life path. Having created man, God supposedly put into him the “seeds” of diverse life, which gives him the opportunity to choose: either to rise to the level of perfect angels, or to descend to animal existence. Freedom is a priceless gift from God that constitutes the inner essence of man. This freedom gives a person the opportunity to be active and “rise above the heavens”, to become the creator of his own destiny.

4. Internal contradictions in the culture of the Renaissance

The culture of the Renaissance is famous for its amazing abundance of bright talents, many achievements in various fields of creativity, masterpieces of art and literature that belong to the highest creations of mankind. Closely connected with the social, political and other aspects of the life of the era, it is distinguished by its exceptional versatility and is not without contradictions, which manifest themselves not only in the specifics general trends its development, but also in the individual contribution to the culture of many of its figures from different European countries.

The Renaissance occupies a special place in the history of Europe. The culture of this time is connected in thousands of threads with changes in the life of society, its complication and contradictions in the conditions of the beginning of the transition from the Middle Ages to the early modern period. The traditional system of feudal social relations is experiencing a crisis and is being transformed, new forms of market management are emerging. Established social structures, position and self-awareness of various segments of the population of the city and countryside are changing. It is no coincidence that the 16th century. was marked by large-scale social conflicts and movements in many European countries. The tension and contradictory nature of the social life of the era intensified due to the formation of a new type of statehood - an absolute monarchy, as well as as a result of the inter-confessional struggle caused by the Reformation and the Counter-Reformation that followed it.

The development of the Renaissance in individual countries and regions of Europe proceeded with varying intensity and unequal pace, but it was able to give European culture a certain unity: despite the diversity of national characteristics, the culture of different countries has similar features. It had great importance, since in social terms the Renaissance culture was not homogeneous: it was nourished, ideologically and materially, by different social groups - the middle strata of the city and its elite, part of the clergy, nobility, aristocracy. Was even wider social environment in which this culture spread. Ultimately, it affected all levels of society, from the royal court to the urban lower classes, although, of course, to varying degrees. Formed in a relatively narrow circle of the new intelligentsia, it did not become elitist in its general ideological orientation and understanding of the tasks of culture itself. It is not for nothing that the Renaissance was nourished by humanistic ideas, which in the process of its evolution developed into a holistic worldview. It organically intertwined the foundations of Christian doctrine, pagan wisdom and secular approaches in various fields of knowledge. The focus of humanists was on the “earthly kingdom of man,” the image of the creator of his own destiny. Anthropocentrism became a characteristic feature of Renaissance culture. She affirmed the greatness of man, the strength of his mind and will, his high destiny in the world. She questioned the principle of class division of society: she demanded that a person be valued according to his personal merits and merits, and not according to his birth or the size of his fortune.

Conclusion

The Renaissance was a period of organic synthesis of philosophical thought, science and art. At this time, great and bright thinkers lived and worked. The Renaissance proclaimed the spirit of freedom and happiness of man, his high calling in the world - to be a creator and builder, a participant in divine peacemaking. It was, according to F. Engels’ definition, “the era of giants” - “in terms of the power of thought, passion and character,” the era of the greatest progressive turn in the history of human civilization.

Within the framework of this great era, a deep breakdown in the theological picture of the world that had developed in the Middle Ages became obvious. The greatest contribution to this turn was made by natural philosophy and natural science of the Renaissance. However, the position of science had not yet strengthened, and religion was still very influential. Pantheism (“omnitheism”), which affirmed the idea of ​​God’s dissolution in nature and in all its things, became a unique form of struggle and compromise between them.

During the Renaissance, secular life, human activity in this world, for the sake of this world, to achieve human happiness in this life, on Earth, came to the fore.

The worldview of the people of the Renaissance is of a clearly humanistic nature. Man in this worldview is interpreted as a free being, the creator of himself and the world around him. Renaissance thinkers, naturally, could not be atheists or materialists.

During the Renaissance, all activities were perceived differently than in antiquity or the Middle Ages. Among the ancient Greeks, physical labor and even art were not highly valued. An elitist approach to human activity prevailed, highest form which announced theoretical quests - reflections and contemplation, because it was they that introduced a person to what is eternal, to the very essence of the Cosmos, while material activity immerses him in the transitory world of opinions. Christianity considered the highest form of activity to be that which leads to the “salvation” of the soul - prayer, performing liturgical rituals, reading the Holy Scriptures. In general, all these types of activities were passive in nature, the nature of contemplation.

In the Renaissance, material and sensory activity, including creative activity, acquired a kind of sacred character. In the course of it, a person not only satisfies his earthly needs; realizes new world, beauty, creates the highest thing that exists in the world - himself.

List of used literature

culture renaissance theocentric

1. L.M. Bragin "Social and ethical views of Italian humanists" (II half of the 15th century) Moscow State University Publishing House, 1983

2. From the cultural history of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Publishing house "Science", M 1976

3. Art of the early Renaissance. - M.: Art, 1980

4. History of art: Renaissance. -- M.: AST, 2003

5. Yaylenko E.V. Italian Renaissance. -- M.: OLMA-PRESS, 2005

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The uniqueness of the Renaissance lies in the fact that, having one source (the ancient worldview, which received new life in Italy), this era gave rise to various original manifestations in almost all European countries. The Renaissance in Italy began very first, achieved the most brilliant results - and is therefore considered exemplary. It is no coincidence that the titans of the Renaissance, that is, the figures who had the greatest influence on further European culture, are almost all Italians. Painters Sandro Botticelli, Raphael Santi, Giorgione, Titian, architects Filippo Brunelleschi and Leon Batista Alberti, artist, sculptor, architect, poet Michelangelo Buonarroti, a unique man Leonardo da Vinci, who contributed to the development of almost all areas of knowledge, and many others .

