The Renaissance
9th Grade Social Studies
Fall 2011 Unit 2
The Big Picture
Major changes in Europe caused the medieval
period to give way to a new period.
As trade with the East increased, Europeans
rediscovered the classical knowledge of ancient
Greece and Rome.
In Italy the growth of wealthy trading cities and
new ways of thinking helped lead to a rebirth of the
arts and learning known as the Renaissance.
 These ideas soon spread to northern Europe by
means of trade, travel, and printed material,
influencing the art and ideas of the north.
Why we study this unit:
Renaissance art and literature still influence
modern thought and modern art.
Renaissance ideas such as the importance of
the individual are a strong part of our popular
culture and modern thought.
It marks a turning point in history as we enter
into a more modern era, where people live
more like we do today.
Essential Questions:
1. What changes caused the beginning of
the Renaissance?
2. What ideas formed the foundation of
the Italian Renaissance?
3. What contributions did artists make to
the Italian Renaissance?
Essential Questions:
4. How did the Renaissance spread to
northern Europe?
5. What contributions did writers and
philosophers make to the northern
Renaissance?
6. How did the works of northern artists
differ from those of the Italian
Renaissance?
Units:
• Last Unit: The Middle Ages
• Current Unit: The Renaissance
• Next Unit: The Reformation
Learning Activity/Assessment
• 10/5: Italian Renaissance Part 1
• 10/7: Black Death Internet Search
• 10/12: Italian Renaissance part 2
• 10/14: Renaissance Themes ppt.
• 10/14: Seeing the Changes
• 10/18: Writers of the Italian Ren.
• 10/18: Ren. Art ppt.
• 10/18: Ren. Art Qs
Learning Activities
• 10/20: Renaissance Circle Diagram
• 10/20: Da Vinci Tech
• 10/20: Ch. 15, S1 Review
• 10/24: Northern Ren. Qs
• 10/26: Northern Ren. Ppt
• 10/26: Ch. 15, S2 Review
• 10/26: Unit Review
Italian Renaissance Terms
• Renaissance
• Humanism
• Secularism
• Individualism
• Castiglione
• Machiavelli
• Lorenzo de Medici
• Leonardo da Vinci
• Michelangelo
• Raphael
• Bramante
• Vernacular
• Petrarch
• Galileo
• Patron
• Perspective
Northern Renaissance Terms
• Hanseatic League
• Gutenberg
• Printing press
• Christian Humanism
• Erasmus
• Thomas More
• Utopia
• Shakespeare
• Christine de Pisan
• Durer
• Jan Van Eyck
• Brueghel
• Elizabeth I
1. What changes caused the beginning of
the Renaissance?
• During the 1300s the Black Death
weakened the feudal and manor systems
and undermined the Catholic Church.
• In Italy, the city-states became the center
of trade, which resulted in increasing
wealth.
• The rich Italian merchants used their
wealth to support new ideas and the
Renaissance artists.
2. What ideas formed the foundation
of the Italian Renaissance?
• Humanism shifted one's focus away from
the afterlife and toward the here and
now.
• Secularism caused religion and the church
to become less important in daily life.
• Individualism shifted the focus from one's
role in the feudal system to individual
achievement.
3. What contributions did artists make to
the Italian Renaissance?
• The artists of the Italian Renaissance broke
from their medieval past by depicting the
natural world realistically.
• The use of perspective allowed artists to create
three-dimensional objects on flat surfaces.
• Shading made objects appear round and more
real.
• Finally, the study of human anatomy allowed
artists to portray the human body more
accurately.
4. How did the Renaissance spread to
northern Europe?
• The Italian Renaissance spread to the north as
trade increased between the two areas.
• Artists and scholars traveled between Italy and
the north, bringing with them Humanist ideas
and new painting techniques.
• Finally, the printing press allowed easier
bookmaking and helped quickly spread the
Renaissance ideas.
5. What contributions did writers and philosophers make
to the northern Renaissance?
• Erasmus' writings encouraged the growing
discontent against the Catholic Church.
• More challenged the English government and
created an ideal society in Utopia
• Shakespeare helped spread Renaissance ideas
to a mass audience through his plays.
• Pisan advocated women’s rights and equality.
6. How did the works of northern artists differ from those
of the Italian Renaissance?
• The Italian Renaissance painters tried to
capture the beauty of Greek and Roman gods
and depicted mythological scenes.
• Northern Renaissance artists adopted the
Italian techniques of perspective and realism.
• However, Northern artists depicted scenes of
everyday life and oil paints allowed them to pay
close attention to details.