The
Renaissance
By Mrs. Excell
Objectives (what we should learn)
for section 1
• Review of the events that
lead to the Decline (end)
of feudalism
• Analyze (study) the
reasons for the growth of
trade
• Describe (tell why)
humanism and it
relationships to the
emergence of the
Renaissance
• The End of Feudal Society: growth of
nations, deadly plague, and Hundred
Year’s War
• WHY?
– The Plague: killed many peasants so they
were unable to work the land
– Hundred Year’s War: the war and the newer
inventions (longbow) made knights obsolete
(not needed)
Trade
• Reason for growth: gradual decline in
warfare and invasion
– The traders feel safer to travel long distance
• SILK ROAD: the ancient trade routes that
connected Europe with China
• Marco Polo traveled the silk roads to Asia
and informed Europeans of the land’s
riches.
Humanism
• Those who survived the plague and war wanted
to celebrate life.
• Trade increased so did the spreading of ideas
• Revival of classical ideas from Greece and
Rome
• HUMANISM: a movement in Renaissance
Europe, celebrating human potential and
achievement and stressing the study of subjects
such as history, grammar, literature, and
philosophy.
Humanism Continued…
• Goal of Humanism: it to create wellrounded individuals and encourage people
to achieve all they could in life.
• Leader of Humanism: Petrarch
– Italian poet and scholar… first thinkers to
stress the value of classical learning.
• Humanism stressed the importance of the
individual
Humanism continued…
• Humanism promoted a greater balance
between intellect and Christian faith
• Strengthen the desire of people to
experiment, explore, and create.
• THINK FOR THEMSELVES AND
QUESTION!
Objectives for section 2
• Explain why the Renaissance began in
Italy
• Describe advances in the arts, literature,
architecture, and engineering
• Examine the effects of the Renaissance
on society
• RENAISSANCE: a period of rebirth and
creativity in art, writing, and thought from
about A.D. 1300 to 1600, beginning in Italy
and eventually spreading throughout
Europe
– Renaissance means rebirth, this referring to
the rebirth of classical art and learning
WHY ITALY???
• Italy was the center of the Roman Empire
– Artists and writers of Italy didn’t have to travel far to
get classical styles.
• Cities and trade routes
– Cities became a main place for exchanging ideas and
goods
• PATRONS: a person who supports an activity or
institution by providing financial backing.
– Florence, Italy became an influential of the
Renaissance due to its location and patronage
Advances in the Arts
• Renaissance artists focused on portraying
humans in realistic ways
• PERSPECTIVE: a technique of painting,
developed during the renaissance, that
represents the appearance of objects in
three-dimensional space.
• Famous Artists: Leonardo da Vinci,
Michelangelo, and Raphael
• Leonardo da Vinci: an Italian Renaissance
painter, born a.d. 1452, who painted many
masterpieces, such as the Mona Lisa and The
Last Supper, and also excelled on scientific
research.
• Michelangelo: an Italian Renaissance artist, born
in a.d. 1475, who worked mainly as a sculptor
but also painter such famous works ad the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome.
Architecture, Engineering,
Writing and Cervantes
• Renaissance architecture/engineering:
Church domes designed by Brunelleschi
• Writing: great works like The Divine
Comedy, which focused on life after death
– Writers also focused on real life and
individuals
• Don Quixote: written by Cervantes about a
landowner who imagines that he is a
knight and goes on many adventures.
Middle Class: made a modest
living as trades people or
merchants
Upper Class: Consisted of
Nobles and Wealthy
Merchants
Educated and Well
Rounded
Upper Class
Developed appreciation for
the arts
Women stayed at home
Middle Class
Women oversaw education
of their children and
supervised the servants
Lower Class
Lower Class: poor and often
worked as laborers.
Objectives for Section 3
• Identify reasons for the spread of the
Renaissance to northern Europe
• Examine the styles and accomplishments
of significant artists and writers of the
Northern Renaissance
• Explain the impact of the scientific and
technological advances of the
Renaissance
Spreading North
• Cultural Interaction
– Artists interacted with painters and writers
• Growth of towns
– Trade went into the cities and reached large
numbers of people
• Support of the powerful rulers
– Monarchs supported the arts
– Artistic achievements as a source of pride for
their country
• Albrecht Durer: German renaissance
painter and wood carver
• William Shakespeare: most famous
English writer of the Renaissance, best
known for his plays Romeo and Juliet and
Hamlet
• Elizabethan Age: the period of ther rule of
Queen Elizabeth the 1st in England, from
1558 to 1603
Math & Science technology
• Renaissance thinkers advanced the study of
algebra by introducing the use of letters into
algebraic equations X + Y = Z
• Also advances in anatomy (study of the human
body)
• Johann Gutenberg: a German who, in the mid1400s, invented a press for printing with
movable type
• Printing Press: a machine for pressing paper
against inked movable type
• Prior to the printing press, books and other
publication were written by hand
• The increase in availability of written works
encouraged to people to learn
– Books were written in Vernacular
– Vernacular: a person’s native language