From Crisis and Disintegration to Recovery and Rebirth

AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1

From Crisis and Disintegration to Recovery and Rebirth: The Late Middle Ages to the Renaissance

Date Class Topics Assignments Due 9/2  Black Death and  Text pp. 303-321 Wednesday Social Crisis  Boccaccio Decameron S  War and Political (summer) Instability  Jean de Venette (summer)  Antisemitism and the Plague (summer)  Froissart Rebellions of 1381  King Edward III Statute of Laborers  Black Death YouTube Video 9/3  Decline of the Church  Text pp. 322-334 Thursday  Cultural World of the  John of Paris (summer) A 14th C.  Boniface VIII (summer)  Society in an Age of Adversity 9/8  Meaning and  Text pp. 337-348 Tuesday Characteristics of the  Machiavelli The Prince C Italian Renaissance (summer)  Italian States in the  Castiglione Book of the Renaissance Courtier  PBS Medici Documentary Part 1 9/9  Intellectual  Text pp. 349-362 Wednesday Renaissance in Italy  Christine de Pisan City of D  The Artistic Ladies (summer) Renaissance  Pico della Mirandola Dignity of Man  Vergerio On the Liberal Arts  Petrarch Letter to Boccaccio  Vasari Lives of the Artists (summer)  Vox article/vid on medieval babies in art 9/10  European States in  Text pp. 362-371 Thursday the Renaissance/New  Attack on the Papacy: The A Monarchs Concilicar Movement  The Renaissance ( Sacrosancta, Frequens ) Church  Pope Pius II Excecrabilis 9/15  Finish all notes  Group Presentations – Tuesday  Art Presentations Renaissance Art Project C  History of the Renaissance review film 9/16  Art Presentations  Group Presentations – Wednesday  Review Renaissance Art Project D  Study for review game AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1

9/17 Unit Test MC and Short Answer Thursday A

Primary Sources: SIR JOHN FROISSART’S CHRONICLES (9/2)

