Renaissance+(c.+1450-1600)+SOCIAL

 Music was becoming more popular during this time. Much of this was due to the invention of the printing press, which could circulate copies of music. The number of composers also began to increase. The Renaissance had the ideal of the “universal man” and believed that every educated person was to be trained in music. Musicians still worked in the churches, courts, and towns. The size of church choirs grew. But unlike the Middle Ages where just a few soloists performed in the church, an entire male choir would now sing. Music was still important in the church, although it has shifted more to the courts. The kings, princes, and dukes were all fine composers. One court alone might have had ten to sixty composers consisting of vocalists and instrumentalists. There was a music director for each court that would compose and direct the court’s performers. The town musicians would perform for civic processions, weddings, and religious services. Musicians now had a higher status in society with better pay, and they wanted to be known and sought credit for their work.

Social Classes

During the Renaissance the social order of Europe was changing. There were still monarchies, but the noble class saw a decline in their standing as new technology such as the longbow and gunpowder challenged their military standing. The peasant class benefitted from change too, as they now had the ability to raise their standing slightly by buying and owning their own land. The class that showed the most improvement, however, was the middle class. They were a merchant class, and they had most of the money in the country pass through their hands. They also started taking a large role in government, which benefited the king by making it possible to create stronger nation-states

Fashion

Fashion in the renaissance played a larger role than before. Francis I kept the renaissance fashion from changing, but renaissance fashion changed under Catherine de’ Medici when she introduced ruffs. The last of the changes happened at the beginning of the 17th century.

Women wore dresses that were tight at the waist, and open in the front. Women’s dresses covered the feet and had puffy sleeves. Women wore their hair up in curls, and usually had accessories, such as jewels, in their hair. Women’s fashion focused on fullness. 

Men’s fashion was usually very tight. Men wore a cloak that went down to the hips, and a cap on their head. Much like a puffy sleeve, men had puffs on their waists.



Humanism

The term humanism disused to the described the social philosophy that man was to control all aspects of his life instead of a supernatural being. This new aesthetic way of thought was rediscovered in the renaissance by men such as Francesco Petrarch, and created a class that was not entirely ruled by the Catholic Church, unlike the general populous. The dominating element in the finest classical culture was atheistic rather than supernatural or scientific. Human experience, man himself, tended to become the practical measure of all things. It did no completely remove this class from the church, but rather allowed both the Church and philosophers such as Aristotle to influence them. The human experience, this new form of expression of what life was, led to a more leisurely life and different outlook on life as a whole.

