Europe before
Transatlantic
Travel
Topic 5
Ancient Greece
 Valued
Reason and deep thinking.
 Three Great Thinkers:



Socrates – question your thoughts and beliefs
Plato – The Republic described an ideal society
Aristotle – taught to live based on reason
 Athens
started democracy; all male citizens
participated in the government
Ancient Rome
 Roman
Republic was
another form of
democracy
 Elected representatives for
one year
 Laws were kept on display
in public places
 Believed in innocent until
proven guilty and equality
for all citizens
The Middle Ages in Europe
 Lasted
about 1,000
years.
 People followed
the feudal system
 Nearly everyone
was Catholic
Christian.
The Crusades
 Series
of Holy Wars
between Christians and
Muslims in Southwest
Asia (today’s Middle
East).
 Christians wanted
control of Palestine and
the “Holy Lands”.
 Started permanent
trade with countries in
Asia.
Travel and Growth
 Technology
in the early
1100s made farming easier.
 Population gets larger.
 Cities become larger.
 Travel becomes safer,
Increased trade along a
trade route called the Silk
Road.
 Marco Polo – famous Italian
traveller and merchant that
brought back ideas, spices,
paper money, even
spaghetti!
The Black Death
 Around
1345, the Black
Death is brought back
to Europe through
trade.
 It kills about 25 million!
 Everything is effected.
 Workers are scarce, so
they start demanding
better treatment and
conditions.
 Begin seeing trade
guilds and a middle
class emerge.
The Renaissance
 Means
“rebirth”
 Love of education
during this period.
 Rulers had relative
peace and control.
 Advances in Art,
literature, science,
politics, value of
human individuals.
 Begins in Italy, spreads
across Europe.
Leaders of the Renaissance
 Michelangelo
– painter,
sculptor, architect
 Leonardo da Vinci – painter,
sculptor, architect, inventor,
engineer, mapmaker.
 Dante Alighieri – writer

Wrote in Italian instead of
latin – BIG step to making
education available to
everyone
 Johannes
Gutenberg –
developed a printing press
with movable type.