HIST 531A Renaissance Papacy
Renaissance Papacy (1327-1527): From the beginnings of the Renaissance in the Avignon of Petrarch and John XXII to the Sack of Rome under the Medici pope Clement VII, the papacy has fostered the revival of classical learning by its patronage of writers and artists. It employed them as secretaries and advisors, and hired the leading architects, sculptors, and painter of the day to change Rome from a backward medieval town into the cultural capital of Western Christendom. Especially noteworthy for their patronage were popes Nicholas V, Pius II, Julius II, and Leo X. The course will study how the popes fostered Renaissance culture while facing the various challenges: conciliarism and an assertive college of cardinals, gaining control of and protecting the Papal States, dealing with the rising national monarchies, stemming the advancing Turks, fostering the missionary expansion of Christendom, reforming the Church, and confronting the outbreak of the Protestant Reformation.