Renaissance picture of the world

If you try to abstract from the external visual side of the Renaissance, from the paintings of Raphael and Leonardo, from the sculptures of Michelangelo, from the beautiful Italian architectural masterpieces, you will find that a general description of the Renaissance is impossible without the concept of Renaissance humanism. Humanism means a worldview in which man is the center of the universe. God is not completely rejected (although many Renaissance figures expressed ideas that, to one degree or another, can be interpreted either as atheistic or occult), but fades into the background. He remains the Creator, but now he seems to retreat into the shadows, leaving man to decide his own destiny and the fate of the world. It is in order for a person to cope with this task that his nature must be studied in every possible way.

Moreover, to study in all its manifestations, needs and needs, physical, emotional, mental, rational and so on. As a result, a humanistic ideal of a person should be formed - a being endowed with moral and mental virtues, and at the same time possessing moderation and restraint. Renaissance ethics stated that these virtues are not something innate, but are cultivated in a person through study ancient literature, art, history, culture. This is why education came to the fore during the Renaissance. Within the framework of the medieval worldview, a person did not need to know much; it was enough for him to believe in God and fulfill the church commandments, caring not so much about earthly life as about saving the soul for eternal life.

Now the earthly component of life has been rehabilitated, and then, contrary to the precepts of the first humanists, it has been elevated to the absolute. So education during the Renaissance became a true birth for the individual: only by gaining knowledge about human nature and its creativity, a person could be considered complete. The ideal of a comprehensively developed personality was a person with a beautiful body, a pure mind, an exalted soul and at the same time engaged in some kind of creative work that transforms reality. It is no coincidence that the heroes of Renaissance paintings are not just nice people, they are heroes shown at the moment of committing some significant act or accomplishment. The requirements for women were somewhat relaxed: women of the Renaissance themselves were an illustration of the beauty of human nature. Female sensuality, which in the Middle Ages was hidden in every possible way as sinful, was now emphasized in every possible way, especially in the visual arts.

Alexander Babitsky

FRANCESCO PETRARCA (1304-1374) - founder of the Italian Renaissance, great poet and thinker, politician. Coming from a Popolan family in Florence, he spent many years in Avignon under the papal curia, and the rest of his life in Italy. Petrarch traveled a lot around Europe, was close to popes and sovereigns. His political goals: reform of the church, ending wars, unity of Italy. Petrarch was an expert in ancient philosophy; he is credited with collecting manuscripts of ancient authors and processing them textologically.

Petrarch developed humanistic ideas not only in his brilliant, innovative poetry, but also in Latin prose works - treatises, numerous letters, including his main epistolary, “The Book of Everyday Affairs.”

It is customary to say about Francesco Petrarca that he is more focused on himself than anyone else - at least in his time. That he was not only the first “individualist” of the New Age, but much more than that - an amazingly complete egocentric.

In the works of the thinker, the theocentric systems of the Middle Ages were replaced by the anthropocentrism of Renaissance humanism. Petrarch's “discovery of man” provided an opportunity for a deeper knowledge of man in science, literature, and art.

LEONARDO DA VINCI (1454-1519) - brilliant Italian artist, sculptor, scientist, engineer. Born in Anchiano, near the village of Vinci; his father was a notary who moved to Florence in 1469. Leonardo's first teacher was Andrea Verrocchio.

Leonardo's interest in man and nature speaks of his close connection with humanistic culture. He considered man's creative abilities to be limitless. Leonardo was one of the first to substantiate the idea of ​​the cognizability of the world through reason and sensations, which firmly entered the ideas of thinkers of the 16th century. He himself said about himself: “I would comprehend all the secrets by getting to the essence!”

Leonardo's research concerned wide range problems of mathematics, physics, astronomy, botany, and other sciences. His numerous inventions were based on a deep study of nature and the laws of its development. He was also an innovator in the theory of painting. Leonardo saw the highest manifestation of creativity in the activity of an artist who scientifically comprehends the world and reproduces it on canvas. The thinker’s contribution to Renaissance aesthetics can be judged by his “Book on Painting.” He was the embodiment of the “universal man” created by the Renaissance.

NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI (1469-1527) - Italian thinker, diplomat, historian.

A Florentine, he came from an ancient but impoverished patrician family. For 14 years he served as secretary of the Council of Ten, in charge of military and foreign affairs of the Florentine Republic. After the restoration of power in Florence, the Medici were removed from government activities. In 1513-1520 he was in exile. This period includes the creation of Machiavelli’s most significant works - “The Prince”, “Discourses on the First Decade of Titus Livy”, “History of Florence”, which earned him European fame. Machiavelli's political ideal was the Roman Republic, in which he saw the embodiment of the idea of ​​a strong state, the people of which “are far superior to the sovereigns in both virtue and glory.” (“Discourses on the first decade of Titus Livy”).

The ideas of N. Machiavelli had a very significant influence on the development of political doctrines.

