Renaissance in Western Europe. Renaissance in Western Europe Renaissance in Europe

At the turn of the 15th-16th centuries, when Italy found itself at the center of international politics, the Renaissance spirit also penetrated other European countries. It manifested itself, in particular, in the strong Italian influence on political life and economic relations, which gave rise to the English historian A. Toynbee to speak of the "Italianization" of Europe.

Things were different in the field of culture. Outside of Italy, especially in the north of Europe, the ancient heritage played a much more modest role than in the birthplace of the Renaissance (read about the Italian Renaissance). Of decisive importance were the national traditions and peculiarities of the historical development of various peoples.

These circumstances were clearly manifested in Germany, where a broad cultural movement arose, called the Northern Renaissance. It was in Germany at the height of the Renaissance that printing was invented. In the middle of the XV century. Johannes Gutenberg (c. 1397-1468) published the world's first printed book, a Latin edition of the Bible. Printing quickly spread throughout Europe, becoming a powerful means of disseminating humanistic ideas. This landmark invention changed the whole character of European culture.

The prerequisites for the Northern Renaissance were formed in the Netherlands, especially in the rich cities of the southern province of Flanders, where almost simultaneously with the early Italian Renaissance, elements of a new culture were born, the most striking expression of which was painting. Another sign of the advent of new times was the appeal of the Dutch theologians to the moral problems of the Christian religion, their desire for a "new piety". Erasmus of Rotterdam (1469-1536), the greatest thinker of the Northern Renaissance, grew up in such a spiritual atmosphere. A native of Rotterdam, he studied in Paris, lived in England, Italy, Switzerland, gaining pan-European fame with his work. Erasmus of Rotterdam became the founder of a special direction of humanistic thought, called Christian humanism. He understood Christianity primarily as a system of moral values ​​that had to be followed in everyday life.

Based on an in-depth study of the Bible, the Dutch thinker created his own theological system - the "philosophy of Christ." Erasmus of Rotterdam taught: “Do not think that Christ is concentrated in rites and services, no matter how you observe them, and in church institutions. A Christian is not the one who is sprinkled, not the one who is anointed, not the one who is present at the sacraments, but the one who is imbued with love for Christ and is exercising in pious deeds.

Simultaneously with the High Renaissance in Italy, the fine arts also flourished in Germany. Central to this process was the brilliant artist Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528). His home was the free city of Nuremberg in southern Germany. During trips to Italy and the Netherlands, the German artist had the opportunity to get acquainted with the best examples of contemporary European painting.

In Germany itself, at that time, such a type of artistic creativity as engraving, a relief drawing applied to a board or a metal plate, was widely used. Unlike paintings, engravings, reproduced in the form of separate prints or book illustrations, became the property of the widest circles of the population.

Durer brought the engraving technique to perfection. The cycle of his woodcuts "Apocalypse", illustrating the main biblical prophecy, is one of the greatest masterpieces of graphic art.

Like other Renaissance masters, Dürer entered the history of world culture as an outstanding portrait painter. He became the first German artist to receive pan-European recognition. The artists Lucas Cranach Sr. (1472-1553), known as a master of mythological and religious scenes, and Hans Holbein Jr. (1497/98-1543) also gained great fame.

Holbein worked for several years in England, at the court of King Henry VIII, where he created a whole gallery of portraits of his famous contemporaries. His work marked one of the pinnacles of the artistic culture of the Renaissance.

French Renaissance

The culture of the Renaissance in France was also distinguished by its great originality. After the end of the Hundred Years War, the country experienced a cultural upsurge, relying on its own national traditions.

The flourishing and enrichment of French culture was facilitated by the geographical position of the country, which opened up opportunities for close acquaintance with the cultural achievements of the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy.

The new culture enjoyed royal support in France, especially during the reign of Francis I (1515-1547). The formation of a national state and the strengthening of royal power was accompanied by the formation of a special court culture, which was reflected in architecture, painting, and literature. In the river valley Loire was built several castles in the Renaissance style, among which Chambord stands out. The Loire Valley is even called the "showcase of the French Renaissance." During the reign of Francis I, the country residence of the French kings of Fontainebleau was built, and the construction of the Louvre, a new royal palace in Paris, began. Its construction was completed during the reign of Charles IX. Under Charles IX himself, the construction of the Tuileries Palace began. These palaces and castles were among the most remarkable architectural masterpieces of France. The Louvre is now one of the largest museums in the world.

The Renaissance is the birth of the portrait genre, which for a long time prevailed in French painting. The most famous were court painters Jean and Francois Clouet, who depicted images of French kings from Francis I to Charles IX and other famous people of their time.

The most striking phenomenon of the French Renaissance is the work of the writer Francois Rabelais (1494-1553), which reflected both the national identity of the country and the Renaissance influence. His satirical novel "Gargantua and Pantagruel" presents a wide panorama of the French reality of that time.

An active participant in the political life of France in the late XV - early XVI century. Philippe de Commines laid the foundations for French historical and political thought in modern times. The greatest contribution to their further development was made by the remarkable thinker Jean Bodin (1530-1596) with his works “The method of easy knowledge of history” and “Six books about the state”.

English humanism

Oxford University, which had a long tradition of classical education, became the largest center of humanistic culture in England. Studied ancient literature here Thomas More (1478-1535), whose name has become a symbol of English humanism. His main work is Utopia. It depicts the image of an ideal state. This book laid the foundation and gave the name to a peculiar literary genre - social utopia. "Utopia" in Greek means "a country that does not exist."

Depicting an ideal society, More contrasted it with contemporary English reality. The fact is that the New Age brought with it not only undoubted achievements, but also serious social contradictions. The English thinker was the first to show in his work the social consequences of the capitalist transformation of the English economy: the massive impoverishment of the population and the split of society into rich and poor.

In search of the reason for this situation, he came to the conclusion: "Where there is only private property, where everything is measured for money, there is hardly ever possible the correct and successful course of state affairs." T. More was a major political figure of his time, in 1529-1532. he even served as Lord Chancellor of England, but because of disagreement with the religious policy of King Henry VIII, he was executed.

Renaissance daily life

The Renaissance brought great changes not only to artistic culture, but also to everyday culture, the daily life of people. It was then that many household items familiar to modern man first appeared or became widespread.

An important innovation was the appearance of a variety of furniture that came to replace the simple and bulky structures of the Middle Ages. The need for such furniture led to the birth of a new craft - carpentry, in addition to the simpler carpentry.

The dishes became richer and more qualitatively made; mass distribution, in addition to the knife, received spoons and forks. Food also became more diverse, the range of which was significantly enriched due to products brought from newly discovered countries. The general growth of wealth, on the one hand, and a sharp increase in the amount of precious metals and stones that flooded into Europe as a result of the Great Geographical Discoveries, on the other, led to the flourishing of jewelry art. Life in Renaissance Italy becomes more sophisticated and beautiful.

The late Middle Ages left such things as scissors and buttons as a legacy to the Renaissance, and at the beginning of the XTV century. in Burgundy, which then dictated the fashion in Europe, the tailoring was invented. The production of clothes stood out as a special profession - the craft of a tailor. All this has made a real revolution in the field of fashion. If earlier clothes did not change for a very long time, now it could be easily designed according to any taste. The Italians took over the fashion for cut clothes that arose in Burgundy and began to develop it further, setting the tone for the whole of Europe.

The historical significance of the Renaissance

The most important merit of the culture of the Renaissance was that for the first time it revealed the inner world of man in its entirety.

Attention to the human personality and its uniqueness was manifested literally in everything: in lyrical poetry and prose, in painting and sculpture. In the visual arts, the portrait and self-portrait became popular as never before. In literature, such genres as biography and autobiography have been widely developed.

The study of individuality, that is, the characteristics of character and psychological make-up that distinguish one person from another, has become the most important task of cultural figures. Humanism has led to a versatile acquaintance with the human individuality in all its manifestations. The entire Renaissance culture as a whole formed a new type of personality, the hallmark of which was individualism.

At the same time, affirming the high dignity of the human personality, Renaissance individualism also led to the disclosure of its negative aspects. So, one of the historians noted "the envy of celebrities competing with each other", who had to constantly fight for their own existence. “As soon as the humanists begin to rise,” he wrote, “they immediately become extremely unscrupulous in their means in relation to each other.” It was during the Renaissance, concluded another researcher, that “the human personality, completely left to itself, surrendered itself to the power of its own selfish interests, and the corruption of morals became inevitable.”

From the end of the 15th century, the decline of Italian humanism begins. In the context of the diverse conflicts characteristic of the history of the 16th century, humanistic culture as a whole collapsed. The main result of the development of humanism was the reorientation of knowledge to the problems of human earthly life. The revival as a whole was a very complex and ambiguous phenomenon that marked the beginning of the modern stage in the history of Western Europe.

