Pico della Mirandola, Oration on the Dignity of Man



From Crisis and Disintegration to Recovery and Rebirth:High Middle Ages, Renaissance and ExplorationUnit ObjectivesProvide historical evidence that the Renaissance WAS and WAS NOT a “rebirth.”Describe humanism as it was understood during the Renaissance.Describe the curriculum of classical education advocated by the Renaissance humanists and identify its key features.Identify characteristics of classical art and architecture and explain how Renaissance humanism influenced classical art and architecture.Explain how patrons of the arts, such as the Church and the Medici family, were vital to the development of the artistic culture of the Renaissance.Demonstrate familiarity with Renaissance authors, their works, and their content.Describe the concept of civic humanism and the role of classical education in creating the “Renaissance Man.”Describe the role of women in the Renaissance, as well as attitudes toward women that prevailed in Europe at the pare and contrast the Italian Renaissance and the Northern Renaissance.Explain the rise of the “New Monarchs” in England and Spain in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries and identify their key achievements.Identify key explorers in the Age of Exploration, explain how they were aided by the development of new technologies, and explain the impact of their discoveries on the global economy.Important PeopleJacob BurckhardtPeter BurkePetrarchCastiglioneMachiavelliPico della MirandolaMarsilio FicinoPietro Paolo VergerioVittorino da FeltreMedici FamilyIsabella D’EsteLeonardo BruniJohannes GutenbergThomas MoreErasmus GiottoBrunelleschiRaphaelLeonardo da VinciMichelangeloSandro BotticelliVan EyckAlbrecht DurerLouis XIHenry VIIFerdinand and IsabellaJohn WyclifJan HusPope Pius IIPope Julius IIPope Leo XPrince Henry the NavigatorVasco da GamaChristopher ColumbusFerdinand MagellanHernan Cortes Francisco PizarroBartolome de Las CasasLord MacartneyGerardus MercatorFugger FamilyKey Images (below)Duccio’s and Lippi’s Madonna and Child (comparison of Byzantine and Renaissance style)Botticelli’s Birth of VenusRaphael’s School of AthensLeonardo’s Last SupperMichelangelo’s Creation of AdamVan Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait Michelangelo’s David**YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO DISCUSS HOW THESE IMAGES REFLECT THE VALUES AND TRENDS OF THE RENAISSANCE** DateClass TopicsAssignments Due9/6TuesdaySStart of Course DetailsThe Crisis of the 14th Century: Plague, Famine, War, Civil Discontent, Political Instability, Church Decline, OH MY!Starting at the Renaissance and the significance of periodization in history: Dark Ages, Middle Ages, RenaissanceText pp. 303-334 (summer)Boccaccio Decameron (summer)Jean de Venette (summer)Antisemitism and the Plague (summer)Black Death YouTube Video (summer)John of Paris (summer)Boniface VIII (summer)Froissart Rebellions of 1381King Edward III Statute of Laborers 9/7 WednesdayAWhy begin at the Renaissance?Meaning and Characteristics of the Italian RenaissanceWas the Renaissance really a “rebirth”? Two Perspectives on the Renaissance: Burke and Burckhardt (OPVL WS)Changes and Continuities with MARenaissance Society Text pp. 337-344 (summer)Go over syllabus, class policies, and school wires class siteWatch The Dark Ages (1.5 hours)9/8 ThursdayBItalian States in the RenaissanceIntellectual Renaissance in Italy, pt. 1Text pp. 344-355 (summer)Machiavelli The Prince (summer)PBS Medici Documentary (summer)Castiglione Book of the CourtierContinuity and Change Chart 9/12MondayDIntellectual Renaissance in Italy, pt. 2The Artistic RenaissanceTransition from the Medieval Period (on Medieval babies)Italian RenaissanceNorthern RenaissanceText pp. 349-362 (summer)Christine de Pisan City of Ladies (summer)Pico della Mirandola Dignity of ManVergerio On the Liberal ArtsPetrarch Letter to BoccaccioVasari Lives of the Artists (summer)9/13TuesdayAEuropean States in the Renaissance/New MonarchsThe Renaissance ChurchText pp. 362-370 (summer)Attack on the Papacy: The Concilicar Movement (Sacrosancta, Frequens) (summer)Pope Pius II Excecrabilis (summer)9/14 WednesdayBStudent Art PresentationsGroup Presentations – Renaissance Art ProjectHistory of the Renaissance for review (summer)9/16FridayDExploration - MotivesSpanish and Portuguese ExpeditionsRead textbook pp. 410-421 (Means and Motives for Exploration; Spain and Portugal )PRINT SLIDES FOR AGE OF EXPLORATION?and bring to class?9/19MondayAExploration: New Rivals on the World StageRead pp.?421-433 (Rivals on the World Stage)Perry Primary Source packet?pp.348-353 (Intro; Discovery and Conquest of Mexico)?Primary Source Reading – Exploration section: Mendez Pinto Diary (below)9/20TuesdayBImpact of European ExpansionEconomic ideologies of mercantilism and capitalismRead Perry Primary Source packet pp. 363-366 (Slave Trade and Economic Systems)Read pp. 433-441 (Impact of European Expansion and the World Economy)9/22ThursdayDFinish all remaining notesReview free response writing skillsBe sure you have completed all reading for unit.Begin studying for test9/23FridayAUnit TestMC, Short Answer, EssayPrimary Sources:BALDESAR CASTIGLIONE, THE BOOK OF THE COURTIER 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 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. 