THOMAS MOP (1478-1535) - English humanist, writer, statesman.

Born into the family of a London lawyer, he was educated at Oxford University, where he joined the circle of Oxford humanists. Under Henry VIII he held a number of high government positions. His meeting and friendship with Erasmus of Rotterdam was very important for the formation and development of More as a humanist. He was accused of treason and executed on July 6, 1535.

The most famous work of Thomas More is “Utopia,” which reflects the author’s passion for ancient Greek literature and philosophy, and the influence of Christian thought, in particular Augustine’s treatise “On the City of God,” and also traces an ideological connection with Erasmus of Rotterdam, whose humanistic ideal was in is close to More in many ways. His ideas had a strong impact on public thought.

ERASM OF ROTTERDAM (1469-1536) - one of the most outstanding representatives of European humanism and the most versatile of the then scientists.

Erasmus, the illegitimate son of a poor parish priest, spent his youth in an Augustinian monastery, which he managed to leave in 1493. He studied with great enthusiasm the works of Italian humanists and scientific literature, became the greatest expert in Greek and Latin.

Erasmus's most famous work is the satire “Praise of Folly” (1509), modeled on Lucian, which was written in just one week in the house of Thomas More. Erasmus of Rotterdam tried to synthesize the cultural traditions of antiquity and early Christianity. He believed in the natural goodness of man and wanted people to be guided by the demands of reason; among the spiritual values ​​of Erasmus are freedom of spirit, temperance, education, simplicity.

THOMAS MUNZER (circa 1490-1525) - German theologian and ideologist of the early Reformation and the Peasants' War of 1524-1526 in Germany.

The son of a craftsman, Münzer was educated at the universities of Leipzig and Frankfurt an der Oder, from where he graduated with a bachelor's degree in theology, and became a preacher. He was influenced by mystics, Anabaptists and Hussites. In the early years of the Reformation, Münzer was an adherent and supporter of Luther. He then developed his doctrine of the popular Reformation.

In Münzer's understanding, the main tasks of the Reformation were not to establish a new church dogma or new form religiosity, but in the proclamation of an imminent socio-political revolution, which must be carried out by the mass of peasants and the urban poor. Thomas Munzer strove for a republic of equal citizens, in which people would ensure that justice and law prevailed.

For Münzer, Holy Scripture was subject to free interpretation in the context of contemporary events, an interpretation that directly addressed the spiritual experience of the reader.

Thomas Münzer was captured after the defeat of the rebels in an unequal battle on May 15, 1525 and, after severe torture, was executed.

Conclusion

Based on the first chapter, we can conclude that the main features of the Renaissance culture are:

Anthropocentrism,

Humanism,

Modification of the medieval Christian tradition,

A special attitude towards antiquity - the revival of ancient monuments and ancient philosophy,

A new attitude towards the world.

As for humanism, its leaders emphasized the value of the human personality, the independence of personal dignity from origin and birth, man’s ability to constantly improve and confidence in his limitless capabilities.

The Reformation played an extremely important role in the formation of world civilization and culture in general. It contributed to the process of the emergence of the man of bourgeois society - an autonomous individual with freedom of moral choice, independent and responsible in his beliefs and actions, thereby preparing the ground for the idea of ​​human rights. The bearers of Protestant ideas expressed a new, bourgeois type of personality with a new attitude to the world.

The figures of the Renaissance left us an extensive creative heritage that covers philosophy, art, political science, history, literature, natural sciences and many other areas. They made numerous discoveries that are a huge contribution to the development of world culture.

Thus, the Renaissance is a local phenomenon, but global in its consequences, which had a strong impact on the development of modern Western civilization and culture with its achievements: an effective market economy, civil society, a democratic legal state, a civilized way of life, and high spiritual culture.

[Francis Bacon's doctrine of "idols"

Idols and false concepts, which have already captivated the human mind and are deeply entrenched in it, so dominate the minds of people that they make it difficult for the truth to enter, but even if its entry is allowed and granted, they will again block the path during the very renewal of the sciences and will hinder it, unless the people, being warned, take arms against them as far as possible.

There are four kinds of idols that besiege the minds of people. In order to study them, let's give them names. Let us call the first type the idols of the clan, the second the idols of the cave, the third the idols of the square, and the fourth the idols of the theater.

The construction of concepts and axioms through true induction is undoubtedly the true means for suppressing and driving out idols. But pointing out idols is also very useful. The doctrine of idols is for the interpretation of nature what the doctrine of the refutation of sophisms is for generally accepted dialectics.

Idols of the family find their basis in the very nature of man, in the tribe or kind of people themselves, for it is false to assert that a person’s feelings are the measure of things. On the contrary, all perceptions, both of the senses and of the mind, rest on the analogy of man, and not on the analogy of the world. The human mind is like an uneven mirror, which, mixing its nature with the nature of things, reflects things in a distorted and disfigured form.

Idols of the Cave the essence of the delusion of an individual. After all, everyone, in addition to the mistakes inherent in the human race, has their own special cave, which weakens and distorts the light of nature. This occurs either from the special innate properties of each, or from upbringing and conversations with others, or from reading books and from the authorities before whom one bows, or due to the difference in impressions, depending on whether they are received by biased and predisposed souls or souls cool and calm, or for other reasons. So the human spirit, depending on how it is located in individual people, is a changeable, unstable and seemingly random thing. This is why Heraclitus correctly said that people seek knowledge in small worlds, and not in the large or general world.

