Renaissance + Reformation Quiz

Medici Family

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Banker/Financial Genius

• Corrupt ways of ruling 

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• Cosimo de Medici influenced people of the ruling council by providing loans for them (practically bribing) 

• Lorenzo de Medici (the Magnificent) ruled as a dictator, but continued the idea that his government was elected

Michelangelo

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Sculptor/Poet/Architect/Painter

• Realistic techniques

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• He developed the technique of making art more realistic looking

Donatello

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Sculptor

• Statue of David

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• Revived a classical form

• Created the first free-standing nude sculpture since ancient times, this influenced other artists of the time

Leonardo da Vinci

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Painter/Sculptor/Inventor/Scientist

• Mona Lisa

• The Last Supper

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• Advanced and recorded his findings in the studies of anatomy, mathematics, ophthalmology, mechanics, geology, and botany

• He sketched designs for modern machinery like tanks and helicopters

Raphael Sanzio

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Painter

• Use of perspective

• School of Athens

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• Many of his paintings were displayed and remembered throughout the walls of Pope Julius II’s library

Niccolo Machiavelli

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Writer

• The Prince

• Different way of ruling

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• Created a new way for princes to go about ruling; instead of following a specific past ruler, he encouraged them to think for themselves, and thought more of political effectiveness than morals. He also said that a leader must lie sometimes in order to benefit the state

Desiderius Erasmus

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Christian Humanist/Writer

• The Praise of Folly

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• He believed that Christianity was a deeper, more internal thing than ceremonies and rules, this influenced others after him

Thomas More

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Christian Humanist/Writer

• Utopia

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• He came up with the idea of “Utopia”: an ideal place with little to no greed, corruption, and war, and tried to use it to form a better model of society

Christine de Pizan

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Woman’s activist/Writer

• The Book of the City Ladies

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• One of the first women to earn a living as a writer

• Also one of the first women to question the difference in treatment between males and females

• While education for children of both sexes was not executed until later on, she still developed this idea, and influenced changemakers later on

William Shakespeare

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Writer/Poet/Playwrite

• Macbeth, Hamlet, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, King Lear, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, The Taming of the Shrew

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• He displayed masterful command of the English language and a deep understanding of human beings through his works

• He developed the ideas and concepts within plays to go much further than they ever had, creating characters with naked souls

Johann Gutenberg

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Craftsmen

• Gutenberg Bible

• New printing press technologies

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• Created a printing press that portrayed many forms of technology in different ways, which made it possible to produce books quickly and cheaply, so almost anyone could buy them

Dante Alighieri

Title of Writing/Inventions/Art:

• Writer

• Divine Comedy

Important Contributions to Revolutionary Thought:

• Since Dante wrote in the vernacular (his native language: Italian), anyone could read his books, not just those who had learned Latin

• Developed modern techniques and trends that writers still use today