Renaissance
SOL 13 a - d
Essential Questions
How did the Crusades stimulate trade
between Europe and the Muslim Empire?
What were Machiavelli’s ideas about
power?
Who were prominent Renaissance artists
and writers?
What was the Renaissance?
Renaissance means rebirth. It was a time from
the 1300s – 1500s when Greek and Roman
knowledge was reintroduced to Europe.
 The Renaissance stimulated new forms of art,
literature, and scholarship.
 The Renaissance began in the Italian city-states
and moved to northern Europe.

Why did the Renaissance happen in Italy?
Access to trade routes
Independent city states governed as
republics (growth of secularism)
Wealth and introduction of letters of
credit, banking, and new accounting
Machiavelli
Wrote a political treatise The Prince
Supported absolute power of the ruler
Maintains that the end justifies the means
Advises that one should do good if possible, but do
evil when necessary
Renaissance vs. Middle Ages
Renaissance
Renaissance art and
literature focused on
individuals and worldly
matters, along with
Christianity
Middle Ages
Medieval art and literature
focused on the Church and
salvation
Renaissance
Artists
Writers
Leonardo da Vinci – Mona Petrarch – Sonnets,
Lisa, Last Supper
humanist books
Michelangelo – Ceiling of
the Sistine Chapel and
statue of David
Erasmus – The Praise of
Folly
Sir Thomas More – Utopia
Machiavelli – The Prince
Humanism
Celebrated the individual
Stimulated the study of Greek and
Roman literature and culture
Was supported by wealthy patrons
The Printing Press
Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci
Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci
Ceiling of Sistine Chapel
painted by
Michelangelo
Statue of David carved by Michelangelo