From T. More's book "Utopia"

For “public welfare, there is only one way - to declare equality in everything. I don't know if this can be observed where everyone has their own property. Because when someone, based on a certain right, appropriates to himself as much as he can, then, no matter how great the wealth, it will be completely divided among a few. For the rest, they leave poverty to their lot; and it almost always happens that some are much more worthy of the fate of others, for the former are predatory, dishonorable and good for nothing, while the latter, on the contrary, are modest, simple men, and with their daily zeal they bring good to society more than to themselves. ".

References:
V.V. Noskov, T.P. Andreevskaya / History from the end of the 15th to the end of the 18th century

The Renaissance, or the Renaissance (from the French renaître - to be reborn), is one of the brightest eras in the development of European culture, spanning almost three centuries: from the middle of the 14th century. until the first decades of the 17th century. It was an era of major changes in the history of the peoples of Europe. Under the conditions of a high level of urban civilization, the process of the emergence of capitalist relations and the crisis of feudalism began, the folding of nations and the creation of large national states took place, a new form of political system appeared - an absolute monarchy (see State), new social groups were formed - the bourgeoisie and hired working people. The spiritual world of man also changed. Great geographical discoveries expanded the horizons of contemporaries. This was facilitated by the great invention of Johannes Gutenberg - printing. In this complex, transitional era, a new type of culture arose, putting man and the world around him at the center of his interests. The new, Renaissance culture widely relied on the heritage of antiquity, comprehended differently than in the Middle Ages, and in many respects rediscovered (hence the concept of "Renaissance"), but it also drew from the best achievements of medieval culture, especially secular - knightly, urban , folk. The man of the Renaissance was seized with a thirst for self-affirmation, great achievements, actively involved in public life, rediscovered the world of nature, strove for its deep comprehension, admired its beauty. The culture of the Renaissance is characterized by a secular perception and understanding of the world, the assertion of the value of earthly existence, the greatness of the mind and creative abilities of a person, and the dignity of the individual. Humanism (from Latin humanus - human) became the ideological basis of the culture of the Renaissance.

Giovanni Boccaccio is one of the first representatives of the humanistic literature of the Renaissance.

Palazzo Pitti. Florence. 1440-1570

Masaccio. Tax collection. Scene from the life of St. Petra Fresco of the Brancacci Chapel. Florence. 1426-1427

Michelangelo Buonarroti. Moses. 1513-1516

Rafael Santi. Sistine Madonna. 1515-1519 Canvas, oil. Art Gallery. Dresden.

Leonardo da Vinci. Madonna Litta. Late 1470s - early 1490s Wood, oil. State Hermitage. Saint Petersburg.

Leonardo da Vinci. Self-portrait. OK. 1510-1513

Albrecht Durer. Self-portrait. 1498

Pieter Brueghel the Elder. Snow hunters. 1565 Oil on wood. Museum of Art History. Vein.

Humanists opposed the dictatorship of the Catholic Church in the spiritual life of society. They criticized the method of scholastic science based on formal logic (dialectic), rejected its dogmatism and belief in authorities, thus clearing the way for the free development of scientific thought. Humanists called for the study of ancient culture, which the church denied as pagan, perceiving from it only that which did not contradict Christian doctrine. However, the restoration of the ancient heritage (humanists searched for manuscripts of ancient authors, cleared texts of later accretions and copyist errors) was not an end in itself for them, but served as the basis for solving urgent problems of our time, for building a new culture. The range of humanitarian knowledge, within which the humanistic worldview developed, included ethics, history, pedagogy, poetics, and rhetoric. Humanists have made a valuable contribution to the development of all these sciences. Their search for a new scientific method, criticism of scholasticism, translations of scientific works of ancient authors contributed to the rise of natural philosophy and natural science in the 16th - early 17th centuries.

The formation of the Renaissance culture in different countries was not simultaneous and proceeded at different rates in different areas of culture itself. First of all, it took shape in Italy with its numerous cities that have reached a high level of civilization and political independence, with ancient traditions that are stronger than in other European countries. Already in the 2nd half of the XIV century. in Italy there have been significant changes in literature and humanitarian knowledge - philology, ethics, rhetoric, historiography, pedagogy. Then fine arts and architecture became the arena of the rapid development of the Renaissance, and later the new culture embraced the spheres of philosophy, natural science, music, and theater. For more than a century, Italy remained the only country of Renaissance culture; by the end of the 15th century. The revival began to gain strength relatively quickly in Germany, the Netherlands, France, in the 16th century. - in England, Spain, countries of Central Europe. Second half of the 16th century became a time not only for the high achievements of the European Renaissance, but also for the manifestations of the crisis of a new culture caused by the counteroffensive of reactionary forces and the internal contradictions of the development of the Renaissance itself.

The origin of Renaissance literature in the 2nd half of the XIV century. associated with the names of Francesco Petrarch and Giovanni Boccaccio. They affirmed the humanistic ideas of the dignity of the individual, linking it not with generosity, but with the valiant deeds of a person, his freedom and the right to enjoy the joys of earthly life. Petrarch's "Book of Songs" reflected the subtlest shades of his love for Laura. In the dialogue "My Secret", a number of treatises, he developed ideas about the need to change the structure of knowledge - to put a person at the center of the problem, criticized the scholastics for their formal-logical method of cognition, called for the study of ancient authors (Petrarch especially appreciated Cicero, Virgil, Seneca), highly raised the importance of poetry in man's knowledge of the meaning of his earthly existence. These thoughts were shared by his friend Boccaccio, the author of the book of short stories "The Decameron", a number of poetic and scientific works. In the "Decameron" the influence of folk-urban literature of the Middle Ages is traced. Here, humanistic ideas found expression in artistic form - the denial of ascetic morality, the justification of a person's right to the full manifestation of his feelings, all natural needs, the idea of ​​nobility as a product of valiant deeds and high morality, and not the nobility of the family. The theme of nobility, the solution of which reflected the anti-estate ideas of the advanced part of the burghers and the people, will become characteristic of many humanists. The humanists of the 15th century made a great contribution to the further development of literature in Italian and Latin. - writers and philologists, historians, philosophers, poets, statesmen and orators.

In Italian humanism, there were directions that approached the solution of ethical problems in different ways, and above all, the question of the paths of a person to happiness. So, in civil humanism - the direction that developed in Florence in the first half of the 15th century. (its most prominent representatives are Leonardo Bruni and Matteo Palmieri) - ethics was based on the principle of serving the common good. Humanists argued the need to educate a citizen, a patriot who puts the interests of society and the state above personal ones. They affirmed the moral ideal of an active civil life as opposed to the ecclesiastical ideal of monastic seclusion. They attached particular value to such virtues as justice, generosity, prudence, courage, courtesy, modesty. A person can discover and develop these virtues only in active social communication, and not in flight from worldly life. The humanists of this trend considered the best form of government to be a republic, where, in conditions of freedom, all human abilities can be most fully manifested.

Another direction in the humanism of the XV century. represented the work of the writer, architect, art theorist Leon Battista Alberti. Alberti believed that the law of harmony reigns in the world, man is also subject to it. He must strive for knowledge, for understanding the world around him and himself. People must build earthly life on reasonable grounds, on the basis of acquired knowledge, turning it to their advantage, striving for the harmony of feelings and reason, the individual and society, man and nature. Knowledge and obligatory work for all members of society - this, according to Alberti, is the way to a happy life.

Lorenzo Valla put forward a different ethical theory. He identified happiness with pleasure: a person should enjoy all the joys of earthly existence. Asceticism is contrary to human nature itself, feelings and reason are equal, their harmony should be sought. From these positions, Valla made a strong criticism of monasticism in the dialogue "On the monastic vow."

At the end of the XV - the end of the XVI century. the direction associated with the activities of the Platonic Academy in Florence became widespread. The leading humanist philosophers of this trend - Marsilio Ficino and Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, in their works, based on the philosophy of Plato and the Neoplatonists, exalted the human mind. For them, the heroization of the individual has become characteristic. Ficino considered man to be the center of the world, a link (this connection is realized in knowledge) of a perfectly organized cosmos. Pico saw in man the only being in the world endowed with the ability to form himself, relying on knowledge - on ethics and the sciences of nature. In the “Speech on the Dignity of Man”, Pico defended the right to free thought, believed that philosophy, devoid of any dogmatism, should become the lot of everyone, and not a handful of the elect. The Italian Neoplatonists approached a number of theological problems from new, humanistic positions. The invasion of humanism into the sphere of theology is one of the important features of the European Renaissance of the 16th century.

The 16th century was marked by a new upsurge in Renaissance literature in Italy: Ludovico Ariosto became famous for his poem Furious Roland, where reality and fantasy are intertwined, the glorification of earthly joys and sometimes sad, sometimes ironic understanding of Italian life; Baldassare Castiglione created a book about the ideal man of his era ("The Courtier"). This is the time of creativity of the outstanding poet Pietro Bembo and the author of satirical pamphlets Pietro Aretino; at the end of the 16th century. Torquato Tasso’s grandiose heroic poem “Jerusalem Liberated” was written, which reflected not only the conquests of secular Renaissance culture, but also the beginning crisis of the humanistic worldview, associated with the strengthening of religiosity in the conditions of the counter-reformation, with the loss of faith in the omnipotence of the individual.

