3. The Northern Renaissance & Printing Revolution - Crash Course European History

Vocabulary flashcards covering the major people, ideas, works, and technological advances discussed in the lecture on the Northern Renaissance and the impact of the printing press.

Movable Type Printing

Mid-15th-century technology that used individual, reusable metal letters to compose pages, dramatically accelerating book production in Europe.

Johannes Gutenberg

German goldsmith who perfected movable type around the 1440s and built Europe’s first practical printing press.

Gutenberg Bible

The first major book printed with movable type in Europe, symbolizing the dawn of mass-produced literature.

Printing Press

Machine that mechanically transferred inked type to paper; its spread made books cheaper, more numerous, and less error-prone.

Printing Revolution

The half-century after 1450 when more than 20 million books were produced, transforming literacy, religion, law, and scholarship.

Latin Alphabet Advantage

Europe’s 26-letter alphabet made movable type faster and cheaper than in regions with larger character sets, such as China.

Western Legal Tradition

Body of law that grew as printers distributed Roman legal texts, inspiring jurists to build modern European legal systems.

Humanism

Renaissance intellectual movement focusing on classical texts, human potential, and secular subjects alongside theology.

Northern Renaissance

Spread of Renaissance ideas north of Italy, where scholars adapted humanism to local concerns and downplayed Italian origins.

Pietro Bruegel’s “Dutch Proverbs”

Famous painting depicting rustic villagers enacting folk sayings, illustrating the everyday, secular flavor of Northern Renaissance art.

Paterfamilias

Roman concept of the father as legal head of the household; Renaissance thinkers used it to justify social and political order.

Scholasticism

Medieval university method centered on Aristotelian logic and church doctrine, later challenged by humanist curricula.

Desiderius Erasmus

Dutch scholar called the “Prince of the Humanists,” noted for biblical criticism, classical editions, and advocacy of moderate reform.

The Education of a Christian Prince

Erasmus’s 1516 treatise advising rulers to study classical and Christian texts to achieve the public good and keep peace.

Republic of Letters

International network of humanist writers who shared ideas through extensive correspondence and printed works.

Christian Humanism

Northern movement blending classical learning with Christian values, emphasizing inner spirituality over external ritual.

Protestant Reformation (Prelude)

16th-century religious upheaval; Erasmus’s calls for reform helped set intellectual ground later taken up by Martin Luther.

Niccolò Machiavelli

Florentine diplomat and author who analyzed power realistically, advocating pragmatic rule in works like The Prince.

The Prince

Machiavelli’s 1532 handbook advising rulers to prioritize power and stability, even if feared more than loved.

Realist Politics

Approach emphasizing effective power maintenance over moral ideals, exemplified by Machiavelli’s advice.

Art of War (Machiavelli)

Treatise arguing that military preparedness and study of past commanders are essential to political leadership.

Thomas More

English humanist and statesman who wrote Utopia and was later executed for opposing Henry VIII’s break with Rome.

Utopia

More’s 1516 book describing an ideal society with common property, religious tolerance, and reason-based cooperation.

Christine de Pizan

Early 15th-century writer who advocated women’s intellectual equality in works like The Book of the City of Ladies.

The Book of the City of Ladies

De Pizan’s allegory assembling famous women in a symbolic city to argue for female virtue and leadership capability.

Female Education in the Renaissance

Humanist practice—still rare—of tutoring girls alongside boys, justified by citing classical women such as Sappho.

Corpus of Roman Law

Compilation of ancient Roman legal texts that printers reproduced, inspiring Renaissance jurists and modern jurisprudence.

Classical Languages Revival

Humanists’ study of ancient, not medieval, Latin and Greek, enabling new interpretations of texts, including the Bible.

Northern Critique of Italy

Tendency of northern Europeans to claim they already had or improved upon Italian Renaissance ideas.

Printing in Venice

City where the first press arrived in 1469; by 1500 Venice housed over 417 presses, becoming a major publishing center.