There are also idols that occur as if due to the mutual connectedness and community of people. We call these idols, meaning the communication and fellowship of people that gives rise to them, idols of the square. People unite through speech. Words are set according to the understanding of the crowd. Therefore, a bad and absurd statement of words besieges the mind in a surprising way. The definitions and explanations with which learned people are accustomed to arm themselves and protect themselves do not help the matter in any way. Words directly rape the mind, confuse everything and lead people to empty and countless disputes and interpretations.

Finally, there are idols that have entered the souls of people from various tenets of philosophy, as well as from perverse laws of evidence. We call them theater idols, for we believe that, as many philosophical systems as there are accepted or invented, so many comedies have been staged and performed, representing fictional and artificial worlds. We say this not only about philosophical systems that exist now or once existed, since tales of this kind could be folded and composed in multitude; after all, in general, very different errors have almost the same causes. At the same time, we mean here not only general philosophical teachings, but also numerous principles and axioms of the sciences, which received force as a result of tradition, faith and carelessness. However, each of these types of idols should be discussed in more detail and definitely separately, in order to warn the human mind.

The human mind, by virtue of its inclination, easily assumes more order and uniformity in things than it finds. And while many things in nature are singular and completely without similarity, he comes up with parallels, correspondences and relationships that do not exist. Hence the rumor that everything in the heavens moves in perfect circles\...\

The mind of man attracts everything to support and agree with what he has once accepted, either because it is an object of common faith, or because it pleases him. Whatever be the strength and number of facts that testify to the contrary, the mind either does not notice them, or neglects them, or diverts and rejects them through discrimination with great and pernicious prejudice, so that the reliability of those previous conclusions remains unimpaired. And therefore the one who answered correctly was the one who, when they showed him the images of those who had escaped shipwreck by taking a vow displayed in the temple and at the same time sought an answer whether he now recognized the power of the gods, asked in turn: “Where are the images of those who died after made a vow? This is the basis of almost all superstitions - in astrology, in dreams, in beliefs, in predictions and the like. People who delight themselves with this kind of vanity celebrate the event that has come true, and pass without attention the one that deceived, although the latter happens much more often. This evil penetrates even deeper into philosophy and science. In them, what is once recognized infects and subjugates the rest, even if the latter were much better and firmer. In addition, even if these partiality and vanity that we indicated did not take place, the human mind is still constantly characterized by the delusion that it is more amenable to positive arguments than negative ones, whereas in justice it should treat both of them equally; even moreover, in the construction of all true axioms, the negative argument has great strength.

The human mind is most affected by what can immediately and suddenly strike it; this is what usually excites and fills the imagination. He transforms the rest imperceptibly, imagining it to be the same as the little that controls his mind. The mind is generally neither inclined nor capable of turning to distant and heterogeneous arguments by means of which axioms are tested, as if by fire., until harsh laws and strong authorities dictate this to him.

The human mind is greedy. He can neither stop nor remain at peace, but rushes further and further. But in vain! Therefore, thought is not able to embrace the limit and end of the world, but always, as if by necessity, imagines something existing even further. \...\ This impotence of the mind leads to much more harmful results in the discovery of causes, for, although the most general principles in nature must exist as they were found, and in reality have no causes, yet the human mind, knowing no rest , and here is looking for a more famous one. And so, striving for what is further, he returns to what is closer to him, namely, final causes, which have their source rather in the nature of man than in the nature of the Universe, and, starting from this source, have amazingly distorted philosophy. But he who seeks reasons for the universal philosophizes lightly and ignorantly, just as he who does not seek lower and subordinate causes.

The human mind is not dry light, it is sprinkled with will and passions, and this gives rise to what everyone desires in science. A person rather believes in the truth of what he prefers. He rejects the difficult because he has no patience to continue the research; sober - because it captivates hope; the highest in nature - because of superstition; the light of experience - because of arrogance and contempt for it, so that the mind does not turn out to be immersed in the base and fragile; paradoxes are due to conventional wisdom. In an infinite number of ways, sometimes unnoticeable, passions stain and corrupt the mind.

But to the greatest extent, the confusion and delusions of the human mind arise from inertia, inconsistency and deception of the senses, for what arouses the senses is preferred to what does not immediately arouse the senses, even if the latter is better. Therefore, contemplation ceases when the gaze ceases, so that the observation of invisible things is insufficient or absent altogether. Therefore, all the movement of spirits contained in tangible bodies remains hidden and inaccessible to people. In the same way, more subtle transformations in parts remain hidden. solids- what is usually called change, when in fact it is the movement of the smallest particles. Meanwhile, without research and clarification of these two things that we mentioned, nothing significant in nature can be achieved in a practical sense. Further, the very nature of air and all bodies that are thinner than air (and there are many of them) is almost unknown. Feeling in itself is weak and erroneous, and instruments designed to strengthen and sharpen feelings are worth little. The most accurate interpretation of nature is achieved through observations in appropriate, purposefully staged experiments. Here feeling judges only about experience, while experience judges nature and the thing itself.

