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The views of Renaissance or " the world when it was half a thousand years younger. 1 The Late Middle ages are viewed by the historian as period of decline and stagnation, but at the same time this period was also the birth of cultural and intellectual rebirth Renaissance. The Renaissance started in the twelfth century in the cities of northern Italy, where scholars and noblemen became more interested in the literature and ideas of ancient Greece and Rome. Accepting the new ideas people at the same time abandoned the medieval ideas and traditions. Along with strong religiousness people welcomed more terrestrial and open views.
The books The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy by Jacob Burckhardt and The Waning of the Middle Ages by Johan Huizinga describe the events of the Late Middle Ages and transformation of Renaissance. The task of this work is the comparison of these two books, the reveal of authors attitudes towards the subject and how they succeed in delivering their ideas to the readers. The modern research of the Renaissance traditionally starts with the book of Swiss historian Jacob Burckhardt The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy that was first published in 1860. The author chose for analysis the despotism state structure and shows the gradual development of state politics, morality and traditions. Burckhardt reveals all aspects of life from international politics to internal problems. The first chapter The State as a Work of Art is dedicated to the political and state development of the Italian states in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries.
In this chapter the author introduces his thesis and insists that the middle age was the period of stagnation of the civilization, while the fourteenth century 1 Huizinga, Johan, The waning of the Middle Ages; a study of the forms of life, thought, and art in France and the Netherlands in the Xivth and Xivth centuries. (New York: Garden City, 1927) 1 brought the Renaissance rebirth, which in great deal determined the values of the modern world. Jacob Burckhardt's thesis is greatly supported by his masterful writing, which makes the reader want to trust his conclusions. Burckhardt openly denies the chronological order of events and presents the historical events as the organic whole. He offers the readers a strong piece of historical research, which introduces the events of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance in easy novel manner. Such literary style helps to draw the reader into the middle of historical event and hold his attention by the end of the book.
The authors choice of literary style shows his desire of making the science of history interesting and easy even for people unfamiliar with the history of Italy. The author succeeds in masterfully application of the chosen style, but his attention slips several times and he mentions some historical events as already familiar to the reader without further explanation or even retelling of them. Many historians disagree with Jacob Burckhardt concerning the beginning of the Renaissance and most of them insist that it started at the twelfth century. To prove his thesis Burckhardt describes the difference of moral and political views in Italian society between twelfth and fourteenth century. This new life displays itself in a hundred forms, both in the republican and in the despotic States. (Burckhardt, p. 4) In twelfth century the Emperor Frederick II the first ruler of the modern type (Burckhardt, p. 4) was the first to instill the reign of terror on his state. Frederick and his son in law Ezzelino da Romano set the vicious example of regency through murders and bribes and the author said that their example was closely followed but not surpassed by their successions.
The despots of fourteenth century assigned taxes that supported their courts and troops. The despots could not rust anybody: he can trust no one and can read in the faces of his subjects the expectation of his fall. (Burckhardt, p. 7) The despotisms of the fifteenth century show an altered character. (Burckhardt, p. 12) Some petty despots disappear or enter the service of the larger despots in exchange for protection or additional land. Good and evil lie strangely mixed together in the Italian States of the fifteenth century. (Burckhardt, p. 7) The despots surrounded themselves by artists, poets and talented people. It made the despots think that this surrounding upraised them in the society not due to their birth or position, but through their broad outlook and education.
Inherit the legacy or start a dynasty. But after the unsuccessful attempt of Giacomo Piccinino to found a princely house the four great Powers, Naples, Milan, the Papacy, and Venice, formed among themselves a political equilibrium which refused to allow of any disturbance. The author offers numerous historical facts and stories from the reality of twelfth and fourteenth century which prove that the change really occurred. But here the author fails to strengthen his thesis by explaining the reasons of such changes and to describe the process of this transformation. The simple account of facts neither prove his theory not deny the words of another historians concerning the beginning of Renaissance. This is one of the most serious authors mistakes, which robs the book of it analytic value.
It is important to notice the authors unique view of the state as the work of art. Jacob Burckhardt is very creative and precise in this simile. The work of art is simultaneously static and dynamic in its nature. It is static as the finished piece of creation, and at the same time it is dynamic in relation to developing art and society. The same is with the state. It is static in its structuring and ordering sense, but it is dynamic in relation to developing society, morality and law.
This simile also calls to the author writing style. The novel literary style helps the author to make his book a work of art as well and relates to the authors thesis in broader sense: the art is the driving force of social development. In the following five chapters the author gives the review of all aspects of life in fourteenth century. The author states that In the Middle Ages both sides of human consciousness - that which was turned within as that which was turned without - lay dreaming or half awake beneath a common veil.
In Italy this veil first melted into air; an objective treatment and consideration of the State and of all the things of this world became possible. (Burckhardt, p. 42) man became a spiritual individual and recognized himself as such. In the same way the Greek had once distinguished himself from the barbarian, and the Arab had felt himself an individual at a time when other Asiatics knew themselves only as members of a race. (Burckhardt, p. 42) These words supplement Burckhardt's thesis that Renaissance occurred in the fourteenth century and the revival of classical values, joined with the unique Italian setting was responsible for the Renaissance. At the same time it shatters the whole thesis in thesis in the eyes of contemporary historians: if the author was wrong with determination of period when Renaissance started, then it follows that he misinterpreted the reason for it. Jacob Burckhardt in his book The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy represents an interesting and unique thesis, but his narration is weak in proving of the introduced thesis. Sometimes the author makes the statements which are not proved or supported by the analysis. But this work is very strong and abundant with narration of historical events.
