The Northern
Renaissance
The Spread of Humanism
Printing Press (c. 1456)


Johann Gutenberg – spread of humanistic
literature to rest of Europe.
By 1480, 380 printing presses in Europe (1000
by 1500)
Christian Humanism

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Attempted to find a balance between
religious and secular concerns
Rejected the “otherworldliness” of the
Middle Ages.
Emphasis on early church writings for
answers to improve society.
Christian Humanist Writers

Desiderius Erasmus
(Erasmus of
Rotterdam) (14661536) – In Praise of
Folly; most famous
intellectual of his
times, criticized the
church: “Erasmus lay
the egg that Luther
hatched”
Christian Humanist Writers

Thomas More
(1478-1536) –
Utopia – creates
ideal society on an
island; but to achieve
harmony and order
people have to
sacrifice individual
rights
Christian Humanist Writers


Jacques Lefevre d’Etables (1454-1536):
leading French humanist; produced 5 versions
of the Psalms that challenged a single
authoritative Bible.
Francesco Ximenes de Cisneros (14361517): reformed Spanish clergy and church,
Grand Inquisitor of the Spanish Inquisition
Northern Renaissance Arts

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Low Countries (Dutch Republic,
Flanders and parts of Germany, etc)
produced especially important
artists.
Jan and Hubert Van Eyck
 First successful use of oil painting
 Worked mainly in Ghent,
Belgium.
Jan Van Eyck- Adoration of the
Lamb
Jan Van Eyck – Arnolfini Marriage
Peter Brueghel (1520-1569)

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Focused on lives of ordinary
people.
Painted great landscapes
Also worked on religious subjects
Completed most of his work in
Antwerp and Brussels
Peter Brueghel – Peasant Wedding
Peter Brueghel – The Tower of Babel
Albrecht Durer (1471-1528)



German – foremost
northern Renaissance
artist
Famous for woodcuts
and engravings.
Paintings include a
number of self
protraits
Albrecht Durer – The Last Supper
Hans Holbein the Younger (14971543)


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Son of Gothic artist.
German painter who
studied in Italy
Painted portraits of
Erasmus, Thomas
More, King Henry
VIII, his wives, and
Mary Tudor
Hans Holbein – The Ambassadors
Hans Holbein – Henry VIII
Domenikos El Greco (1541-1614):
painter: mannerism
Vernacular Writers

France
 Francois Rabelais’ (1494-1553)
Gargantua and Pantagruel
 Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
Essays relativist in religion and
morality
Vernacular Writers

England

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Edmund Spenser
Christopher Marlowe
William Shakespeare
Ben Jonson
Vernacular Writers

Spain

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Miguel de Cervantes
Felix Lope de Vega