The human mind by nature is focused on the abstract and thinks of the fluid as permanent. But it’s better to cut nature into pieces than to abstract. This is what the school of Democritus did, which penetrated deeper into nature than others. One should study more matter, its internal state and change of state, pure action and the law of action or motion, for forms are inventions of the human soul, unless these laws of action are called forms.

These are the idols we call idols of the race. They arise either from the uniformity of the substance of the human spirit, or from its prejudice, or from its limitations, or from its tireless movement, or from the instillation of passions, or from the incapacity of the senses, or from the way of perception.

Idols of the Cave come from the inherent properties of both soul and body, as well as from upbringing, from habits and accidents. Although this type of idols is varied and numerous, we will still point out those of them that require the most caution and are most capable of seducing and polluting the mind.

People love either those particular sciences and theories whose authors and inventors they consider themselves to be, or those in which they have invested the most work and to which they are most accustomed. If people of this kind devote themselves to philosophy and general theories, then under the influence of their previous plans they distort and spoil them. \...\

The biggest and, as it were, fundamental difference of minds in relation to philosophy and the sciences is the following. Some minds are stronger and more suitable for noticing differences in things, others - for noticing the similarities of things. Strong and sharp minds can focus their thoughts, lingering and dwelling on every subtlety of difference. And sublime and agile minds recognize and compare the subtlest similarities of things inherent everywhere. But both minds easily go too far in pursuit of either divisions of things or shadows.

Contemplation of nature and bodies in their simplicity crushes and relaxes the mind; contemplation of nature and bodies in their complexity and configuration deafens and paralyzes the mind. \...\ Therefore, these contemplations must alternate and replace each other so that the mind becomes both insightful and receptive and in order to avoid the dangers we have indicated and those idols that arise from them.

Caution in contemplation must be such as to prevent and expel the idols of the cave, which mainly arise either from the dominance of past experience, or from an excess of comparison and division, or from a tendency towards the temporary, or from the vastness and insignificance of objects. In general, let everyone who contemplates the nature of things consider doubtful that which has especially strongly captured and captivated his mind. Great care is necessary in cases of such preference, so that the mind remains balanced and pure.

But most painful of all idols of the square, which penetrate the mind along with words and names. People believe that their minds control their words. But it also happens that words turn their power against reason. This made science and philosophy sophistical and ineffective. Most of the words have their source in common opinion and divide things within the boundaries most obvious to the mind of the crowd. When a keener mind and a more diligent observation want to revise these boundaries so that they are more in accordance with nature, words become a hindrance. Hence it turns out that the loud and solemn disputes of scientists often turn into disputes regarding words and names, and it would be more prudent (according to the custom and wisdom of mathematicians) to begin with them in order to put them in order through definitions. However, even such definitions of things, natural and material, cannot cure this disease, for the definitions themselves consist of words, and words give birth to words, so it would be necessary to get to specific examples, their series and order, as I will soon say, when I move on to the method and way of establishing concepts and axioms.

Theater idols are not innate and do not penetrate the mind secretly, but are openly transmitted and perceived from fictitious theories and from perverse laws of evidence. However, an attempt to refute them would be decisively inconsistent with what we have said. After all, if we do not agree either on the grounds or on the evidence, then no arguments for the better are possible. The honor of the ancients remains unaffected, nothing is taken away from them, because the question concerns only the path. As they say, the lame man who walks on the road is ahead of the one who runs without a path. It is also obvious that the more dexterous and fast the off-road runner is, the greater his wanderings will be.

Our path of discovery of sciences is such that it leaves little to the sharpness and power of talents, but almost equalizes them. Just as in drawing a straight line or describing a perfect circle, firmness, skill and testing of the hand mean a lot if you use only your hand, it means little or nothing at all if you use a compass and ruler. This is the case with our method. However, although separate refutations are not needed here, something must be said about the types and classes of this kind of theory. Then also about the external signs of their weakness and, finally, about the reasons for such an unfortunate long and universal agreement in error, so that approaching the truth would be less difficult and so that the human mind would be more willing to purify itself and reject idols.

The idols of theater or theory are numerous, and there may be more of them, and someday there may be more of them. If for many centuries the minds of people had not been occupied with religion and theology and if civil authorities, especially monarchical ones, had not opposed such innovations, even speculative ones, and by turning to these innovations people had not incurred danger and suffered damage in their prosperity, not only not receiving rewards, but also being subjected to contempt and ill will, then, without a doubt, many more philosophical and theoretical schools would have been introduced, similar to those that once flourished in great variety among the Greeks. Just as many assumptions can be invented regarding the phenomena of the celestial ether, in the same way, and to an even greater extent, various dogmas can be formed and constructed regarding the phenomena of philosophy. The fictions of this theater are characterized by the same thing that happens in the theaters of poets, where the stories invented for the stage are more harmonious and beautiful and are more likely to satisfy everyone’s desires than true stories from the history.

The content of philosophy in general is formed by deducing a lot from a little or a little from a lot, so that in both cases philosophy is established on too narrow a basis of experience and natural history and makes decisions from less than it should. Thus, philosophers of the rationalist persuasion snatch from experience various and trivial facts, without knowing them exactly, but having studied them and without diligently weighing them. They assign everything else to reflection and the activity of the mind.

There are a number of other philosophers who, having worked diligently and carefully on a few experiments, dared to invent and derive their own philosophy from them, amazingly perverting and interpreting everything else in relation to it.

