THE RENAISSANCE IN EUROPE / ÇİĞDEM KAFESCİOĞLU
February 29, 2008
Preliminary remarks: 19th- and early 20th-century views of the Renaissance, focusing on the sharp break from the Medieval era, and the birth of modern Europe. Reflections of enlightenment and modern thinking on the interpretation of European cultural fluorescence of the 15th and 16th centuries.
Later 20th century critique of earlier interpretations; and current approaches
Setting:
15th century Florence: urban commercial economy led by the new mercantile establishment; new culture of commerce and consumption, new social alignments. Rise to prominence of new merchant-banker elites, over traditional aristocracies. Transformation of medieval courtly ideals.
Parallel developments in other city states of Italy
Studia humanitatis
Revival of Greek and Roman antiquity, emphasis on humanism and civic virtues. Ancient Greece and Rome perceived as foundational; models for the present, and present ideologies, cultures, and values. New sense of history; validation of the present through the past.
Revival of antiquity also a frame and legitimization for new elite and new forms of courtly society.
New sense of self, and new modes of self-representation, new modes of negotiating one’s place in social hierarchies.
Revived or new cultural forms: collections of letters in Latin or vernaculars; geographical surveys, maps; the essay, the autobiography, the newsletter. In visual arts: ancient history and mythology alongside Biblical themes; portrait painting, single point perspective.
A relatively more secular outlook, and non-religious modes of expression and cultural production become more visible. New forms of artistic and cultural patronage, new forms of civility and manners.
Encounter with distant and less-distant geographies and peoples, part of Renaissance culture of discovery and expansion
Distinctions between medieval and Renaissance rediscovery of antiquity
Diffusion of new cultural trends to northern Europe and fringes of Europe (Hungary, Ottoman lands): Renaissance ideas re-shaped, re-interpreted, used in line with local cultural dynamics.
THE REFORMATION IN EUROPE; CHANGE IN SOCIETY AND CULTURE / ÇİĞDEM KAFESCİOĞLU
March 3, 2008
Impact of printing in cultural change in early modern Europe; ideas and cultural forms travel with unprecedented speed; rise in literacy levels. Popularization of the Bible in vernacular languages, alongside other religious texts.
Origins of reformist thought:
Late medieval origins of discontent with practices of the church and Papacy.
Impact of humanist thinkers from Northern Europe: Erasmus of Rotterdam, Thomas More
“St. Peters indulgence”, 1517
Martin Luther, “Ninety five theses”, 1517
“Protestant churches”, 1529
Anglican church, break with papacy in England, 1533
Primary figures of Protestant reformation: Martin Luther, Ulrich Zwingli, John Calvin
Rejection of catholic mass, “priesthood of all believers”
Radical reformers: majority artisans and peasants, often against church hierarchies; intensely persecuted
Catholic reformation: based on drive for internal reform, as a response to earlier discontent; also a reaction to reformist movements in Northern Europe.
Prominence of religious orders, particularly Jesuits, to propagate ideas of Catholic reformers
Council of Trent, 1545-1563
Wars of religion in Europe, intertwined with political and dynastic issues, 1520’s through 1648
Also: Suppression of others, preoccupation with witchcraft, expulsion of Jews and Muslims from Spain, establishment of Ghettos for Jewish communities
Protestant ideas linked to political and social programs, demands regarding civil rights
Diet of Augsburg, 1555. Each prince to determine religion of his territory and to establish local church: step towards formation and homogenization of territorial states.
Women and social change:
In protestant thought, women and men spiritually equal, while patriarchal rules and practices prevail.
Relatively greater visibility, economic and legal independence of women, in catholic and protestant domains, to different degrees across social classes.
Simultaneously, spread of Roman law unfavorable to women.
CULTURE AND SOCIETY IN THE EARLY MODERN MIDDLE EAST / ÇİĞDEM KAFESCİOĞLU
March 5, 2008
Late medieval foundations of cultural trends in the early modern Middle East. Persianate literary tradition in the eastern parts of the larger Islamic world; Arabic tradition in west. Greek heritage important to both.
Timurid fluorescence: Iranian court culture through the 14th and 15th centuries, court patronage of arts, literature, history
From later 15th century onwards: consolidation of the Ottoman, Mughal, and Safavid empires.
Population rise, increased pace of urbanization. Growth of commercial activity and trade networks lead to economic and cultural vivacity of cities.
Creation of imperial capital cities through major projects: Istanbul, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra, Isfahan
Courtly and urban ceremonial, patronage of arts, monumental architecture central to self-representation, legitimization and perpetuation of early modern polities in Middle East and elsewhere.
Formation of separate imperial and regional identities in the three realms, alongside parallels and connections.
Ottoman, Safavid, Mughal empires rule over multi-ethnic, multi-religious societies: encounters between diverse cultural and religious practices.
Former institutional and legal frameworks that developed in the middle east through the medieval era continued to shape social interaction and cultural production. Waqf (pious and charitable foundations) as an example. Patronage networks created and sustained through charitable foundations.
New cultural practices:
Coffeehouses: popularity of a new kind of social space, and reactions; new literary forms; rise of literacy levels (print culture limited to non-Muslim communities); geographic literature; revival of antiquity in Ottoman architecture.