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 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 ArtsYour 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 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 Pico della Mirandola,?Oration on the Dignity of ManO 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.FRANCISCO PETRARCH AND RENAISSANCE HUMANISM While you are reading the excerpt below, consider the following:How does Petrarch relate humanism to religion?According to Petrarch, what advantages does literary humanism provide to people?What arguments does Petrarch offer to justify his position? In other words, how does he seek to prove his point?Petrarch, Excerpts from his letter to friend and fellow humanist, BoccaccioNeither exhortations to virtue nor the argument of approaching death should divert us from literature; for in a good mind it excites the love of virtue, and dissipates, or at least diminishes, the fear of death. To desert our studies shows want of self-confidence rather than wisdom, for letters do not hinder but aid the properly constituted mind which possesses them; they facilitate our life, they do not retard it. Just as many kinds of food which lie heavy on an enfeebled and nauseated stomach furnish excellent nourishment for one who is well but famishing, so in our studies many things which are deadly to the weak mind may prove salutary to an acute and healthy intellect, especially if in our use of both food and learning we exercise proper discretion. If it were otherwise, surely zeal of certain persons who persevered to the end could not have roused such admiration…Besides these (Petrarch mentions well educated persons from Classical Rome) and innumerable others like them, have not all those of our own religion whom we should wish most to imitate devoted their whole lives to literature, and grown old and died of the same pursuit? Some, indeed, were overtaken by death while still at work reading or writing. To none of them, so far as I know, did it prove a disadvantage to be noted for secular learning…While I know that many have become famous for piety without learning, at the same time I know of no one who has been prevented by literature from following the path of holiness…If I am allowed to speak for myself, it seems to me that, although the path to virtue by the way of ignorance may be plain, it fosters sloth. The goal of all good people is the same, but the ways of reaching it are many and various. Some advance slowly, others with more spirit; some obscurely, others again conspicuously. Although all alike are on the road to happiness, certainly the more elevated the path is the more glorious. Hence, ignorance, however devout, is by no means to be put on a plane with the enlightened devoutness of one familiar with literature. Nor can you pick me out from the who array of unlettered saints, an example of holy that I cannot match it with a still holier one from the other group.AGE OF EXPLORATION (and women’s role in exploration and conquest)Diary, Mendez PintoOne of the most important results of the early modern period was the spread of European culture generally, and Christian religion particularly, throughout the globe. The selection below, taken from the diaries of Mendez Pinto, a Portuguese sailor captured by the Chinese, illustrates the early stages of contact between Europe and the East. Pinto was shipwrecked around 1537, and landed in the Chinese town of Sempitay. There he encountered Inez de Leyria, a Chinese Christian of Eurasian ancestry, who boldly approached him as a fellow Christian. The episode demonstrates that unofficial channels of Christianization—most likely through the Silk Road—were available prior to 1580, when the Jesuits were granted official permission to enter China, the most powerful state in the world at the time. The excerpt also shows that women played a crucial role in this early transmission of European culture in Asia. Moreover, we learn that, in contrast to Confucian mores which excluded women from major public roles, Christianity offered de Leyria a leadership role in the local community, as well as ties to a larger global identity. Source: The Voyages and Adventures of Ferdinand Mendez Pinto, the Portugese. London, 1663. Reprinted and translated by Henry Cogan. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 1892. …whereupon a woman who was come thither amongst the rest to see us….she gave us two Mazes, which amounts to about sixteen pence of our money, advising us to make no more such long voyages, since our lives were so short. Hereupon she unbottoned one of the sleeves of a red sattin gown she had on, and baring her left arm, she showed us a cross imprinted on it, like the mark of a slave, Do any of you know this sign, which amongst those, that follow the way of truth, is called a cross?...To this falling down on our knees, we answered, with tears in our eyes, that we know exceedingly well. Then lifting up her hands she cried out, Our Father, which art in Heaven ... speaking these words in the Portugal tongue, and because she could speak not more of our language, she very earnestly desired us in Chinese to tell her whether we were Christians; we replied that we were; and for proof thereof,…we repeated all the rest of the Lord’s Prayer, which she had left unsaid, wherewith being assured that we were Christians indeed, she drew aside from the rest there present, and weeping said to us, come along Christians of the other end of the world, with her that is your true sister in the faith of Jesus Christ… …she carried us home to her house, and there kept us all the while we remained in that place, making exceeding much of us, and using us very charitably. Here she shewed us an oratory, wherein she had a cross of wood gilt, as also candlesticks, and a lamp of silver. Furthermore she told us, that she was named, Inez de Leyria, and her father Tome Pirez, who had been great ambassadour from Portugal to the King of China and that in regard of an insurrection with a Portugal captain, made at Canton, the Chineses taking him for a spy, and not for an ambassadour…clapped him…in prison….[He was] into this place, where he married with her mother, that had some means, and he made her a Christian, living so seven and twenty years together, and converting many Gentiles to the faith of Christ, whereof there were above three hundred then abiding in that town; which every Sunday assembling in her house to say the catechisme: whereupon demanding of her what were their accustomed prayers, she answered, that she used no other but these, which on their knees and hands lift up to Heaven, they pronounced in this manner, O Lord Jesus Christ, as it is most true that Thou art the very Son of God, conceived by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgine Mary for the salvation of sinners, so Thou wilt be pleased to forgive us our offences, that thereby we many become worthy to behold Thy face in the glory of Thy kingdom, where Thou art in Heaven, hallowed be Thy name. In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy [page 193] Ghost. Amen. And so all of them kissing the cross, imbraced one another, and thereupon every one returned to his own home. Moreover, she told us, that her father had left her many other prayers, which the Chineses had stollen from her, so that she had none left but those before recited; whereunto we replied, that those we had heard from her were very good, but before we went away we would leave her divers other good and wholsome prayers, Do so then, answered she, for the respect you owe to so good a God, as yours is, and that hath done such things for you, for me, and for all in general. Then causing the cloth to be laid, she gave us a very good…dinner, and treated us in like sort every meal, during the five days we continued in her house….[D]uring the five days we remained in her house, we read the catechism seven times to the Christians….beside, Christophoro Borbalho made them a little book in the Chinese tongue, containing the Pater noster, the Creed, the Ten Commandments, and many other good prayers. After these things we took her leaves of Inez de Leyria, and the Christians who gave us fifty Taeis in silver, which stood us since in good stead…and withall Inez de Leyria gave us secretly fifty Taeis more, humbly desiring us to remember her in our prayers to God…Renaissance AssignmentPresentation on Renaissance Art due on Wednesday, September 14.?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 your chosen work regarded as great art and what can we learn about the artist and this time period from viewing it?? Your presentation should only be between 3-4 minutes.? I’ll provide the PowerPoint image with the work of art. I expect you to research your work of art and work collaboratively to both DESCRIBE and EXPLAIN THE SIGNIFICANCE of the work. As a start, feel free to watch the video matching your work that I have linked for you below.1.??????The Tribute Money,?by?Masaccio, 1427? Arnolfini Wedding?by Jan van Eyck 1434? of the Rocks??by Leonardo da Vinci 1483 – 1486? Birth of Venus?by Sandro Botticelli 1476? Man?by Leonardo da Vinci 1487? of Pope Julius II?byRaphael, 1511? of Adam (Sistine Chapel)??by Michelangelo 1511? of Athens??by Raphael 1510 – 1511?? and? I ?by Albrecht Dürer 1514? Ambassadors?by Hans Holbein the Younger 1533? Last Judgment (Sistine Chapel)?by Michelangelo 1537-41???? and Art Assignment – Rubric?Possible PointsExplaining how your work of art represents Renaissance and humanist thought10Explaining how your work of art exemplifies Renaissance artistic techniques10Explaining why this is a great work of art5TOTAL25 ................
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