There is a third class of philosophers who, under the influence of faith and reverence, mix theology and traditions with philosophy. The vanity of some of them has reached the point that they derive science from spirits and geniuses. Thus, the root of the errors of false philosophy is threefold: sophistry, empiricism and superstition.

\...\ if people, prompted by our instructions and saying goodbye to sophistic teachings, seriously engage in experience, then, due to the premature and hasty fervor of the mind and its desire to ascend to the general and to the beginnings of things, a great danger may arise from philosophies of this kind . We must prevent this evil now. So, we have already spoken about certain types of idols and their manifestations. All of them must be rejected and cast aside by a firm and solemn decision, and the mind must be completely freed and purified from them. Let the entrance to the kingdom of man, based on science, be almost the same as the entrance to the kingdom of heaven, “where no one is given to enter without becoming like children.”

A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in man and his activities). Interest in ancient culture appears, its “revival,” as it were, occurs - and this is how the term appeared.

The term Renaissance is already found among Italian humanists, for example, Giorgio Vasari. In its modern meaning, the term was introduced into use by the 19th century French historian Jules Michelet. Nowadays, the term Renaissance has become a metaphor for cultural flourishing: for example, the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century.

General characteristics of the Renaissance
A new cultural paradigm arose as a result of fundamental changes in social relations in Europe.

The growth of city-republics led to an increase in the influence of classes that did not participate in feudal relations: artisans and artisans, traders, bankers. The hierarchical system of values ​​created by the medieval, largely ecclesiastical culture and its ascetic, humble spirit were alien to all of them. This led to the emergence of humanism - a socio-philosophical movement that considered a person, his personality, his freedom, his active, creative activity as the highest value and criterion for evaluating public institutions.

Secular centers of science and art began to emerge in cities, the activities of which were outside the control of the church. The new worldview turned to antiquity, seeing in it an example of humanistic, non-ascetic relations. The invention of printing in the mid-15th century played a huge role in the spread of ancient heritage and new views throughout Europe.

The Renaissance arose in Italy, where its first signs were noticeable back in the 13th and 14th centuries (in the activities of the Pisano, Giotto, Orcagni families, etc.), but where it was firmly established only in the 20s of the 15th century. In France, Germany and other countries this movement began much later. By the end of the 15th century it reached its peak. In the 16th century, a crisis of Renaissance ideas was brewing, resulting in the emergence of Mannerism and Baroque.

Renaissance art.
With the theocentrism and asceticism of the medieval picture of the world, art in the Middle Ages served primarily religion, conveying the world and man in their relationship to God, in conventional forms, and was concentrated in the space of the temple. Neither visible world, no man could be a valuable object of art in its own right. In the 13th century New trends are observed in medieval culture (the cheerful teaching of St. Francis, the work of Dante, the forerunners of humanism). In the second half of the 13th century. marks the beginning of a transitional era in development Italian art– Proto-Renaissance (lasted until the beginning of the 15th century), which prepared the Renaissance. The work of some artists of this time (G. Fabriano, Cimabue, S. Martini, etc.), quite medieval in iconography, is imbued with a more cheerful and secular beginning, the figures acquire relative volume. In sculpture, the Gothic ethereality of figures is overcome, Gothic emotionality is reduced (N. Pisano). For the first time, a clear break with medieval traditions appeared at the end of the 13th - first third of the 14th century. in the frescoes of Giotto di Bondone, who introduced a sense of three-dimensional space into painting, painted figures with more volume, paid more attention to the situation and, most importantly, showed a special realism, alien to the exalted Gothic, in depicting human experiences.

On the soil cultivated by the masters of the Proto-Renaissance, the Italian Renaissance arose, which passed through several phases in its evolution (Early, High, Late). Associated with a new, essentially secular worldview expressed by humanists, it loses its inextricable connection with religion; painting and statue spread beyond the temple. With the help of painting, the artist mastered the world and man as they appeared to the eye, using a new artistic method(transfer of three-dimensional space using perspective (linear, aerial, color), creating the illusion of plastic volume, maintaining the proportionality of figures). Interest in personality individual traits combined with the idealization of man, the search for “perfect beauty.” The subjects of sacred history did not leave art, but from now on their depiction was inextricably linked with the task of mastering the world and embodying the earthly ideal (hence the similarities between Bacchus and John the Baptist by Leonardo, Venus and the Mother of God by Botticelli). Renaissance architecture loses its Gothic aspiration to the sky and gains “classical” balance and proportionality. human body. The ancient order system is being revived, but the elements of the order were not parts of the structure, but decoration that adorned both traditional (temple, palace of authorities) and new types of buildings (city palace, country villa).

Forefather Early Renaissance The Florentine painter Masaccio is considered to have picked up the tradition of Giotto, achieved an almost sculptural tangibility of figures, and used the principles linear perspective, moving away from the conventions of depicting the situation. Further development painting in the 15th century went to schools in Florence, Umbria, Padua, Venice (F. Lippi, D. Veneziano, P. della Francesco, A. Palaiuolo, A. Mantegna, C. Crivelli, S. Botticelli and many others). In the 15th century Renaissance sculpture is born and develops (L. Ghiberti, Donatello, J. della Quercia, L. della Robbia, Verrocchio and others, Donatello was the first to create a self-standing round statue not related to architecture, the first to depict a naked body with an expression of sensuality) and architecture (F. Brunelleschi, L.B. Alberti, etc.). Masters of the 15th century (primarily L.B. Alberti, P. della Francesco) created the theory fine arts and architecture.

