Chapter 1 The Renaissance in Italy

The Renaissance

A period of creativity and great change in Europe.

Italy's Geographical Advantage

Italy's central location in the Mediterranean Sea allowed for easy access to trade routes connecting with other parts of Italy, North Africa, Asia, and Europe.

The Tiber River

Facilitated trade by providing a navigable waterway for ships to reach the sea.

Muslim Rulers

Promoted the translation of Greek philosophy and science texts and encouraged further scientific exploration in numerous fields.

The Renaissance

A period of creativity and great change in Europe.

Italy's Geographical Advantage

Italy's central location in the Mediterranean Sea allowed for easy access to trade routes connecting with other parts of Italy, North Africa, Asia, and Europe.

The Tiber River

Facilitated trade by providing a navigable waterway for ships to reach the sea.

Muslim Rulers

Promoted the translation of Greek philosophy and science texts and encouraged further scientific exploration in numerous fields.

The Renaissance

A period of creativity and great change in Europe. Shift from agricultural to urban society; rebirth after the medieval world.

Italy's Geographical Advantage

Central location in the Mediterranean Sea, providing easy access to trade routes connecting Italy, North Africa, Asia, and Europe.

The Tiber River

Facilitated trade by providing a navigable waterway for ships to reach the sea.

Muslim Rulers

Promoted the translation of Greek philosophy and science texts and encouraged further scientific exploration in numerous fields.

Pico della Mirandola

To Man it granted to have whatever he chooses, to be whatever he wills.

Vernacular

Everyday language of ordinary people.

Humanism

An outlook attaching prime importance to human rather than divine or supernatural matters. Beliefs stress human potential, goodness, and rational problem-solving.

Humanities

Academic disciplines that explore the human condition through history, language, literature, philosophy, religion, and the arts.

Francesco Petrarch

Famous for poetry and a key figure in Renaissance humanism. Called the "Father of Humanism."

City State

A city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state

The Medici Family

A powerful Italian family of bankers and merchants in Florence, patrons of the arts.

Patrons

A person or entity that supports, protects, or promotes something or someone, often through financial contributions.

Leonardo Da Vinci

Painter, sculptor, architect, inventor, and scientist known for the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper.

William Shakespeare

Known for his plays that explore human emotion and conflict; continues to influence modern literature and culture.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Renaissance artist known for sculptures of Pieta and David and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

Raphael

Recognized as the supreme High Renaissance painter, known for The School of Athens.

Johann Gutenberg

Invention of movable-type printing quickened the spread of knowledge and literacy in Renaissance Europe.

John Calvin

A French theologian, pastor and reformer

John Knox

A Scottish minister, Reformed theologian, and writer who was a leader of the country's Reformation.

Balassare Castiglione

Italian courtier, diplomat, and writer best known for The Book of the Courtier.

Niccolo Machiavelli

Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian known for The Prince.

Northern Renaissance

Began in Flanders (parts of France, Belgium, the Netherlands).

Albrecht Durer

German Renaissance artist, painter, printmaker, and art theorist known for woodcut prints and engravings.

Desiderius Erasmus

Dutch Renaissance humanist, Catholic priest, and scholar known for In Praise of Folly; produced the Greek edition of the Bible.

Martin Luther

German theologian, professor, pastor, and church reformer; began the Protestant Reformation with his Ninety-Five Theses.

Thomas Cranmer

Theologian, leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury.

Mary Tudor

Queen Mary I of England from 1553 until her death; the first female ruler of England.

Theocracy

Government ran by church leaders

Sects

A group of people with somewhat different religious beliefs from those of a larger group to which they belong.

Canonized

Recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church

Council of Trent

The Council of Trent met to define the doctrines of the Catholic Church.

Index of forbidden books

Excluded writings due to concerns about their language, authorship, and the era in which they were composed.

Ghetto

Venice ordered the Jews to live in a separate quarter of the city called the ghetto

Nicolaus Copernicus

Renaissance polymath who formulated a heliocentric model of the universe.

Tycho Brahe

Danish astronomer known for comprehensive and accurate astronomical observations.

Johannes Kepler

Known for his three laws of planetary motion.

Galileo

Known for contributions to physics and astronomy, pioneering use of the telescope, and advocacy for the heliocentric model.