Wine and the Renaissance
What was the Renaissance? Literally, a rebirth--re- naissance, So a rebirth of what, exactly?When we look back on the Renaissance, it was an explosion of art, philosophy and so much more.
But rally understand the Renaissance, we have to start in the Middle Ages. Remember them? So after the fall of Rome, let's pick up the story again.
It most of Europe, the Goths, Vandals, and Huns had overrun the continent, and established themselves in various places with a tribal system of allegiance---think Game of Thrones--tha create the feudal system. The nobles were responsible for fighting wars. and that's what they did. The church was responsible for spiritual life, both in the churches in and many monasteries and convents. It's what nobles did who weren't knights, and it ended up being very profitable, too.
And everybody else worked: farmed, blacksmithed, made shoes, etc. 90% of the people were in this latter category, and they had no hope for any change in the future. You were was your forefathers were. Period.
During the Middle Ages, as few things happened that set the stage for the Renaissance. First of all, the Eastern Roman Empire never fell. Constantinople continued as the richest and most powerful city in Europe, and it oversaw a large empire in the Eastern Mediterranean. So when we talk about the Roman Empire, we need to make sure which one we're talking about. The Eastern Orthodox churches of Greece, Russian, Armenia, etc, of today are all remnants of the Eastern Roman Empire.
Second of all, Islam had spread across the world, from Northern Spain to Indonesia, opening a world of trade and commerce between East and West. This set up Venice and Genoa as the shipping companies between the East and Europe. That made both cities fabulously wealthy. As it did the Arabs in the Middle East, who delivered the goods to the coast for sale. It was big business.
And remember that the Arabs were also great Scholars. They are the ones who had saved the manuscripts of the ancient Greeks and studied them. It was this scholarship that allowed the Renaissance to happen. It was assisted by scholars in Constantinople who not only translated these works, but also traveled to Italy to teach the Italians Greek, so that they could study the texts in the original language.
And you had the Crusades, which opened western eyes to the civilization, scholarship, culture and riches of the Arab world. And created a demand for silk, spices, and the treasures of the East.
To cap it all off, that trade across Asia eventually brought the Black Death. Oops. It killed between 30 and 70 percent of all Europeans. It decimated the social structures--nobles died without children. Priests died and left communities without people who could bury the dead. Shoemakers, millers, blacksmiths and everybody else died. And that meant the new people had to step in, and step up. Altar boys suddenly found themselves as priests, only because they knew some of the rituals. Social mobility became an option. Farmers refused to farm for the nobles. And the nobles couldn't do much about it. And since many farmers died as well, there was a lot more arable land than they could farm. So if you wanted, you could just take on more farmland.
So there was the raw material for a revolution.
Meanwhile, people noted that the highly respected men of the church died just as much as everyone else. There was a sense that maybe the Church wasn't the answer to every question. But if it wasn't, what was?
Enter the ancient Greek philosophers. And by studying Plato, Aristotle and Pythagoras, the well-educated people of Europe began a new kind of learning, based on observation and even experiment, instead of blind obedience to earlier doctrine. That was big. And it led to this explosion of learning, art, and social discourse. It literally changed the world.
So what was reborn? Just about everything.
Art, which has become quite stylized and symbolic suddenly burst to life. And it gave us Botticelli, Rafael, Michelangelo, Ghiberti, Donatello, Caravaggio, Bosch and van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Giotto, Titian, and more. That's quite a list. Their use of perspective and a new sense of realism revolutionized art. In science the world was changed by the idea of observation as opposed to dogma. "I study the world using my five senses, and call the result; Science." That kind of thinking gave us Copernicus--who suggested that the Earth might not be the center of the Universe. And Galilleo, who offered further proof. Kepler--who provided that quote above, and developed the orbits of the planets. Sir Francis Bacon and Leonardo da Vinci,, Again, a pretty amazing list, all focus on rational thought as a way of learning about the world.
In music, the sacred chants of the church suddenly found themselves getting reworked with new ideas of harmony and polyphony--concepts still in vogue today--and new musical instruments to play them. Composers included Byrd, Dowland, Montiverdi, Gabrielle, and yes, Leonardo da Vinci . That man did everything.
In philosophy, the world opened up. Instead of following the teachings of the church, the philosophers began to ask the really big questions, and struggle with the everyday questions of morality vs. expedience. So Machiavelli penned The Prince, and universities competed to bring the ideas of Erasmus, Copernicus , and Thomas Moore. The philosophy of pragmatism gave morality a run for its money.
In Architecture, the movement was back to the classical proportions of ancient Greece, rather than the massive walls and dark spaces of Medieval buildings. Among those who excelled in this style were Palladio--who inspired Thomas Jefferson's own home, Monticello, as well as Brunelleschi, Rafael, and Michelangelo. And Leonardo da Vinci. We should just add him to every list.
In literature, there was yet another explosion of creativity and genius. Shakespeare, for example. But he wasn't alone. And Cervantes, and Milton and Donne and Dante and ...lots and lots of great writers.
And the church? Well, it took a little longer, but eventually a small town preacher in Germany suggested that maybe the church was not as good as it could be. That instead of holding all religious power within its walls, the real religion was the word of the Bible itself, and the each man was responsible for developing a knowledge of that Bible and a personal relationship with God separate from the Church. Damn. (sorry!). That was Martin Luther, and the end result was the birth of Protestant religion. Another massive change that meant that the Catholic Church in Rome was no longer the sole authority on things religious.