Brilliant success was achieved by the art of the Italian Renaissance, which was initiated by Masaccio in painting, Donatello in sculpture, Brunelleschi in architecture, who worked in Florence in the first half of the 15th century. Their work is marked by a bright talent, a new understanding of man, his place in nature and society. In the 2nd half of the XV century. in Italian painting, along with the Florentine school, a number of others developed - Umbrian, northern Italian, Venetian. Each of them had its own characteristics, they were also characteristic of the work of the largest masters - Piero della Francesca, Andrea Mantegna, Sandro Botticelli and others. All of them revealed the specifics of Renaissance art in different ways: the desire for lifelike images based on the principle of “imitation of nature”, a wide appeal to the motifs of ancient mythology and the secular interpretation of traditional religious plots, an interest in linear and airy perspective, in the plastic expressiveness of images, in harmony of proportions. etc. A common genre of painting, graphics, medal art, and sculpture was the portrait, which was directly related to the affirmation of the humanistic ideal of man. The heroized ideal of the perfect man was embodied with particular fullness in the Italian art of the High Renaissance in the first decades of the 16th century. This era brought forward the brightest, multifaceted talents - Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo (see Art). There was a type of universal artist who combined in his work a painter, sculptor, architect, poet and scientist. Artists of this era worked in close contact with the humanists and showed great interest in the natural sciences, primarily anatomy, optics, and mathematics, trying to use their achievements in their work. In the XVI century. Venetian art experienced a special upsurge. Giorgione, Titian, Veronese, Tintoretto created beautiful canvases, notable for the richness of color and realism of images of a person and the world around him. The 16th century is the time of the active assertion of the Renaissance style in architecture, especially for secular purposes, which was characterized by a close connection with the traditions of ancient architecture (order architecture). A new type of building was formed - a city palace (palazzo) and a country residence (villa) - majestic, but also proportionate to a person, where the solemn simplicity of the facade is combined with spacious, richly decorated interiors. A huge contribution to the architecture of the Renaissance was made by Leon Battista Alberti, Giuliano da Sangallo, Bramante, Palladio. Many architects created designs for an ideal city based on new principles of urban planning and architecture that responded to the human need for a healthy, well-equipped and beautiful living space. Not only individual buildings were rebuilt, but entire old medieval cities: Rome, Florence, Ferrara, Venice, Mantua, Rimini.

Lucas Cranach the Elder. Female portrait.

Hans Holbein the Younger. Portrait of the Dutch humanist Erasmus of Rotterdam. 1523

Titian Vecellio. Saint Sebastian. 1570 Oil on canvas. State Hermitage. Saint Petersburg.

Illustration by Mr. Dore for the novel by F. Rabelais "Gargantua and Pantagruel".

Michel Montaigne is a French philosopher and writer.

In the political and historical thought of the Italian Renaissance, the problem of a perfect society and state became one of the central ones. In the works of Bruni and especially Machiavelli on the history of Florence, built on the study of documentary material, in the works of Sabellico and Contarini on the history of Venice, the merits of the republican structure of these city-states were revealed, and the historians of Milan and Naples, on the contrary, emphasized the positive centralizing role of the monarchy. Machiavelli and Guicciardini explained all the troubles of Italy, which became in the first decades of the 16th century. the arena of foreign invasions, its political decentralization and called on the Italians for national consolidation. A common feature of Renaissance historiography was the desire to see in the people themselves the creators of their history, to deeply analyze the experience of the past and use it in political practice. Widespread in the XVI - early XVII century. received a social utopia. In the teachings of the utopians Doni, Albergati, Zuccolo, the ideal society was associated with the partial elimination of private property, the equality of citizens (but not all people), the universal obligation of labor, and the harmonious development of the individual. The most consistent expression of the idea of ​​socialization of property and equalization was found in the "City of the Sun" by Campanella.

New approaches to solving the traditional problem of the relationship between nature and God were put forward by natural philosophers Bernardino Telesio, Francesco Patrici, Giordano Bruno. In their writings, the dogma about God the creator, who directs the development of the universe, gave way to pantheism: God is not opposed to nature, but, as it were, merges with it; nature is seen as existing forever and developing according to its own laws. The ideas of the Renaissance natural philosophers met with sharp resistance from the Catholic Church. For his ideas about the eternity and infinity of the Universe, consisting of a huge number of worlds, for sharp criticism of the church, condoning ignorance and obscurantism, Bruno was condemned as a heretic and put on fire in 1600.

The Italian Renaissance had a huge impact on the development of Renaissance culture in other European countries. This was facilitated in no small measure by the printing press. The major centers of publishing were in the XVI century. Venice, where at the beginning of the century the printing house of Alda Manutius became an important center of cultural life; Basel, where the publishing houses of Johann Froben and Johann Amerbach were equally significant; Lyon with its famous printing of the Etiennes, as well as Paris, Rome, Louvain, London, Seville. Typography became a powerful factor in the development of Renaissance culture in many European countries, opened the way to active interaction in the process of building a new culture of humanists, scientists, and artists.

The largest figure of the Northern Renaissance was Erasmus of Rotterdam, whose name is associated with the direction of "Christian humanism". He had like-minded people and allies in many European countries (J. Colet and Thomas More in England, G. Bude and Lefevre d "Etaple in France, I. Reuchlin in Germany). Erasmus understood the tasks of the new culture broadly. In his opinion, this is not only the resurrection of the ancient pagan heritage, but also the restoration of the early Christian doctrine. He did not see any fundamental differences between them in terms of the truth to which a person should strive. Like the Italian humanists, he connected the improvement of a person with education, creative activity, the disclosure of all inherent in it abilities.His humanistic pedagogy received artistic expression in "Conversations easily", and his sharply satirical work "Praise of Stupidity" was directed against ignorance, dogmatism, feudal prejudices.Erasmus saw the path to the happiness of people in a peaceful life and the establishment of a humanistic culture based on all values historical experience of mankind.

In Germany, the Renaissance culture experienced a rapid rise at the end of the 15th century. - 1st third of the XVI century. One of its features was the flowering of satirical literature, which began with Sebastian Brant's The Ship of Fools, which sharply criticized the mores of the time; the author led readers to the conclusion about the need for reforms in public life. The satirical line in German literature was continued by the "Letters of Dark People" - an anonymously published collective work of humanists, chief among whom was Ulrich von Hutten - where ministers of the church were subjected to devastating criticism. Hutten was the author of many pamphlets, dialogues, letters directed against the papacy, the dominance of the church in Germany, the fragmentation of the country; his work contributed to the awakening of the national self-consciousness of the German people.

The greatest artists of the Renaissance in Germany were A. Durer, an outstanding painter and unsurpassed engraver, M. Nithardt (Grunewald) with his deeply dramatic images, the portrait painter Hans Holbein the Younger, and also Lucas Cranach the Elder, who closely connected his art with the Reformation.

In France, the Renaissance culture took shape and flourished in the 16th century. This was facilitated, in particular, by the Italian wars of 1494-1559. (they were fought between the kings of France, Spain and the German emperor for the mastery of Italian territories), which revealed to the French the wealth of the Renaissance culture of Italy. At the same time, a feature of the French Renaissance was an interest in the traditions of folk culture, creatively mastered by humanists along with the ancient heritage. The poetry of K. Maro, the works of the humanist philologists E. Dole and B. Deperrier, who were members of the circle of Margaret of Navarre (sister of King Francis I), are imbued with folk motives and cheerful freethinking. These trends are very clearly manifested in the satirical novel of the outstanding Renaissance writer Francois Rabelais "Gargantua and Pantagruel", where plots drawn from ancient folk tales about merry giants are combined with ridicule of the vices and ignorance of contemporaries, with a presentation of the humanistic program of upbringing and education in the spirit of the new culture. The rise of national French poetry is associated with the activities of the Pleiades - a circle of poets led by Ronsard and Du Bellay. During the period of the civil (Huguenot) wars (see Wars of Religion in France), journalism was widely developed, expressing the differences in the political position of the opposing forces of society. The major political thinkers were F. Othman and Duplessis Mornet, who opposed tyranny, and J. Bodin, who advocated strengthening a single national state headed by an absolute monarch. The ideas of humanism found deep reflection in Montaigne's "Experiences". Montaigne, Rabelais, Bonaventure Deperier were prominent representatives of secular free-thinking, which rejected the religious foundations of the worldview. They condemned scholasticism, the medieval system of upbringing and education, dogmatism, and religious fanaticism. The main principle of Montaigne's ethics is the free manifestation of human individuality, the liberation of the mind from submission to faith, the full value of emotional life. Happiness he connected with the realization of the internal possibilities of the individual, which should be served by secular upbringing and education based on free thought. In the art of the French Renaissance, the portrait genre came to the fore, the outstanding masters of which were J. Fouquet, F. Clouet, P. and E. Dumoustier. J. Goujon became famous in sculpture.

