Renaissance
“Rebirth” of Greco-Roman Ideas, Art , and Architecture
Florence, Italy
A center of medieval European trade and finance and one of the wealthiest cities
of the time. Florence is considered the birthplace of the Renaissance.
Medici Family
“The Godfathers of the Renaissance”
Giovanni de'Medici (1360-1429) was born into a relatively poor Florentine family and
received only a nominal inheritance when his father died. He founded the Medici Bank
in 1397, which became the most successful bank in Florence by his death in 1429.
Classicism
Clarity in style, adhering to principles
of elegance and symmetry, and
created by attention and adherence to
traditional forms.
“Renaissance Man”
A person whose expertise spans a significant number of different
subject areas. (Leonardo da Vinci, for example)
Leonardo da Vinci
Michelangelo
Realism
Realism in the visual arts
and literature is the
general attempt to depict
subjects as they exist in
objective reality, without
embellishment or
interpretation and "in
accordance with secular,
empirical rules.
Perspective
‘The School of Athens’ by Raphael (1518), a fine example of architectural perspective
with a central vanishing point.
Humanism
Beginning in the late 1300s, a group of scholars centered in the Italian city-state of Florence
began to look to the past for inspiration. These scholars were later called humanists because
they stressed human innovation instead of spiritualism. The humanists studied the classics –
the works of the ancient Greeks and Romans. In the works of the classics, Renaissance
scholars found a way of thinking similar to their own time. They believed this outlook had
not been explored since the fall of Greece and Rome.
Machiavelli
Petrarch
Dante Alighieri
The Divine Comedy is an epic poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and his
death in 1321. The poem describes Dante's travels through Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven;
but at a deeper level, it represents allegorically the soul's journey towards God.
Erasmus
“Prince of Humanists”
Erasmus lived against the backdrop of the
growing European religious Reformation;
but while he was critical of the abuses
within the Church and called for reform,
he kept his distance from Luther and
continued to recognize the authority of the
pope. Erasmus emphasized a middle way,
with a deep respect for traditional faith,
piety and grace, and rejected Luther's
emphasis on faith alone.
William Shakespeare
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was the 16th-century schism within Western Christianity
initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants, who objected to
("protested") the doctrines, rituals, and structure of the Roman Catholic Church.
This led to the creation of Protestant churches.
Indulgences
By making a contributing money
to the church, a sinner would
receive a partial indulgence not to
commit further sins, while at the
same time, diminishing the time
period that he was to suffer in
purgatory for remission of his sins.
Martin Luther
Lutheranism
Ninety-Five Theses
The Ninety-Five Theses on the Power and Efficacy of Indulgences was
written by Martin Luther in 1517 and is widely regarded as the initial
catalyst for the Protestant Reformation. The act was a protest against
clerical abuses, especially the sale of indulgences to limit time in purgatory.
Justification by Faith
In Protestantism, righteousness from God is credited to the sinner's account
through faith alone, without works.
John Calvin
A Christian theologian and pastor,
John Calvin regularly preached
sermons in Geneva, Switzerland.
He preached the doctrine of
predestination and the absolute
sovereignty of God. Calvin's
writing and preachings provided
the seeds for the branch of
theology that bears his name,
Calvinism. The Reformed and
Presbyterian churches have spread
the theology of Calvinism
throughout the world.
Calvinism
Predestination
Predestination is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God. John Calvin
interpreted biblical predestination to mean that God willed eternal damnation for some
people and salvation for others.
Henry VIII
King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death, Henry was the second monarch of the House
of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII. Besides his six marriages, Henry VIII is known for his
role in the separation of the Church of England from the Roman Catholic Church.
Anglicanism
One of the major branches of the 16th-century Protestant Reformation and a form of
Christianity that includes features of both Protestantism and Roman Catholicism. It
represents the offspring of the Church of England established by King Henry VIII, and
recognizes the archbishop of Canterbury as its leader.
Counter Reformation
Its aim was to reclaim the superiority of the Roman Catholic Church during the
Protestant Reformation.
Council of Trent
After 20-years of debate, the
Council of Trent established
the basis for Catholic Counter
Reformation. Decrees were
issued covering every aspect
of Church authority, from the
chastity of priests to reform of
the monasteries.
Jesuits
Ignatius Loyola was charged with forming the Jesuits, a band of militant missionaries
whose task was to reconvert the converted.
Johann Gutenberg
Prince Henry the
Navigator
Portuguese Naval Academy – Development of the caravel, lateen sail, and
navigational maps
Ferdinand Magellan
Magellan’s expedition completed the first
circumnavigation of the Earth, although Magellan
himself did not complete the entire voyage, being
killed during the Battle of Mactan in the
Philippines.
Dutch East India Co.
Trading company founded by the Dutch in 1602 to protect their trade in the Indian Ocean
and to assist in their war of independence from Spain. The company prospered through
most of the 17th century as the instrument of the powerful Dutch commercial empire in
the East Indies.
Columbian Exchange
The Columbian Exchange, also known as the Grand Exchange, was the exchange of animals,
plants, culture, human populations (including slaves), disease, and ideas between the Americas
and Afro-Eurasia following the voyage to the Americas by Christopher Columbus in 1492.