It proves to be a thorough and large reference for historians and common readers. At some point the reader notices that the book was written over a century ago and the authors attitude, which is characteristic to the nineteenth century are being delivered to the reader. The taxes were collected by those cruel and vexatious methods without which, it is true, it is impossible to obtain any money from Orientals. (Burckhardt, p. 4) When the author tells about the equality of men and women, he says: There was no question of 'woman's rights' or female emancipation, simply because the thing itself was a matter of course. (Burckhardt, p. 239) And later in this chapter he adds: The ruling genius of society was not, as now, womanhood, or the respect for certain presuppositions, mysteries, and susceptibilities, but the consciousness of energy, of beauty, and of a social state full of danger and opportunity. (Burckhardt, p. 240) This phrase reveals that the authors contemporary world was influenced by the ideas of feminism, and Jacob Burckhardt, as the majority of his male contemporaries did not wholly approve of feminism or of its ideals. It is important to add that the author managed to turn the drawbacks of this book into merits.
In the introduction to this book the author said: To each eye, perhaps, the outlines of a given civilization present a different picture, is unavoidable that individual judgment and feeling should tell every moment both on the writer and on the reader. (Burckhardt, p. 5) This is the beginning and the summary of the whole book: every person or generation looks at the history through the prism of its education, achievements and discoveries. And everyone bring something new to the understanding of this book. This analysis serves as the proof of this statement; it confirms the authors definition of the state and shows that through the prism of history this book can also be viewed as the work of art: static in its perspective from the nineteenth century, but dynamic when analyzed by the contemporary reader. Another book of this discussion is Johan Huizinga's famous work The Waning of the Middle Ages was published in 1919. This work is distinguished for its perfect literary style and historical understanding of events in France and Low Countries of the 14 th and 15 th centuries. In this book Huizinga relates to Jacob Burckhardt's works and states that the Middle Ages were time of cultural stagnation and the fourteenth century brought the Renaissance rebirth.
But Huizinga goes further than Burckhardt. Instead of saying that Middle Ages were the threshold for Renaissance, he chose the world waning for the title of his book, which means the slow death. The title The Waning of the Middle Ages reveals the authors attitude towards the reality of that time. Johan Huizinga even states that artworks of Northern Europe in fifteenth century reflected the everyday troubles of people, and the artists used the domestic and social themes as compensation for lack of imagination. "Imagination, both literary and artistic, had been led into a blind alley by allegory. " (Huizinga, p. 303) and "more is required than the direct and accurate vision of reality. " (Huizinga, p. 301). According to Huizinga if art was not based on imagination but reflected the surrounding reality, it simply copied the already existing forms and did not give birth for some new ideas or forms.
The author saw only one outcome for such culture, and it was death, or waning. And the approach to religious motives made the art sterile. He questions the importance of festivals in the society. The art was a rare thing at that times and Huizinga wondered why so much time, passion, creativity and imagination was dedicated to such unworthy task: if enjoyment of music of art provided the exhale of feeling and imagination why those forces were not directed on creation sculptures and works of art. The author stresses that the life in the Middle Ages was surrounded by constant dangers and he looks for explanation for human survival of that times. He says that they carried their emotions on the surface and they required some actual or imaginary outlets.
Some people searched for improvement of their lives, some people chose forsaking the world for the religious life or escaping into their fantasies. Facing the cruel reality they tried to transform it into aesthetic vision of beauty and harmony. These desires resulted in originating of the following notions: the ideal of chivalry, the ideal of courtly love and the symbolism of everyday life. The ideal of chivalry was the imaginary opposition to the brutality of reality. The chivalry included such virtues as heroism asterism, a religious sanction and fidelity. From one hand it provided certain emotional refreshment, from the other hand it could disturb the perception of the reality, the mistake, which was widely used by rivals.
Along the centuries the chivalry was transformed into the code of manners and in such form it exists in the contemporary world. For several chapters the author gives tells about the deeds of noblemen, chivalry of knights, and the outpourings of theologians and poets. Then Huizinga introduces the Burgundies and the title of the book closely refers to the Burgundian court of Flanders, over-ripe and lingering on a drying vine. Huizinga points out that the sculpture and the tabernacle of Dijon where the relief is "complicated and overloaded. " (Huizinga, p. 238) The author openly favors Italian culture He heavily critiques Flemish art and culture. Form Huizinga's point of view the Renaissance was Italian achievement and here he repeats the Burckhardt's ideas. Much like Burckhardt, Huizinga addressed his book the reader who is already familiar with the history of Middle Ages in Europe.
Very often Huizinga mentions the fact without further explanation of it. Reading this book the reader will not learn more about the actual historical events and their consequences, but he will receive the in depth analysis of emotional and moral values in fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. He introduces many important explanation of action motivation, but he fails to see the art of All states except Italian as another means of escape from reality along with chivalry and another imaginary oppositions to the brutality of reality. This negation of Middle Ages Art value shows certain authors prejudices. According to Huizinga the Italians welcomed the rebirth of antiquity as some completely new form of art and thinking, Flemish saw antiquity through the medieval principles of scholastic theology and chivalry, asceticism and courtesy. The fifteenth century in France and the Netherlands remained medieval at heart and the Gothic principle prevailed in the arts.
But despite of these prejudices the author introduces to the reader the valuable research, which helps the reader to give his own evaluation of events. The books The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy and The Waning of the Middle Ages are two historical works that complement each other and allow the reader to learn about the historical events that led to Renaissance. They also help to understand the psychology of people who lived in such critical times and see their surrounding from the point of view of the contemporary person. Renaissance greatly influenced the world culture and politics and both authors agree that in considerable degree it influenced the world as we know it today Bibliography Burckhardt, Jacob.
The Civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. Penguin Books, 1990. Huizinga, Johan, The waning of the Middle Ages; a study of the forms of life, thought, and art in France and the Netherlands in the Xivth and Xivth centuries. New York: Garden City, 1927.
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