Froissart on The Peasants' Revolt in England (1381) WHILE these negotiations and discussions were going on,1 there occurred in England great disasters and uprisings of the common people, on account of which the country was almost ruined beyond recovery. Never was any land or realm in such great danger as England at that time. It was because of the abundance and prosperity in which the common people then lived that this rebellion broke out, just as in earlier days the Jack Goodmans rose in France and committed many excesses, by which the noble land of France suffered grave injury. These terrible troubles originated in England from a strange, circumstance and a trivial cause. That it may serve as a lesson to all good men and true, I will describe that circumstance and its effects as I was informed of them at the time. It is the custom in England, as in several other countries, for the nobles to have strong powers over their men and to hold them in serfdom: that is, that by right and custom they have to till the lands of the gentry, reap the corn and bring it to the big house, put it in the barn, thresh and winnow it; mow the hay and carry it to the house, cut logs and bring them up, and all such forced tasks; all this the men must do by way of serfage to the masters. In England there is a much greater number than elsewhere of such men who are obliged to serve the prelates and the nobles. And in the counties of Kent, Essex, Sussex and Bedford in particular, there are more than in the whole of the rest of England. These bad people in the counties just mentioned began to rebel because, they said, they were held too much in subjection, and when the world began there had been no serfs and could not be, unless they had rebelled against their lord, as Lucifer did against God; but they were not of that stature, being neither angels nor spirits, but men formed in the image of their masters, and they were treated as animals. This was a thing they could no longer endure, wishing rather to be all one and the same,2 and, if they worked for their masters, they wanted to have wages for it. In these machinations they had been greatly encouraged originally by a crack-brained priest of Kent called John Ball, who had been imprisoned several times for his reckless words by the Archbishop of Canterbury. This John Ball had the habit on Sundays after mass when everyone was coming out of church, of going to the cloisters or the graveyard, assembling the people round him and preaching thus: 'Good people, things cannot go right in England and never will, until goods are held in common and there are no more villeins and gentlefolk, but we are all one and the same.3 In what way are those whom we call lords greater masters than ourselves? How have they deserved it? Why do they hold us in bondage? If we all spring from a single father and mother, Adam and Eve, how can they claim or prove that they are lords more than us, except by making us produce and grow the -wealth which they spend? They are clad in velvet and camlet lined with squirrel and ermine, while we go dressed in coarse cloth. They have the wines, the spices and the good bread: we have the rye, the husks and the straw, and we drink water. They have shelter and ease in their fine manors, and we have hardship and toil, the wind and the rain in the fields. And from us must come, from our labour, the things which keep them in luxury. We are called serfs and beaten if we are slow in our service to them, yet we have no sovereign lord we can complain to, none to hear us and do us justice. Let us go to the King - he is young - and show him how we are oppressed, and tell him that we want things to be changed, of else we will change them ourselves. If we go in good earnest and all together, very many people who are called serfs and are held in subjection will follow us to get their freedom. And when the King sees and hears us, he will remedy the evil, either willingly or otherwise.' These were the kind of things which John Ball usually preached in the villages on Sundays when the congregations came out from mass, and many of the common people agreed with him. Some, who were up to no AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1 good, said: 'He's right!' and out in the fields, or walking together from one village to another, or in their homes, they whispered and repeated among themselves: 'That's what John Ball says, and he's right.' The Archbishop of Canterbury, being informed of all this, had John Ball arrested and put in prison, where he kept him for two or three months as a punishment. It would have been better if he had condemned him to life imprisonment on the first occasion, or had him put to death, than to do what he did; but he had great scruples about putting him to death and set him free; and when John Ball was out of prison, he we= on with his intrigues as before. The things he was doing and saying came to the ears of the common people of London, who were envious of the nobles and the rich. These began saying that the country was badly governed and was being robbed of its wealth by those who called themselves noblemen. So these wicked men in London started to become disaffected and to rebel and they sent word to the people in the counties mentioned to come boldly to London with all their followers, when they would find the city open and the common people on their side. They could then so work on the King that there would be no more serfs in England. These promises incited the people of Kent, Essex, Sussex, Bedford and the neighbouring districts and they set off and went towards London. They were a full sixty thousand and their chief captain was one Wat Tyler. With him as his companions were Jack Straw and John Ball. These three were the leaders and Wat Tyler was the greatest of them. He was a tiler of roofs, and a wicked and nasty fellow he was. EDWARD III AND THE STATUTE OF LABORERS (9/2) The Black Death that ravaged Europe between 1347 and 1351 eventually found its way to England as well, and caused a loss of lives so severe that the result was a near immediate labor shortage. Throughout the end of the century English laborers took advantage of the situation and demanded higher wages. This damaged the wealth of the landed classes who then made an appeal to the government. One response to this predicament was the Statute of Labourers issued by Edward III in 1351 and directed against the rise in prices and wages. What follows is a brief selection from the Statute. Statute of Laborers, 1351 The King to the sheriff of Kent, greeting: Because a great part of the people, and especially the workmen and servants, have lately died in the pestilence, many seeing the necessity of masters and great scarcity of servants, will not serve unless they may receive excessive wages, and others preferring to begin idleness rather than by labor to get their living; we, considering the grievous incommodities which of the lack especially of ploughmen and such laborers may hereafter come, have upon deliberation and treaty with the prelates and the nobles and learned men assisting us, with their unanimous counsel ordained: That every man and woman of our realm of England, of what condition he be, free or bond, able in body, and within the age of sixty years, not living in merchandize, nor exercising any craft, nor having all his own whereof he may live, nor land of his own about whose tillage he may occupy himself, and not serving any other; if he'd be required to serve in suitable service, his estate considered, he shall be bound to serve him which shall so require him; and take only the wages, livery, meed, or salary which were accustomed to be given in the places where he oweth to serve, the twentieth year of our reign of England, or five and six other common years next before. If any reaper, mower, or other workman or servants, of what estate or condition that he be, retained in any man's service, do depart from the said service without reasonable cause or license, before the term agreed, he shall have pain of imprisonment; and no one, under the same penalty, shall presume to receive or retain such a one in his service. No one, moreover, shall pay or promise to pay to any one more wages, liveries, meed, or salary than was accustomed, as is before said. . . . BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE, THE BOOK OF THE COURTIER (9/8)

In the Italian states, the most prestigious life took place in the courts of rulers. While Machiavelli wrote about methods and rules for the successful prince, others described the qualities necessary for men or women hoping AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1 to rise or maintain their position in court life. The most famous of these writers was the Italian diplomat Baldesar Castiglione (1478-1529), who wrote The Book of the Courtier while a member of the Duke of Urbino's court. In the following excerpt, Castiglione describes first, the best qualities of the courtier—the ideal "Renaissance man"—and second, the virtues and actions best suited to women of the court.

Consider why Castiglione considers noble birth important; what talents Castiglione thinks are most important for the courtier's success; how a woman's path to success at court differs from a man's.

