The Renaissance, Reformation, and Age of Exploration

A) Chapter Overview Paragraph:

• The Renaissance, or rebirth, was a period of renewed culture, science, art that profoundly affected European Society. The expansion of writing and the philosophy of the Ancient Greeks and Romans during the era spread ideals and was supported strongly by the emerging middle class. The discovery of the New World and trade routes to Asia and Africa helped grow a thriving market for international trade that was a major factor in the growth of the middle, merchant class. These nouveau riche were proud sponsors of the arts, which were greatly expanded during the era but centered in Italy, specifically the city of Florence. This side of the Renaissance became the Southern Renaissance, which was more secular and philosophy oriented than the Northern Renaissance, which also grew out of the prosperous trading cities in the Netherlands.

B) Top 10 People:

1. Leonardo Da Vinci:

• 1452-1519
• Was an Italian polymath whose interests spanned from painting to bird mechanics to architecture.
• He was an amazing visionary, but besides his popular paintings, many of his brilliant ideas were never developed due to the technology of the day.

     2.  Niccolo Machiavelli:

• 1469-1527
• was a famous Italian humanist and political philosopher from Florence
• He pioneered a field which is nowadays known as political science with his book, The Prince, despite heavy criticism from his peers

    3. Martin Luther:

• 1483-1546
• Was a German professor and priest who strongly opposed the Catholic Church and its policy of indulgences.
• He famously translated the bible from Latin to German, giving the laymen access to the word of god. He also penned the two most famous Protestant papers, the Diet of Worms (1521) and the Ninety-Five Theses (1517).

     4. Johann Gutenberg:

• 1398-1468
• Was a German publisher who revolutionized the printing industry with his portable printing press
• He created the first printing press in 1439, an invention which help spread thousands of books across Europe, instigating the Renaissance and teaching the people, not just the wealthy, how to read. 

    5. John Calvin:

• 1509-1564
• Was a French pastor who was a major figure within the Protestant Reformation.
• His theological views were incorporated into a movement named for him, called Calvinism.

    6. Sir Thomas More:

• 1478-1535
• Was an English statesman and lawmaker, who was later canonized and knighted for his efforts in England and the Catholic Church.
• He created the concept of “utopia”, which came from his famous book, Utopia.

   7. Christopher Columbus:

• 1451-1506
• Was an Italian explorer who accidentally discovered the Americas while searching for a shorter route to India.
• He was highly discredited by potential investors until a desperate Spanish crown sponsored his first voyage in 1492. He thought that he had arrived in India and therefore called the natives Indians.

   8.  Prince Henry the Navigator:

• 1394-1460
• was the son of King John I of Portugal.
• He was responsible for the early development of European exploration and maritime trade with other continents.

   9. Sir Francis Drake:

• 1540-1596
• Drake was an English sea captain, privateer, navigator, and politician of the Elizabethan era.
• He was  second-in-command of the English fleet against the Spanish Armada.

   10. Michaelangelo:

• 1475-1564
• was an Italian sculptor and artist whose work is considered the icon of the Renaissance.
• Throughout his career, Michelangelo preferred to sculpt, even ran away from a papal painting project in Rome. He decided to return and complete the work, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

C) Top 10 Events:

1. 95 Theses:

• October 31, 1517
• Were written by Martin Luther, the 95 Theses protested against clerical abuses, especially indulgences.
• The 95 Theses became a declaration of Independence from the church’s authority in Northern Europe and served to put into words the people's grievances with the Catholic Church.

     2.  Diet of Worms:

• 1521
• Was an assembly of the nobility, clergy, and cities of the Holy Roman Empire in the German city of Worms. 
• They were summoned by Charles V because of Luther’s 95 Theses, in which Luther was supposed to recant what he claimed about the church. The Diet of Worms created a broader audience for reform ideas and Luther.  

    3. Peasant Rebellions

• 1524-1525
• Were a series of both economic and religious revolts in which peasants, townsfolk and nobles all participated.
• The rebellions greatly strengthened the anti-Catholic sentiment within the Holy Roman Empire and promoted Protestantism.

     4. Treaty of Tordesillas

• 1494
• Was a treaty that divided the new lands outside of Europe between Spain and Portugal 
• The treaty was intended to resolve the dispute that had been created following the return of Christopher Columbus, so that the two most Catholic countries would spread their religion around the world.

    5. Colombus' Voyage:

• 1492
• Was a voyage by Christopher Columbus to what he thought was India but really was the Americas.
• Trying to avoid the lengthy trip around the Cape of Good Hope in South Africa, Columbus sailed across the Atlantic and discovered the Americas and claimed them for Spain, which set up the next four centuries of colonization.

    6. Western Schism

• 1378-1417
• Was an ongoing conflict within the Catholic Church between the Papacy in Avignon and the Papacy in Rome
• The conflict began when the French pressured the Pope (Clement V) to relocate the Papacy to Avignon, France, which was rejected by many traditionalists who instead elected their own Pope in Rome, Pope Urban VI.

   7. Magellan's Circumnavigation of the World

• 1519-1522
• Was the first successful circumnavigation attempt made by the Portuguese Explorer Ferdinand Magellan. 
• His circumnavigation was the first time anyone made it back, which was done by help from Prince Henry the Navigator and the Portuguese dominance (at least at that time) of the seas.

