Deck 2: Europe in the Age of the Renaissance

Question 1

In searching for models, Renaissance thinkers looked to Ancient ________ for inspiration.

A) Mesopotamia
B) Rome
C) Greece
D) France
E) China

Answer 1

B

Question 2

________ is considered the first humanist.

A) Petrarch
B) Machiavelli
C) Virgil
D) Burckhardt
E) Michelangelo

Answer 2

A

Question 3

One of the key developments in Renaissance art was the development of ________, which enabled artists to create the illusion of three-dimensional space.

A) landscape
B) naturalism
C) portraiture
D) perspective
E) balance

Answer 3

D

Question 4

According to art historians, ________, ________, and ________ represent the pinnacle of Renaissance art.

A) Donatello, Leonardo, Brunelleschi
B) Botticelli, Lippi, Raphael
C) Leonardo, Raphael, Michelangelo
D) Brunelleschi, Masaccio, Vasari
E) Michelangelo, Medici, Botticelli

Question 5

________ transformed the Italian political universe in 1494.

A) The French invasion
B) Cosimo de Medici establishing control in Florence
C) Rodrigo Borgia becoming Pope Alexander VI
D) The end of the Great Schism
E) The death of Alfonso the Magnanimous

Question 6

The Holy Roman Empire was a loose conglomeration of roughly 150 imperial cities, several hundred princes, and several thousand imperial knights. ________ held this loose conglomeration together.

A) A strong sense of national identity
B) A centralized power structure and a strong army
C) Opposition to French and Spanish expansion
D) The Emperor and occasional meetings of the Diet
E) Self-interest of the ruling elites

Question 7

Machiavelli's use of ________ demonstrated a shift in audience and the urgency of his message.

A) Latin
B) Greek
C) French
D) Arabic
E) Italian

Question 8

Pope ________ is responsible for firmly establishing papal control of the Papal States.

A) Alexander VI
B) Julius II
C) Martin V
D) Cesare Borgia
E) Nicholas V

Question 9

The 1454 Peace of Lodi created 40 years of relative peace in the Italian Peninsula. ________ was not one of the elements of the Peace of Lodi.

A) The establishment of a permanent condotierri army
B) Recognition of the power of Cosimo de Medici in Florence
C) Guarantee of Venice's mainland possessions
D) Recognition of the power of Francesco Sforza in Milan
E) Binding states together to defend Italy against foreign attack

Question 10

Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain were given the title of the "Most Catholic Monarchs" following the 1492 conquest of ________.

A) Mexico
B) Aragon
C) Portugal
D) Granada
E) Cuba

Question 11

Henry VII was able to claim the English crown following the Wars of the Roses because he had the strongest genealogical claim to the throne.

Question 12

The Renaissance originated in the Italian city-states during the fourteenth century.

Question 13

In seeking to better represent the human form, Renaissance artists such as Leonardo da Vinci worked from human models and dissected cadavers to gain a better understanding of human anatomy.

Question 14

Politics during the Italian Renaissance was a relatively peaceful pursuit.

Question 15

By the fifteenth century, the majority of Italian city-states had become truly republican regimes.

Question 16

Venice's political system worked in large part because Venetians shared a common interest and depended on the city's trade for their livelihood.

Question 17

In maintaining power in Florence, the Medici family relied on their strongest supporter, Girolamo Savonarola.

Question 18

French nobles were able to maintain a united front against the centralizing tendencies of Charles VII and Louis XI.

Question 19

By the end of the fifteenth century, the Holy Roman Empire was the most centralized monarchy in all of Europe.

Question 20

In the wars following the French invasion in 1494, European rulers believed that control of Italy was the key to establishing their power.

Question 21

The portrayal of Machiavelli as an amoral apologist for tyrants is due to the tendency to read The Prince in isolation rather than in conjunction with Machiavelli's other work, Discourses on the First Ten Books of Titus Livius.

Question 22

The urban republics that gave birth to humanism offered significantly expanded opportunities for women.

Question 23

Humanistic education was designed to prepare individuals for their work in the "real world."

Question 24

Naples was the centre of the Italian Renaissance.

Question 25

The 1469 marriage of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile was an important element in the unification of Spain.

Question 26

The examples of Isotta Nogarola (1418-66) and Laura Cereta (1469-99) show that humanism was for both men and women.

Question 27

The "Big Five" (Milan, Venice, Florence, Rome and the Papal States, and the Kingdom of Naples) dominated Italian politics and diplomacy during the Italian Renaissance.

Question 28

Dynastic relations played a minimal role in European politics and diplomacy.

Question 29

In offering free passage across his territory to Charles VIII, Lodovico Sforza unwittingly set the wheels in motion for the French invasion of Italy in 1494.

Question 30

Rodrigo Borgia, who became Pope Alexander VI (r. 1492-1503), was renowned for his morality and opposition to corruption.

Question 31

What was humanism?

Question 32

What was Neoplatonism and how did it differ from humanism?

Question 33

What were the key developments in Renaissance art?

Question 34

How did Cosimo de Medici establish and maintain power in Renaissance Florence?

Question 35

How did the Renaissance popes establish control over Rome and the Papal States?

Question 36

How did Venice become the leading naval and commercial power in the Mediterranean?

Question 37

What obstacles did feudal monarchs have to overcome in their attempts to centralize power?

Question 38

How did the French kings consolidate their power in the fifteenth century?

Question 39

In consolidating his power on the English throne, Henry VII sought to limit the power of the nobility. How did he do so?

Question 40

How did the Habsburg dynasty come to rule so much of Europe?

Question 41

What was the Spanish Inquisition?

Question 42

In contrast to the kingdoms of France, England, and Spain, the Holy Roman Empire did not develop a centralized monarchy. What factors contributed to this decentralized power in the Holy Roman Empire?

Question 43

Who was Girolamo Savonarola?

Question 44

In Machiavelli's viewpoint, what were the characteristics of the ideal ruler?

Question 45

According to Renaissance authors, successful men and rulers had virtú. What was virtú?

Question 46

In The Book of the Courtier, Baldessare Castiglione (1478-1529) sets out the characteristics of the ideal courtier. According to Castiglione, what was the ideal courtier?

Question 47

What were women's roles during the Renaissance?

Question 48

How does Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus represent the distinct features of Renaissance art?

Question 49

What caused the French Invasion of 1494?

Question 50

How did feudal monarchs associated with the "New Monarchy" centralize their power?

Question 51

Does the Renaissance mark a break from the Middle Ages and the birth of modern Europe?

Question 52

Was Renaissance Italy the birthplace of the modern state? Explain your answer.

Question 53

How did the Renaissance lead to a changing understanding of the individual?

Question 54

Achievements in painting, sculpture, and architecture define the Renaissance as a movement. How did art develop in Renaissance Italy?

Question 55

Using the writings of Petrarch and Machiavelli, compare and contrast the late Renaissance and the early Renaissance.

Question 56

How were the Renaissance writers a product of the context in which they wrote?

Question 57

What role did dynastic relations play in European politics and diplomacy?

Question 58

How were humanist values reflected in the intellectual, artistic, and political worlds of Renaissance Italy?

Question 59

How did the French Invasion of 1494 affect Europe?