Around 1500 in the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Giorgione, Titian italian painting and the sculpture reached its goal highest point, entering the time of the High Renaissance. The images they created completely embodied human dignity, strength, wisdom, beauty. Unprecedented plasticity and spatiality were achieved in painting. Architecture reached its peak in the works of D. Bramante, Raphael, Michelangelo. Already in the 1520s, changes took place in the art of Central Italy, in the art of Venice in the 1530s, signifying the onset of the Late Renaissance. The classical ideal of the High Renaissance, associated with the humanism of the 15th century, quickly lost its meaning, not responding to the new historical situation (Italy lost its independence) and spiritual climate (Italian humanism became more sober, even tragic). The work of Michelangelo and Titian acquires dramatic tension, tragedy, sometimes reaching the point of despair, and complexity of formal expression. The Late Renaissance includes P. Veronese, A. Palladio, J. Tintoretto and others. The reaction to the crisis of the High Renaissance was the emergence of a new artistic movement- mannerism, with its heightened subjectivity, mannerism (often reaching the point of pretentiousness and affectation), impetuous religious spirituality and cold allegorism (Pontormo, Bronzino, Cellini, Parmigianino, etc.).

The Northern Renaissance was prepared by the emergence in the 1420s - 1430s, on the basis of late Gothic (not without the indirect influence of the Giottian tradition), of a new style in painting, the so-called “ars nova” - “new art” (E. Panofsky’s term). Its spiritual basis, according to researchers, was, first of all, the so-called “New Piety” of the northern mystics of the 15th century, which presupposed specific individualism and pantheistic acceptance of the world. The origins of the new style were the Dutch painters Jan van Eyck, who also improved oil paints, and the Master from Flemalle, followed by G. van der Goes, R. van der Weyden, D. Bouts, G. tot Sint Jans, I. Bosch and others (middle - second half of the 15th century). New Netherlandish painting received a wide response in Europe: already in the 1430–1450s the first examples appeared new painting in Germany (L. Moser, G. Mulcher, especially K. Witz), in France (Master of the Annunciation from Aix and, of course, J. Fouquet). The new style was characterized by a special realism: the transfer of three-dimensional space through perspective (although, as a rule, approximately), the desire for volume. The “new art,” deeply religious, was interested in individual experiences, the character of a person, valuing in him, first of all, humility and piety. His aesthetics are alien to the Italian pathos of the perfect in man, the passion for classical forms (the faces of the characters are not perfectly proportional, they are gothically angular). Nature and everyday life were depicted with special love and detail; carefully painted things had, as a rule, a religious and symbolic meaning.

Actually, the art of the Northern Renaissance was born at the turn of the 15th–16th centuries. as a result of the interaction of the national artistic and spiritual traditions of the Trans-Alpine countries with the Renaissance art and humanism of Italy, with the development of northern humanism. The first artist of the Renaissance type can be considered the outstanding German master A. Durer, who involuntarily, however, retained Gothic spirituality. A complete break with the Gothic was achieved by G. Holbein the Younger with his “objectivity” of painting style. M. Grunewald's painting, on the contrary, was imbued with religious exaltation. The German Renaissance was the work of one generation of artists and fizzled out in the 1540s. In the Netherlands in the first third of the 16th century. currents oriented towards High Renaissance and mannerism of Italy (J. Gossaert, J. Scorel, B. van Orley, etc.). The most interesting thing in Dutch painting of the 16th century. - this is the development of genres of easel painting, everyday and landscape (K. Masseys, Patinir, Luke Leydensky). The most nationally original artist of the 1550s–1560s was P. Bruegel the Elder, who owned paintings of everyday life and landscape genres, as well as parable paintings, usually associated with folklore and a bitterly ironic view of the life of the artist himself. The Renaissance in the Netherlands ends in the 1560s. The French Renaissance, which was entirely courtly in nature (in the Netherlands and Germany, art was more associated with the burghers), was perhaps the most classical in the Northern Renaissance. New renaissance art, gradually gaining strength under the influence of Italy, reaches maturity in the middle - second half of the century in the work of architects P. Lesko, the creator of the Louvre, F. Delorme, sculptors J. Goujon and J. Pilon, painters F. Clouet, J. Cousin the Elder. The “School of Fontainebleau”, founded in France, had a great influence on the above-mentioned painters and sculptors. Italian artists Rosso and Primaticcio, who worked in the mannerist style, but the French masters did not become mannerists, having accepted the classical ideal hidden under the mannerist guise. The Renaissance in French art ends in the 1580s. In the second half of the 16th century. Italian Renaissance art and others European countries gradually gives way to mannerism and early baroque.

