The Influence Of Renaissance On Politics

The Renaissance took root in Italy in the 14th century and spread north, bringing with it a renewed interest in classical values as people rediscovered the ancient Greek and Roman literature and art that the Middle Ages forgot. Use of the feudal system declined in favor of monarchies, oligarchies, and parliaments, and the Roman Catholic Pope had less influence on politics. Niccolò Machiavelli’s 1532 The Prince separated political theory and religion as Machiavelli described a successful ruler as one who put aside ethics in the interest of preserving and strengthening the state by any means possible. Centuries earlier, in the mid-1300s, the Black Death ravaged Europe, affecting economies as huge death tolls caused an abundance of food and supplies, …show more content…
The Great Schism weakened the Church’s power and left members confused and fed up as two or three legitimate popes ruled at one time. The Council of Constance finally ended this with the installation of a single pope, but the council revealed more deep-seated issues with the Church. The Dutch humanist Erasmus mocked the corruption and abuse of power within the church and the ignorance and sloth of the clergy in In Praise of Folly and other works, but he never attacked its principles. He thought that Christianity should be a guiding philosophy instead of a system of dogmatic beliefs and practices, and paved the way for the Reformation. Humanists looked to the Greek and Roman times as ideals, dismissing the immediate past as the Dark Ages. According to historian Charles G. Nauert, “Northern humanists enthusiastically looked to the apostolic and patristic age of the Church as a valuable part of the ancient heritage they sought to restore,” (Nauert 271). On the contrary, southern humanists shifted away from religion and the idea of divine intervention, concentrating more on logical reasoning for …show more content…
Sculptures had been confined mostly to cathedrals. Paintings were less concerned with realism and more concerned with symbolism. Renaissance art reflected a new sense of reality and space that was occupied. Individualism and the preoccupation with all things human inspired artwork that portrayed realistic and ideal forms of humans. The Greco-Roman theme that swept over Renaissance Europe also affected sculptors, who produced busts or full figures of contemporaries, nude forms, and statues depicting figures from ancient times and mythology. Painters used space and proportion to create three-dimensional effects and studied anatomy to paint more realistically. Paintings became a hot commodity for the wealthy class. They remained mostly religious, but usually showed concrete realities rather than the abstract truths and symbolisms of the Middle