Name: _________________________________________________
Date: _______________________
“Had I not torn myself from Rome, I could never have resolved to leave,” wrote Dutch priest
Desiderius Erasmus. “There one enjoys sweet liberty, rich libraries, the charming friendship of
writers and scholars, and the sight of antique monuments.” Inspired by his visit to Italy, Erasmus
helped spread the Renaissance to northern Europe.
Unlike Italy, northern Europe recovered slowly from the ravages of the Black Death. Only
after 1450 did the north enjoy the economic growth that had earlier supported the Renaissance in
Italy.
ARTISTS OF THE NORTHERN RENAISSANCE
The northern Renaissance began in the prosperous cities of Flanders, a region that included parts
of present-day northern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Spain, France, Germany, and
England enjoyed their great cultural rebirth 100 years later, in the 1500s.
A “GERMAN LEONARDO” Albrecht Durer traveled to Italy in 1494 to study the techniques
of the Italian masters. Returning home, he employed these methods in paintings and, especially in
engraving. In this form of art, an artists etches a design on a metal plate with acid. The artist then
uses the plate to make prints. Many of Durer’s engravings portray the religious upheaval of his
age.
Through his art as well as through essays, Durer helped to spread Italian Renaissance ideas
in his homeland. Because of his wide-ranging interests, which extended far beyond art, he is
sometimes called the “German Leonardo”.
DURER, THE “GERMAN
LEONARDO”
Albrecht Drurer, shown in a
self-portrait (far left), helped
bring the genius of the Italian
Renaissance to northern
Europe. Many of his finest
works were engravings, such
as the portrait of the peasant
couple dancing (left).
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Name: _________________________________________________
Date: _______________________
FLEMISH PAINTERS Among the many artists of Flanders in the 1400s, Han and Hubert van
Eyck (VAN IK) stand out. Their portrayals of townspeople as well as religious scenes abound in
rich, realistic details. The van Eycks also developed oil paint. Northern artists used this new
medium to produce strong colors and a hard surface that could survive the centuries.
In the 1500s, Pieter Bruegel (PEE TUHR BROY GUHL) used vibrant colors to portray lively
scenes of peasant life. Bruegel’s work influenced later Flemish artists, who painted scenes of daily
life rather than religious or classical themes.
In the 1600s, Peter Paul Rubens blended the realistic tradition of Flemish painters like
Bruegel with the classical themes and artistic freedom of the Italian Renaissance. Many of his
enormous paintings portray pagan figures from the classical past.
NORTHERN HUMANISTS
Like Italian humanists, northern European humanist scholars stressed education and classical
learning. At the same time, they emphasized religious themes. They believed that the revival of
ancient learning should be used to bring about religious and moral reform.
ERASMUS The great Dutch priest and humanist Desiderius Erasmus used his knowledge of
classical languages to produce a new Greek edition of the New Testament. He also called for a
translation of the Bible into the vernacular, or everyday language of ordinary people. He scorned
“those who are unwilling that Holy Scripture, translated into the vernacular, be read by the
uneducated…as if the strength of the Christian religion consisted in the ignorance of it.”
To Erasmus, an individual’s chief duties were to be open-minded and of good will toward
others. As a priest, he was disturbed by corruption in the Church and called for reform. In The
Praise of Folly, Erasmus uses humor to expose the ignorant and immoral behavior of many people
of his day, including the clergy.
MORE Erasmus’ friend, the English humanist Thomas More, also pressed for social reform. In
Utopia, More describes an ideal society in which men and women live in peace and harmony. No
one is idle, all are educated, and justice is used to end crime rather than to eliminate the criminal.
Today, the word utopian has come to describe any ideal society.
WRITERS FOR A NEW AUDIENCE
Scholars like More and Erasmus wrote mostly in Latin. In northern towns and cities, the growing
middle class demanded new works in the vernacular. This audience particularly enjoyed dramatic
tales and earthly comedies.
RABELAIS The French humanist Francois Rabelais had a varied career as a monk, physician,
Greek scholar, and author. In Gargantia and Pantagruel, he chronicles the adventures of two
gentle giants. On the surface, the novel is a comic tale of travel and war. But Rabelais uses his
characters to offer opinions on religion, education, and other serious subjects.
SHAKESPEARE The towering figure of Renaissance literature was the English poet and
playwright William Shakespeare. Between 1590 and 1613, he wrote 37 plays that are still
performed around the world.
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Name: _________________________________________________
Date: _______________________
“He was not of an age, but for all time,” said on of
Shakespeare’s contemporaries of him. A later poet said, “He
was the man who of all modern, and perhaps ancient poets,
had the largest and most comprehensive soul.” Today, no
plays are performed more frequently around the world than
those of William Shakespeare.
In A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a love potion
causes confusion among two young couples and
makes Titania, the queen of the fairies, fall in
love with a man who has the head of a donkey.
One character comments:
“What fools these mortals be”
“Alas, poor Yorick! I knew him,
Horatio. A fellow of infinite jest.”
Prince Hamlet mourns his
father’s deceased court jester.
“All the world’s a stage. / And all the men and
women merely players:/ They have their exits
and their entrances:/ And one man in his time
plays many parts.”
- William Shakespeare, As You Like It
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Name: _________________________________________________
Date: _______________________
Shakespeare’s comedies, such as Twelfth Night, laugh at the follies of young people in
love. His history plays such as Richard III, chronicle the power struggles of English kings. His
tragedies show people crushed by powerful forces or their own weakness. In Romeo and Juliet,
two teenagers fall victim to an old family feud. In Macbeth, an ambitious couple commits murder
to gain political power, only to sink into madness and guilt.
Shakespeare’s love of words vastly enriched the English language. More than 1,700 words
appeared for the first time in his works, including bedroom, lonely, generous, gloomy, heartsick,
hurry, and sneak.
CERVANTES The Renaissance in Spain in the early 1600s produced its own great works. Best
known is Don Quixote (DAHN KEE HOH TAY), by Miguel de Cervantes (SUHR VAN TEEZ), an
entertaining tale that mocks romantic notions of medieval chivalry. The novel follows the
adventures of Don Quixote, a foolish but idealistic knight, and his faithful servant, Sancho Panza.
THE PRINTING REVOLUTION
In 1456, Johann Gutenberg of Mainz, Germany, printed a complete edition of the Bible using
moveable metal type on a machine called a printing press. It was the start of a printing revolution
that would transform Europe. On the heels of Gutenberg’s success, printing presses sprang up
across Europe. In 1500, they had turned out more than 20 million volumes.
Gutenberg built on earlier advances. Methods of making paper had reached Europe from
China about 1300. The Chinese and Koreans had been using moveable metal type for centuries,
although Europeans may have developed their technology independently.
The printing revolution brought immense changes. Printed books were cheaper and easier
to produce than hand-copied works. With books more readily available, more people learned to
read. Readers gained access to a broad range of knowledge, from medicine and law to astrology
and mining. Printed books exposed educated Europeans to new ideas, greatly expanding their
horizons. As you will read, the new presses would contribute to the religious turmoil that engulfed
Europe in the 1500s.
QUESTIONS
1. Identify
a. Albrecht Durer
b. Jan Van Eyck
c. Francois Rabelais
d. William Shakespeare
e. Miguel de Cervantes
f. Johann Gutenberg
2. Define
a. engraving
b. vernacular
c. utopian
3. How did Durer help bring the Renaissance to northern Europe?
4. What themes did Erasmus and More raise in their writings?
5. What were three effects of the printing revolution?
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