"Thus, I would have our Courtier born of a noble and genteel family; because it is far less becoming for one of low birth to fail to do virtuous things than for one of noble birth, who, should he stray from the path of. his forebears, stains the family name, and not only fails to achieve anything but loses what has been achieved already. For noble birth is like a bright lamp that makes manifest and visible deeds both good and bad, kindling and spurring on to virtue as much for fear of dishonor as for hope of praise...

Besides his noble birth, I would wish the Courtier favored in this other respect, and endowed by nature not only with talent and with beauty of countenance and person, but with that certain grace which we call an `air,' which shall make him at first sight pleasing and lovable to all who see him; and let this be an adornment informing and attending all his actions, giving the promise outwardly that such a one is worthy of the company and the favor of every great lord." .. .

"But to come to some particulars: I hold that the principal and true profession of the Courtier must be that of arms ... which I wish him to exercise with vigor; and let him be known among the others as bold, energetic, and faithful to whomever he serves. . . . The more our Courtier excels in this art, the more will he merit praise; although I do not deem it necessary that he have the perfect knowledge of things and other qualities that befit a commander, for since this would launch us on too great a sea, we shall be satisfied, as we have said, if he have complete loyalty and an undaunted spirit, and be always seen to have them...

Therefore, let the man we are seeking be exceedingly fierce, harsh, and always among the first, wherever the enemy is; and in every other place, humane, modest, reserved, avoiding ostentation above all things as well as that impudent praise of himself by which a man always arouses hatred and disgust in all who hear him."

"I would have him more than passably learned in letters, at least in those studies which we call the humanities. Let him be conversant not only with the Latin language, but with Greek as well, because of the abundance and variety of things that are so divinely written therein. Let him be versed in the poets, as well as in the orators and historians, and let him be practiced also in writing verse and prose, especially in our own vernacular; for, besides the personal satisfaction he will take in this, in this way he will never want for pleasant entertainment with the ladies, who are usually fond of such things.... These studies, moreover, will make him fluent, and (as Aristippus said to the tyrant) bold and self-confident in speaking with everyone. However, I would have our Courtier keep one precept firmly in mind, namely, in this as in everything else, to be cautious and reserved rather than forward, and take care not to get the mistaken notion that he knows something he does not know."

I think that in her ways, manners, words, gestures, and bearing, a woman ought to be very unlike a man; for just as he must show a certain solid and sturdy manliness, so it is seemly for a woman to have a soft and delicate tenderness, with an air of womanly sweetness in her every movement, which, in her going and staying, and in whatever she says, shall always make her appear the woman without any resemblance to a man.

"Now, if this precept be added to the rules which these gentlemen have taught the Courtier, then I think she ought to be able to follow many such and adorn herself with the best accomplishments, as signor Gasparo says. AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1

For I hold that many virtues of the mind are as necessary to a woman as to a man; also, gentle birth; to avoid affectation, to be naturally graceful in all her actions, to be mannerly, clever, prudent, not arrogant, not envious, not slanderous, not vain, not contentious, not inept, to know how to gain and hold the favor of her mistress and of all others, to perform well and gracefully the exercises that are suitable for women. And I do think that beauty is more necessary to her than to the Courtier, for truly that woman lacks much who lacks beauty. Also she must be more circumspect, and more careful not to give occasion for evil being said of her, and conduct herself so that she may not only escape being sullied by guilt but even by the suspicion of it, for a woman has not so many ways of defending herself against false calumnies as a man has."

PETER PAUL VERGERIO AND THE INTELLECTUAL RENAISSANCE (9/9)

Closely associated with the rise of literary humanism was a new emphasis on the more broadly defined "liberal arts." This emphasis was manifested in a new concern with education; a change in educational curriculum constituted an institutional development that was enduring and that had wide-ranging effects. The first to express this emphasis systematically in an educational program was Peter Paul Vergerio (1370-1444). He taught in several Italian universities, and in his main treatise, On the Liberal Arts, he rejected much of the content and methods of medieval education. Vergerio presents his views on the growing importance of the liberal arts in the following selection from a letter written to Ubertinus of Carrara.

Consider what is particularly humanistic rather than scholastic or medieval about this view; how Vergerio justifies his choice of the three subjects in this proposed curriculum; what Petrarch might think of this letter.