In the culture of the Netherlands of the Renaissance, rhetorical societies were an original phenomenon, uniting people from different strata, including artisans and peasants. At the meetings of the societies, debates were held on political and moral-religious topics, performances were staged in folk traditions, there was a refined work on the word; humanists took an active part in the activities of societies. Folk features were also characteristic of Dutch art. The largest painter Pieter Brueghel, nicknamed "Peasant", in his paintings of peasant life and landscapes with particular completeness expressed the feeling of the unity of nature and man.

). It reached a high rise in the 16th century. the art of the theater, democratic in its orientation. Everyday comedies, historical chronicles, heroic dramas were staged in numerous public and private theaters. The plays of K. Marlowe, in which majestic heroes defy medieval morality, of B. Johnson, in which a gallery of tragicomic characters emerge, prepared the appearance of the greatest playwright of the Renaissance, William Shakespeare. A perfect master of different genres - comedies, tragedies, historical chronicles, Shakespeare created unique images of strong people, personalities who vividly embodied the features of a Renaissance man, cheerful, passionate, endowed with intelligence and energy, but sometimes contradictory in his moral deeds. Shakespeare's work exposed the deepening gap between the humanistic idealization of man and the real world, which was deepening in the era of the Late Renaissance. The English scientist Francis Bacon enriched Renaissance philosophy with new approaches to understanding the world. He contrasted observation and experiment with the scholastic method as a reliable tool of scientific knowledge. Bacon saw the way to building a perfect society in the development of science, especially physics.

In Spain, Renaissance culture experienced a "golden age" in the second half of the 16th century. the first decades of the 17th century. Her highest achievements are associated with the creation of a new Spanish literature and the national folk theater, as well as with the work of the outstanding painter El Greco. The formation of a new Spanish literature, which grew up on the traditions of chivalrous and picaresque novels, found a brilliant conclusion in Miguel de Cervantes' brilliant novel The Cunning Hidalgo Don Quixote of La Mancha. The images of the knight Don Quixote and the peasant Sancho Panza reveal the main humanistic idea of ​​the novel: the greatness of man in his courageous fight against evil in the name of justice. Cervantes' novel is both a kind of parody of the chivalric romance that is fading into the past, and the broadest canvas of the Spanish folk life of the 16th century. Cervantes was the author of a number of plays that made a great contribution to the creation of the national theater. To an even greater extent, the rapid development of the Spanish Renaissance theater is associated with the work of the extremely prolific playwright and poet Lope de Vega, the author of lyric-heroic comedies of the cloak and sword, imbued with the folk spirit.

Andrei Rublev. Trinity. 1st quarter of the 15th century

At the end of the XV-XVI centuries. Renaissance culture spread in Hungary, where royal patronage played an important role in the flourishing of humanism; in the Czech Republic, where new trends contributed to the formation of national consciousness; in Poland, which became one of the centers of humanistic freethinking. The influence of the Renaissance also affected the culture of the Dubrovnik Republic, Lithuania, and Belarus. Separate tendencies of a pre-Renaissance nature also appeared in Russian culture of the 15th century. They were associated with a growing interest in the human personality and its psychology. In art, this is primarily the work of Andrei Rublev and the artists of his circle, in literature - "The Tale of Peter and Fevronia of Murom", which tells about the love of the Murom prince and the peasant girl Fevronia, and the writings of Epiphanius the Wise with his masterful "weaving of words". In the XVI century. Renaissance elements appeared in Russian political journalism (Ivan Peresvetov and others).

In the XVI - the first decades of the XVII century. Significant shifts have taken place in the development of science. The beginning of a new astronomy was laid by the heliocentric theory of the Polish scientist N. Copernicus, which made a revolution in the ideas about the Universe. It received further substantiation in the works of the German astronomer I. Kepler, as well as the Italian scientist G. Galileo. The astronomer and physicist Galileo constructed a spyglass, using it to discover the mountains on the Moon, the phases of Venus, the satellites of Jupiter, etc. The discoveries of Galileo, which confirmed the teachings of Copernicus about the rotation of the Earth around the Sun, gave impetus to the more rapid spread of the heliocentric theory, which the church recognized as heretical; she persecuted her supporters (for example, the fate of D. Bruno, who was burned at the stake) and banned the writings of Galileo. Many new things have appeared in the field of physics, mechanics, and mathematics. Stephen formulated the theorems of hydrostatics; Tartaglia successfully studied the theory of ballistics; Cardano discovered the solution of algebraic equations of the third degree. G. Kremer (Mercator) created more advanced geographical maps. Oceanography emerged. In botany, E. Kord and L. Fuchs systematized a wide range of knowledge. K. Gesner enriched knowledge in the field of zoology with his History of Animals. Knowledge of anatomy was improved, which was facilitated by the work of Vesalius “On the structure of the human body”. M. Servetus suggested the presence of a pulmonary circulation. The outstanding physician Paracelsus brought medicine and chemistry closer together, made important discoveries in pharmacology. Mr. Agricola systematized knowledge in the field of mining and metallurgy. Leonardo da Vinci put forward a number of engineering projects that were far ahead of his contemporary technical thought and anticipated some later discoveries (for example, an aircraft).

In the socio-economic and spiritual life of Western Europe from the 15th century. a number of changes took place that marked the beginning of a new era, which went down in history as the Renaissance (Renaissance). The new era realized itself as a revival of ancient culture, an ancient way of life, from which comes the very name "Renaissance", that is, the Renaissance. In fact, the Renaissance culture was a synthesis of antiquity and medieval culture.

The revival was prepared by the whole course of pan-European development. But it was strongly influenced by historical and economic regional features. In the XIV-XV centuries. commodity-money relations were widely developed, elements of a new, capitalist economic system appeared. Italy was the first to embark on this path, which was largely facilitated by the high level of urbanization of Northern and Central Italy, the subordination of the village to the city, the wide scope of handicraft production, trade, and financial affairs, oriented not only to the domestic, but also to the foreign market. A wealthy, prosperous Italian city became the base of the Renaissance culture, secular in nature and general focus.

Changes in the mindset of society were associated, first of all, with the process of secularization - liberation from the influence of religion and church institutions of cultural and social life. Independence in relation to the church was acquired not only by economic and political life, but also by science and art. At first, this process proceeded very slowly and in different countries in different ways.

The ideology of the Renaissance was humanism, which at first meant a complex of knowledge about man, his place in nature and society. In subsequent centuries, the content of "humanism" has significantly expanded and become more complex. The birth of humanism occurred first of all in Italy - Florence, Naples, Rome, where humanist circles arose, and then it spread throughout Europe. The most prominent representatives of humanism were Leon Alberti (1404-1472), Leonardo Bouni (1370-1444), Giovanna pico della Mirandola (1463-1494), Erasmus of Rotterdam (1469-1539), Johann Reuchlin (1455-1522).

The development of humanistic ideas in Italy, which intensified in the first decades of the 16th century. thanks to printing, the Catholic Church interrupted, whose attitude to the Renaissance culture changed dramatically during this period. If at first the Roman Catholic Church patronized the new art and did not interfere with the humanistic movement, then from the middle of the XVT century. she acted as an ardent enemy and strangler of the culture of the Renaissance. Such a sharp turn in the position of the church was inevitable, since the new ideology and culture largely contradicted the principles of the religious and theological worldview, church ideology and culture.

The main thing in the humanistic worldview was the recognition of the high dignity of the human person and his creative abilities. The humanistic idea of ​​active human activity contradicted the preached ideas of passivity and patient expectation of God's mercy. Knowledge as the basis of creativity was proclaimed by humanists as the main goal of human existence. The system of church virtues headed by faith gave way to the virtues of reason - knowledge, wisdom, prudence.

Humanism broke decisively with the ascetic ethics of Catholicism. The idea of ​​neglecting the flesh in the name of the freedom of the religious spirit was opposed to the theory of harmony of the body and soul, feelings and mind in the name of the perfection of human nature, for the sake of the highest manifestation of human creative abilities. A morality was formed that justified "honest enrichment", the joys of worldly life, the crown of success was considered the high prestige of the family, respect for fellow citizens, glory in the memory of descendants. All humanists recognized the high moral role of labor and valued the creative, constructive role of man. It was in the work, the deeds of the personality itself, and not in the nobility of origin, that they saw the basis of its nobility and dignity. Whether they wanted it or not, humanists were consistent critics of the estates that dominated at that time, i.e. feudal, views on many ethical categories and norms.

But if the new worldview contradicted many important principles of the dominant Catholic ideology, then the attitude of the humanists to religion and the church was by no means always in accordance with their ideas. Most of the Italian humanists never broke with the Catholic Church and showed complete loyalty to it in everyday life. They treated questions of worship and faith with complete indifference.

