How Did the Ideas of the Italian Renaissance Spread
Throughout Europe?
 Renaissance ideas eventually spread west and north to
all areas of Western Europe
 Scholars and artist travelled to the Italian city-states
for knowledge and brought it to their homelands
 Ideas changed and adapted to fit each society
 P.49
 Canada’s Renaissance type ideas
 Effects of the Renaissance across Western Europe
came later but were just as significant
 Feudalism
 Harder to break in lands beyond Italy
 Owners of fiefdoms (feudal land) were strongly opposed
to the Renaissance
 War
 Many Northern European states at war which prevented the
spread of new ideas (Germany, Netherlands, England)
Religion
 The Catholic Church had a stronger hold and kept the status
quo (the present way of doing things)
 When the Hundred Years War ended, travel became
safer
 Urbanisation
 France and Germany waged war on the Italian citystates
 Exposed European monarchs and nobility to
Renaissance Ideas
 Ideas were borrowed from Italy
 Italians were hired
 Peace = increase in trade
 Increase in trade = increase in business and banking
 Wealth used to support artists
 Growth of humanism
 A system of thought that centers on humans and their
values; potential, and worth; concerned with the welfare
of humans.
-The Printing Press
-Invented by Johann Gutenberg in the
mid-1400’S
-First European book printed was the
Gutenberg bible
- Faster than copying a book by hand
-More books = more readers and
writers
-By 1500, more than 200 printing presses
-Church opposed printing of bibles for the common
people = afraid they would no longer be needed
 Classical writings suggested that life on Earth has
value
 Before most people focused on the afterlife
 These writings lead people to believe that humans
potential to do great things, no matter who they were
 Even though they believed in faith and the afterlife,
humanists thought life on Earth should be rich and
full.
 Scholars travelled from one university to another to
study and teach new ideas
 Humanism supported civic duty and the value of
learning
 Humanism in Europe as opposed to Italy was more
focused on religious issues and learning Christian
texts to become better citizens and Christians
 Francanesco Petrarch (1304-2374)
 Discovered and translated ancient classical Greek and
Roman texts as well as promoting
their study
 Believed that truly educated people
read books, travelled and surrounded
themselves with art
 Believed in God and the value of
life on Earth
 Erasmus (1466-1536)
 Believed people should be taught to
argue and apply their knowledge
 Said bible should be translated for
all to read
 Believed the role of the Church was
to teach and support the faith
 Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
 Created the essay writing form
 Believed in tolerance and common
sense
 Believed that friendship, love, and
courage should form the basis of
human actions
 Art began to reflect the new thinking of humanism
 Began portraying the world as it really looked
 After the 15th century, art focused less on religious




themes
Recording the likeness of people became important
Artist travelled more and developed better techniques
Became respected and got paid
Became important contributors to society
 Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564)
 Painter, poet, architect, sculptor
 Painted the Sistine Chapel
 Created realistic representations
 Leonardo da Vinci (1503-1506)
 May be the best-known painter and figure of the
Renaissance, genius, inventor
 Mona Lisa considered the most famous painting
 Introduced the sfumato technique (blurring of lines)
 Donatello (1386-1466)
 Developed a technique for casting bronze statues
- Donatello’s David
(created about 1440)
 Movement of science slow during the Middle Ages
 Religion
 Europe still very superstitious
 All money went to arts
 Universities paid little attention to science
 Renaissance = scientists looking at the world using
reasoning and observation
 Accumulation of knowledge during the Renaissance lead to
the age of scientific discovery
 Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543)
 Mathematician and astronomer
 Came up with the theory that the Earth revolved around
the sun rather than everything revolving around the
earth
 Proved that the Earth rotated on its axis once a day
 Believed to be a heretic (having an opinion against the
beliefs of a religion)
 Leonardo da Vinci
 Dissected cadavers to makes drawings on anatomy
 Made plans for parachutes, tanks and submarines
 François Viète (1540-1603)
 Wrote books on trigonometry and geometry
 Provided solution to doubling a cube and trisecting an angle
 During the Renaissance, the mechanical clock was
invented
 Before the early 1500’s time was measured by
 Sundials
 Hourglasses
 Time could now be accurately measured
 Writers began to compose their works in their own
languages
 Vocabularies, spellings, grammar became more
standardized
 This increased a common sense of identity among their
speakers, readers and writers.
 Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400)
 Canterbury Tales (explained social and political
circumstances of the time)
 Sir Thomas Moore (1478-1535)
 Wrote Utopia (describes a world that has no problems)
 Executed for his refusal to denounce the catholic church
 François Rabelais (1494-1553)
 Wrote Pantagruel, a series of books which made fun of
aspects of society that he felt needed to be changed
 Great example of humanism – questioning all aspects of
society
 Pléiade (mid-1500’s)
 Began writing in French rather than Latin
 William Shakespeare (1564-1616)
 Poet, playwright
 His works studied worldwide for their inventive use of
language and their insights into human nature
 P.75 #1, 3 read section on Leonardo da Vinci
 Urbanization and the fall of the feudal system created
a new middle class
 As a result, more people had to learn to read, write and
do arithmetic
 Quality of Life improved
 The sense of safety, comfort, security, health and
happiness that a person has
 Urbanization lead to the growth of a capitalist society
 An economic system that depends on private investment and
making profit
 Trade was previously for the acquiring of basic
necessities and done by bartering, but increased trade
goods led to increased use of money
 People became wealthier and money could therefore
be used for pleasurable things such as art, music etc.
 Society started becoming more secular and people
began to focus more on this life on earth
 Having to do with physical things; the opposite of
spiritual
 Was an extended family with father, mother, children,




grandparents all living in one household.
Father ruled the household, made all important
decisions
Mothers maintained the household
Good relations very important
Children viewed as mini-adults
 Married young, worked young
 Although humanist believed all should be educated, it
was mostly reserved for elite men.
 Women had very little independence
 A few women were writers and artists but they were
considered exceptional
 Before the Renaissance, education was generally
provided by the Roman Catholic Church
 Focused on grammar, rhetoric (art of persuasive
thinking) and logic (science of reasoning and proving
arguments)
 The Renaissance brought education based on the value
of human life and students were taught to be good
citizens
 Began asking questions and seeking answers rather
than accepting what they were told by authorities.
 Conclusion p.86
 P.87 #5, 6, 7
 These are the following terms and concepts you should know
from the first two chapters… HINT HINT!!!!!
- What is Worldview?
- Value
-Belief
-Elements affected by Worldview
-Factors affecting Worldview
-The Silk Road
-The Middle Ages
-How the Renaissance began
(crusades, 100 years war, magna
carta etc)
-Feudal system
-City-state/ urbanization
-Trade
-Florence/Genoa/Venice
- How the Renaissance spread
- Why was it slow to spread
-Status quo
-Humanism
-Printing press
-Scholars
-Scientists/mathematicians
-Writers
-Quality of life
-Capitalist society
-Secular
-Family and women
-education