   8. Defeat of the Spanish Armada

• August 8, 1588
• The Spanish armada attacked the much smaller but also faster British fleet off of the coast of England.
• The British fleet won a surprise victory by setting their ships on fire and ramming them into the slower Spanish Galleons, which broke the power of the Spanish Armada and gave rise to a several century dominance of the seas by the British, which continued essentially until their replacement by the US fleet following World War II, almost 350 years of British maritime dominance.

   9. Peace of Augsburg

• September 25, 1555
• Was an agreement between the princes and emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.
• This allowed the princes to pick Lutheranism or Catholicism for their respective countries, which ended the violence between the Protestant north and Catholic south.

   10. Council of Trent

• 1545-1563
• They were a 16th-century council of the Roman Catholic Church that met to discuss the rising protestant movement.
• The Council is seen as the beginning of the Counter-Reformation movement, because they not only refused to appease the wants of the Protestants, they branded them as heretics and basically instigated religious wars for many years.

D)Essay:

• Explain how the invention of the printing press forever changed Europe and in what ways.

          As the old adage goes, "the pen is mightier than the sword". The power of written ideas can often times be far more useful than a sharpened piece of metal, however the sheer expense of writing in old times often made it ineffective. Paper, ink and a fast way to print took were major problems that stopped the free flow of ideals, which were solved by Johannes Gutenberg. Gutenberg's printing press revolutionized the writing world and the subsequent proliferation of ideas, especially the events of the Renaissance Era. 

          During the 15th century, the world of publication in Europe was flipped on its head. Thanks to trade with the Far East, simpler paper-making techniques were made available along with cheap ink.  These innovations were fairly insignificant however to Gutenberg's press. His press employed a technique where he arranged thousands of small letters and symbols into a frame backwards, which was then dipped in ink then stamped. His movable type allowed for the cheap creation of thousands of sheets because in the past, individual slates had to be hand carved each time or studiously copied by monks. For many, books were worth more than gold before that time, but thanks to the press, books were made available to those who had the greatest desire to learn, the emerging middle class.
          The effects of inexpensive books were enormous when viewed through the eyes of the common people of Europe. While the upper-crust nobility had always had access to books and philosophy, the lower classes and the bourgeoisie did not share the same good fortune. This changed greatly following Gutenberg invention, which put 8-20 million new, high-quality books in the hands of the people. The literacy rate shot up astronomically during this time, but the real impact was the communication of the ideas written on the pages themselves. All the major philosophers and writers of the Renaissance Era had a publisher who backed them, which spread the word from the cultural center of the Renaissance, the city-state of Florence, to the most outlying reaches of the European continent.
          The biggest impact on the European continent as a whole from the printing press is its effect on the spread of religion. After all, the first and most famous book that Gutenberg published was his Gutenberg Bible, which put scripture in the hands of the congregation and not just the priests. Shortly following Gutenberg's invention and its spread around the continent, Martin Luther and his followers broke away from the Catholic Church, which was due in no small part to the fact that Luther translated the bible from Latin to his native German and then his patron, Fredrick the Wise of Saxony, used his own printing press to put the true words of the Bible in the hands of the people in his kingdom. It is no coincidence that the future centers of Protestantism in Germany had the highest concentrations of printing presses in Europe. Thus the followers of Luther's ideology, conveniently printed and distributed, thanks to the new presses, many writings which now form the basis of Protestantism, which broke from the Roman Catholic Church. Without Gutenberg's press, it would have been nearly impossible for Luther to raise the support he needed to stand up to the Catholic Church.
          Though historians may argue over whether or not the printing press helped or hurt Europe, there is no doubt that the invention of the press had a major effect on the Renaissance era and Europe as a whole. After all, TIME magazine did name Johannes Gutenberg their Man of the Millennium. The spread of ideas and philosophy that marked the Renaissance would definitely not have happened, which would have a ripple effect across history, which would undoubtedly be felt today.

E) Top Dog Analysis

• Leonardo Da Vinci is the most influential and important man of the Renaissance era because of the fact that he embodied the image of a "Renaissance Man". Born in 1452 in a town on the outskirts of Venice, he distinguished himself early on as a highly skilled artist. He eventually came under the wing of the wealthy Medici Family of Florence, where he began to diversify in his works, which ranged from sculpting to drawing to painting to architecture and more. He was one of the first polymaths, or person who studies many subjects, of recorded history and by far the most prominent of the Renaissance era. While many other artists did diversify in their mediums during his time, Da Vinci completely left the art world behind on occasion to study the natural world and science. He was extremely interested in how nature worked, but his fascination was above all captured by the flight of birds. He drew many detailed pictured showing exactly how the muscles in bird's wings work and he even made a pair for himself and designed a helicopter extremely similar to those around today, almost 500 years later. Da Vinci also was intrigued by how the body works, which he took dense notes about following many dissections of humans and animals. His notes, if they had been published, would have no doubt catapulted the medical field and understanding of the body in his day. One of the major complications with Da Vinci was the fact that he wrote his notes left-handed and backwards, so that the only way to read them is in a mirror, which led to great confusion over what he had written following his death. However modern studies have concluded from his notes that he had an advanced understanding of the world and was a very intelligent and meticulous man. He also came up with many inventions such as various musical instruments, hydraulic pumps, and many others. Though he is best remembered for his amazing works of art such as the Mona Lisa, his extensive studies in nearly every field despite no training in most made him a very famous person and the iconic image of a "Renaissance Man", which in modern times mean a man who has studied many subjects as Da Vinci did almost 500 years a go.

F)Timeline:

G) Images: