Honor

The concept of honor played a key role in the societies of southern Europe during the Renaissance. Communities used the idea of honor to regulate behavior, social tensions, and conflict. The concept served to maintain social structures and to join different groups of people into a common culture that encouraged decency and respect.

A person might gain honor by being born into the right family or by achieving wealth, power, or fame. However, those who possessed honor had to behave in certain ways in order to maintain it. Codes of honor varied based on social position, power, and gender. The code of honor for nobles during the Renaissance drew largely on the code of medieval* knighthood, which stressed military ability, courtesy, and Christian virtue. Nobles of the 1400s and 1500s added manners and knowledge of the arts and humanities to this list. While noblemen continued to protect their honor through duels and war, they could also increase their glory through artistic patronage* and higher learning.

The concept of honor applied differently to women and men during the Renaissance. A woman's honor depended mostly on her sexual purity. Honorable women were good Christians, modest, and reserved. Women took care to protect their honor, as losing it could affect their chances for marriage in a society ruled by men.

(See also Chivalry; Duel; Women.)

* medieval

referring to the Middle Ages, a period that began around A.D. 400 and ended around 1400 in Italy and 1500 in the rest of Europe

* patronage

support or financial sponsorship