Humanism was formed in the transitional era that separated the Middle Ages from the New Age. Objectively, his task was to prepare the ground for the free development of science, separating it from religion, to free a person from the narrow framework of medieval prohibitions, thereby ensuring social and economic progress in the countries of Europe. However, this process was completed only in the era of modern times - in the XVII-XVIII centuries. - and not in Italy, where it was interrupted by the Catholic reaction and the general decline of the country, but in other countries that embarked on the path of capitalist development.

XV-XVI centuries - the time of the creation of centralized states in Western Europe, the time when the Catholic Church sought to rise above secular power, which caused outrage and hatred in various sectors of society. In a number of states, papal rights were limited. These problems were especially acute in Germany. In politically fragmented Germany, representatives of the highest Catholic clergy felt themselves complete masters. The secular princes wanted to limit the omnipotence of the princes of the church, but they had neither real strength nor the necessary firmness for this. The question of the liberation of Germany from papal arbitrariness became a national task. The need for church reform was recognized by all social strata of the country.

The difficult internal situation of Germany, manifested in a rapid economic and social upsurge in an environment of unfavorable conditions for national development, was the cause of the Reformation, which became an offensive event for most European countries, but in Germany took on the character of a broad social movement.

The ideologist of the Reformation in Germany was Martin Luther (1483-1546), who challenged the Catholic religious concept in The Theses Against Indulgences (1517). Luther criticized the abuses and corruption of the morals of the Catholic clergy, defended the idea that the role of the church should be limited only to the teaching and instruction of Christians in the spirit of piety, rejected the role of the church as an intermediary between God and people, demanded that the laity be given the right to arrange church affairs.

At the first stage of the Reformation, the opposition in Germany united around Luther, turning into a powerful revolutionary force. Luther became the spokesman for national interests.

In the 1520s, the situation changed. The united opposition began to disintegrate. Each class defined its goals in the common struggle, its own understanding of the nature of the Reformation. Two main directions took shape: the followers of Luther and the popular Reformation, headed by T. Müntzer and M. Geismakher.

The most prominent spokesman for the popular Reformation was Thomas Müntzer. He saw the tasks of the Reformation not in the establishment of a new church dogma, but in the implementation of a socio-political revolution, which should be carried out by the peasants and the urban poor. Speaking out against the oppression of the people, Müntzer advocated a social system in which there would be no class differences, private property, and state power alien to society.

The Reformation culminated in the Peasants' War of 1524-1525, during which princely power increased. Its instrument was the Lutheran Reformation, which continued the path towards the secularization of church lands. When, in 1529, Emperor Charles V suspended the "nationalization" of church lands, Luther's supporters protested, for which they were called "Protestants."

In 1555, the Protestant and Catholic princes of Germany concluded a religious peace between themselves and with the emperor, according to which princely sovereignty was declared inviolable and extended to the religious area. The religious affiliation of subjects was now determined by the supreme ruler on whose lands they lived. As a result of the agreement, Catholic and Protestant principalities were formed in Germany, which differed not only in religious, but also in political orientation. Thus, the Reformation in Germany contributed to the strengthening and consolidation of the political fragmentation of the country, which led to the stagnation and decline of economic life.

Germany since the middle of the XVI century. gradually lost its place in foreign markets. Moreover, merchants from other countries began to oust the Germans from local markets. The mining and metallurgical industries experienced a decline, trading firms were ruined, and capital investments in industrial production were reduced. The deteriorating position of cities, mining and metallurgical regions led to a reduction in the domestic market. A tangible blow was dealt to the agriculture of the west and southwest of Germany, focused on the cultivation of horticultural, wine-growing and industrial crops for the needs of rapidly developing cities. From the second half of the XVI century. Mostly those industries whose products were exported abroad turned out to be promising; in the countries of growing capitalism. The tendency to increase the enslavement of the peasants, especially the eastern lands, where there were favorable conditions for the development of export grain production, was gaining momentum. In the western lands, a system of small peasant farms was preserved, paying the feudal lords in cash and in-kind dues.

In Switzerland, the initiator of the Reformation was the priest Ulrich Zwingli (1484-1531). John Calvin (1509-1564), who succeeded him, completed the Reformation in Switzerland. Calvin believed that it was predetermined who would go to heaven after death, and who would go to hell. But no one can know and will never know his verdict, so "Fear God, serve him with all your soul and hope that your verdict will be merciful." The main duty of a Christian is to do his work honestly, conscientiously, diligently. Everyone serves God in his own place, Calvin taught. His teachings spread to France (Huguenots) and England (Puritans). In the Netherlands, Calvinism became the ideological basis of the revolutionary struggle for independence from Catholic Spain (1566-1609). In the Scandinavian countries, the teachings of Luther turned out to be more attractive. All supporters of the Reformation from that time began to be called Protestants.

Great geographical discoveries: background and economic consequences. A major role in the disintegration of feudalism and the genesis of capitalism was played by the geographical discoveries of the late 15th - mid-17th centuries, when Europeans were actively exploring "new" regions of the Earth. The discoveries of this period are usually called the Great ones due to their exceptional significance for the destinies of Europe and the whole world.

The Age of Discovery is divided into two periods:

the Spanish-Portuguese period (the end of the 15th - the middle of the 16th century), which included the discovery of America (the first expedition of Columbus in 1492); Portuguese voyages to India and the shores of East Asia since Vasco da Gama's expedition; Spanish Pacific expeditions of the 16th century. from Magellan's first circumnavigation of the world to the expedition of Villalovos (1542-1543);

The period of Russian and Dutch discoveries (mid-16th - mid-17th centuries). It includes: the discovery by the Russians of all of North Asia (from Yermak's campaign to the voyage of Popov-Dezhnev in 1648), English and French discoveries in North America, Dutch Pacific expeditions and the discovery of Australia.

In the second half of the XV century. feudalism in Western Europe was at the stage of decomposition. Large cities grew, trade developed. Money became the universal medium of exchange, the need for which increased sharply. In Europe, the demand for gold increased greatly, which increased the desire for the "Indies - the birthplace of spices", where, according to Europeans, there was a lot of gold, silver, gems and spices. But the way to India became inaccessible for Europeans as a result of the Turkish conquests in Asia Minor and Syria. The monopoly of Italian merchants in the European trade in Oriental goods pumped gold from Europe to the East. The shortage of the precious metal hampered the development of trade and commodity production in Western European countries. Portugal was the first to start looking for southern sea routes to India. Having conquered the territory from the Arabs in the XIII century. and continuing the wars with the Arabs in North Africa, in the XIV-XV centuries. Portugal built up a strong navy. Already in the 20-30s. 15th century The Portuguese discovered the island of Madeira and the Azores, moved far south along the western coast of Africa. The discovery in 1486 of the Cape of Good Hope at the southern tip of Africa created a real opportunity for preparing an expedition to India.

One of the most important reasons for the activity of Portugal, and then Spain in geographical discoveries, was the crisis of the feudal system of economy, expressed in the fragmentation of feudal estates and the ruin of the feudal lords. The Portuguese and Spanish nobles, who scorned all activities except war, were left without work after the victory over the Moors and very soon found themselves in debt to usurers. They dreamed of land holdings across the ocean, but even more of gold and jewels to pay off moneylenders.

Another reason for overseas expansion was the interest of the growing royal power, which dreamed of increasing revenues for the treasury. The urban bourgeoisie and the church were no less interested in the new lands. The bourgeoisie sought to expand the sources of primitive accumulation, the church - to expand its influence on the pagan countries. The desire for profit was covered by religious fanaticism - a familiar and convenient mask, under which the desire for power and personal gain was hidden.

Opportunities for long journeys were created by advances in science and technology, the development of shipbuilding and navigation. From the beginning of the XVI century. the compass, which, in combination with the astrolabe, played an important role in the development of navigation, is in general use. The ancient idea of ​​the sphericity of the earth was revived. In the XV century. a caravel designed for ocean navigation was created - a high-speed vessel with capacious holds. Of great importance was the improvement of firearms. Until the end of the XV century. ahead of other countries were the Portuguese. The knowledge they gained gave navigators of other countries new information about sea tides, low tides, currents, and wind direction. The mapping of new lands spurred the development of cartography.

From the end of the XV century. The Spaniards began to search for sea trade routes to India. In 1492, the Genoese navigator Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) arrived at the court of the Spanish kings. Columbus proposed to the Spanish monarchs his project - to reach the shores of India, sailing west across the Atlantic. Prior to this, Columbus offered his plan to the kings of other countries, but was refused. France and England did not have the necessary funds and fleet. The Portuguese by this time were already close to opening a route to India around Africa and did not need other people's services. In Spain, there was a more favorable environment for the implementation of Columbus' plans. After the conquest of Granada in 1492 and the end of the last war with the Arabs, the economic situation of the Spanish monarchy was very difficult. The treasury was empty, the crown no longer had vacant lands available for sale, and income from taxes on trade and industry was negligible. A huge number of nobles were left without a livelihood. In addition, Spanish industry needed markets. All these circumstances were decisive for the adoption of the Columbus project by the Spanish court. The idea of ​​an overseas expedition was supported by the top of the Catholic Church. An agreement was concluded between the Spanish king and Columbus, according to which the great navigator was appointed viceroy of the newly discovered lands, received the rank of admiral, the right to "/ 10 of the income from new possessions and Vg of the profits from trade.

