Renaissance: The Rebirth of
Europe
Warm-Up
• 1. Renaissance Cover Page and Table of
Contents Page.
• 2. On your next clean page….Title is
Renaissance. Renaissance is a French word
meaning “rebirth”. It began on the Italian
Peninsula in 1350, and spread throughout
western Europe till about 1600. What do you
think is being “reborn”?
Map Activity
• Label the following bodies of water using blue:
Mediterranean Sea, Atlantic Ocean, Black Sea,
Caspian Sea, Bay of Biscay, North Sea, English
Channel.
• Identify the Boundary of the Holy Roman Empire –
color the line in red.
• Highlight Names of Countries in one color: England,
Scotland, France, Spain, Holy Roman Empire, Ottoman
Empire, Netherlands.
• Highlight Names of Cities in one color: London, Paris,
Jerusalem, Constantinople, Rome, Venice, Florence,
Genoa, Madrid, Rotterdam, Wittenburg, Worms,
Augsburg
Introduction
• Make a Spider Web Graphic Organizer for the
Renaissance.
• In the middle of the web is the word – Renaissance.
• Coming from the web have the following – art,
architecture, theater, science, printing press,
exploration, christianity
• As you watch a video on the Renaissance, fill in your
Spider Web. Add more exstentions as needed.
Europeans Encounter new Cultures
• The Crusades – military
expeditions to the Holy
Land - had great influence
on life in Western Europe.
• The long distances
traveled by the Crusaders
opened up trade routes,
connecting Western
Europeans with people of
southwestern Asia and
North Africa.
• This increased contact
helped Europeans
rediscover the ideas and
achievements of the
ancient Greeks and
Romans preserved by the
Church and Muslim
scholars.
The Rebirth of europe
• Over time, this interest in
the ancient world sparked
a new era of creativity
and learning in Western
Europe.
• This cultural era, which
lasted from about 1350 –
1650 A.D., is called the
Renaissance or the
rebirth of Greek and
Roman ideas.
The italian city-states
• The Renaissance began
on the Italian
Peninsula in the mid
1300s.
• The Italian Peninsula
was divided into citystates.
• Northern city-states
were centers of
banking, trade, and
manufacturing.
– Trade – Venice and
Genoa
– Banking – Florence
Italian Aristocrats – A changing
view of the world
•
•
•
•
•
•
The wealthy businesspeople who
lived in these city-states were
members of a new class of
aristocrats.
Unlike the nobles of the feudal
system, these aristocrats lived in
cities, and their wealth came from
money and goods rather than from
the lands they owned.
Wealthy Europeans began to turn
their attention to material
comforts of life.
New wealth allowed aristocrats to
build large homes with elaborate
decorations.
They are expensive food and
dressed in fine clothes and jewels.
Aristocrats also placed increased
emphasis on education and the
arts.
Learning and the arts flourish
Wealthy citizens were proud of
their city-states and often became
generous patrons.
A patron gave artists and scholars
money and places to live and
work.
They hired architects and
designers to improve local
churches, to design grand new
buildings, and to create public
sculptures and fountains.
As one Italian city-state made
additions and improvements,
others competed to outdo it.
Patrons compete for their city-state
• As part of the
competition to improve
the appearance and
status of their individual
city-states, patrons
wanted to attract the
brightest and bestknown scholars and
poets of the time.
• Patrons believed that
the contributions of
these individuals would,
in turn, add to the
greatness of their citystates and attract more
wealth.
Patrons – The Medici Family
Among the most famous patrons of the Renaissance were the Medici. They were a wealthy family of bankers
and merchants. In fact, they were the most powerful leaders of Florence from the early 1400s until the 1700s.
The Medici family became so powerful that the family included famous princes and dukes, two queens, and four
popes. Throughout the 1400s and 1500s, the Medici supported many famous artists including Botticelli,
Michelangelo and Raphael. Today. Florence is still filled with important works of art made possible by the
Medici.
• By the 1500s, the Renaissance spread its ideas
into the rest of Western and Northern Europe.
• These new ideas (art, literature, science,
math, inventions, etc.) would begin a
revolution in the world. No longer would
Europeans be content to accept life for the
way it was.
Review
– Who?
– What?
– When?
– Where?
– Why?
– How?
Review your work
– Who? Crusaders open trade routes. Patrons gave money and
assistance to artists and scholars. The Medici family was
influential in Florence.
– What? Rebirth of ancient Greek and Roman ideas
– When? 1350 - 1650
– Where? City-states on northern Italian Peninsula. Spread to
northern and western Europe.
– Why? Crusaders open trade routes and people rediscovered
the ancient Greek and roman work. Merchants and business
people became wealthy from trade and wanted to enjoy their
wealth.
– How? Aristocrats/Business people paid architects, engineers,
artists, and scholars to make their city-states and homes “very
nice”. Science, Math, Literature, Sculptors, Architecture,
Engineering, Painting.
Independent Activity
• Design an acrostic explaining how the
Renaissance was the rebirth of ancient Greek
and Roman ideas.
• In your acrostic use colorful words to explain
how the Renaissance was the rebirth of Greek
and Roman ideas.