Peter Paul Vergerio, On the Liberal Arts

Your grandfather, Francesco I, a man distinguished for his capacity in affairs and for his sound judgment, was in the habit of saying that a parent owes three duties to his children. The first of these is to bestow upon them names of which they need not feel ashamed. For not seldom, out of caprice, or even indifference, or perhaps from a wish to perpetuate a family name, a father in naming his child inflicts upon him a misfortune which clings to him for life. The second obligation is this: to provide that his child be brought up in a city of distinction, for this not only concerns his future self-respect, but is closely connected with the third and most important care which is due from father to son. This is the duty of seeing that he be trained in sound learning. For no wealth, no possible security against the future, can be compared with the gift of an education in grave and liberal studies. By them a man may win distinction for the most modest name, and bring honor to the city of his birth however obscure it may be. But we must remember that whilst a man may escape from the burden of an unlucky name, or from the contempt attaching to a city of no repute, by changing the one or quitting the other, he can never remedy the neglect of early education. The foundation, therefore, of this last must be laid in the first years of life, the disposition molded whilst it is susceptible and the mind trained whilst it is retentive.

This duty, common indeed to all parents, is specially incumbent upon such as hold high station. For the lives of men of position are passed, as it were, in public view; and are fairly expected to serve as witness to personal merit and capacity on the part of those who occupy such exceptional place amongst their fellow men...

We come now to the consideration of the various subjects which may rightly be included under the name of "Liberal Studies." Amongst these I accord the first place to History, on grounds both of its attractiveness and of its utility, qualities which appeal equally to the scholar and to the statesman. Next in importance ranks Moral Philosophy, which indeed is, in a peculiar sense, a "Liberal Art," in that its purpose is to teach men the secret of true freedom. History, then, gives us the concrete examples of the precepts inculcated by philosophy. The one AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1 shows what men should do, the other what men have said and done in the past, and what practical lessons we may draw therefrom for the present day. I would indicate as the third main branch of study, Eloquence, which indeed holds a place of distinction amongst the refined Arts. By philosophy we learn the essential truth of things, which by eloquence we so exhibit in orderly adornment as to bring conviction to differing minds. And history provides the light of experience—cumulative wisdom fit to supplement the force of reason and the persuasion of eloquence. For we allow that soundness of judgment, wisdom of speech, integrity of conduct are the marks of a truly liberal temper.

PICO DELLA MIRANDOLA AND RENAISSANCE HUMANISM (9/9)

Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man

O supreme generosity of God the Father, O highest and most marvelous felicity of man! To him it is granted to have whatever he chooses, to be whatever he wills. Beasts as soon as they are born (so says Lucilius) bring with them from their mother's womb all they will ever possess. Spiritual beings, either from the beginning or soon thereafter, become what they are to be for ever and ever. On man when he came into life the Father conferred the seeds of all kinds and the germs of every way of life. Whatever seeds each man cultivates will grow to maturity and bear in him their own fruit. If they be vegetative, he will be like a plant. If sensitive, he will become brutish. If rational, he will grow into a heavenly being. If intellectual, he will be an angel and the son of God. And if, happy in the lot of no created thing, he withdraws into the center of his own unity, his spirit, made one with God, in the solitary darkness of God, who is set above all things, shall surpass them all.

Key Images (below) Duccio’s and Lippi’s Madonna and Child (comparison of Byzantine and Renaissance style) Botticelli’s Birth of Venus Raphael’s School of Athens Leonardo’s Last Supper Michelangelo’s Creation of Adam Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait Michelangelo’s David

**YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DISCUSS HOW THESE IMAGES REFLECT THE VALUES AND TRENDS OF THE RENAISSANCE** AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1

AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1 AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1 AP EUROPEAN HISTORY/SPENCER ASSIGNMENT SHEET – UNIT 1

Renaissance Assignment Presentation on Renaissance Art due on Tuesday, September 15.

Your group is responsible for researching your chosen work of art so that you can present it to the class. Be prepared to explain how your work of art represents the Renaissance and humanist thought. Why is this regarded as great art and what can we learn about the artist and his time period from viewing it? Your presentation should only be about three to four minutes. I’ll provide the PowerPoint image with the work of art. I expect you to read about your work of art on the internet and to watch the videos that I have linked for you below.. 1. The Tribute Money, by Masaccio, 1427 http://khan.smarthistory.org/Masaccio.html 2. The Arnolfini Wedding by Jan van Eyck 1434 http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/giovanni-arnolfini- and-his-wife.html 3. Virgin of the Rocks by Leonardo da Vinci 1483 – 1486 http://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/leonardo-virgin-of-the-rocks.html 4. The Birth of Venus by Sandro Botticelli 1476 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TR- TPuOPvZA andhttp://smarthistory.khanacademy.org/Botticelli.html