Coercive Labor
During the period of 1450 to 1750, the
introduction of slavery and improvements in
agriculture in the Americas brought a strict form of
rule over the indigenous people and black slaves.
This form of ruling was known as coercive labor,
however, the diversity of cultures in the Caribbean,
Latin America, and the English colonies brought
changes in the form in which it was used, which
included the rights of slaves and indigenous
people, commodities produced, and freedoms
granted by their masters.
New France
Gold, Glory, God
The Spanish that explored and conquered parts of the New World had
three basic ideas that motivated them--Gold, Glory, and God.
Thirty Years War
The Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) was a
series of wars principally fought in Central
Europe, involving most of the countries of
Europe. No single cause can accurately be
described as the main reason for the
fighting. Initially, it was fought largely as a
religious war between Protestants and
Catholics in the Holy Roman Empire;
however, gradually, it developed into a
more general conflict involving most of
the great powers of the time. In this
general phase the war became less
specifically religious and more a
continuation of the rivalry for European
political power, leading in turn to further
warfare between France and the
Hapsburghs.
English Civil War
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of armed conflicts between
Parliamentarians (Roundheads) and Royalists (Cavaliers). The English Civil War led to the
trial and execution of Charles I, the exile of his son, Charles II, and replacement of English
monarchy with, first, the Commonwealth of England (1649–53), and then with a
Protectorate (1653–59), under Oliver Cromwell's personal rule.
Edict of Nantes
The Edict of Nantes, issued on 13 April 1598, by Henry IV of France, granted the
Calvinist Protestants of France (also known as Huguenots) substantial rights in a
nation still considered essentially Catholic. In the Edict, Henry aimed primarily
to promote civil unity.
Copernicus
Heliocentrism –
the Sun is the center of the Solar System.
Mercantilism
Wealth is Power – Power is Wealth
Mercantilism is the economic doctrine that government control of foreign trade is of
paramount importance for ensuring the military security of the country. In particular, it
demands a positive balance of trade. It required building a network of overseas colonies,
forbidding colonies to trade with other nations and the monopolizing markets.
Absolute Monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form
of government in which the monarch
exercises ultimate governing authority as
head of state and head of government; his
or her powers are not limited by a
constitution or by the law. An absolute
monarch wields unrestricted political
power over the sovereign state and its
people. Absolute monarchies are often
hereditary. King Louis XIV of France is
considered to be the epitome of an
absolute monarch.
Sir Isaac Newton
An English natural philosopher, generally regarded as the most original and influential
theorist in the history of science. In addition to his invention of the infinitesimal calculus
and a new theory of light and color, Newton transformed the structure of physical science
with his three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation.
Caravel
A caravel is a small, highly
maneuverable sailing ship
developed in the 15th century by
the Portuguese to explore along
the West African coast and into
the Atlantic Ocean. Caravels were
much used by the Portuguese for
the oceanic exploration voyages
during the 15th and 16th
centuries in the age of discovery.
Lateen Sail
The lateen (triangular) sails gave a Portuguese caravel speed and the capacity for sailing
windward. (upwind)
Mestizos
A person of mixed racial ancestry, especially of mixed European and Native American
ancestry.
Hernán Cortés
Hernán Cortés was a Spanish explorer
who is famous for his march across
Mexico and his conquering of the
Aztec Empire in Mexico. The Aztec
Empire was ruled by Montezuma II.
Cortés arrived in Mexico in March
1519 with a group of about 600 men
and a few horses. He made his way
inland to the Aztec capital city,
Tenochtitlán. Along the way, he made
friends with a native group called the
Tlaxcalans, who were enemies of the
Aztecs. The Tlaxcalans helped Cortés
against the Aztecs.
Francisco Pizarro
On November 16, 1532, Francisco Pizarro, the Spanish explorer and conquistador, springs
a trap on the Incan emperor, Atahualpa. With fewer than 200 men against several
thousand, Pizarro lures Atahualpa to a feast in the emperor's honor and then opens fire
on the unarmed Incans. Pizarro's men massacre the Incans and capture Atahualpa,
forcing him to convert to Christianity before eventually killing him.
Vasco de Gama
James Cook
Middle Passage
The Middle Passage was the stage of the
triangular trade in which millions of
people from Africa were shipped to the
New World, as part of the Atlantic slave
trade.
Brunelleschi
One of the foremost architects and
engineers of the Italian Renaissance. He is
perhaps most famous for his discovery of
perspective and for engineering the dome
of the Florence Cathedral, but his
accomplishments also include other
architectural works, sculpture,
mathematics, engineering and even ship
design.
Northern
Renaissance
Vernacular
A vernacular is the native language or
native dialect of a specific population.
Martin Luther translated the Bible into the
German vernacular, which was the first
non-Latin version of The Bible.
The Inquisition
The Inquisition was a Roman Catholic tribunal for discovery and punishment of religious
heresy, which was marked by the severity of questioning, torture, punishment and lack of
rights afforded to the accused.