On August 3, 1492, a flotilla of three caravels sailed from the harbor of Paloe, heading southwest. On October 12, 1492, the ships approached the Bahamas. Later, the island of Cuba was discovered and its northern coast was explored. Mistaking Cuba for one of the islands off the coast of Japan, Columbus continued sailing west and discovered the island of Haiti, which had more gold than the already discovered islands. Columbus lost his largest ship off the coast of Haiti and was forced to leave part of the crew on the island. A fort was built here. The fortress of Navidad became the first Spanish settlement in the New World.

In 1493, Columbus returned to Spain, where he was received with great honor. The discoveries of Columbus worried the Portuguese. In 1494, through the mediation of the Pope, an agreement was concluded, according to which Spain was given the right to own lands to the west of the Azores, and Portugal - to the east. Columbus made three more trips to America, during which the Lesser Antilles, Puerto Rico, Jamaica were discovered, and the coast of Central America was explored. Columbus believed until the end of his days that he had found a western route to India. In 1500, Columbus was accused of abuse of power and sent to Spain in shackles. However, the appearance in Spain of the famous navigator in chains caused outrage. Columbus was soon rehabilitated.

By 1502-1503. refers to the fourth voyage of Columbus to the New World in order to find a way out to the Indian Ocean and travel around the world. During the last trip, Columbus discovered the coast of the mainland south of Cuba, explored the southwestern shores of the Caribbean Sea. Two weeks after his return, Queen Isabella, who patronized Columbus, died. He lost support at court. Columbus died in 1506, forgotten by everyone, in complete poverty.

The tragic fate of Columbus is largely due to the success of the Portuguese. In 1497, an expedition of Vasco da Gama was sent to explore the sea route to India around Africa. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, the Portuguese sailors entered the Indian Ocean and in May 1498 reached the Indian port of Calicut. Having bought a large cargo of spices, the expedition set off on the return journey.

The success of Vasco da Gama's expedition made a huge impression in Europe. Huge opportunities opened up before the Portuguese for the commercial exploitation of India. Thanks to their superiority in armaments and naval technology, they managed to oust the Arab merchants from the Indian Ocean and seize all maritime trade with India, and then Malacca and Indonesia. Attempts by the Arabs to oust the Portuguese from the Indian Ocean were unsuccessful.

In India, the Portuguese did not capture vast territories, but only created strongholds on the coast, which made it possible to control all trade relations between individual areas of the Indian Ocean coast. This trade gave huge profits. Moving further east along the coast, they subjugated the transit routes of the spice trade. Trade with India was declared a monopoly of the Portuguese king.

Having seized control of trade with India, the Portuguese stubbornly sought a western route to this country. At the end of the XV - beginning of the XVI century. As part of the Spanish and Portuguese expeditions, Amerigo Vespucci traveled to the shores of America, who proved that Columbus discovered not the coast of India, but a new mainland, later called America.

Fernando Magellan, a member of the Portuguese expeditions, suggested that it was possible to reach India by moving west and skirting the newly discovered continent from the south. The Spanish government, which at that time did not receive large incomes from newly discovered lands, reacted with interest to the Magellan project. According to the agreement concluded by the Spanish king with Magellan, the navigator had to sail to the southern tip of the American mainland and open the western route to India. The titles of the ruler and governor of the new lands and the 20th part of all income that would go to the treasury complained to him.

September 20, 1519 a squadron of five ships headed west. A month later, the flotilla reached the southern tip of the American continent and for three weeks moved along the strait, which now bears the name of Magellan. On March 6, 1521, sailors reached three small islands from the Mariana group. Continuing his journey west, Magellan reached the Philippine Islands, where he died in a skirmish with the natives.

New discoveries aggravated the old contradictions between Spain and Portugal. For a long time, experts from both countries could not accurately determine the boundaries of Spanish and Portuguese possessions due to the lack of accurate data on the longitude of the newly discovered islands. In 1529 an agreement was reached. Spain renounced its claim to the Philippine Islands. However, for a long time no one dared to repeat the journey of Magellan, and the journey across the Pacific Ocean to the shores of Asia was of no practical importance.

From 1510, the conquest of America began - the colonization and development of the interior regions of the continent, the formation of a system of colonial exploitation.

In 1517-1518. detachments of Hernan de Cordoba and Juan Grimalva faced the most ancient civilization - the Mayan state. By the time the Spaniards arrived, the territory of Yucatan was divided among several city-states. Not only the superiority in armament, but also the internal struggle between the city-states made it easier for the Spaniards to conquer the Maya. The Spaniards learned from local residents that precious metals were brought from the country of the Aztecs. In 1519, a Spanish detachment headed by Hernan Cortes set out to conquer these lands.

The Aztec state stretched from the coast of the Gulf of Mexico to the Pacific Ocean. A large agricultural population lived here, a perfect system of artificial irrigation was created by the labor of many generations, high yields of cotton, corn, and vegetables were grown. The economic basis was the neighboring community. The Maya had a system of labor service. The population was used by the state in the construction of palaces, temples, etc. The craft had not yet separated from agriculture; both artisans and farmers lived in the community. A stratum of representatives of the nobility and leaders began to stand out - caciques, who had large plots of land and used the labor of slaves.

Unlike the Maya, the Aztec state achieved significant centralization, gradually making the transition to the hereditary power of the supreme ruler. However, the lack of internal unity, the internecine struggle for power among the representatives of the highest military nobility and the struggle of the conquered tribes against the conquerors facilitated the victory of the Spaniards. Mexico justified the hopes of the conquerors. Rich deposits of gold and silver were found here. v

The second stream of colonization went from the Isthmus of Panama to the south of the Pacific coast of America. The conquerors were attracted by the fabulously rich country of Peru with fertile densely populated lands. The population was engaged in agriculture, bred herds of llamas. Since ancient times, the territory of Peru was inhabited by the Quechua Indians. In the XIV century. one of the Quechuan tribes - the Incas conquered numerous Indian tribes. By the beginning of the XVI century. part of the territory of Chile and Argentina was part of the Inca state. From the tribe of conquerors, a military nobility was formed. The center of the Inca empire was the city of Cusco. The basic cell of society among the Incas, as well as among the Mayans and Aztecs, was the neighborhood community. From the communal lands, the fields of the nobility and elders, which were in their ownership, stood out. These lands they had the right to inherit.

The conquest of the territory of Peru by the Spaniards lasted more than 40 years. If at the first stage the conquerors seized the precious metals accumulated in previous times, then from 1530 in Mexico and on the territory of Peru, the richest mines began to be systematically exploited. Since then, the nature of colonization has changed. The conquerors abandoned the economic development of new lands. Everything necessary for the Spanish settlers began to be brought from Europe in exchange for the gold and silver of the New World. The noble, feudal nature of colonization predetermined the fact that the gold and silver of America fell mainly into the hands of the nobility. All conquered lands became the property of the crown. Starting in 1512, laws were passed that prohibited the enslavement of Indians. Formally, they were considered subjects of the Spanish king, paid a special tax and worked out labor service.

In the first half of the XVI century. in general terms, there was a system of government of the Spanish colonies in America. Colonial trade was placed under the control of the Seville Chamber of Commerce (1503), which carried out customs inspection of all goods, collected duties, and supervised emigration processes. The main industry in the Spanish colonies was mining.

The colonial system that developed in the Portuguese colonies was different from the Spanish one. Since 1500, Brazil became the main object of colonization, where there was no settled agricultural population, and the small Indian tribes, who were at the stage of tribal system, were pushed back into the interior of the country. The absence of deposits of precious metals and significant human resources determined the commercial nature of the initial colonization of Brazil.

Since 1500, the economic development of the coastal regions of Brazil began. The coast was divided into 13 captaincies, the owners of which had full power. But Portugal did not have a significant surplus population, so the settlement of the colonies was slow. The absence of peasant settlers and the paucity of the indigenous population made it impossible for the development of feudal forms of economy. The areas where the plantation system arose based on the exploitation of Negro slaves from Africa developed most successfully. Starting from the second half of the XVI century. the import of African slaves grew rapidly. White settlers lived mainly in the coastal strip in closed groups, engaged in trade and crafts.

In the second half of the 16th - early 17th century. "Spanish navigators made a number of Pacific expeditions from the territory of Peru, during which the Solomon Islands, South Polynesia and Australia were discovered. However, Spain did not have the strength and means to develop new lands. Therefore, the Spanish government kept all information about the discovery secret for a whole century , fearing the rivalry of other powers.It was not until the middle of the 17th century that the Dutch began to explore the coast of Australia.