In terms of history, there was lots going on.
In Italy, the epicenter of the Renaissance, Italian city states grew out of feudalism, but instead of villas and castles, we are now talking about bankers. The Medicis of Florence were bankers (despite the fact that their name means "Doctors<" and were neither noble nor land-owners. By they ruled the city. The collected vast sums of money and spent it n the glories of art, architecture, poetry, and philosophy. And they openly defied the Pope. The Di Medicis sponsored Da Vinci, Michaelangelo, Botticelli, and more. Galileo was tutor to their children…and discovered the moons of Jupiter and the phases of Venus. One of their daughters, Catherine di Medici became Queen of France…and she brought Italian chefs and artists to teach the French how to live---among the, Leonardo da Vinci, which is why the Mona Lisa is in Paris, not Milan or Florence or Rome. She also may have brought forks to France...
The city states of Italy were based on commerce and pragmatism…and at some point we should have a big discussion about whether pragmatism or idealism is best!
And what did those towns look like? They were often dominated by private, not public architecture. The towers of Italian city states were intended to demonstrate power, as well as keep an eye on the competition. In San Gimignano there are so many it is called the town of a thousand towers. Verona still has extensive examples as well.
Today we still see remnants of those times, not just in the arts, but even in the civic celebrations. The famous Palio in Siena, and its lesser known cousin in Asti began as celebrations in the Renaissance.
Portugal and England continued their mutually beneficial trade of wool and wine for textiles. And England and France were wrapped up in the 100 years war to determine who owned the Western half of France. (France won.) Later on, Spain continued the "re=conquest" with an attempt to invade England--the Spanish Armada. And Spain, England, Portugal, and even Holland set forth voyages to build trade with Asia...and cut the Venetians and Arabs out of the equation. Spain somehow found itself in control of two new continents....the Americas.
In terms of wine, the Little Ice Age lasted from 1300-1600 more or less, and that meant colder temperatures. Beer was easier to make, and became more popular in many parts of Europe. A law passed in 1350 in France required inns to sell wine to anyone who requested-- a blow for wine lovers everywhere, or at least in France.
By 395: Phillip the Bold regulated wine production in Burgundy, and eliminated the use of Gamay in that region. He called the grape a "bastard" and left it relegated to Beaujolais. And the English Navigation Act regulated shipping laws, which increased trade with Bordeaux—and that led to a growth in the sales of Claret n England. Of course, grapevines were brought to the Americas, where the church used them to make wine for the sacrament.
So what is meant by the term "a Renaissance man?"
Because the Renaissance led to a re-birth of culture and academic thought in Europe. Curiosity and a desire for culture led the wealthy to seek education and collect art and culture. A Renaissance Man is someone who loves to explore the world of philosophy, science, and culture--an generalist, not a specialist.
Why?
I'd like to make note of Alfonso el Sabio Alfonso the XII, the Wise) of Spain. He was both a king and a scholar, and he realized that the Arabs in the Southern part of Spain were still reading the classics of Greece and Rome--books that he did not have and could not get. He paid the top Jewish scholars in Spain (whose knowledge of Hebrew and Arabic allowed them to rad these texts) to translate them into Latin so that Europe could learn again. Nice work. Too bad we can't get that kind of cooperation every day.
And how has food changed since the Renaissance? This led to the age of discovery—the Americas give us: corn, tomatoes, chiles, chocolate, eggplant, papaya, pineapple, potato, vanilla and the peanut! How would we have:
Eggplant parmeggiano
Thai Chicken Satay
Polenta
German Chocolate Cake
Salsa putanesca
Gaucamole
Thai Som Tam
Goulash
Lamb Vindaloo
Kung Pao Chicken
Kitchen forks trace their origins back to the time of the Greeks. These forks were fairly large with two tines that aided in the carving and serving of meat. The tines prevented meat from twisting or moving during carving and allowed food to slide off more easily than it would with a knife.
By the 7th Century A.D., royal
courts of the Middle East began to use forks at the table for dining. From the 10th through the 13th Centuries, forks were fairly common among the wealthy in Byzantium, and in the 11th Century, a Byzantine wife of a Doge of Venice brought forks to Italy. The Italians, however, were slow to adopt their use. It was not until the 16th Century that forks were widely adopted in Italy.
In 1533, forks were brought from Italy to France when Catherine de Medicis married the future King Henry II. The French, too, were slow to accept forks, because using them was thought to be an affectation.
An Englishman named Thomas Coryate brought the first forks back toiEngland after seeing them in Italy during his travels in 1608.
The English ridiculed forks as being effeminate and unnecessary. "Why should a person need a fork when God had given him hands?" they asked. Slowly, however, forks came to be adopted by the wealthy. They were prized possessions made of expensive materials intended to impress guests. Small, slender-handled forks with two tines were generally used for sweet, sticky foods or for food (like mulberries) which was likely to stain the fingers. By the mid 1600s, eating with forks like those to the right was considered fashionable among the wealthy British. Forks used solely for dining were luxuries and thus markers of social status and sophistication among nobles.
Wine? Still in barrels. Still oxidized. Younger is still better than older.
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