The Renaissance
1300-1600
Western Europe
The Renaissance is a period of great change in
Western Europe – The word Renaissance
means REBIRTH.
This period began right after the plague and war
in the Middle Ages.
People began to become more creative while
simultaneously questioning the church.
Change was EVERYWHERE!
• As a result of death in the church, written
language was almost lost and whole churches
were abandoned.
• Coffins had pictures of corpses on the lid,
usually showing a very flattering likeness of the
body inside wearing their best clothes. Some of
these dated around 1400 showed bodies with
about half of their flesh and shredded garments.
A few of the sculptures showed worms and
snails munching on the diseased.
ITALY
The Renaissance began
in Italy– Centered
around City-States
such as Florence
These big cities were
the centers of new
ideas!
Merchants funded the arts…
WHY?
• Poor masses died during the plague
destroying much of the infrastructure of the
cities.
• Lack of people made business slow and
merchants needed something to invest in…
The ARTS!!
• Merchants + Money + Ideas =
Renaissance
• These merchants are called patrons.
“Patron of the arts”
The Medici Family in Florence
supported and ruled the arts.
Funded the beginnings of the
Renaissance
The Classics- Ancient Roman and Greek Text
were studied and their ideas were passed
throughout Europe.
~Humanism Evolved~
Humanism is the study of classical timeshistory, philosophy, and literature
Life is Changing!
Many upper-class women were
educated!
People were disgruntled with the
church after the plague.
Secular life began to develop
This separates God and everyday life.
‘eat, drink, and be merry’
God will not be mad.
Even Literature is Changing
Prior to the Renaissance all texts were written in
LATIN Now people are writing in their native
language (i.e. French, English, German, and
Italian) this is called VERNACULAR
Literature, Art, Ideas SPREAD…
The printing press was created
by Johannes Guttenberg in
Germany.
The advent of the Printing
Press in 1455 allowed for the
spread of ideas and literature
in the form of PRINTED BOOKS!
GUTENBERG’S PRINTING PRESS!
Check out my flow!
Text it in – Use 5 words or less to answer.
1. Why was the printing press so important to
Western Europe during the Renaissance?
2. Why is it still important today?