Consequences of the Great geographical discoveries. In the first period of the Great Geographical Discoveries, when the main trade routes moved from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic Ocean, Portugal and Spain dominated trade. However, the main producers of industrial goods were the Netherlands, England and France, which made it possible for the bourgeoisie of these countries to get rich quickly, pumping gold and silver from the Pyrenean countries in exchange for manufactured goods. Gradually, they forced out competitors from the sea routes, and then from their overseas colonies. After the defeat of the "Invincible Armada" (1588), the Spanish-Portuguese power (in those years, both Pyrenean powers constituted a single state) was dealt a crushing blow. In particular, in the studies of the Pacific Ocean and the southern seas at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. the initiative passed to the Netherlands, and in the 40s. 17th century The bourgeois revolution in England brought that country, too, into the arena of struggle for markets, supremacy on the seas, and colonial possessions.

One of the consequences of the Great Geographical Discoveries was the strengthening of new trends in the economic policy of European absolutism, which acquired a pronounced mercantilist character. The ruling dynasties in Spain, France, and England encouraged trade, industry, shipping, and colonial expansion by all means. Mercantilism was generated by developing capitalism, but it also met the interests of the nobility. National industry and trade provided the means to maintain the feudal state, and thus to maintain the social dominance of the nobles. The opening of new trade routes and previously unknown countries and continents, the establishment of stable ties between Europe and other parts of the world in a relatively short time allowed European countries to acquire huge resources.

As a result of the Great geographical discoveries, a system of colonial domination and colonial exploitation emerged.

Initially, the main method of exploitation of the colonies was open robbery. Subsequently, the tax system became widespread. But the main income from the exploitation of the colonies was brought by trade. The rise of Spain and Portugal as colonial states was relatively short-lived. The wealth received from the colonies was spent unproductively by the feudal nobility, while in England and France the development of industry and trade was encouraged. The positions of England, France and the Netherlands in the colonial markets were strengthened. They were able to use geographical discoveries more effectively to develop capitalism and create their own colonial empires.

The most important consequence of the discovery and colonization of new lands was the "price revolution", which gave a powerful impetus to the primitive accumulation of capital in Europe. It accelerated the formation of the capitalist structure in the economy. The "price revolution" took the form of an unusually rapid rise in prices during the sixteenth century. prices for agricultural and industrial goods. If before the XVI century. prices were basically stable, then for 70 years - from the 30s. 16th century and until the end of the century - they grew 2-4 times. Contemporaries associated such a price movement either with a large influx of precious metals into Europe, or with their leakage. However, the real cause of the "price revolution" was the fall in the value of precious metals as a commodity. The “price revolution” contributed to the enrichment of the industrial bourgeoisie that was emerging in this era and the impoverishment of manufacturing workers. The standard of living of wage workers declined as the rise in prices for agricultural products and consumer goods led to a fall in the real incomes of the population. The “price revolution” contributed to the accelerated enrichment of the prosperous part of the peasantry, the formation of the rural bourgeoisie, since the real wages of agricultural workers decreased, and with the fall in the purchasing power of money, the real amounts of cash rent or rent collected by landowners decreased, while prices for agricultural products grew. At the same time, the feudal lords who received a fixed cash rent suffered. The result of the "revolution of prices" was a general deterioration in the economic position of the feudal lords and hired workers, and the strengthening of the positions of the bourgeoisie. It accelerated the formation of the capitalist economy and the fall of the feudal system.

Thus, the Great geographical discoveries created the basis for the emergence of the international division of labor, the world economy and the market, changes in the organization of trade, credit, industry, and the rise of agriculture in European countries.

XIV-XV century. In the countries of Europe, a new, turbulent era begins - the Renaissance (Renaissance - from the French Renaissanse). The beginning of the era is associated with the liberation of man from feudal serfdom, the development of sciences, arts and crafts.

The Renaissance began in Italy and continued its development in the countries of northern Europe: France, England, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain and Portugal. The late Renaissance dates from the middle of the 16th to the 90s of the 16th century.

The influence of the church on the life of society has weakened, interest in antiquity is reviving with its attention to the personality of a person, his freedom and development opportunities. The invention of printing contributed to the spread of literacy among the population, the growth of education, the development of sciences, arts, including fiction. The bourgeoisie was not satisfied with the religious worldview that prevailed in the Middle Ages, but created a new, secular science based on the study of the nature and heritage of ancient writers. Thus began the "revival" of ancient (ancient Greek and Roman) science and philosophy. Scientists began to search for and study ancient literary monuments stored in libraries.

There were writers and artists who dared to oppose the church. They were convinced that the greatest value on earth is a person, and all his interests should be focused on earthly life, on how to live it fully, happily and meaningfully. Such people, who dedicated their art to man, began to be called humanists.

Renaissance literature is characterized by humanistic ideals. This era is associated with the emergence of new genres and with the formation of early realism, which is called so, "Renaissance realism" (or Renaissance), in contrast to the later stages, enlightenment, critical, socialist. The works of the Renaissance give us an answer to the question of the complexity and importance of the assertion of the human personality, its creative and active principle.

Renaissance literature is characterized by various genres. But certain literary forms prevailed. Giovanni Boccaccio becomes the legislator of a new genre - the short story, which is called the Renaissance short story. This genre was born of a feeling of surprise, characteristic of the Renaissance, before the inexhaustibility of the world and the unpredictability of man and his actions.

In poetry, it becomes the most characteristic form of a sonnet (a stanza of 14 lines with a certain rhyme). Dramaturgy is developing a lot. The most prominent playwrights of the Renaissance are Lope de Vega in Spain and Shakespeare in England.

Journalism and philosophical prose are widespread. In Italy, Giordano Bruno denounces the church in his works, creates his own new philosophical concepts. In England, Thomas More expresses the ideas of utopian communism in his book Utopia. Widely known are such authors as Michel de Montaigne ("Experiments") and Erasmus of Rotterdam ("Praise of Stupidity").

Among the writers of that time are also crowned persons. Poems are written by Duke Lorenzo de Medici, and Marguerite of Navarre, sister of King Francis I of France, is known as the author of the Heptameron collection.

In the fine arts of the Renaissance, man appeared as the most beautiful creation of nature, strong and perfect, angry and gentle, thoughtful and cheerful.

The world of Renaissance man is most vividly represented in the Sistine Chapel of the Vatican, painted by Michelangelo. Biblical stories form the vault of the chapel. Their main motive is the creation of the world and man. These frescoes are full of grandeur and tenderness. On the altar wall is the Last Judgment fresco, which was created in 1537-1541. Here, Michelangelo sees in man not the "crown of creation", but Christ is presented as angry and punishing. The ceiling and altar wall of the Sistine Chapel represent a clash of possibility and reality, the sublimity of the idea and the tragedy of the implementation. "The Last Judgment" is considered a work that completed the Renaissance in art.

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Introduction

Conclusion

Introduction

Renaissance, or Renaissance - an era in the history of European culture, which replaced the culture of the Middle Ages and preceded the culture of the New Age. Approximate chronological framework of the era: the beginning of the XIV - the last quarter of the XVI century A distinctive feature of the Renaissance is the secular nature of culture and its anthropocentrism (that is, interest, first of all, in a person and his activities). There is an interest in ancient culture, there is, as it were, its “revival” - and this is how the term appeared.

The term Renaissance is found among Italian humanists, for example, Giorgio Vasari. In its modern meaning, the term was coined 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 Renaissance of the 12th century.

The culture of the Renaissance arose and took shape earlier than other countries in Italy, reaching a brilliant flowering here in the first decades of the 16th century. Its origin in the XIV century. and rapid progressive development in the XV century. were due to the historical characteristics of the country.

The formation of a new culture has become a matter, first of all, of the humanistic intelligentsia, which is very motley and heterogeneous in its origin and social status. Although the ideas put forward by the humanists received a public outcry that grew over time, in general it is difficult to associate them with the ideology of a particular stratum of society, including characterizing them as “bourgeois” or “early bourgeois”. With all the ideological diversity in the culture of the Italian Renaissance, however, there was a core of a single new worldview, the specific features of which determine its “Renaissance”. Ultimately, it was generated by the new needs of life itself, as was the task of achieving a higher level of education for a fairly wide section of society. The internal laws of the development of culture itself also led to the promotion of this important educational goal. In Italy, the varied structure of education that has developed in the cities has helped to implement it.

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 flowering here in the first decades of the 16th century. Its origin in the XIV century. and rapid progressive development in the XV century. were due to the historical characteristics of the country. One of the most urbanized regions of Europe - Italy in the XIV-XV centuries. reached a very high level of medieval civilization in comparison with other regions of Europe. Free Italian city-states in the conditions of political particularism gained economic power, relying on advanced forms of commercial, industrial and financial entrepreneurship, monopoly positions in foreign markets and extensive 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 direction.

