Women in the Renaissance Notes

1. Christine de Pizan
• Writer during the Renaissance
• Wrote a history of famous women
• Often referred to as the first feminist thinker
• 1364-1434
• Born in Venice
2. Isabella d'Este
• Most famous woman of the Renaissance
• Born into a ruling family- the Ferrara
• Married into a ruling family- the Mantua
• Known as an art patron
• Perfect example of Castiglione's idea of a courtly lady
3. Northern Renaissance
• Desiderius Erasmus
• Humanist
• Edited editions of the New Testament
• Best known text is a satire called The Praise of Folly
• Against Pope Julius II
• Leading the papal army to war
• Gave Michelangelo his commissions in the Sistine Chapel
• Continued to write in Latin when everyone else was writing in their vernacular languages
• Thomas More
• 1478-1535
• Leading humanist in England
• A statesman and Lord Chancellor under Henry VIII
• Coined the word utopia
• The perfect society; ideal society
• Imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed for treason
• Became a saint
• Michel de Montaigne
• The major writer/thinker in France during the Renaissance
• Statesman and an author
• Invented the personal essay; from your own point of view
• Johannes Gutenberg
• Created the printing press in 1456
• First wrote the Gutenberg Bible
• By 1500 there were already 8-20 million books printed
• The printing press allows for the transmission of writings to move all around Europe
• One of the major effects that printing has is on the Protestant reformation
• Without the printing press the Protestant reformation would not have happened
• Martin Luther created pamphlets that could be spread to everyone
• Martin Luther
• Catholic monk
• Saw a problem with the way the hierarchy of the Catholic Church was working
• In 1517, he was watching indulgences being sold and the money from these indulgences was going back to pay for St. Peter's Basilica in Rome
• On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther tacks his 95 Theses to the door of the cathedral
• Four key beliefs that set him apart from the Church
• Salvation is achieved by faith alone
• The Bible is the only valid authority for Christian life
• The Church consists of a priesthood of all believers; there would not be a pope; all people were equal; there would not be a hierarchy
• All vocations have equal merit; abolishes the monasteries and convents
• John Calvin
• Basically believed that God is all good and people are wicked and that very few people will be saved from sin
• Calvinism spread across Europe
• The heart of Calvinism was Geneva, Switzerland
• Anabaptists
• Everyone hated them
• The leader was executed
• Counter-Reformation
• Started by the Vatican
• Attack against the Protestant Reformation
• Pope Julius II
• Pope Paul III
• Council of Trent
• Reaffirmed the traditional practices of the Catholic Church
• Relics were usually body parts of saints that had died
• Resists limiting papal authority
• Jesuits
• Founded by Ignatius Loyola
• The Society of Jesus
• Catholic education
• Missionary work
• Combating Protestantism
• Product of the Counter-Reformation