N.A. Figurovsky, "Essay on the general history of chemistry. From ancient times to the beginning of the 19th century." Publishing house "Science", Moscow, 1969
OCR site

RENAISSANCE IN EUROPE

The development of crafts and trade, the rise of the role of cities, as well as political events in Western Europe in the 12th and 13th centuries. entailed significant changes in the entire way of life of European peoples. In the 16th century In Europe, the unification of small feudal principalities began, and large independent states emerged (England, France and Spain). Several republics and principalities were formed on the territory of modern Germany and Italy.
In the process of merging small feudal estates, the tendency of the united states to emancipate from the political power of the papacy was clearly evident. In the 13th century. The Roman Catholic Church was a huge pan-European “state above states.” Popes actively intervened in the affairs of governing European states, installed and crowned kings, removed kings and even emperors they did not like. Through its system of centralized spiritual administration, the Vatican siphoned enormous funds from Western European countries.
The shameless greed of the highest clergy of the Roman Catholic Church, the luxurious life of popes and cardinals caused spontaneous protests among believers and the lower clergy. In various European countries, a movement of the so-called reformation (changes in church government) arose, and a series of uprisings broke out against the dominance of popes (indulgences), bishops and monasteries. At the beginning of the 15th century, the famous uprising against the power of the Vatican began in the Czech Republic under the leadership of Jan Hus, a prominent preacher, professor and rector of the University of Prague (founded by Charles IV in 1349).
In an atmosphere of general indignation at the greed of the Roman Catholic clergy in various European countries, doubts began to be openly expressed not only about the legitimacy of the temporal power of the popes, but also about the validity of some religious dogmas and scholastic philosophy that constitute the ideological foundations of Catholicism. Dissatisfaction with religious scholasticism and the search for new ways to solve ideological issues significantly revived the intellectual life of Europe.
In the educated environment of European society, interest arose in the works of ancient Greek and Roman “pagan” philosophers and writers, whose works were prohibited by the church. In the rich Italian republics - Florence, Venice, Genoa, as well as in Rome itself, circles of lovers of ancient literature were formed. Numerous lists of works by ancient authors have appeared. Interest in ancient examples of literary creativity soon spread to the areas of art, architecture and philosophy. The Renaissance of ancient literature, art and architecture (Renaissance) began in Europe, marking the beginning of a new time in social history.
Based on the unsurpassed examples of literary creativity of ancient Greek and Roman authors, a new direction in oratory and literature arose, the so-called humanism (humanitas - “human perfection”). Writers and poets of a new type appeared, such as Dante (1265-1321), Petrarch (1304-1374), Boccaccio (1313-1375), etc.
Subsequently, new trends were especially pronounced in art and architecture. A return to the models of ancient builders and sculptors inspired the great artists of the Renaissance - Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), Michelangelo (1475-1564), Raphael (1483-1520), Durer (1471-1528), Titian (1477-1576) etc. Wonderful architectural structures, especially in Italy.
The most important achievement in cultural history during the Renaissance was the invention of printing (1440). Until the middle of the 15th century. Only handwritten books were in use. They circulated in a small number of lists and were very expensive. The introduction of printing made it possible to reproduce books in a large number of copies, which greatly contributed to the dissemination of knowledge.
During the Renaissance, great geographical discoveries were made. Back at the end of the 13th century. Marco Polo (1254-1324) traveled through the countries of Middle Asia to China, and spent more than 20 years in Asian countries. The description of his journey had a great influence on subsequent generations of geographers and travelers who were looking for a way to fabulous India. In the XIV and XV centuries. The Portuguese and Spaniards undertook many long-distance sea expeditions. Vasco da Gama (1469-1524) at the end of the 15th century, having rounded Africa from the south, opened a sea route to India, simultaneously making many important geographical discoveries. Christopher Columbus (1450-1506) at the end of the 15th century. crossed the Atlantic Ocean and discovered the West Indies, and then South America. Magellan (1480-1521) made the first sea voyage around the world.
In area natural sciences The Renaissance was marked by the emergence of a number of innovative scientists, who for the first time, with their works, shook the foundations of Peripatetic and scholastic philosophy. In 1542, Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) overthrew the old geocentric system of Ptolemy (2nd century), supported by the authority of the church, and developed a new heliocentric system. The teachings of Copernicus were further developed in the discoveries of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) and Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), who laid the foundations of theoretical astronomy. Mechanics, mathematics and other sciences achieved noticeable success in this era.
The driving forces behind the greatest scientific discoveries and achievements of the Renaissance were profound transformations in the nature and scale of production. Already in the 15th century. The process of transition from craft methods of production, characteristic of the era of feudalism, to manufacture began. This process, which marked the beginning of the capitalist production system, caused profound socio-economic changes in the life of society.
All new economic, political and social phenomena The Renaissance led to the formation of a new bourgeois worldview that rejected the religious scholasticism of past centuries. The emergence of elements of a new worldview had a beneficial effect on the development of natural sciences and, in particular, chemistry. Characterizing this important period in the history of culture and science, F. Engels wrote that it was an era “that needed titans and which gave birth to titans in strength of thought, passion and character, in versatility and scholarship. The people who founded the modern rule of the bourgeoisie were everything, but not bourgeois-limited people.”
One of largest representatives science and art of the Renaissance was the Italian Leonardo da Vinci. Being a remarkable mechanic, mathematician, design engineer, anatomist and artist, Leonardo da Vinci was also interested in some issues of chemistry. He himself, for example, invented and prepared paints for his paintings. His views reflected the new trends of the Renaissance. Here is what Leonardo da Vinci writes about the role of air in the combustion process: “Elemental fire continuously destroys the air that partially feeds it. And he would have found himself in contact with the void if the inflowing air had not come to the rescue by filling it.”
Such innovative thoughts, as will be seen, were characteristic of many Renaissance chemists.