Of no small importance was the fact that in Italy there were no clearly defined estates, the feudal nobility was involved in a stormy urban life and closely linked in its political and economic activities with the merchant elite and the wealthy stratum of the gentiles, 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 strata 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 moods of both the patriciate and the popolan environment. The very existence of this kind of literature is indicative, testifying to 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 system of education - from primary and secondary schools maintained at the expense of 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 liberal education. Finally, a significant role was played in Italy by the especially close historical connection of its culture with Roman civilization - one should not forget about the numerous monuments of antiquity preserved in the country. Restoring continuity with ancient culture - the task put forward by the Renaissance figures, it was not by chance that it originated and for a long time was most fully carried out precisely in Italy, for which the culture of Ancient Rome was an important part of its own past. The new attitude to the ancient heritage has become here the problem of the resurrection of the tradition of the ancestors.

The ideological origins of the Renaissance are already found in the medieval culture of Europe in the 12th-13th centuries. They can be seen in the Provencal lyrics and poetry of the Vagantes, in urban satire and short stories, in the philosophy of the Chartres school, Pierre Abelard, 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 paved the way for the culture of the Renaissance with its non-traditional, 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-philosophical generalization of the medieval worldview, like other works of the great Florentine (the treatises "Feast" and "Monarchy", the poetic cycle "New Life"), contain many ideas that were later adopted and developed by humanists. This is a new understanding of nobility as the result of the efforts of the individual, and not a sign of generosity, and large-scale images of 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 urban life, changes in the mentality of various strata of society. In this respect, the urban environment was by no means homogeneous. Sobriety of practical thinking, business rationalism, high quality of professional knowledge, breadth of outlook and education were valued in business circles. 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, respect for the laws, were preserved, although the cult of communal freedoms typical of Italian cities had already begun to be combined with attempts to justify the deception of the state in favor of the family and clan when paying taxes. New maxims began to prevail in merchant morality oriented towards secular affairs - 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, the desire for hoarding.

Among the nobility, especially among the old aristocratic families, traditional ideas about feudal prowess were firmly preserved, family honor was highly valued, but here too new trends appeared, not without the influence of the merchant-Popolan environment. As a rule, trade and financial entrepreneurship, which gave rise to practical rationalism, prudence, and a new attitude to wealth, entered into the everyday life of the nobility who had long since moved to the city. The desire of 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 philanthropy - middle-class merchants and guild masters, as well as representatives of traditional intellectual professions (clergy, theologians, lawyers, doctors) stood up for the preservation of social peace and the prosperity of the city of the state, drawing closer in this partly to "business people". Here the traditions of corporatism were stronger.

In the grassroots urban environment, with the growing contrast between poverty and wealth, outbursts of social protest often arose, sometimes reaching uprisings, and their own ideas about justice, sinfulness and retribution were formed, far from the moods of not only the ruling elite of society, but sometimes even from the mentality of the handicraft environment of the gentiles. The peasantry, for the most part personally free and sufficiently mobile, under 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 medieval folk 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 was a kind of transitional period - from theocentrism to rationalism, to the study of the world by means of 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 in the Renaissance was determined by the influence of a number of factors. First, 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 the public consciousness, culture and morality of society.

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

A very important characteristic of the new era was anthropocentrism. It is a type of philosophizing, the essence of which is the perception of man as a kind of center of the world, the "crown" of the evolution of nature. The expression of such a worldview was humanism - an ideological trend that originated in Italian cities, which proclaimed a person the highest value and goal of society and formed the concept of personality. The spirit of humanistic anthropocentrism permeated not only philosophy, but 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 revival emphasized not only the freedom of man, but also the idea of ​​a comprehensive (universal) development of his inclinations and abilities (essential forces), his creative vocation in the world.

The birth of capitalism aroused a great interest of philosophy in socio-political problems, in the topic of the state. At this time, utopian socialism was formed, putting forward the ideal of a new and just society (communism), where a person 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 a person as a kind of 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, the 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 vocation in the world. It is not surprising that it was at this time that humanism was fully formed - an ideological trend, the supporters of which declared a person as the highest value and goal of society. To the question "Is man great or insignificant?" they confidently answered: "Not only great, but also omnipotent." Humanism meant the revival (“renaissance”) of the ancient tradition (Socrates, Epicurus, etc.), respect for a person, protection of his self-worth, honor and dignity, the right to freedom and happiness.

Humanism as a trend was formed in the bosom of fiction as a critical reaction to the dogmas of religion, to the doctrine of the sinfulness and unfreedom of man. Italian writers restored and promoted 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. Antique culture was presented to humanists as a model of perfection, undeservedly rejected in the era of the “thousand-year night” (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 thesis, bold for his time, that man by nature was created not only for posthumous, 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, seeking and suffering, creating their own destiny. The author of the work emphasized that the outcome of human life depends on the deeds of the person himself, on his ability to choose a reasonable path and not deviate from it. Over time, the theme of freedom as the self-determination of man has become one of the most important in the Italian humanism of the Renaissance.

The founder of the humanistic movement in Italy is the poet and philosopher Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), the founder of the lyric 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-learning 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 he restored the ethical teaching of Socrates. In man, he was interested, first of all, in the theme of love, which he considered as the highest expression of the spiritual principle. Human life is always a constant search for oneself in this world, which is often associated with excruciating suffering, with mental anxiety.

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

The most prominent figure among the Italian humanists was Lorenzo Valla (1407-1457), a professor at the University of Rome. 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, a sharp critic of asceticism and monasticism associated with it. According to him, scholasticism is an idle and irrational occupation. The Italian humanist tried to restore the true teachings of Epicurus, which were banned in the Middle Ages. According to him, Epicureanism most fully affirms the idea of ​​the fullness of human life, preaches sensual activity and bodily well-being. In his treatise "On Pleasure", the scientist argued that the basic law of human nature is pleasure as a true pleasure of the soul and body. He proclaimed: "Long live faithful and constant pleasures at any age and for any sex!" Lorenzo Valla even believed that pleasures should continue in the afterlife of a person. His teaching was positive, because it restored the natural right of a person to the fullness of his existence and individual happiness in life.

Pico della Mirandola (1463-1494) also stood on the positions 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 sublunar, the heavenly and the heavenly. On earth, man is a great being who has a mind and a soul. The spirit of a person determines the freedom of his will and, consequently, the entire life path. Having created man, God supposedly put in him the “seeds” of a diverse life, which gives him the opportunity to choose: either rise to perfect angels, or descend to animal existence. Freedom is a priceless gift from God, which 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, which 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 are manifested not only in the specifics of the general trends of its development, but also in the individual contribution to the culture of many of its leaders from different countries of Europe.

The Renaissance occupies a special place in the history of Europe. The culture of this time is connected by thousands of threads with changes in the life of society, its complication and contradictions in the context of the beginning of the transition from the Middle Ages to the Early Modern Age. The traditional system of feudal social relations is undergoing a crisis and is being transformed, new forms of market economy are emerging. The established social structures, position and self-consciousness of various sections 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 inconsistency of the social life of the era intensified in connection with the formation of a new type of statehood - 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 different intensity and unequal pace, but it was able to give European culture a certain unity: with a variety of national characteristics, the culture of different countries has similar features. This was of great importance, since in social terms the Renaissance culture was not homogeneous: it was nourished, ideologically and materially, by different social groups - the middle layers of the city and its top, part of the clergy, nobility, aristocracy. Even wider was the social environment in which this culture spread. Ultimately, it affected all strata of society, from the royal court to the urban lower classes, although, of course, in different ways. 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. No wonder the Renaissance was nourished by humanistic ideas, which in the process of its evolution formed 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 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, the high destiny in the world. She called into question 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 generosity or the size of his fortune.

Conclusion

The Renaissance was a period of organic synthesis of philosophical thought, science and art. At that time, large and bright thinkers lived and worked. The revival proclaimed the spirit of freedom and happiness of man, his high vocation in the world - to be a creator and creator, an accomplice in the divine world-creation. It was, according to the definition of F. Engels, "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 of the theological picture of the world that had developed in the Middle Ages became apparent. The greatest contribution to this turn was made by the natural philosophy and natural science of the Renaissance. However, the position of science was not yet strengthened, and religion was still very influential. A peculiar form of struggle and compromise between them was pantheism (“godlessness”), which affirmed the idea of ​​the dissolution of God in nature and in all its things.

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

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

In the Renaissance, any activity was perceived differently than in antiquity or in the Middle Ages. Among the ancient Greeks, physical labor and even art were not highly valued. An elitist approach to human activity dominated, the highest form of which was declared to be theoretical quests - reflections and contemplations, because it was they who attached a person to what is eternal, to the very essence of the Cosmos, while material activity immerses in the transient world of opinions. Christianity considered the highest form of activity that leads to the "salvation" of the soul - prayer, the performance of liturgical rituals, the reading of Holy Scripture. On the whole, all these types of activity were of a passive nature, the nature of contemplation.

In the Renaissance, however, material-sensory activity, including creative activity, acquires a kind of sacred character. In the course of it, a person does not simply satisfy his earthly needs; realizes the new world, beauty, creates the highest thing in the world - himself.

List of used literature

culture renaissance theocentric

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

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

3. The 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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